Strawberry Hill Farm & Gardens

Statement of Significance

Barmup/Strawberry Hill Farm has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: The place is significant as an important camp site for the Menang people and a place of close and ongoing contact between them and European settlers. It is the site of the first farm to be established in what was to later become Western Australia. The place bears testament to 19th century colonisation and the need for self-reliance in the colonial extremes. The extant two-storied granite stone house is a rare example of Old Colonial Georgian architecture while the nearby cottage is a rare example of an adobe farm worker’s cottage, possibly built before the main house. The grounds of Barmup/Strawberry Hill Farm contain examples of the earliest European planting in WA. The place is significant for its association with the earliest soldier settlers; Sir James Stirling, the colony’s first Governor, and Lady Ellen Stirling; Sir Richard Spencer, successful naval officer and government resident and Lady Anne Spencer for whom the extant stone house was erected in 1836; with Francis Bird, a pioneer of the State’s timber industry and prominent architect, who with his wife Augusta Maude rescued the place from ruin in 1889; and the National Trust of Australia (WA) which has conserved and made the place, the first property acquired by the Trust, accessible to the public since 1964.

Physical Description

Barmup/Strawberry Hill comprises a former residence, former workers quarters and contemporary ancillary buildings. The buildings are located within extensive grounds that include lawn areas and exotic and native plantings. The property is approached from Middleton Road along a narrow driveway lined with many mature trees that join overhead to create a tunnel effect. The plantings open out to reveal the former residence at the top of the drive. The two-storey former residence is built of granite with a slate roof. Its design is asymmetrical and is entered via a central vestibule that connects the single and double story sections of the house. Behind the house is a water tank and grapevines and a steep bank that leads up to Beauchamp Street. The adobe construction, former workers’ quarters building has a corrugated iron roof and is situated close by the main residence. Later additions to the property include a contemporary visitor entry building (2020), and transportable office/ toilet block and a number of small sheds and shadehouses.

History

Barmup has been and still is an important place for the Menang. At the time Albany was proclaimed as a British settlement in 1827 by the military attachment sent over from New South Wales to undertake this task, the place was the province of Mullett and her brothers Nakina, Mokare, Tallipan and Mollian. It was an area that was an important campsite, being well-watered and fertile, a granite outcrop that offered shelter, protection and views across the harbour and inland, and was also within an important pathway that stretched from Kincinnup (the area that became the Albany townsite between Mount Melville and Mount Clarence) to Binalup (Middleton Beach) and to places further beyond Albany. With all these attributes and qualities, it is not surprising that it was the site selected for the Government Farm; for its fertility, natural water sources and prominence, and the well-trodden pathway was also convenient to the new colonists to appropriate for their own use. Barmup/Strawberry Hill was selected in 1827 as the ideal location for a government farm to supply the nearby military settlement with fresh fruit and vegetables. The site was selected because of its fine stand of marri, yate and peppermint trees. The first structures on the site were a pair of simple wooden huts to shelter the workers. A more comfortable residence was built in 1831 for the vice regal visit of Captain Stirling. Following the visit of Stirling the property was leased to Mr J L Morley until it was acquired in 1833 by the Government Resident Sir Richard Spencer, a former British naval officer. Spencer turned the property into a gentlemen’s country residence, lavishing much attention on the gardens and in 1836 built a two storey stone residence adjacent to the two earlier cottages (that were destroyed by fire on Easter Sunday 1880). William Diprose built the residence for a cost of £100. An adobe cottage was built in c1840 to accommodate farm workers. The design of the garden was an attempt to recreate an English country garden in a foreign country. Many exotic species were brought to the property including, according to anecdotal evidence, a cutting from the willow over Napoleon’s tomb on St Helena. The irony of this specimen is that Richard Spencer spent much of his naval career serving under Lord Nelson. Two Norfolk Island pines on the property were planted by Spencer and the origin of a Sparrmannia is thought to have been Africa, picked up by Spencer in 1833 on his voyage to Albany. After Sir Richard Spencer died in 1839 his widow, Lady Anne Spencer, continued to maintain the domestic and social activities associated with the farm with the help of her children until she died in 1855. Whilst the property remained in the Spencer family until 1889 the condition of the place deteriorated as various buildings were leased out, the grounds were used as a market garden and the drawing room was used as a slaughterhouse by Joseph Spencer. The property was subdivided in 1888 and approximately seven and a half hectares, including the historic buildings, were purchased by architect, Francis Bird, and his wife Augusta Maude Bird. Mrs Bird renamed the property ‘The Old Farm’ to honour the early pioneers. They restored the buildings and renovated them to accommodate their large family. They also spent considerable money and energy on replanting and restoring the original gardens, adding new trees and shrubs and altering the layout of some parts of the gardens. Their home became a popular hub for Albany society, the family hosting parties, picnics and even weddings. Francis Bird died in 1937 and despite her best efforts, Augusta Maude Bird was physically and financially unable to maintain the large property. With the subsequent death of Augusta Maude Bird in 1945 the property became seriously overgrown and the buildings in need of major repairs. The property was temporarily vested in the Town of Albany who started the process of remedial and maintenance works in an effort to preserve the buildings and grounds. It was then vested in the newly formed National Trust of Australia (Western Australia) in 1964, becoming its first heritage property. It was restored and opened to the public in 1966. At the opening ceremony, Governor General, Sir Paul Hasluck, planted a Norfolk Island pine near the site of the same species tree planted by Sir Richard Spencer. The property remains with the National Trust of Western Australia and is one of its most popular sites for visitors and the local community alike.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High/Moderate Authenticity: High/Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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