Mundaring Weir, Gardens and Village Precinct

Child Places

• 08540 Mundaring Weir School & Quarters (fmr)
• 01676 Mundaring Weir Hall
• 23792 WWII Air Raid Shelter, Mundaring Weir
• 13080 Helena River Road Bridge
• 01675 Mundaring Weir Hotel

Statement of Significance

The Mundaring/Goldfields Weir and gardens has very high significance nationally, tot he State of WA and tot he Shire of Mundaring for social, historic and scientific reasons because of importance to the State, gold mining and agricultural industry and the magnitude of it's engineering achievement.

Physical Description

The Mundaring Weir dams the picturesque Helena River valley approximately 30 kms east of Perth and 8 kms south of Mundaring townsite and the Great Eastern Highway. With an original height of 30 metres (100 feet) the graceful concrete spillway, capped with its walkway and elegant circular Valve Tower, featuring a faceted, domed, sheet copper roof. When built, it was the highest overflow weir in the Southern hemisphere. The height of the wall was raised 9.8 metres in 1951. The wall is now 308 metres long. When the wall was raised the steel walkway and railings together with the turret like roof of the Valve Tower were re-fitted on the new wall to replicate the original appearance. The concrete walls of the Tower has been cast with joints to give the appearance of bonded stonework. The original concrete foundations extended down to 27 metres (90 feet) below the river bed to reach a satisfactory base after bad fissures were discovered across the excavated granite rock face of the initial foundations when construction commenced in 1898. The original capacity of the Weir was 21.16 million cubic metres of water, increasing to 68.89 million cubic metres when the wall was raised and 77.13 cubic metres with the crest gates raised. The impounded lake formed by the weir extends back 16 kms into the Helena Valley. In 1971 a pipehead dam was constructed 10 km downstream between Darlington and Glen Forrest from which water is pumped back into the main reservoir.

