Park, Rotunda and Memorial

Statement of Significance

Assessment of Significance: The places that comprise Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline each have a landmark setting in the Boulder townsite or in the goldfields vista surrounding the town. Boulder Railway Station Building is a landmark associated with the approach drive, and the Rotunda is a pleasing element within the picturesque Park setting in front of Boulder Station. The Boulder Subway is a distinctive element in Boulder and is a marker between the town and the goldfields beyond. The war memorial by Porcelli is a fine example of his work. (Criterion 1.3) The places that make up Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline represent a series of markers along the Loopline Railway line and provide a significant visual aesthetic and contribute to the cohesiveness of the cultural environment associated with the Loopline Railway. (Criterion 1.4) The construction and subsequent operation of Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline was a result of the successful ongoing exploitation of the Eastern Goldfields, and in particular the Golden Mile. The Loopline operated between 1897 and 1976. (Criterion 2.1) Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline provides a fine example of the transport infrastructure of the Eastern Goldfields during the 1880s and 1890s in Western Australia when large numbers of workers, heavy machinery, ore and timber had to be moved efficiently between mines, townships and transport depots. (Criteria 2.1 & 2.2) The Boulder Railway Station and Boulder Subway are representative of the growth of Boulder as the major residential and support and service centre of the Golden Mile mining tenements. (Criterion 2.2) The Memorial (1920) in the Boulder Station Park was created by renowned sculptor Pietro Porcelli to a commission by Metropole Hotel licencee, David Donaldson, whose son was killed while on active service during World War One, and is a focal point of the Anzac Day ceremony held in Boulder each year. (Criteria 2.2 & 2.3) Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline is valued by the local and wider community for its ongoing railway associations, its connection with Boulder's gold boom past, and for its considerable aesthetic and landscape appeal. Its importance to the community is demonstrated by the formation of the Golden Mile Loopline Railway Society which operates the line as a tourist attraction, and by the occupation of Boulder Railway Station Building by the Goldfields Historical Society from 1976 to c. 1995. (Criterion 4.1) Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline contributes to the local and wider community's sense of place as a significant reminder of the 1880s and 1890s goldrushes in Western Australia. (Criterion 4.2) Of the original railway stations constructed on the Loopline Railway, Boulder Railway Station is the only complex remaining extant. (Criterion 5.1) Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline, and associated elements which assist in understanding the place, represent a unique example of what was a typical turn of the century goldfields railway system. (Criterion 6.2) Statement of Significance: Boulder Station Park, Rotunda and Memorial (c.1903; 1920) has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: - the place provides a fine remnant example of the transport infrastructure of the Eastern Goldfields during the 1880s and 1890s in Western Australia, when large numbers of workers, heavy machinery, ore and timber had to be moved efficiently between mines, townships and transport depots; - the construction of the place was a result of the successful exploitation of the Eastern Goldfields, and in particular the Golden Mile. The Loopline operated from 1897 to 1976; - the place contributes to the local and wider community's sense of place as a significant reminder of the 1880s and 1890s goldrushes in Western Australia. It is also valued by the various groups interested in conserving and promoting Western Australia’s railway heritage; - the Memorial (1920) in the Boulder Station Park was created by renown sculptor Pietro Porcelli to a commission by Metropole Hotel licencee, David Donaldson, whose son was killed while on active service during World War One, and is a focal point of the Anzac Day ceremony held in Boulder each year; - the Boulder Railway Station and Boulder Subway illustrate the importance of Boulder city as a major residential, and support and service centre, of the Golden Mile mining tenements at the turn of the century; and, - of the original railway stations constructed on the Golden Mile Loopline Railway, Boulder Railway Station is the only one remaining extant.

Physical Description

Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline (1897-1903), consists of the remains of a turn of the century, narrow gauge railway complex, comprising: a section of the Loopline Railway Line (1897 & 1902); Boulder Station Goods Shed (1898); Boulder Station Buildings, Platforms and Pedestrian Subway (1903); Boulder Subway and Pumping Station (1903); and Boulder Station Park, Rotunda and Memorial (c.1903; 1920), and the footing remains of the larger of the two pedestrian overbridges which were built at Boulder Station. The approach to the Boulder Railway Station is off Hamilton Street, Boulder, at the end of Piesse Street. The sweeping semi circular drive surrounds a central grassed area with parkland plantings and a retaining wall banking up to the station at the east. Within the picturesque setting is a rotunda structure. The eight-sided open structure is raised on a concrete plinth. Cast iron columns support the faceted bull nosed (onion shaped) roof. The columns have decorative cast iron brackets and a fringe. The underside of the roof is lined with match board in eight facets. The Victorian details in cast iron columns, lacework and warped corrugated iron roof covering of the rotunda are important elements associated with the character of the adjacent Burt Street Precinct. A World War One memorial, comprising a stone plinth and bronze statue with two flagpoles, is also located within the reserve. The statue and flagpoles are enclosed within a decorative iron fence painted green.

