Mundaring Weir Hall

Statement of Significance

Mundaring Weir Gallery, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: the place is a reminder of the once thriving community that formerly existed at Mundaring Weir; the place has historical associations with the Goldfields pipeline and Fred Jacoby; the place is historically associated with the Mechanics' Institute movement; the place is held in high esteem by the people of Mundaring and Mundaring Weir; and, the place is representative of the type of building constructed by local community groups to service as their Institute Hall.

Physical Description

Mundaring Weir Gallery is a single storey brick and iron building completed in 1908 as a Mechanics Institute for the community of Mundaring Weir. The building sits on-a sloping site which has been terraced at the front to provide parking. Two terraces are also-located on the north eastern side of the building and were formerly the location of two tennis courts. The building has a simple rectangular form and stylistically could be termed as a fairly plain version of Federation Arts and Crafts. The brick walls, laid in English bond, sit on an undressed stone foundation which is approximately 30cm above ground at the front, gradually increasing in height towards the rear of the building. The stone used is local granite. Above the stone foundation are three courses of brickwork which form a plinth for the brick walls which rise above. The gable roof is clad with Zincalume and there are no gutters. Stylistically, the Arts and Crafts elements are to be found on the front wall. The apex of this wall is decorated with pebble dash into which has been set three narrow, rectangular ventilation louvres. The front facade has a centrally located entrance with a fanlight above a pair of sheeted, ledged and braced double doors. A new yale lock has been fitted to one door. The original, metal door knob has been retained. On either side of the door are fixed, timber framed windows with three panes and fanlights. The door and window openings feature brick arches with a metal arch band. A marble foundation stone is fixed just below the window on the western side of the front facade. The stone records the following details: This stone was laid _by the Hon. James Price MLA Minister for Works 9th May 1908. Committee: H. Ball, Chairman, A.G. Eggleton, Fred W. Jacoby, E.S.A. Willis Hon. Sec. The rear wall is timber framed and clad with painted, sheets of corrugated galvanised iron. These sheets were probably placed here sometime after 1965 when the rear toilet section was demolished. The exact date of this demolition is not known. As this side is half a storey higher than the front, a storage area has been created beneath the floor area. The iron cladding covers this wall to floor height. Below this cladding the wall is undressed stone. A pair of ledged and sheeted doors are located at the western end of this wall, at floor height and a staircase" leads down to ground level. These stairs have a pipe balustrade and timber treads. _A pair of double doors is centrally located in the stone section of the wall providing access to an under floor storage area. The opening is faced with brickwork. The two side walls are identical. Three windows are evenly spaced along the walls. The windows are the same style as those found in the front elevation. Wall vents have been placed between the windows and under floor ventilators are located at intervals, down both sides of the brickwork, above the stone foundation. The south west wall has several long cracks which run down the wall from the centre of the southern and central windows. The brick arches above both these windows also show evidence of past movement. Without the benefit of monitoring it is not possible to determine if movement is still occurring in this wall. The north easier wall shows no evidence of movement. The interior of the hall is basically a rectangular open space. The timber floor is covered with carpet. The ceiling is plasterboard with the gaps between the sheets covered with plastic cover strips. The rear wall is clad with painted,tongued and grooved boards (laid underside up). Timber picture rails have been fitted around the walls however, these are not original. The current fittings are all modern and the shelving which is used to display craft items are free-standing and could be easily removed.

History

Assessment 2001 Construction 1908 Builder: Mr Jordan The locality around present day Mundaring Weir was first settled in 1882 by Walter Jecks who owned the Rose and Crown in Guildford. Jecks established a vineyard and orchard on his land which lay to the north east of the dam site in an area known toady as Jacoby Park. Jecks was soon joined by both his brothers Thomas and John Allpike who managed Padbury’s Guildford stores. In 1883 F.W. Byfield occupies occupied Swan Loc. 1324 slightly to the east of the dam site. The discovery of gold around Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie in the 1890s, led to a large influx of people into what was a comparatively arid area. An additional factor to this equation was the development of the Eastern Railway which while providing access to the goldfields, also required large quantities of water to run the steam locomotives. A solution to the problem of a lack of water to this area was provided by C.Y O'Connor (Chief Engineer in the Department of Public Works) in 1895. O'Connor proposed constructing a pipeline from the Perth area out to the eastern goldfields. The Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply Scheme came into being in 1896 and a location on the Helena River was chosen as a dam site. A spur line from the Eastern Railway line to the reservoir site was the first requirement and this was completed in June 1898.6 The pipeline was officially opened on 22 January 1903 by Lady Forrest. Housing was provided for the employees who operated the No. 1 Pumping Station and the nearby No. 2 Pumping Station (O'Connor) and a small community sprang up around the Mundaring Weir Hotel which had been established by the Jacoby brothers (Mathieson and Frederick), in 1898. In 1906, members of this community fanned a committee to raise funds for the construction of a Mechanics' Institute building. The members of the committee included Harry Ball, A. Eggleston, (engineer in charge of the No 1 Pumping Station), Fred Jacoby (the hotel owner) and Eli Will is (the local school master). Over a period of two years the committee raised the sum of £70 and were successful m receiving a subsidy of £203 from the government. The hall was constructed by Mr Jordan of Parkerville. The final cost of the building was £308. The Weir Gallery was officially opened on the 9 May 1908 by Mr Price, Minister for Works. The building proved to be a popular venue with the local community and at some stage (possibly the 1920s), two tennis courts were constructed on the north east side of the building. During the 1920s and 1930s, large numbers of tourists flocked to the Weir to enjoy the picnic grounds. The popularity of the Weir as a tourist destination declined during the Depression years13 and in 1936, the Secretary of the Mechanics' Institute wrote to the Mundaring Road Board requesting assistance in making repairs to the hall.14 It is not known if this was forthcoming. During the 1950s; the population at Mundaring Weir declined when the steam engines at the No. 1 pumping station were replaced with electric engines and No. 2 pumping station was decommissioned. By the 1960s, Mundaring Weir Gallery had fallen into disrepair and in March 1965 a Health Inspector sent a letter to the Shire o fMundaring noting that the rear portion of the hall, which housed the toilets, was riddled with termites and was in danger of collapse. At this stage the Shire of Mundaring was not willing to take on the up-keep of the hall. It is not known if the tennis courts were still in use at this time. The building ceased to be used by the Mechanics' Institute in November 1968. In 1971, Mundaring Weir Gallery was vested with the Shire of Mundarmg.During the 1970s the building was used as a local art gallery. In January 1973, the Art Co-Op Group arranged to lease the building from the Shire. Mundaring Weir Gallery was placed on the National Trust of Australia's (WA) Recorded list in August 1978. The photograph taken at the time of the assessment shows the building much as it appears today with the exception that the original corrugated galvanised roof was still in place.21 It is not known when the roof was re-clad with Zincalume sheeting. Today the hall is leased from the Shire of Mundaring by the Eastern Hills Arts and Crafts Inc.22 This is the same group as the Art Co-op. The craft group display and sell local arts and crafts to tourists and maintain the building.

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Historic Themes

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