York Greenmount Convict Road Station ruins and Bilgomen Well

Values

 the place is a rare extant ruin of a substantial convict road station, established to
house and organise Ticket of Leave workers on the York Road;
 the place is associated with the government’s development of road infrastructure in
the convict period;
 the place is associated with the Convict Establishment, and was designed by Lieut.
Edmund Du Cane.

Physical Description

York Greenmount Convict Road Station ruins and Bilgoman Well lies at the top of a slope within the rolling hills of the Darling Range, in a mixed rural/residential landscape. The place lies within a lightly wooded environment of local marri and jarrah trees and understorey plants that obscure much of the site. The land falls away to the south-west, however the area where the ruins are located was levelled to create a flat area. The land is quite boggy in the north-western corner. The place is an archaeological site containing evidence of three rammed earth buildings. These buildings can be seen in the south-western portion of the site (mounds of earth), however it is possible that the remains of other structures exist to the north. The most south-easterly mound has a granite and brick base in its south-west corner.

History

The place was originally used as an Aboriginal water source, which was noted by Chauncy in his survey of the area in 1846 as a campsite for local loggers. With the arrival of convicts in 1850, the area was identified as the site for a convict road party station for the York Road. The York Greenmount Station was constructed c.1854, which operated throughout the convict transportation period. By 1895 the area had been listed as a reserve, however by the 1940s there was little left of the convict-built structures. From 1979 the well and convict structures were the subject of historical interest, and archaeological excavations of the site were carried out in 2005.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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