Horrocks Beach

Child Places

• 26085 Horrocks Beach Campsite (fmr)

Values

The place is a representative example of a twentieth century recreation site used for camping and as a shack settlement that has been later been normalised into a formal town site.

Physical Description

P8920 Horrocks Beach is located on the Mid-West coast, approximately 20 kilometres west of Northampton. The regional landscape is rural, giving way to low hills and scattered salt pans to the east and coastal dune systems to the west. P8920 Horrocks Beach is located within these coastal dune system, between a low cliff and the water’s edge. The cultural landscape of the place consists of low, single storey timber or weatherboard residences in a vernacular style, set in rows overlooking the ocean. The inner core of residences appear to be the oldest and display a simple style and layout compared to the larger, more modern residences that are spaced out further to the south or along Mitchell Street further to the east. There are a number of community facilities present, including tennis courts, a community centre, picnic areas, general store/petrol station, toilets and changing rooms. The fabric of the place strongly indicates a small caravan park/holiday area that has slowly grown and expanded north and south.

History

Originally known as Three Mile Beach, Horrocks Beach has been the traditional holiday location for the people of the Northampton district since the very early days of settlement. People camped in the same locations each year in tents and later make shift shacks which existed until quite recent times when larger and more substantial houses were built following the subdivision of land into residential lots. Most of the houses are for holiday accommodation although there are now many permanent residents. Old photographs in the Northampton Historical Society's collection illustrate the substantial and ordered nature of the holiday shacks and tents in the early days when a large proportion of the families from surrounding districts spent the summer camped at the beach. In December 1926 work commenced on a road to Three Mile Bay. At that time accommodation generally consisted of bough and ti-tree "camps", renewed each year. In the late 1930s the camping ground was vested by the owners in the Northampton Road Board. Throughout the 1950s and 60s Horrocks continued to be a major holiday destination and work commenced on the caravan park. Health and planning concerns resulted in the removal of foreshore dwellings in the late 1970s. The name "Horrocks" came into general use after the 1964 Centenary of Northampton as the result of research and at the suggestion of Mr A.C. Henville.

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Historic Themes

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