Mill End

Statement of Significance

Millend is of significance: • As evidence of the accommodation provided for workers (in this instance the manager) at timber mills in the southwest in the interwar years. • As a rare surviving example of a mill managers house in the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. • For its association with Pilgrim’s (later East Witchcliffe Mill), which was a major local employer from 1923.

Physical Description

This single storey building was constructed on an elevated site, above the level of the mill and mill workers cottages.It is timber framed and clad in bevel-edged weatherboards. The hipped-gable roof (which would have been corrugated iron) has been reclad in Colorbond. There is an asymmetrical double gable to the main façade, the larger of which is located over the main entrance and features simple scalloped timber details.The floor plan is roughly square, with a verandah returning along part of the southern (front) and western sides. The verandah has a cross timber balustrade and timber decking. Along the western wall there are two projecting brick fireplaces and chimneys.On the eastern (RHS) of the main entrance, there is a small projecting rectangular bay, which has a simple battened gable and raked window awning. East of this, there is a skillion addition along the side.The windows are generally paired, double-hung, with 3 vertically proportioned panes to each panel. A detached, weatherboard garage and storage shed is located to the rear (north). Mature native trees surround the house in an informal garden setting.

History

In 1922, the townsite of Witchcliffe was informally established with the commencement of Groups Settlement. In December 1923, John Stewart and John Flinders Pilgrim, operating as WA Jarrah Forests Ltd, won a WA Government tender to build a sawmill to cut timber for the building of group settlement farm houses. Pilgrims’ Mill was constructed near Group 72 settlement (known as Walgine or East Witchcliffe) (Place # WI-02).A typical mill town was developed, with houses, single men's quarters and boarding house. Mill End was built as the foreman or manager’s house.In 1929, the Adelaide Timber Co. purchased Pilgrim’s Mill, after WA Jarrah Forests Ltd went bankrupt. Pilgrim’s Mill then went under the management of Mr Ernest Shepherdson and the name was changed to East Witchcliffe Mill.As at 2012, the house is occupied as a private residence.

Integrity/Authenticity

Medium: The use has been altered, but the original use is still clearly evident through interpretation of the fabric. High: The original/significant fabric is largely intact.

Condition

Good *Assessed from streetscape survey only

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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