Incredible Iandra ... the castle is a fascinating oddity in the western NSW wheat fields.Credit: Ben Stubbs
Ben Stubbs finds a fairytale castle with 54 rooms in the most unlikely place.
There is a dizzying sameness to the dun-coloured plains of western NSW. As we head into farming country, the monotony of the drive is unrelenting: wheat field, sheep, wheat field, sheep, tractor and more sheep. Passing through Greenethorpe, I remark to my travelling companion, Ben Grant, that it's no wonder there are so many ''Stop, Revive, Survive'' stations around here.
Fed up with my ''are we there yet?'' chanting, he promises there's a surprise ahead. Grant grew up in the region and knows its secrets. He turns left at Iandra Road in a puff of dust. At first the bucolic landscape is identical, then Grant points straight ahead and for a moment I'm speechless. Among the canola fields is a castle with turrets, a tower and the kind of sweeping arches you'd expect to see in Transylvania.
We pull in beside the stables where Rod Kershaw, who manages the 500-hectare farm surrounding the property, meets us. The castle is open to the public once a month and today he'll take us on a tour. He shows us to the former servants' quarters for a cuppa before we begin.
As cakes and tea are served we meet Margaret Morris, who bought the castle with her late husband, David, 35 years ago. While we help ourselves to the bikkies, Morris and Kershaw take turns explaining the property's history.
Iandra's past is laced with eccentric characters. Its founder, the Irish entrepreneur George Greene, bought 13,500 hectares in 1878 and began to build his fairytale castle on the plains outside Greenethorpe. Greene is famous within the region for introducing the notion of share-farming, where he leased out his fields to farmers and shared the profits of the harvest.
It is said that ''Greene found Iandra a forest and left it a granary'' and there's no doubt that his influence has left an indelible mark on the region.
After Greene's death in 1911, the castle became a home for delinquent children for a time and was sold to the Morris family in 1975. They began its restoration.
Kershaw ushers us into the castle through the servant's entrance. It is like something from a game of Cluedo; we walk beneath huge stained-glass windows, sweeping oak balustrades and rifles mounted on the walls. I look out through one of the windows and see the curious sight of a windsock billowing in the wind outside.
Kershaw explains that David Morris used to fly his small plane to the castle every week from Rylstone, 250 kilometres away.
We climb the broad staircases and wander along corridors festooned with spiders' webs. After exploring just a few of the 54 rooms in the castle, I happily take a seat in the cigar room. I run my hand along the oak mantelpiece, imagining the lives of the moustached dignitaries who would have puffed on cigars and swilled brandy in these chairs more than 100 years ago.
Kershaw eventually finds Grant and I counting the bathrooms of the castle and rattles his keys, pointing skywards. Iandra Castle is 24 metres high and through a maze of hallways and antechambers we find the entrance to the tower. Although it's normally off-limits to visitors, we're given a special tour.
We wind up through a dark passageway and come out on the landing at the top. To our right we can see the flat expanse that once served as a runway, the outbuildings scattered around Iandra's gardens and, in the distance, the terracotta-veined cliffs of the Weddin Mountains. We gaze upon the endless acres in the kingdom of Greene.
The wind picks up and we descend. I notice details on the way back that I overlooked at first glance: the four-poster beds, porcelain wash bowls, portraits and fireplaces still maintained for visitors. Margaret Morris sits near the entrance as we come down the stairs. She's knitting a beanie from Iandra's wool and she smiles with pride when I compliment her castle.
We leave Iandra and hit the bitumen again. The fantasy of Iandra is a welcome oddity in this flat farming landscape. I gaze out the window: sheep, canola field, sheep, gigantic castle in the middle of nowhere and more sheep.
Ben Stubbs travelled courtesy of Tourism NSW.
FAST FACTS
Getting there
Iandra Castle is 3½ kilometres from Greenethorpe along Iandra Road. Travelling by car from Sydney, Iandra Castle is a five-hour, 345-kilometre drive through Lithgow, Bathurst and Cowra.
Tours of Iandra Castle cost $10 for adults. Private tours can be arranged for groups. Phone 6383 9241, see www.grenfell.org.au/iandra.
Staying there
Cowra, 40 kilometres from Iandra, has a good range of accommodation. Self-contained apartments at 131 Kendal Street cost from $95 a night. Phone 0447 594 840.
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