Watermark Kilns, Northcliffe

Statement of Significance

Historic, Aesthetic, Rarity and Scientific

Physical Description

Watermark Kilns, Northcliffe is a collection of former tobacco farm buildings in a farmland setting, including a framed and asbestos clad drying shed with an iron roof, framed and custom orb Colourbond clad single and twin kilns adapted for holiday accommodation with Zincalume custom orb roofs, single men’s or worker’s quarters (fmr), and a framed and asbestos clad former soldier settler’s homestead with an iron roof. These were built to standard plans as part of the development of a tobacco farm for Roy and Peg Bell, under the War Service Land Settlement Scheme in c. 1950-51. In 2000-03, the kilns and workers’ quarters have been extensively repaired and converted to farm stay accommodation by Trevor and Jeanette Hulcup. So far as possible, re-cycled materials have been employed. As the timber corner posts of the kilns had rotted off the floor plates and were sitting on the ground, with only the cladding holding the buildings up, they were jacked up and the studs and floor plates replaced as required. A new sand pad was put in and a concrete base with new floor plates bolted to it. The kiln buildings have been re-roofed, maintaining the original roof lines and the ventilation structure, with Perspex fitted in place of mesh to either side of this portion of the roof. Roof timbers were retained where possible, and also the twin ventilation slats, whose pulley mechanism was transferred from the exterior to the interior to suit the buildings’ change in use. The external corrugated iron cladding of the buildings was replaced with Colourbond of a similar gauge, and windows were fitted to each building. The former workers’ quarters were extended at either side and a veranda added to convert it to accommodation suitable for disabled access. The original fireplace was retained. In 2003, termite damage to the soldier-settler’s homestead, in particular to replacement karri beams, necessitated demolition of the fireplace and chimney, and interior stud walls and roofing timbers have been exposed for inspection and treatment to ensure removal of affected timber and eradication of the termites. In 2004, the Hulcups applied for a grant under the Heritage Grants Program 2004/05 to restore the drying/grading shed, which retained the grading bench and some of the original wall lining. The stumps have been rotting at ground level, causing the floor to slump; the interior lining has deteriorated and sections have been falling; some windows require re-glazing and window frames require replacement or repair. Subsequent to its restoration, they propose utilizing the drying shed for interpretive purposes. At some future date, they would also like to renovate the homestead so that future visitors may see the group of buildings which formed a typical War Service Land Settlement Scheme tobacco farm.

History

These historical notes have been taken directly from the Documentary Evidence prepared by HCWA in the Register of Heritage Places Assessment 31 January 2005. The kilns were built to standard plans as part of the development of a tobacco farm for Roy and Peg Bell, under the War Service Land Settlement Scheme in c. 1950-51. In 2000-03, the kilns and workers’ quarters have been extensively repaired and converted to farm stay accommodation by Trevor and Jeanette Hulcup. In the early 1850s, tobacco was first cultivated in the eastern colonies of Australia. In 1854, it was suggested that tobacco be cultivated in Western Australia. In 1860-62, Ralph Mews experimented with tobacco growing, and Bishop Salvado grew a crop at Victoria Plains in the early 1860s, but concluded that the high rate of tax on tobacco precluded a profitable industry. In 1863, James Morgan’s efforts at Avon Valley also came to naught. In the 1860s, the Muirs grew tobacco at Deeside, in the Warren district, mainly for medicinal purposes. During the American Civil War period, when imported tobacco leaf was in short supply, attempts were made to grow it at Hester, near Bridgetown, and also in New South Wales and Victoria, and it was also being grown in Queensland by 1884. In 1904, Peter Michelides (arr. 1901), who had prior experience in cigarette manufacture in Egypt, set up a tobacco manufacturing business in Murray Street, Perth, utilising tobacco imported from Turkey and Greece. Experimental plantings of tobacco by two ex-Victorian farmers at Waroona caught his interest, and led the Michelides family to experiment with tobacco crops at Waroona under the direction of an Egyptian grower whom they brought to Australia, but the soil and rainfall proved not to be suitable. In 1912, the government nursery at Hamel successfully grew tobacco. However, it was concluded that production would be uneconomical without the protection of import duties, and there were no further investigations into the viability of commercial