History

In 1898, work began on the Mundaring Weir and Helena Reservoir, (originally known as the Greenmount Reservoir), began as part of the Coolgardie (later Goldfields) Water Supply Scheme. When gold was discovered in Coolgardie in 1892, and Kalgoorlie in 1893, the inhabitants relied on tanks and carted water, In the period 1895 to 1899, before the Mundaring Weir was finished the Government spent 500,000 pounds in water conservation tanks, experimental boring and condensation plants. They also railed water from pools on the Avon River. The Goldfields water Supply Scheme was a unique concept for it's time. The idea was to pump water 525km to the east, lifting it 340m thorough the eight relay stations. Estimates prepared by the PWD's Engineer-In-Chief Charles Yelverton O'Connor in 1895 and 1896, were presented to Parliament in July 1896. It was not approved until September 1896, because of factors including the transitory nature of other goldfields such as those in the Kimberley, general scepticism about the scale of the project, and a view held by some Eastern Goldfields residents that, despite geological evidence to the contrary, artesian water would be found to satisfy their needs. O'Connor had the support of the Premier John Forrest, who was mindful of the local pressure group in the Eastern Goldfields area. By 1896, nearly half the male population of the State lived there, although in Parliament, they only had 6 of the 44 Legislative Assembly seats, and 3 of the 24 Legislative Council seats. It took nearly two years for London finance for the Goldfields water Supply Scheme to eventuate, and so work on the Weir itself did not begin until April 1898. By then, nearly 300 hopeful unemployed men had camped in the vicinity. While awaiting finance, O'Connor and his team surveyed the pipe track which was to follow the route of the newly completed Northam to Coolgardie railway. Other work at this time included selecting the pumping station sites, calling tenders for the cement and steel pipes, examining pumping equipment, and selecting the Helena Rive Weir site. In June 1898, despite the initial plan to begin at Sawyers Valley, the Mundaring Weir branch of the Eastern railway was routed along the better grades from the newly gazetted townsite of Mundaring. Clearing the valley basin and lower catchment area took place between April and November of 1898. After the completion of a small concrete diversion dam and channel, work on the dam foundations began in April 1898. In order to reach solid bed-rock, and by-pass any granite "floaters", lighting and double shifts were employed until December 1899, when the job was complete and the resulting 30m cavity could be filled. Sand for the concrete came from as far away as Bayswater and Lion Mill (Mount Helena). The concrete itself was initially taken to the wall by barrow men using a steep ramp, and then by a conveyor system. Later, small trucks filled with concrete were lowered by a steam-powered crane onto rails which were laid on a staging above the dam wall. In February 1901, William Aldridge was killed when, he became entangled in a rope and fell 11 metres onto projecting timber and then into the 5 metre deep reservoir. Although the wall reached its full 30 metre height in early 1902, the pipeline and pumping stations were incomplete. To minimize leakage and friction, special rivetless locking bar pipes were invented by Melbourne Engineer, Mephan Ferguson, and manufactured both at his Maylands factory and that of Hoskins in Midland Junction. Pumping tests began in March 1902, with the water reaching Coolgardie in November the same year. Because of the emergence of Kalgoorlie as the major supply centre of gold, the pipeline was extended and the water arrived in Kalgoorlie on 16th January 1903. The scheme had cost approximately £2,700,000 which compared favourably with the estimated £250,000,000 worth of gold from the Kalgoorlie region over the same period. The opening celebrations were marred by the absence of O'Connor who, without the support of his staunch ally Sir John Forrest, responded to years of bitter criticism by some members of Parliament and the Sunday Times newspaper, by committing suicide on 9th March 1902. On 22nd January 1903, Lady Margaret Forrest started the No. 1 pump at Mundaring Weir (Site 56), and two days later, Sir John Forrest turned on the taps at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. Staff who kept the No. 1 and No. 2 pumping stations at the Weir operational, lived in timber and iron cottages opposite the Reservoir (Goldfields Weir) Hotel (Site 50). In 1906, Midland and Guildford were supplied by water from the Mundaring Weir. In 1922, reafforestation of the catchment area using Pinus radiata was begun by the Forests Department. From the time it first overflowed in September 1903, the Mundaring Weir proved to be an attractive tourist destination. Except for a period during World War I, excursion trains which began in 1907, operated until World War II. The Mundaring Weir railway line closed in 1952, and since then the most common means of transport to the Weir has been car or tourist coach. The Weir gardens are thought to have been laid out by Paddy Dawson in the 1920's. A feature of the gardens is the bust of C.Y. O'Connor, by Pietro Porcelli, and an Oak tree which marks the site of the former caretaker's residence. In order to reach solid bed-rock, and by-pass any granite "floaters", lighting and double shifts were employed until December 1899, when the job was complete and the resulting 30m cavity could be filled. Sand for the concrete came from as far away as Bayswater and Lion Mill (Mount Helena). The concrete itself was initially taken to the wall by barrow men using a steep ramp, and then by a conveyor system. Later, small trucks filled with concrete were lowered by a steam-powered crane onto rails which were laid on a staging above the dam wall. In February 1901, William Aldridge was killed when, he became entangled in a rope and fell 11 metres onto projecting timber and then into the 5 metre deep reservoir. Although the wall reached its full 30 metre height in early 1902, the pipeline and pumping stations were incomplete. To minimize leakage and friction, special rivetless locking bar pipes were invented by Melbourne Engineer, Mephan Ferguson, and manufactured both at his Maylands factory and that of Hoskins in Midland Junction. Pumping tests began in March 1902, with the water reaching Coolgardie in November the same year. Because of the emergence of Kalgoorlie as the major supply centre of gold, the pipeline was extended and the water arrived in Kalgoorlie on 16th January 1903. The scheme had cost approximately £2,700,000 which compared favourably with the estimated £250,000,000 worth of gold from the Kalgoorlie region over the same period. The opening celebrations were marred by the absence of O'Connor who, without the support of his staunch ally Sir John Forrest, responded to years of bitter criticism by some members of Parliament and the Sunday Times newspaper, by committing suicide on 9th March 1902. On 22nd January 1903, Lady Margaret Forrest started the No. 1 pump at Mundaring Weir (Site 56), and two days later, Sir John Forrest turned on the taps at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. Staff who kept the No. 1 and No. 2 pumping stations at the Weir operational, lived in timber and iron cottages opposite the Reservoir (Goldfields Weir) Hotel (Site 50). In 1906, Midland and Guildford were supplied by water from the Mundaring Weir. In 1922, reafforestation of the catchment area using Pinus radiata was begun by the Forests Department. From the time it first overflowed in September 1903, the Mundaring Weir proved to be an attractive tourist destination. Except for a period during World War I, excursion trains which began in 1907, operated until World War II. The Mundaring Weir railway line closed in 1952, and since then the most common means of transport to the Weir has been car or tourist coach. The Weir gardens are thought to have been laid out by Paddy Dawson in the 1920's. A feature of the gardens is the bust of C.Y. O'Connor, by Pietro Porcelli, and an Oak tree which marks the site of the former caretaker's residence.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: Very High- most original fabric intact including roof of circular valve tower re-used when wall raised. Modifications: Height of weir wall raised 9.8m in 1951 and steel crest gates added 1959.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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