HOLLIS PARK

Physical Description

The area known as Hollis Park comprises an area of approximately 9.27 hectares. The majority of the area is currently fenced due to the land being contaminated from its former use as a rubbish tip; therefore the whole site was not inspected in 2014 for this assessment.

Within Hollis Park areas of vegetation, grass and sand dunes are apparent, as well as some areas sparsely populated with new tree growth. Around the perimeter of the fencing there are areas of sand which show evidence (hoof prints) of ongoing use by horses.

History

The first official race was held on 2nd October 1833 at ‘The Downs’ in South Fremantle. This area is now known as South Beach Horse Exercise Area.

The site of the colony’s first horse race had been carefully chosen. Newspaper reports record that the race course had ‘long been fixed upon as an appropriate site’. Located a mile and a half south of Fremantle, the beach course was overlooked by dunes which provided spectators a suitable place to enjoy a full view of the race.

Beach training depended upon the weather and the tides and, when possible, the horses might be worked at the beach both morning and afternoon, and sometimes even by moonlight. When the tide was out, there was sufficient area for the horses to gallop five or more abreast. When the beach was unsuitable, local trainers worked their horses in the dunes area, such as the area to the north east of the beach known as Hollis Park, which was also used for slow work and for horse-breaking. Numerous paths were established through the sand hills leading down to South Beach Horse Exercise Area, and also ‘up to a dozen informal tracks for distance work’. Each morning, horses were walked to the beach, which became a hive of activity as Fremantle trainers exercised, galloped and swam their horses. Delivery horses, which were used by many businesses, were often taken to the beach on Sundays for a swim and exercise.

Increased development in the 1920s and 1930s meant that the exercise beach became more isolated from the nearby horse stables. The tracks and path ways traditionally used by the horse trainers to the beach from the stables became fewer as new construction in-filled previously vacant areas. In 1931 the area to the northeast of the beach, known as Hollis Park, ceased being used for horse breaking and the area was used (until 1959) as a rubbish tip.

In the 1950s and 1960s, further development occurred in the South Fremantle/Cockburn area, including the construction of South Fremantle Power Station in 1951 to the south of South Beach Horse Exercise Area. Residential development led to the introduction of by-laws to regulate the proximity of horse stables to a minimum of 50 ft from dwellings. By the 1970s, this by-law was rigorously enforced and the number of horses using South Beach Horse Exercise Area decreased as those remaining stables in the Fremantle area were closed and trainers were forced to shift farther south to Kwinana. Those stables which continued to operate in the South Fremantle/Cockburn area still used South Beach Horse Exercise Area for exercising, training and horse-breaking.

The dismantling of Robb Jetty following a fire in 1975, closure of South Fremantle Power Station in 1985, and the demolition of the Robb Jetty Abattoir in 1995 marked the end of South Fremantle/Cockburn as primarily an industrial-use area, and a move towards mixed use urban development. Increasing urban development meant that by the 1990s the number of horses regularly using the horse beach for exercise had reduced to just fifty, with some travelling from stables outside of the South Fremantle/Cockburn area.

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Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.