production until 1923. The future site of Watermark Kilns, Northcliffe was first cleared and the first house built as part of the Group Settlement Scheme. In 1931, Nelson Location 10251, which would later become Nelson Location 12152, the site of Watermark Kilns, Northcliffe, was first registered in the ownership of Stanley Bassett.5 Details of his use of the land have not been ascertained to date, and by the post- World War Two period, it was no longer in his ownership. The Group Settlement Scheme proved to be ‘a social and financial tragedy’, and the State eventually bore a loss of more than £6.5 million. In 1923, the Agriculture Department carried out successful trial plantings of tobacco at Perth. This was followed by trial plantings at Peel Estate, Coolup, Boyanup, Bridgetown and Manjimup in November, but the first two failed, and only poor growth was obtained from the latter. In 1923-24, tobacco was grown and harvested at Manjimup by J. Murphy and J. Turner, but they experienced difficulty in curing the leaf. Samples of this tobacco was sent to tobacco manufacturer Michelides Limited in Perth, and also to Melbourne Group Settler Herbert John ‘Jack’ Limmer, who was also associated in this venture, and who established a plantation at Dixvale in 1926, where the first tobacco curing kiln in the Victoria was built. In 1928, the first crop of tobacco grown by Macedonians Nick Palasin, Tom Milentis, Vic Milentis, and Louis Mitchell failed, but thereafter they were successful in its cultivation. Macedonians would predominate in tobacco growing in Western Australia throughout its history. In 1928-29, experimentation by the Australian Tobacco Organisation also established that the soil and climate in the Manjimup district was suitable for tobacco growing. In 1930, the first commercial crop of 25 acres of tobacco was planted, which proved successful. Consequently, in 1931-32, the acreage planted increased to 348 acres, which yielded 211,230 lbs., the total value of the crop being £18,000. It was in this year that Michelides established his first tobacco plantation. These results encouraged more extensive plantings of 466 acres in 1932-33. Through the 1930s and into the World War Two period, the area under tobacco was centred around Manjimup. The initial costs of clearing the heavily forested land for tobacco planting were heavy. The crop was grown and harvested during the spring and summer months on water retentive soils. Other than Michelides’ tobacco manufacturing company’s plantations, most operations were on a small scale, with plantings ranging in area from four to 10 acres, ‘the majority worked by Southern Europeans.’ Growing tobacco was labour intensive, and often all family members would be engaged in the various tasks involved. By the late 1930s, tobacco farming in Western Australia was well established. Most of the practices which had evolved would continue through into the post World War Two period, as did the general requirements with regard to the necessary buildings. In December 1938, in an article on the harvesting and curing of tobacco leaf, the Agriculture Department’s tobacco adviser, A. Sharp, described the various buildings which were part of the operation at this period, and which were to remain much the same throughout the period in which tobacco was commercially grown in Western Australia, i.e. through to the early 1960s. The stringing shed was ‘usually a more or less temporary erection of hessian stretched over bus poles’, which was conveniently located in proximity to ‘the curing barns’, as the kilns were sometimes known. The size and number of barns was dependent on the extent of the tobacco plantation. Most in this State were small operations, of five to 15 acres, for which ‘a number of small barns, each 12 ft. by 12 ft. inside measurement, and carrying four tiers of leaf, will be found most suitable’, one barn being sufficient for each four acres of crop, whilst for larger operations, ‘barns 16 ft. by 16 ft. with four or five tiers’ would suffice for each seven acres. Sharp advised that it was preferable for the barns to be built ‘in a fairly well sheltered position on slightly sloping ground, the furnaces being built on the lower side in order to lessen the amount of excavation necessary.’ The framing of each barn should be 4ins. x 2ins. jarrah timber, ‘with wall studs set at 2 ft. centres’, the building being lined with timber, corrugated iron, asbestos-cement sheets, or re-cycled hessian bags, sewn together and cement washed, which was the cheapest option. The smaller barn would be readily heated by a single brick furnace, whilst two were recommended for a larger barn, with the flue pipes arranged as indicated in the accompanying ground plans. Drawings show the side section and sectional elevation of a 12 ft. x 12 ft. barn, with an air inlet at ground level and an open ridge ventilator at the apex, controlled from the exterior, for efficient ventilation was essential. The 16 ft. x 16 ft. barn was designed on similar lines, other than arrangement of furnaces and flues. Curing the tobacco leaf generally took three to five days, by which time the colour had been fixed and the leaf was brittle and dry. In the next stage, known as conditioning, a certain amount of moisture was re-absorbed, the optimum being a moisture content of around 12%, before the leaf was ‘bulked down’ in the bulk shed, often referred to as the drying shed, which generally included the grading shed under the same roof.14 This building was ‘a well-built shed preferably set on stumps at least two feet off the ground.’ Bulking involved making a stack, 3-4 ft. wide, where the leaf was stacked ‘with the butts to the outside’, and, as each cure was added to the stack, two or three heavy planks would be placed ‘on top to consolidate the bulk and exclude air as much as possible.’ It was recommended that the bulks be covered with hessian to protect the leaf from sunlight, and ‘later on, against excessive absorption of moisture from the air after the Autumn rains have set in.’ In March 1939, Sharp described the grading and marketing of tobacco leaf. The grading shed should be built well off the ground, and lined with either asbestos-cement sheets or other damp proof material to prevent moisture during handling leading to mould. The south wall should be fitted with ample windows for diffused light on the grading bench, which was fitted with compartments for the various grades of leaf. Grading generally took place in May-July. It was important that direct light not fall on the tobacco leaf, as its true colour cannot be judged in direct light. In 1939-40, 1,019 acres of tobacco were planted in Western Australia. After war-time restrictions limited tobacco imports, the Commonwealth urged for increased home production. The State government advanced growers £10 per acre to assist in the costs of planting and cultivation, and 1,365 acres were planted in 1940-41, of which Michelides grew 650 acres. Meanwhile, in 1943, the Commonwealth Government appointed the Rural Reconstruction Commission to examine the problems that had been faced by rural industries in the inter-war and World War Two periods. In 1944, the Commission reviewed the post-World War One soldiersettlement schemes and outlined proposals for post-World War Two reconstruction. In 1945, the War Service Land Settlement Agreement Act was passed whereby the Commonwealth would provide funds for the purchase and development of farms in a scheme to be administered by the State. Ex-servicemen were to be carefully selected and trained before taking up farming properties for development in areas and with products ‘where reasonable prospects of economic success were evident.’ The structural improvements were to be purchased by the settlers, who entered into a lease in perpetuity of the land and ground improvements, with an option to purchase the freehold. In the late 1940s, tobacco production in Western Australia increased with some growers returning to this crop after costs increased in the potato industry and with growing confidence in the stability of the tobacco industry. It was proposed to expand tobacco growing in Western Australia through the War Service Land Settlement Scheme, in the belief that it could be grown successfully beyond the Manjimup-Pemberton area, through ‘a belt embracing Busselton, Karridale, Manjimup, Northcliffe, Walpole and Denmark’ where 50 War Service tobacco farms were to be established, on Crown land, which had been previously forfeited or purchased or purchased for this purpose. After a 12 month training programme in tobacco growing, the ex-servicemen were to be allocated land to develop as a tobacco farm. In 1949, the first 20 trainees commenced at the training school at Manjimup, of whom 17 moved to farms in 1950. In 1950-52, two further training schools would be held. Some of the lots allocated to ex-servicemen, including Nelson Location 12152, had been part of the inter-war Group Settlement Scheme. The soldier-settler was provided with sufficient funding for growing his crop and living costs. After the crop was sold, these costs would be re-couped, along with re-payments on the land and machinery. Once the settler’s farm was self-supporting, its administration was to transfer from the Department of Lands and Surveys to the Rural & Industries Bank. The practices and the buildings associated with tobacco farming changed little in the post-war period, and the tobacco farm operation that would be developed, in the early 1950s, at Nelson Location 12152 by Roy and Peg Bell followed the established pattern. Ex-serviceman Roy Bell and his wife, Peg, both of whom had previous experience of farming, were living in Fremantle when they decided to take up a soldier-settlement tobacco farm. Roy moved to the training school at Manjimup, whilst Peg remained in Fremantle. At this period, Cross Hickory was the tobacco grown at Manjimup. After Peg Bell read an article about the Smith Brothers growing a new, larger leafed variety, Virginia Gold, at Nathalia in South Australia, Roy Bell wrote to them, and in reply they sent a teaspoon of seed. He would be one of the first farmers in Western Australia to plant this variety, which became widely used. After Roy Bell completed his training course, the family took up occupation of their tobacco farm at Northcliffe, at Nelson Location 12152, which he had selected ‘as it had the right soil and was well drained.’ In 1949-50, there were 68 tobacco growers. In 1950-51, including the 17 recently graduated ex-servicemen, there were 99 growers, 20 of whom were ex-servicemen, of whom seven were at Karridale and nine at Northcliffe. The total acreage under tobacco was increased from 670 acres to 930 acres. This was the first year in which tobacco was commercially grown at Northcliffe, and the nine growers harvested a total of 75 acres. In 1951-52, 1,230 acres was planted, the greatest acreage since the early 1940s. At Northcliffe, there was considerable expansion, with 24 growers, including Roy and Peg Bell, planting 199 acres. Houses provided to the soldier-settlers were timber-framed asbestos clad with an iron or asbestos roof. The Bells’ house was built on the site of the original group settler’s house, where a rose bush and a few bulbs were all that remained of the earlier garden.32 In the 1950s, a photograph shows the timber framed seed beds in the foreground, the double kiln and the drying/grading shed near by, and the single kiln and the workers’ hut a short distance away. A second photograph shows the Bell’s house, the machinery shed and the dairy shed, both of which remained from the earlier Group Settler’s farm. There is also a small shed which the Bells had re-located from beside the house to the site shown in the photograph to house Peg’s ducks. There was also the small stringing on shed, which was located between the kilns. Roy Bell ‘worked very hard to make a success of tobacco growing.’ He constructed the seed beds of timber with rolled calico tops to cover the seedlings at night. In June-July, the seed was sown. Benzol, was placed in small disks, evaporated and these measures prevented mould. At 6 ins to 8 ins. in height, about mid-October, the seedlings were planted out in the 10 acres which had been prepared, including the application of fertiliser. During the growing period, the fields were weeded, and insecticide applied to the crop until it was ready to harvest in late November, and through December-January. At this stage, many hands were required on the tobacco farm, and the Bells appreciated the assistance of numerous local dairy farmers who came to work there through to 4 p.m., when they had to return to their farms for milking. The picked leaves were placed in bags, then taken to the shed for stringing before being placed in the kilns to be cured. The temperature was raised to 50 degrees as the leaf turned from green to lemon, and ‘then fixed at that colour by raising the temperature rather quickly and holding that temperature for anything up to 50 hrs.’ Then the fires were extinguished, and the tobacco ‘allowed to take up moisture so it could be taken from the kiln to the grading shed’. Roy Bell would sleep the night in the stringing-on shed, getting up at intervals to fuel the kiln fire and check the thermometer. At ‘picanniny daylight’, he would call Peg to come and assist him in shifting the cured tobacco to the grading shed before the atmosphere became too dry. The cured tobacco was stacked and stored in bulk in the grading shed, which was simply furnished with a long table, ‘divided into small slots where each leaf was placed’ according to its grade. Four girls were employed for this task, each with her own division. There was also a heater and a press. After grading into six grades, from poorest to best, in February-April, the tobacco continued to be stored in this shed, where it was compressed into bales ready for transport to Perth for sale at auction in May. Whilst the Bells worked full-time on the farm, assisted by one or two tobacco workers accommodated in the small workers’ hut near the single kiln, other workers were mainly seasonal. They lived elsewhere and travelled to the farm when required, either on a daily basis or camping in tents at the farm. Joanne Flanagan recollects working on three tobacco farms in Karri Hill Road, including the Bells’. The farmers ‘got together’ and the workers would spend a day on each farm, before moving on to the next. Roy Bell was responsible for several further innovations in tobacco farming subsequent to his introduction of the Virginia Gold variety. He imported Guinea Gold tobacco seed from Queensland, which he grew successfully, and which at sale topped the Western Australian price record. He developed a different method of stringing. Rather than putting the tobacco leaf on sharpened wires before it was placed in the kilns, he tied it to stocks, which were safer and more easily handled. He installed kerosene heaters to the kilns, enabling him to set the temperature ‘and relax.’ By February 1955, there were eight kerosene fed kilns installed by seven growers in the Manjimup district. The Agricultural Department and notable visitors who included a South African tobacco expert, Tom Harvey, took ‘great interest’ in the Bells’ crops and innovative practices, and the Department gathered seed from the Bells’ tobacco farm. The rainfall in the Northcliffe area proved to be too variable for tobacco growing. The Bells were often concerned about even having sufficient rain water for the house through summer, and there was no irrigation for crops. Whilst Roy Bell’s care and expertise enabled the Bells to continue farming tobacco for a longer period, many of the 56 War Service Settlement tobacco farms in the Manjimup district failed by the mid-1950s, and Commonwealth support was withdrawn. Some of the farmers remained on their properties and converted to dairy farming, some transferred to other farming properties, and a number of the tobacco farms were simply left abandoned. The Scheme demonstrated that tobacco could be grown on the farms, but Thomas P. Field has suggested that due to the refusal of the soldier-settlers “to enlist their families for full-time farm work” they were “unable to provided reasonable economic returns.” Similarly, B. Giles noted that of 200 tobacco growers in 1959, only five were of British origin, and maintained ‘Australian men and their families were not prepared to work hard enough. ’ In the post-war period, filter tipped cigarettes grew in popularity. After post-war restrictions were lifted, the multi-national companies made in-roads into the Australian market with their cheaper product, and, along with the advent of flip-top cigarette boxes, reduced the economic viability of Michelides Ltd., which in turn adversely affected the Western Australian tobacco industry. In the late 1950s, tobacco buyers were increasingly critical of Western Australian tobacco leaf whose chloride content resulted in a poor burn. The Department of Agriculture carried out trials of different varieties, fertilisers, and crop rotation, but the problem persisted. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the downward trend in sales of Western Australian tobacco continued, and less tobacco was planted each year in view of uncertainty whether the crop would be sold or rejected. By 1959, only three of the 56 original soldier-settlers were still growing tobacco. Eventually, the Bells made the decision to leave their farm. On 10 February 1960, the Minister for Lands was granted Nelson Location 12152, 107 acres one rood 17 perches in area, and was registered as the proprietor on 15 February 1960. At this date, there was no electrical power to the place as the electricity grid was not extended to Northcliffe until the 1960s. Nelson Location 12152 continued in the ownership of the Minister for Lands to 29 March 1968, when it was transferred to Philip Richard Hazelgrove, mill hand, of Northcliffe. In the same year, a caveat on the place was registered. The place was utilised for various agricultural purposes, with the kilns and grading/drying shed utilised for hay barns, storage etc. The homestead continued to be occupied as a residence by consecutive owners, who made various alterations including laying parquetry timber flooring to some rooms, enclosing verandas and sleep-outs, re-lining internal walls, installing some timber panelling, fitting a false ceiling, and building a lean-to addition at the rear. On 24 March 1976, the place was transferred to Marie Longmire, married woman, of Northcliffe, who owned the place for nearly four years. On 26 February 1980, the place was transferred to Phillip Charles Bruce, plant operator, and Judy Ann Bruce, of Manjimup, as joint tenants, who mortgaged the place to the preceding owner, Marie Longmire, now a widow. On 15 December 1983, the place was transferred to Pascoe Holdings Ltd., of Perth. On 24 June 1997, the place was transferred to Trevor John Hulcup and Jeanette Erica Hulcup, of Swanbourne. Initially, they used it as a holiday home/weekender, utilising the homestead for accommodation. It was re-stumped and a replacement hot water system was installed. They lived there until their new, permanent residence, set at a distance from the group of tobacco farm buildings, was completed in late 2002. Over a four year period, the Hulcups have undertaken various works to convert the double kiln, single kiln and workers’ quarters to farmstay accommodation, under the name Watermark Kilns, Northcliffe, at an estimated cost of $150,000.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Moderate Authenticity: Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

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