Queenwood

Statement of Significance

Queenwood is the remaining acreage of the original 10,000 acre lease on the Preston River. It is one of the early homesteads in the Preston Valley and illustrates the development of orcharding and other farming techniques of the district.

Physical Description

Queenwood is a timber framed building with a hipped and gabled corrugated iron roof. The place was substantially modified in the early 2000s when a great deal of fabric was replaced, such as cladding with cement boards and old windows with new aluminium. The external form of the original buildings is still legible and internally some features such as floorboards remain.

History

Queenwood’, which gave its name to the district, was part of 10,000 acres at Preston River W. J. Wood, of Donnywongup, leased from 1851. Mrs. Alicia Keall believes ‘Queenwood’, ‘Tanglewood’ and ‘Inglewood’ were named by Mrs. Matthews, whose homestead (extant) at ‘Queenwood’ was built re-using timber from mill housing, possibly either J. C. Port’s No. 2 Siding (1895) or Preston Jarrah Saw & Moulding Mills larger mill (1898), which closed in c. 1900. Mrs. Matthews, who had a shop on the rear verandah and delivered cheese and fresh produce to the timber camps, sold ‘Queenwood’ to J. J. Lyons, reputedly the first settler to establish a commercial orchard at the Preston. In 1897, he and Tom Walter planted ‘a fine young orchard’ at ‘Louden’ (Lowden), and a second in 1898, to specialise in apples and pears. Under Lyons, ‘Queenwood’, was a mixed farm with special attention given to fruit growing, and it became very well known for apples. In 1906, his ‘pretty and comfortable homestead’ hosted a reception and lunch when Premier C. H. Rason visited the district. Some of Lyons’ Jonathan apples were in early shipments of apples to London. He grew numerous varieties of apples successfully that were specially noted at Agricultural Shows in Perth. In 1908, Donnybrook-Upper Preston railway opened to Sexton’s Mill No. 5 Siding and was extended to Boyup Brook in 1909, enabling rail transport for fruit and timber, and loading platforms were constructed at Queenwood and Noggerup in 1911. When they were demolished, Alicia Keall requested the railway sign and affixed it to the gate to ‘Queenwood’.
In 1920, the Keall family acquired ‘Queenwood’, and continued it as a mixed farm, with hay, pigs and cattle, and fruit, particularly apples and pears. Mrs. Keall was very active in the Country Women’s Association (CWA) and hosted events at ‘Queenwood’, e.g. an American tea in 1927, when she was president of the local branch.
In the 1970s-80s, a number of metal sheds were erected at ‘Queenwood’. In 1975, a games room and garage were added to the homestead, which was re-roofed in the late 1990s. By 2011, the timber barn was disused and in poor condition, and it was dismantled. The dairy has been restored. The homestead has been almost entirely re-clad and some rooms re-configured. In 2012, the Kealls live and work at ‘Queenwood’, producing apples and pears commercially, and with some beef cattle.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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