Chauncy's Cairn

Statement of Significance

Chauncy’s Cairn, a stone cairn built around a timber post, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: • the place has the oldest known surviving road survey marker in Western Australia; • the place, constructed in 1846, forms part of an early public works programme which was developed to improve colonial roads and is associated with Assistant Surveyor Philip Chauncy; • the place is a representative example of the type of survey cairn constructed throughout Western Australia during the nineteenth century; and, • the place is a prominent landmark on the flat granite outcrop.

Physical Description

DESCRIPTION Chauncy’s Cairn is a granite cairn built around a timber post set on a large granite outcrop. The Cairn stands in isolated bush in the Mundaring Weir Water Catchment area. Access to the site is along a power line track (which runs off Flynn Road, Chidlow). The cairn is situated approximately 200 metres to the south of this track, on a flat granite ledge which lies at the south western edge of a laterite ridge. The ledge provides panoramic views across Wariin Brook valley and to distant Mt Dale. The surrounding bush is dominated by wandoo trees (Eucalyptus wandoo) with isolated jarrah (Eucalyptus marginata) and marri (Eucalyptus calophylla) trees together with associated understorey plants such as xanthorrhoea preissii, acacia pulchella, acacia drumondii, hibbertia hypericoides, grevillea bipinnatifida and kennedia coccinea. The cairn is formed from loose granite rocks which have been roughly placed to form a conical pile approximately 900 mm high. Larger rocks form the base, rising to gradually smaller rocks as the pile reaches the top. Given the nature of the granite rock in the vicinity of the pile, the rocks were gathered from the granite ledge. A round timber post has been inserted vertically into this pile and extends 800 mm above the rock pile. The post has a diameter of approximately 130 mm. The full length of the post is not known. Concealed within the cairn is a glass jar with a plastic lid. The jar was placed there by Ian Elliot on his rediscovery of the cairn in 1974 and contains two pieces of paper. One of the pages is a photocopy of Chauncy’s original field book entry and notes the date of rediscovery by Elliot. Persons visiting the site have recorded their names and date of visit on this page and on the second page which was added once the first page was filled.

History

Assessment 2004 Construction 1846 Architect/designer & builder: Philip Chauncy Road. Philip La Mothe Snell Chauncy, a government surveyor, was employed to survey the route between Guildford and York in 1846. His task was to survey the route that had been initially laid down by Dale in 1831, with later alterations by George Smythe in 1835. Chauncy altered the line of the road slightly near Greenmount and diverted slightly to the north near Sawyers Valley, but essentially his route followed the laid down by Dale and Smythe. Approximately three miles to the east of Halfway House he climbed Ngangaguringguring Hill to get a view of Mt Dale which he was using as a survey point. It was on this hill that he erected his survey cairn of rocks with a white gum post. He then continued his eastward journey to York moving slightly to the south in places of the established route to York. Chauncy’s new route was not popular with the settlers as it passed through several sandy patches and over several small gullies. The settlers preferred a route slightly to the north which passed on the northern side of Lake Manaring, rather to the south. Pleas to the government went unheard until the settlers took their own action by constructing a new route which passed to the north of Lake Manaring. Eventually the government relented and this more northerly route was officially adopted in 1850. Chauncy’s line to the south was abandoned and was gradually forgotten. The survey cairn on top of Ngangaguringguring Hill fell into disuse until re-discovered by Ian Elliot in 1974. Chauncy’s Cairn was placed on the Shire of Mundaring’s Municipal Inventory in April 1997. Despite the presence of a number of survey cairns in various parts of Western Australia, Chauncy’s survey cairn appears to be the oldest surviving cairn and possibly the only road survey cairn remaining in Western Australia.

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