Jarrahdale Townsite & Heritage Park

Child Places

• 17808 CALM Houses
• 17287 Jarrahdale Heritage Park
• 08492 Buckland's Cottage
• 02362 St Paul's Anglican Church
• 08611 Jarrahdale General Store
• 08630 Jarrahdale Cemetery
• 08628 Jarrahdale School
• 08491 Jarrahdale Tavern
• 08622 Six Mill Houses
• 08489 St Maria Goretti Catholic Church

Statement of Significance

Jarrahdale Townsite Heritage Area has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• The place was the centre of Western Australia’s largest timber concession established in the 1870s during the colonial era.
• The place has associations with the individuals and groups who established timber as one of Western Australia’s chief exports in the colonial era and into the twentieth century including Govenor F.A. Weld, William Wanliss (and the Wanliss Company), The Rockingham Jarrah Timber Company, Neil McNeil (and the Neil McNeil Company), Rockingham Railways and Jarrah Forests Company, Jarrahdale Jarrah Forests and Railways Ltd (and its successors: Millars’ Timber and Trading Company Ltd and Millars Australia Pty Ltd) Bunnings Ltd, and the managers, sawyers, workers and their families.
• The place was the site of and contains surviving evidence of the physical apparatus of a
nineteenth century timber milling company town and community including mills, housing
(accommodating management, workers, their families and single working men), railways and post office.
• The place is a precinct characterised by a homogeneity of materials (namely timber, timber weatherboard and corrugated iron) and forms.
• The place’s setting (the proximity of which to the timber resource reinforces its historic
significance and the picturesque qualities in the Cooralong valley) contributes to Jarrahdale’s sense of place.
• The place is valued as a home to a community established parallel to the timber industry in the 1870s some of whom also have strong direct and familial associations with the workings of the Jarrahdale mills throughout the twentieth century.

Physical Description

The Jarrahdale Townsite Heritage Area is generally bounded to the north by Nettleton Road, extending east from the intersection with Jarrahdale Road to Millars Road and including Jarrahdale Oval.
Generally bounded to the east by Millars Road and Kingsbury Drive and includes the built areas of 745 Jarrahdale Road.
Bounded to the south by a line from Kingsbury Drive extending west to Cousens Street and including parts of No. 1 Forest Avenue, No. 143 Balmoral Road and No. 12 Cousens Street. Bounded to the west generally by Jarrahdale Road, including part of Lots to the west of Jarrahdale Road, and extending north to Whittnish Cottage, No. 528 Jarrahdale Road.
The following statement is sourced from the National Trust of Australia (WA) Historic Places Assessment Form for the Jarrahdale Townsite (Precinct) prepared on 7 April 1997:
The main area of Jarrahdale sits on a north facing slope leading to Gooralong Brook. The brook and its tributaries are at physical and historical heart of the town. Basically, running east to west through the townsite, the brook, in its naturally overgrown state, is the visual focus of the town. The town looks across the brook to the steepish undisturbed hillside on the northern side of the valley, much of which is State Forest. Containment of the vistas in and around the town by the topographical and landscape elements is an important characteristic of the town.
The areas contain buildings, structures and landscape elements from when the first timber mill opened in 1872.

History

A timber mill at Jarrahdale first opened in 1872. Negotiations to commence sawmilling had
commenced c.1870 with the Wanliss brothers and other partners seeking permission from the government. A lease of 250,000 acres was granted on the condition that a sawmill was constructed as well as a jetty at Mangles Bay (Rockingham). Provision of a railway line between the sawmill and jetty was also a condition of the lease.
The original partnership lasted only around a year before the ‘Rockingham Jarrah Company’ was established in 1871. Another new owner was in place by 1874 and by 1889 it was owned by Neil McNeil. There have been many owners of the mill.
The construction of the Bunbury to Perth railway around 1894 had a substantial impact on the Jarrahdale mill and a huge period of expansion followed. Four new mills were built between 1893 and 1899. There were 300 men employed at the mill in 1899.
A Post Office was constructed in 1896 and is still extant in 2022.
A report by then company director James Martin in 1899 included a detailed description of the town:
The Jarrahdale Township is pleasantly situated six miles from Jarrahdale Junction and 600 feet above sea level. No. 1 mill, with the engineers’, fitters’, blacksmiths’ and wheelwrights’ shops, stores, and offices, are in the valley.
The Township is built on two slopes: a nice clear stream of water runs through the valley. There are three Churches – Wesleyan, Church of England, and Roman Catholic, the two former having resident clergymen, the last visiting clergy. There is a State School, good Post and Telegraph Office and Savings Bank, Hotel, and small Public Hall and library and a large Hall with Stage, where entertainments are occasionally given. There is also a Police Station and Court House for the district, a Hospital and resident Doctor.
The whole property in the place, except for one house, either belongs to, or is under the control of, the Company.
Taking the whole of the Stations there are six State Schools, and a total population of about 1,200 souls, all depending upon Company’s employment for their support.
In the valley at Jarrahdale the Company has a well-developed and well-watered orchard and kitchen garden, where fruits and vegetables are grown in profusion and sold to the workpeople.
Martin also noted in his 1899 report that there were six mills in operation: No. 1 and No. 2 employed 32 men respectively, No. 3 employed 20 men, No. 4 and No. 5 employed around 20 men and utilised around 20 horses respectively and No. 6 was under construction at Big Brook. There have been many fires of the years, often resulting in several mill buildings being reconstructed.
Millars took over the mill in 1902. The mill remained open during World War One. The 40 year timber concession ended in 1929. After this date the company was required to pay timber royalty payments.
The West Australian Government Railways took over some of the original railway lines in the 1960s and the lines were used to convey bauxite ore to the refinery at Kwinana thus renewing the connection between Jarrahdale and the Rockingham jetties once more.
Milling continued and another mill was constructed in 1967-1968.
Millars sold to Bunning Brothers in 1993. Bunnings closed the mill in 1997. The National Trust of Australia (WA) classified Jarrahdale townsite in 1997

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium/High

Condition

Good

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.