Ellensbrook

Statement of Significance

The 2002 Conservation Plan for Ellensbrook found that it is of exceptional significance because:
• The place is an excellent and rare representative example of original settlement in the Margaret River district and with the pioneering development of dairy farming and sheep and cattle grazing in the Augusta-Margaret River area in the colonial period;
• The place has association with the Bussell family, and other pioneer settlers at Augusta and Busselton;
• The place reflects pioneer building techniques and the use of local materials;
• The place has association with the pioneering development of tourism in the Augusta-Yallingup area;
• The place demonstrates changing land-uses from pre-settlement to the present time as well as the application of changing government policy and land regulations in the 19th and 20th centuries;
• The place demonstrates the functions and processes of natural physical systems and for specific features which include: the coastal dunes; caves and waterfall; geologic formations of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge; Ellen Brook indigenous flora and fauna;
• The place is significant as a cultural landscape which demonstrates the successive impacts of Aboriginal and white settlement on the natural environment;
• The place has Aboriginal associations which include the archaeological site; Meekadarribee legend; waterfall and cave; Aboriginal people linked with building and working on Ellensbrook and Ellensbrook Farm Home for Aboriginal children.

Physical Description

The following description is an extract from the Heritage Council’s assessment documentation for the place:
Comprises: a single storey vernacular style homestead constructed of local materials including field granite, locally quarried limestone, paperbark, hand-split timber slabs, driftwood and a timber roof beam from the rig of a small ship, located in a grassed clearing alongside Ellen Brook in a natural bush setting behind the coastal dune system, and including a family grave site (1850s-1860s), stone dam wall, flume and waterwheel (1950s), remnant Tea Tree hedge (Leptospermum laevigatum) (date unknown) [destroyed by bushfire in November 2011], Mulberry tree (Morus sp.) (date unknown) and 1950s plantings of Moreton Bay Fig (Ficus macrophylla), Norfolk Island Pine (Araucaria excelsa), Flame Tree (Erythrina sp), Pepper Tree (Schinus terebinthifolia) and Hydrangeas (Hydrangea sp.) At the time of inspection (February 2012) the immediate bush setting was in the very early stages of recovery from a major bushfire.

History

Ellensbrook is a small cluster of wattle and daub buildings built for Alfred and Ellen Bussell. Construction began in 1855 when the Bussells had left their home in the Vasse to settle near the Margaret River on a 10 acre land grant given to Alfred. They chose a site, close to the sea, which had a brook (Ellen Brook) running through the property. This is where the new house was located. Driftwood was used as a ridge beam and rough bush poles and paperbark were used to create a framework for the house which was later sealed with a special type of plaster. With the help of the local Aboriginals they created a plaster by burning limestone from nearby dunes.Ellen established a dairy and a garden at their home, and there were also crops of potatoes and other vegetables, oats, barley and wheat. As the years passed, Ellensbrook grew as the family grew. The additions to the house took on an L-shape, following the contours of the land.In the early years at Ellensbrook, until they were able to grow their own crops successfully, life was not easy for the Bussells. They were isolated and supplies were short and expensive. Ellen was often left alone with the children, especially as Alfred kept adding to his property and had to erect many miles of post and rail fence, as well as bridges. By 1858, the Bussells had outgrown Ellensbrook and had to look for other land upon which to build a new home. This new home was known as Wallcliffe (Pace # PR-02).In addition to the house, the Ellensbrook property also holds a gravesite in Ellen’s peppermint grove where three of the Bussell’s sons were buried – Jasper, Christopher and Hugh. William Cheesewell, who was a servant of the Bussells is also buried there. There are remains of a post and rail fence which was part of the Ellensbrook original fencing south of the Cowaramup Bay turnoff.
The Noongar know the place as Mokidup, a place which had been a traditional summer camping spot for thousands of years. Just 500 metres away from the homestead is the Mika Darabi (Meekadarribee) which means ‘place where the moon rests.’ The Dreaming story goes that ‘the waterfall flowed down the hillside, past the cave, where the moon came ‘when she vanished from the sky to bathe and recover her gleaming silver in the hidden store within the cavern.’ The cave is home to Aboriginal spirits of Mitanne and Nobel, lovers who are reunited and the waterfall ‘echoes their laughter.’
After Alfred and his family moved from Ellensbrook to Wallcliffe the property was taken over by his sisters Fanny and Edith. In 1898 Edith established an Aboriginal Mission on the property, the ‘Ellensbrook Farm Home for Aboriginal Children.’’ Noongar people were allowed to stay and work on the property in return for food and shelter. The mission operated until 1917. To the Noongar Ellensbrook stands as a ghost house, representing the pain suffered by their people.Ellensbrook continued to be owned and mostly occupied by direct descendents of the Bussell family until 1956, including Frances (Fanny) Brockman, Edith Bussell, and Lennox and Frances Terry.In 1979 the homestead was donated to the National Trust and since then major restoration works have taken place.
In 1992 Ellensbrook Farmhouse, Dam and Waterfall (0115) were added onto the Heritage Council of Western Australia’s Register of Heritage Place (Interim Status).
As at 2012 the place is a National Trust managed property, open to the public.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium: The use has been altered, but the original use is still clearly evident through interpretation of the fabric.
High: The original/significant fabric is largely intact.

Condition

Good *Assessed from streetscape survey only

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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.