Tasker's Cottage

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic Value: The place has aesthetic value as a modest but attractive cottage characterised by its simple form, limestone rubble walls with contrasting brick quoining, its symmetrical arrangement of door and window openings and its timber-framed verandah across the front elevation. The remaining peppercorn and mulberry trees, along with the tankstand, represent the original rural setting of the farmhouse and combine with the cottage to create pleasing environs. Historic Value: The place is associated with a number of early settlers of the district including the Smirk, Stokes and Tasker families who all occupied the place at some time. The place is associated with the settlement development of the region for farming in the mid 19th century. The place is associated with the establishment of the Kwinina Golf Club in 1959 and the changing use of the district from farming to residential. Social Value: The place is valued by the local community as evidenced by the ongoing efforts of community volunteers to retain and restore the building. The place has social value for the members of the Kwinana Golf Club and visitors who have visited the place since 1959. Level of significance: Exceptional

Physical Description

Wheatfield Cottage is located within the grounds of the Kwinana Golf Course accessed via a dirt road from Wellard Road. The cottage is of limestone construction with brick quoining. The place has a symmetrical frontage with two doors each flanked by window openings. The arrangement of door and window openings is reflective of the place being construcrted in stages. A timber framed skillion verandah extends across the full extent of the facade, supported on squared timber posts. The roof is hipped with corrugated galvanised iron sheeting with three masontry chimneys. The walls of the four rooms on the western end of the building (c.1856 and c.1870) are constructed of rubble stone walling, approximately 380mm thick. The walls have been rendered externally and plastered internally. The openings on the north elevation of these rooms have timber lintels. The three eastern rooms (c.1910) are constructed of limestone with quoin bricks surrounding each external opening. There is evidence of imitation ashlar work on the north elevation of these rooms. A thin render and paint finish has been applied to all the external walls. to the rear, the cottage has a further skillion roof section with different pitches to the east and west ends. Both are constructed on limestone with an open verandah area in the middle. Internally,the cottage consists of seven rooms, an entry hall dividing two of these rooms, a verandah to the north and a back verandah which is enclosed with fibro-cement cladding (c.1965). A steel-framed tank stand with a timber platform supporting a corrugated iron tank is located to the south of the cottage, while a number of mature trees are located to the west. These include a large peppercorn tree and a pair of mulberry trees. The remainder of the site is characterised by the golf course landscaping, with gum trees interspersed between the grassed areas and greens.

History

In 1842, Cockburn Sound Location No. 18 was granted to Marshall MacDermott, an officer in the Eighth Infantry Regiment of the British Army who was persuaded to settle in Western Australia in 1829 by the large concessions of land offered to settlers by the government. Encompassing 160 acres, it was only one small portion of the total land granted to MacDermott. The first known occupiers of the cottage were the Smirk family, who rented the property from MacDermott between c. 1855 and c. 1881, and it is believed that during this time (c.1870) Thomas Smirk extended the small cottage from two rooms into four rooms to accommodate his large family of fourteen children. In 1867, ownership of the property was transferred to James Herbert, and in 1888 was purchased by John and Alexander Forrest as an investment property. Sir John Forrest sold the property to Charles Dixon in 1902, following the death of Alexander, and in 1905 ownership was transferred to James Stokes. James Stokes is the first confirmed owner occupier of the cottage and was responsible for building three additional rooms on the eastern end of the cottage c.1910. The Stokes family occupied the property until 1917 and during this time it operated as a dairy farm. During 1917-1920, Thomas Morris, a railway employee from South Fremantle owned the property, followed by John Thorpe between 1920-1924. In 1924, the property was transferred to Frederick Tasker, and the place continued to be used as a dairy farm, then for growing pumpkins. The Tasker family continued to occupy the property until c.1957, leaving not long after it was resumed by the Public Works Act in 1953. In 1959, the Kwinana District Club opened and some maintenance was undertaken on the cottage for use as a club house. In c.1965 restoration of the cottage was carried out by volunteers with the support of the Kwinana Shire Council. The place was used as a residence for the golf course superintendent/greenkeeper since the early 1970s. Aerial photographs of the place since the mid 20th century indicates that the form and extent of the place has not changed significantly and the original cottage can still be readily determined. The roof cladding was green corrugated iron up to c2000 when it was changed to the current galvanised sheeting.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Authenticity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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