"Andrew Ross’s photographs remember the forgotten. In his work he resembles one of those socially marginal figures scouring rubbish dumps, finding a value in the things everyone else has thrown away. Ironically, in the sustainability project such figures may yet become cultural heroes. Ross’s geiger-counter is tuned for crud and he habitually haunts abandoned and neglected habitats, his images registering these often melancholy spaces, still suffused with human presence.

Forgetting may be more a casual process than remembering, but often it may have just as much point and be pursued with equal determination. This can range from the darkly psychological to the plainly material – the current enthusiasm for domesticup-grading and the popularity of garden make-overs are just aspects of this latter. Improvements have their downside, and while the lifestyle magazines gleam with the new the planet groans with the increasing burden of the discarded. The shiny
wrapper conceals some grim contents indeed.

Personally, Ross may be disquieted by this, but his work isn’t merely a protestagainst it. It’s a richer compost of human history and habitation that suggests more than just waste" Peter Ireland in catalogue accompanying the exhibition "Round & About Wanganui: 72 Photographic Studies by Andrew Ross". Published by Sarjeant Art Gallery in 2010. Pg 3.

The Lamb Hill property was originally part of a 400 hectare property that was
later divided into four farms – Lamb Hill, Thorn Hill, Fern Hill and Overletham.
The block at first belonged to Dr. James Allison, who emigrated from Glasgow to
New Zealand in 1840 with his brother Joseph. Dr. Allison named the property
Lamb Hill after a farm near his old family home in Scotland.
In 1844, Dr. Allison married Georgianna Gilfillan (who had just turned 15), the
daughter of a Scottish settler, John Alexander Gilfillan, who with his very large
young family had taken up land in the nearby Matarawa Valley. Despite Allison’s
apparent wealth, when they were subsequently visited by Rev. Richard Taylor,
who had conducted their wedding amidst Wanganui’s social elite, he found the
couple living in what he described as a hovel. (This was an earth-floored whare,
similar to other first homes built on settlers’ farms. He soon built a 11/2 story
cottage in a valley a few hundred metres north of the current house, beside a
reliable stream. JG)
In their 1979 book, Wanganui: Buildings of Historic Interest, Des Bovey
and Kathleen McDonald stated that the present Lamb Hill homestead was built
by Alexander Allison in either 1870-71 according to his second son Archie
Allison, or in the late 1880s according to other members of the family. Bovey &
McDonald state that stylistically it could date from anytime in that period, having
the recognised features of early colonial houses. (Local consensus suggests
1880. Photograph from 1883 exists. JG)
Bovey & McDonald wrote that: “To step into the Lamb Hill homestead today is
almost to enter another world for the owners, the Sutherland family, have kept
the house in its original style and furnishings for nearly ninety years. Everything
has been in continuous use throughout the years and nothing has been
replaced simply to suit changes in fashions. The result is a house that has
retained its own true setting of Victoriana. The house stands on gently sloping
land in a peaceful rural setting a few kilometres inland from the main south
highway, which in turn is sixteen kilometres from the city of Wanganui.”
The house’s studs (joists? JG) are of matai and came from the previous house
on the property that had been built by Doctor James Allison (father of
Alexander) on the same spot and exactly the same in every respect. The current
house is thus a replica of the c1856 house.
- extracts from https://data.whanganui.govt.nz/wdc/HeritageSheets/110.pdf