Wallal Downs Station Group

Statement of Significance

Wallal Downs Station Group comprising the limestone, weatherboard and iron Homestead (1900, 1929), Cottage (former Married Quarters) (c. 1952), three Stone Water Tanks (1922) and a stone Aqueduct (1922) as well as archaeological remnants associated with earlier stone buildings and single quarters (c.1900, 1920), has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • The place was a site of an internationally important scientific expedition to observe the 1922 total solar eclipse. The data recorded from the site was at the time the most accurate measured and was pivotal in confirming Albert Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity. • Some of the buildings and ruins on site were built by a successful syndicate of World War I ex-servicemen as part of the Solider Settlement Scheme. • The place reflects the fear of Japanese invasion during World War II, particularly in the isolated north-west. • The place hosted Dutch refugees who landed in Dornier Flying Boast at Eighty Mile Beach having fled the Japanese invasion of Java. • The place has potential to contain archaeological deposits or artefacts that can provide information that can contribute to understanding of rural life during the 19th century. • The place was home to many Nyangumarta people who lived and worked at the Station over many years and has social value for their families and descendants for whom the station is located on Native Title land. • The place is a representative example of the transition of pastoral stations from running sheep to cattle in the state’s north west during the mid-twentieth century.

Physical Description

Wallal Downs Station comprises the homestead &outbuildings including stone water tanks. The buildings are mostly limestone constructions with the use of some coral rock. The roofs are corrugated iron.

History

Wallal Downs Station was the first land taken up on the 80-mile beach, with a lease issued about 1900 to Piper and Galbraith. They were joined in partnership by Charles Somerset of Pardoo, who bought them out in 1910. In the 1920s, a syndicate of ten returned soldiers acquired the property under the Soldier Settlement Scheme. The active partners in the group were the two Lacey brothers and Reg King who were responsible for the early stone buildings, including the stone section of the residence, the shearers' kitchen-dining room and two of the tanks. In 1973, following the death of Reg King, the remaining members of the syndicate sold the property.

Integrity/Authenticity

Moderate

Condition

The main Homestead building and other residential buildings are in good condition. The Aqueduct and Stone Water Tanks are in sound condition, with some repair works undertaken to cracking. A number of buildings have been completely destroyed due to cyclone damage.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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