1870s–1977
From a farming village to experimental vineyards
Murrumbateman's community history acknowledges Ngunnawal people and their long relationship with this country. European settlers sought grazing land, while a small goldfield developed near Nanima in the nineteenth century. The community association dates the formal proclamation of Murrumbateman as a village to March 1885.1
Older buildings still give that village a visible shape. The association identifies the one-room brick school, its teacher's residence, Scots Uniting Church and the former Travellers Inn along the main road. It dates the surviving old school building to 1872 and describes the school and residence as largely unaltered.1
Collective work became another part of the story. The present community association began in March 1936 as the Murrumbateman Agricultural Bureau and Progress Association. It continues to organise events and reinvest their proceeds in local activities and facilities.2
A different use of farmland took root in 1971, when John Kirk bought a 44-acre property near the village and planted Clonakilla's first vines. The winery's family history records another practical milestone in 1977: Kirk and his sons laid the blocks for their first winery building by hand.3