Bundi Club, Meekatharra

Condition

The Bundi Club is constructed of weatherboard çwith iron roof and high ceilings. It is set two çstreets back from main street. Its original use çwas as a court house and mining registrar office.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Statement of Significance

Historically the structure is important because it was the original courthouse and Mining Registrar's Office and therefore played an important part in the development of the town. Architecturally it is a pleasant little weatherboard and iron building - a good example of a typical style and maintained in good condition.

History

Assessment 1975 Construction 1911 Builder: G. McInnes

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Statement of Significance

Courthouse and Mining Registrar’s Office (fmr) is of considerable significance as it represents the establishment of law and order and mining controls as a pivotal element in the development of the Meekatharra town and district. The architectural style is typically responsive to a remote regional location. Courthouse and Mining Registrar’s Office (fmr) also demonstrates significant associations with Mrs Curley and the Bundi Club.

Physical Description

The single storey timber framed building is clad with painted weatherboards. The predominantly hipped roof with vented gablets, is clad with corrugated iron that has been painted. Three sides of the one part of the building has a verandah with a separate roof. The High Street frontage has been compromised by the close proximity of newer buildings.

History

The Courthouse & Mining Registrar's Office was built in 1911. Magistrate's House and Doctor's house were on adjoining lots. When the population of Meekatharra decline to around 100 residents in the late 1950s, the Courthouse was closed. In 1963, the building was handed to Mrs Avey Curley for an Aboriginal meeting place. She named it the Bundi Club, 'bundi' meaning good. The Bundi Club was used for sewing, dressmaking and cooking classes, where Mrs Curley and the young women with children and the older women made school uniforms and clothes to sell, preparation of school lunches, pensioner's Christmas lunch, a venue for dances, wedding receptions and gatherings after funerals, emergency and temporary accommodation and fund raising events. In 1988, the Miniara Resource Agency, a local co-operative Aboriginal organisation, was established with offices adjoining the Bundi Club. Around 1995-96 the Bundi Club ceased to function due to changing community needs and lack of funds for maintenance and essential equipment. Miniara Resource Agency has a mobile office unit in the front yard of the place. Mrs Curley was awarded the Order of Australia for her services to the Aboriginal community in the Murchison and Warburton area.

Integrity/Authenticity

INTEGRITY Moderate to high degree AUTHENTICITY Moderate to high degree

Condition

Poor- unoccupied

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Presbyterian Church, Meekatharra

Condition

Maintenance seems not to take place, and the cumulative effects of weathering are evident on the external elements of the church, as well as the interior. The wall cladding is damaged and loose in places. The windows are mostly damaged with weathered frames, and the glazing that remains insitu, displays stone damage, although most windows boarded over. There is some stump subsidence, as well as termite damage. Overall, St Oswald's Anglican Church is in fair condition.

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Statement of Significance

St Oswald's Anglican Church (fmr) representing a rare example of an intact iron clad church in the West Australian goldfields, and particularly rare in being as originally constructed and still in use. It is associated with the population growth in the Murchison goldfields and specifically at Meekatharra, at the turn of the 20th century and is of particular significance for its associations with women, who took a primary role in the management of the place from the late 1910s. It makes a significant contribution to the historic townscape in Meekatharra.

Physical Description

The single storey, timber framed and corrugated iron clad structure with entry porch, sanctuary and vestry covered by separate corrugated iron gable roofs, presents a symmetrical frontage to Darlot Street. The roofs are relatively steep and features three gablet vents along each side. The walls are clad with vertical sheets of corrugated iron that have been painted. The building is elevated off the ground on stumps that are a combination of jam posts and hard wood milled posts.

History

St Oswald's Anglican Church (fmr) was built to a design by architect Harry M. Marwood of Geraldton and dedicated on 24 August 1909 by Bishop Riley. Crooks and Brooker, who had a hardware store in Meekatharra, were the builders. The building was also used by the Freemasons until they acquired their own Lodge building in 1915. St Oswald’s Anglican Church became the centre of the Meekatharra Mission district covering Nannine, Peak Hill, Tuckanarra and Garden Gully. In the 1930s, services were being held on Thursday and Sunday in rotation with Wiluna, which had been added to the Rector's round. From 1936 to 1948, St Oswald’s was part of the Wiluna parish, reverting to Cue parish from 1948 to 1957. In that latter year the Bush Church Aid Society established its Murchison parish centred at Mount Magnet. The Aid Society was a missionary society within the Anglican Church established to service the people in remote parts of Australia, 'where local conditions are harsh and resources are not sufficient'. In the 21st century, services are held each Saturday for an Anglican congregation that fluctuates between 12-13 and 6-7 people. Of the three churches established in Meekatharra, St Oswald's is the only one remaining. The Catholic and Methodist churches were on the same street and the area was known as Church Hill.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High degree Authenticty: High Degree

Condition

Fair

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Masonic Lodge (fmr), Meekatharra

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Statement of Significance

Masonic Lodge (fmr) makes a significant contribution to the historic Goldfields townscape of Meekatharra through the scale and proportion of the simple intact vernacular building. It is associated with the history of Freemasonry in Western Australia, especially in remote areas of the State.

Physical Description

The single-storey timber framed building is clad with horizontal sheets of painted corrugated iron. The hipped roof clad with corrugated iron, features a vented gablet at the ridge. The front wall features a cornice line moulding and a roughcast pressed metal patterned sheeting above, with a group of four windows central above the cornice line, associated with the feature gablet.

History

A building was relocated from Nannine and altered for use as the North Murchison Freemasons Lodge. The Lodge opened on 20 January 1916. The Lodge was well patronised with events drawing visitors from far and wide. 86 Brethren gathered for the installation of Worshipful Brother Harry Patterson Bennett to Grand Lodge rank in 1936 and 'the largest gathering of Freemasons ever assembled on the Murchison' attended the installation of Bro. Richard Caddy, the ceremony being carried out by his father, the Very Worshipful Bro. John Caddy. In 1947, the Most Worshipful Grand Master Dr J. S. Battye, travelled to Meekatharra to attend an installation. The social life of the lodge involved family members in Ladies nights, picnics, concert evenings, etc, and Freemasonry also involved charity, with donations to disaster funds, hospitals and community care organisations, medical research, care for the young and aged, and support for fellow members and their families. With falling membership, the Lodge held its last meeting on 15 October 1994. The Reserve was vested in the Shire of Meekatharra and the building used by the Guides, Brownies and Scouts Association for a year or so. In 2002, the Meekatharra Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes - Sir John Charles Head Orient 31 - occupied the place and undertook some maintenance and renovation work.

Integrity/Authenticity

INTEGRITY High degree AUTHENTICITY High degree

Condition

Fair

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