Local Government
Kalamunda
Region
Metropolitan
18 Kalamunda Rd Kalamunda
Kalamunda
Metropolitan
Constructed from 1881
Type | Status | Date | Documents | More information |
---|---|---|---|---|
State Register | Registered | 18 Mar 2005 |
Register Entry Assessment Documentation |
Heritage Council |
Type | Status | Date | Documents |
---|---|---|---|
(no listings) |
Type | Status | Date | Grading/Management | More information | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | Description | ||||
Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 01 Aug 2013 | Category 1 |
Category 1 |
|
Register of the National Estate | Permanent | 21 Mar 1978 |
|
Heritage Council | |
Classified by the National Trust | Classified | 07 Dec 1970 |
|
Heritage Council |
Single storey cottage of simple rectangular plan form. The property is constructed utilising traditional construction methods of wattle and daub painted externally with a white lime wash. Hipped roof form clad with corrugated galvanised iron with clay brick chimney. Timber framed windows of various shapes and styles. Ledge and braced front entrance door. There is no verandah but the cottage does incorporate a raised paved area to the front with a bush timber pergola in front of the entrance door.
Early settlers, land allocation, orchards/market gardens, local heroes
Level of Integrity - High; Level of Authenticity - High
Good Frederick Stirk , his wife Elizabeth, and their young daughter, Mary Hannah, left their Yorkshire home in 1875 to emigrate to Western Australia. Frederick found work in Guildford in the timber industry and regularly travelled into the Darling Range. He was impressed with the land and c1880 acquired 15 acres in what was known as 'Second Gully' and he named 'Headingly Hill'. He and Elizabeth cleared the land and established a farm, first living in a tent then in 1881 building a simple two roomed wattle and daub cottage roofed with shingles. The cottage was added to with another wattle and daub room and later a room made from sun dried mud bricks made on the property. The Stirks had a large family of nine children all of whom worked on the farm. By the 1890s the district had begun to be more established with the completion of the railway line to Kalamunda. The Stirk family moved to another cottage nearby and the original cottage was leased to Charles Brooks the owner of the first store in the settlement. He occupied the cottage until 1903 and after that it was leased to a variety of tenants. In 1933, following Frederick Stirk's death, the property was purchased by Francis Roberts who operated a dairy from the site and leased the cottage to different tenants. His descendants sold the cottage and surrounding land to the Darling Range Roads Board in 1949 for recreational purposes. Despite some initial thoughts from the Road Board that the cottage should be demolished community pressure led to its subsequent renovation by local volunteers. The cottage maintenance and conservation has since been managed by the Kalamunda and Districts Historical Society and it was opened in 1969 as a museum. A subsequent program of conservation works was completed in 1984.
Ref ID No | Ref Name | Ref Source | Ref Date |
---|---|---|---|
ALK, p. 14; | |||
CHF, pp. 64-67,168,196-7; | |||
CFK, pp. 1 & 2, Vol.2, p.28; | |||
"Pioneering - Mrs Stirk's Memoirs" | Western Mail, | Oct 8, 1931. |
Library Id | Title | Medium | Year Of Publication |
---|---|---|---|
7727 | Stirk cottage: draft conservation plan, Kalamunda Perth, March 2006. | Heritage Study {Cons'n Plan} | 2005 |
6604 | The changing face of Kalamunda : a collection of old and new photographs. Volume 1. | Book | 1982 |
1172 | The changing face of Kalamunda : a collection of old and new photographs. Volume 2. | Book | 1987 |
Individual Building or Group
Epoch | General | Specific |
---|---|---|
Original Use | FARMING\PASTORAL | Cottage |
Present Use | EDUCATIONAL | Museum |
Style |
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Victorian Georgian |
Type | General | Specific |
---|---|---|
Wall | EARTH | Wattle and Daub |
Roof | TIMBER | Shingle |
Wall | EARTH | Adobe {Mud Brick} |
General | Specific |
---|---|
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY | Settlements |
PEOPLE | Early settlers |
OCCUPATIONS | Rural industry & market gardening |
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.