Yarloop Timber Mill Workshops

Statement of Significance

The following statement has been reproduced from the register entry for the inclusion of the place in the State Register of Heritage Places in 2000.

Yarloop Timber Mill Workshops, an early twentieth century railway workshop complex, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
• the place is the most intact example of an early privately owned twentieth century railway workshop in Australia;
• the place was the most substantial railway and industrial workshop complex established by a private company in Western Australia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries;
• the place was the main workshops serving the timber company which was commonly known as Millar's from the early twentieth century until the 1960s and played a major role in the timber industry of Western Australia, and the daily life of the people of Yarloop and associated timber towns for more than half a century;
• the place, including the workshop buildings, tracks and yards constructed circa 1900-1910, comprises the most important group of early to mid-twentieth century timber industrial buildings in Western Australia;
• the place contains some significant machinery, some of which remains operable, as well as a unique collection of patterns, and collections of associated tools, equipment, fittings and documents;
• the place contains a number of significant site features associated with the industrial processes, in particular the Running Shed and its associated shops;
• the place was a major employer and played a significant role in the training of apprentices for the various trades and professions represented on the site and elsewhere in the timber industry;
• the place forms a part of the significant townscape of Yarloop, which is a fine example of a substantially intact timber town; and,
• the continued development of the workshops, and the employment which the workshops provided, were the raison d'etre for the expansion and survival of the town of Yarloop after the closure of the original timber mill at Yarloop, and through much of the history of the town in the twentieth century.

Physical Description

Complex of over 20 timber industrial sheds and buildings with jarrah weatherboard cladding, corrugated galvanised roofs, concrete floors with large internal spaces full of machinery and associated equipment. The sheds were used for a variety of purposes all connected with the milling industry and are therefore all slightly different in their design and presentation.

Destroyed by January 2016 Yarloop/Harvey/Waroona Fire.

History

The Millar brothers; Charles and Edwin had established a successful timber business in the 1880s and were looking for new locations to source and mill timber in the south west of WA. A 300 acre site including the site of the present Yarloop mill was chosen. Its distance 2km south of the Waigerup (Wagerup) siding near the government railway line was attractive to the Millar's as its distance from other settlements meant the company could retain control over staff and workmen.

The first General Manager of the mill was Henry Teesdale Smith and the first mill was operating in 1895. Millar's constructed a loop line from the Government railway line via what became known as the Top Yard. This line was known as the Yard Loop and about 1897 was abbreviated to Yarloop which became the name of the mill town and railway station.

Millar's provided all the necessary support facilities such as accommodation and health care for their workers.

By 1901 all the timber in the vicinity of Yarloop was depleted and the mill shut down. The Yarloop workshops developed on the site of the old mill as a repair and maintenance centre for Millar's South west sawmilling operations. The workshops maintained the steam locomotives of the extensive Millar's railway system developed to cart the felled timber and to service the other 26 south west mills. In addition the workshops manufactured some rolling stock and mill equipment and serviced stationary steam engines. The workshop at one time employed more than 100 people and over 500 people in the immediate Yarloop vicinity.

The height of activity was in the 1930s with the company owning the largest private railway system in the world. The last new buildings on the site were constructed in the 1950s.

The workshops were still operating in 1978 when they were severely damaged by Cyclone Alby. This event led to closure of the workshops as a viable business but the place was recognised for its heritage value and teams of volunteers undertook restoration of the buildings and machinery.

The workshops were classified by the National Trust of Australia (WA) in 1984 and included on the State Register of Heritage Places on a permanent basis in 2000.

The workshop was burnt down by the January 2016 Yarloop/Harvey/Waroona Fire. Although many artefacts were destroyed and lost in the Fire, there are some items that could be recovered and restored.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low / Low

Condition

Demolished following the January 2016 Yarloop/ Harvey/ Waroona fire

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.