The Langridge Station Dry Stone Enclosure is a rare and representative example of an 1880s agricultural structure using the technique of dry stone construction. The structure is part of a wider complex that tells a story about a working sheep station in the late nineteenth century. Set in the high country landscape of the upper Awatere Valley, the cluster of station structures, including a cob stable, cob oven and various cob ruins, have significant historic, aesthetic, technological, architectural and archaeological values. It is a place where shepherds, musterers, and shearers worked, ate and slept, and it provides an insight into how those men lived.

The Langridge Run was taken up by Thomas Ward in 1851 and after a short time was bought by W.H. Eyes who then sold it to the brothers, Alexander Binning Monro and George Hoome Monro, in 1853.

The dry stone enclosure is in close proximity to the stable building and may have been used as a horse yard. The only other known example of this type is in the Shag River valley, and is regarded by some archaeologists as rare. Dry stone construction is the use of stones to build a wall without mortar. The wall has a ‘rubble core and irregular well laid facing stones’ and reaches a height of 1.6 metres. The enclosure is intact in some parts but other sections of wall have partially collapsed. The walls form a rough square with the north wall extending out further and an entranceway within the east wall.

The brothers got into financial trouble after purchasing more land from the Crown. They paid off the debts and A.B. Monro held Langridge until his death in 1892. In 1899 the Langridge run was sold to Rudolph Walker and Edward Thompson. At that time the run consisted of 7,138 acres freehold, 24,400 acres leasehold and carried 7,490 sheep. The land was transferred to Margaret Agnes Shirtliff, wife of John William Shirtliff, sheep farmer, in 1924. A fee simple title to a number of parcels including Section 9, Langridge Run District of Awatere, was created in 1930. The land holding was transferred to Margaret Helen van Asch, daughter of the Shirtliffs, who had married Ian Tasman van Asch. The van Asch’s sold the 96,000 acre Muller Station, which included the Langridge Station freehold, in 1965. Muller Station has been farmed by Steve and Mary Satterthwaite since 1980.

The Langridge Station Dry Stone Enclosure is part of a significant cultural landscape that represents the pastoral heritage of New Zealand sheep stations. As a horse enclosure it is representative of the relationships between men and animals in an isolated pastoral landscape. The dry stone method of construction makes use of available materials and is a testament to the skills of the builder. As a rare type of structure for the intended use of animal enclosure it adds interest to the rural landscape and diversity to the large number of regionally significant heritage buildings and structures along the Awatere Valley.