Local Government
Kulin
Region
Wheatbelt
behind Wheat Bin Holt Rock
Francis property
Holt Rock Telephone exchange
Kulin
Wheatbelt
Constructed from 1937 to 1970
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no listings) |
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no listings) |
| Type | Status | Date | Grading/Management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | ||||
| Municipal Inventory | Adopted | 19 Mar 1997 | Category 4 | |
The place demonstrates associations with a pioneer family of the district, and a way of life no longer practiced. It provided a communication linkage to the furtherest east settlement in the Shire.
Original structure is a 4 room mud brick cottage, surrounded by a verandah, with a pantry and bathroom at either end of the back verandah. Later another verandah was added to the back, and a room added on the northwest corner. In the early 1960s a room was added to the front and the south east corner of the verandah enclosed.
Holt Rock is immediately west of the rabbit proof fence in the Lakes district. The 3500 scheme had developed and floundered in 1929, east of the fence, but created interest in the Lakes district. In 1937, Mark Allan Francis established a home on his property at Holt Rock. The mud bats were made on site, near the house from clay insitu. it took several months to make the bricks. The house was considered the first "real" house in the Holt Rock district because up until that time settlers had lived in "camps" -( timber and hessian dwellings. In 1944 the phone exchange was connected to Holt Rock. The Francis men helped construct the single line to Lake Varley. The men cut the salmon gum poles and dragged them into position, while the PMG supplied the phone cable. Only one line went to Lake King from Lake Varley, and as well as the Holt Rock exchange, it included the exchanges at Lake Camm, South Varley and Lake Varley. In 1949 after the death of M Francis, his son Campbell took over until 1952 when his daughter and her husband took over the property. Ruth Levis (nee Francis) and Mr Levis ran the farm until 1970 when they sold to Brian and Jill Mudge. The exchange was transferred to provide a public phone box facility in Holt Rock at that time. A married couple worker's cottage was built in 1964, behind the house, and after a year, Tom Lashmar lived there and share-farmed the property for Levis.
Integrity: redeemable Authenticity: low degree
Good
| Ref ID No | Ref Name | Ref Source | Ref Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| "From our humble beginnings Lake Varley-Holt Rock 1928-1978". | Lake Varley Progress Association | Undated | |
| WE Greble; "A Bold Yeomanry Social Change in a Wheatbelt District Kulin 1848-1970". | Shire of Kulin | 1979 |
Individual Building or Group
| Epoch | General | Specific |
|---|---|---|
| Other Use | Transport\Communications | Comms: Telephone Building |
| Original Use | RESIDENTIAL | Single storey residence |
| Present Use | RESIDENTIAL | Single storey residence |
| Type | General | Specific |
|---|---|---|
| Wall | BRICK | Handmade Brick |
| General | Specific |
|---|---|
| TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS | Telecommunications |
| DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY | Settlements |
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