History

Boulder Railway Station, Subway and Loopline (1897-1903), consists of the remains of a turn of the century, narrow gauge railway complex, comprising a section of the Loopline Railway Line (1897 & 1902); Boulder Station Goods Shed (1898); Boulder Station Buildings, Platforms and Pedestrian Subway (1903); Boulder Subway and Pumping Station (1903); Kamballie Station (1903); and Boulder Station Park, Rotunda and Memorial (c.1903; 1920), and the footing remains of the larger of the two pedestrian overbridges which were built at Boulder Station. Westrail operation of the line ceased in 1976. Since that time, the Loopline has been operated as a tourist railway by the Golden Mile Loopline Railway Society. The Loopline has been considerably shortened since 1989, by the encroaching Super Pit mine operations. The Boulder Railway Station reserve has undergone numerous changes over the years. The Station buildings were set back from Hamilton Street with an expanse of ground in between. Part of this ground was developed as an attractive park by the Boulder Municipal Council, which leased the land from WAGR (Boulder City Station plan, EEL Plan No. 6957, 7 July 1909; West Australian Government Gazette, 10 October 1947: 1907). A circular park area, immediately in front (west) of the main Station Building, was planted with shrubs and fenced, and a rotunda was erected (the rotunda was moved to the park from another location). The rotunda was a popular venue that reverberated with the sounds of various cultures and the music of many bands in Boulder including the world renowned Hugh McMahon's "Boulder Brass Band" which won the Commonwealth Championships in Ballarat in 1905 (Boulder's Hidden Secrets, 1993). A Memorial to those who served during World War One was installed in the Park on 25 July 1920 (Photograph supplied by the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder). The Memorial was commissioned by David Donaldson, licensee of the Metropole Hotel, Boulder, whose son had been killed in action. The Memorial was unveiled by Major-General Sir Talbot Hobbs in front of a gathering that included the Mayor of Boulder, Mr J A Rogers, Mrs Rogers, Councillors and their partners, the Mayor of Kalgoorlie, Mr B Leslie, Mr H Colebatch MLA, Archbishop Riley, RSL State Secretary, Mr A L Knowles, and the President and Secretary of both the Kalgoorlie and Boulder RSL groups. "The monument donated by Mr David Donaldson and erected in the Railway Reserve, Boulder, in honour of goldfields soldiers who participated in the great war was unveiled yesterday in the presence of a large gathering…Mounted on a granite pedestal 13 feet in height, the bronze statue presented an imposing sight…The inscription read: ‘Lest We Forget. This monument is erected in gratitude of the goldfields heroes who participated in the great war 1914-1919, and in ever loving memory of those who died for Australia and the Empire. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth forever more'." (Kalgoorlie Miner, 26 July 1920: 3). As part of the ceremony, Major-General Sir Talbot Hobbs presented 1914-15 medals to the ten returned soldiers. The Boulder Station Park Memorial, and another World War One memorial (1923), which is situated facing the Kalgoorlie Railway Station, were created by sculptor Pietro (Peter) Porcelli. Both memorials were privately commissioned and are claimed to have been posed for by the same returned soldier Rip Hayhow, President of the Kalgoorlie-Boulder RSL, telephone conversation with Irene Sauman, see memo HCWA File 4639). The Boulder Station Park Memorial was commissioned by Donaldson in 1916. The bronze figure, which was cast in Italy, depicts an Australian soldier, ‘bare-headed and in defiant attitude, his rifle gripped in fearless style’. The pedestal is of Mahogany Creek granite, and the total height of the Memorial is over six metres (Keane, n.d.:9-28). Porcelli was responsible for over a dozen war memorials in the years after World War One, including the Sir J J Talbot Hobbs Memorial on Riverside Drive, Perth, as well as many other works. These included the bust of Sir John Forrest, the statue of C Y O’Connor, an effigy of Bishop Kelly of Geraldton, the Lord Forrest Mausoleum, and headstones in the Perth and Fremantle cemeteries (Keane, n.d.) In 1939, the Municipal Council surrendered part of its parkland for the purpose of an electric light station, and a new power station was built on the site, gazetted Lot 2711 (West Australian Government Gazette, 24 February 1939: 331). The land along the edge of the Station Reserve fronting Hamilton Street, between Burt and Wittenoom Streets, was subdivided and released for sale for residential purposes. The Stationmaster's House and land was included in this subdivision, and was sold on 31 January 1968 (Plan book, Boulder City progress plan, 1935-1968, File 1952/34, Fol. 76. Area along Hamilton Street released for sale by Land Dept. CCE Plan 29501, File 1952/34, Fol. 76).

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High Authenticity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update