Vancouver Spring

Statement of Significance

Kep Mardjit/Vancouver Spring and Dam, located at Toondarrup/Frenchman Bay, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: The place has cultural significance to the Menang Noongar as the water source of the Mardjit – the ancestral creative snake; The freshwater spring has historical significance predating European settlement and with recorded usage since 1791; The dam and pumphouse combined with the spring are evidence of the important service of providing fresh water to steam ships entering Albany Port in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Refer also Frenchman Bay Whaling Station ruins Place No. 16612

Physical Description

Note: The dam is located about 25m upslope from the Kep Mardjit/Vancouver Spring discharge on the beach. Some of the notable features of this place include: • Three granite roughly formed rocks with plaque attached mark the spot of the springs exit from the scrub next to the beach. • Timber-lined long/narrow dam • Small corrugated iron pumphouse

History

Captain George Vancouver visited, named and claimed for England, King George Sound on 29 September 1791. Vancouver and his crew from the Sloop-of War Discovery were in need of fresh water and were successful in finding Kep Mardjit a freshwater spring in Toondarrup/Frenchmen’s Bay. In 1827, Louis de Sainson painted a meeting at the spring between local Aboriginal people and the sailors of the Astrolabe while the latter collected water. In c1851, the P&O Company built the first dam connecting to the Kep Mardjit/Vancouver Spring to supply water for their mailboats. Later, the American whalers, who operated off the south coast in the 1880s, also watered their ships at the spring. This dam was formed using vertical timber supports with horizontal timber logs in between. Water was carried from the dam to the beach and out to the steamers by 500 ton water “Lighters”. In the 1860s and 1870s, a wooden trough carried the water to the beach. Although the site was marked as a watering place in the 1870s it was not officially gazetted as such until 1893, when it became Reserve 2295 as a watering place for travellers and stock. The first version of Vancouver Dam is thought to have been constructed in 1851 coinciding with the arrival of the first steamers. The Peninsular & Orient Company (P & O) had won the sea-mail contract across southern Australia. The company operated a fleet of steam-sailing ships that relied on pure water for the ships’ boilers. Water with mineral contaminants would corrode the boilers. In order to supply the water requirements of their fleet, P & O built a dam above Vancouver Spring to form a reservoir with a reliable and sustainable supply. Lighters would fill up with fresh water and convey it to the steamers anchored in the Sound. From about 1890 to 1902, Albany was sometimes unable to meet shipping demands for water. As a result, in 1902 Armstrong and Sons upgraded the construction of Vancouver Dam (to more or less its present configuration) and constructed a jetty at the beach. In 1900, Captain Alex Armstrong and his partner, Walters (Armstrong Walters Co. and later Armstrong and Sons) leased from the Road Board two acres of the spring reserve which included the dam to provide water for the steamers calling in at Albany port. They also utilised the P&O water Lighters. From 1890, pressure on the water supply from increased shipping (particularly owing to the advent of the Boer War) had grown to a point that the dam had to be upgraded which was carried out by Armstrong in 1902. The spring discharge area on the hillside above the beach was excavated to form a sump and a water supply pond and a pump house erected adjacent. From 1912 to 1915, the Norwegian-owned Spermacet Whaling Company operated a whaling station at Whalers Beach and used Vancouver Dam for both a potable and process water supply – by installing a pipeline along the beach from the dam to various areas of the whaling station. Mr. Armstrong was the Mayor of Albany and had a contract to supply water from Vancouver Dam to the Town of Albany and various types of shipping (including Boer War transports). A map dated 1912 made by the Albany District Surveyor’s Office shows the upgraded dam and also a 200 foot jetty from the dam to the head of the jetty constructed by Armstrong. By 1914, the Albany Water Scheme was built and now servicing the townsite and Albany’s water supply had improved, thereby reducing the demand on the Toondarrup/Frenchman Bay reservoir which was only occasionally required. However, from the 1920s to 1940s, the water was again drawn on by the Frenchman Bay Tearooms and Hostel. On 1 October 1963, in the presence of 150 people and after much research to establish the location where Captain George Vancouver had watered his ships, Discovery and Chatham in September 1791, the Albany Historical Society (AHS) erected the first Notch Weir Memorial at Kep Mardjit the site of the spring at Toondarrup/Frenchman Bay. In 1991, Les Douglas conducted an inspection of the dam: The dam cannot be more than five or so metres above the level of the beach…There is a small corrugated iron pumphouse on the left shoreward side, housing an engine... giving the name on the inside wall of Bates & Co. The stream discharges just next to this and again further along the dam... The dam itself is long and narrow....The stream enters at the north end, and there are two or more wooden barriers across the dam, and a pipe running across it from the pumphouse...The sides are lined with wood...[that] looks only forty or so years old, but may be older. The pipes have been replaced. [refer HCWA assessment p. 19] The memorial was damaged in a storm and on 11 December 1982 a new plaque was erected by the AHS, and again in 2004 after storms again damaged the memorial. The current wording on the plaque reads: This spring was charted by Captain George Vancouver in September 1791 It has been used ever since as a source of fresh water by explorers and seafarers, local residents and visitors. 16 March 2004 City of Albany

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Authenticity: Moderate

Condition

Fair

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update