Cheese Factory, Balingup

Statement of Significance

The place was purpose built as a cheese factory for Manjimup Dairy Produce Co. Ltd and is a rare example in Western Australia of a cheese factory established and operated solely for this purpose. It operated for a longer period than most cheese factories in this State. It has potential to yield information about and contribute to a wider understanding of the manufacture of cheese in a purpose built cheese factory in the period 1933-79; the place retains two large boilers in their original Boiler House, which illustrate an earlier form of energy in the regional areas before the introduction of grid electricity. Its rambling form and Californian Bungalow gabled loading platform is a well known landmark on the Balingup-Nannup Road and it is highly valued by the community for social, cultural and aesthetic reasons.

Physical Description

Cheese Factory, Balingup, is a single storey cheese factory building in the Californian Bungalow style and a small Manager’s House in the vernacular style, both of timber weatherboard and iron construction, built in 1933-34, with various accretions to the rear of the factory. Other buildings on the site include a double volume timber weatherboard Boiler Room that retains its original boilers and the site of an associated sawmill both erected in 1947.

History

The Cheese Factory and the adjacent Factory Manager’s House were built for Manjimup Diary Produce Company Pty. Limited, in 1933, and cheese making began that year, encouraging the growth of dairying in the district. In 1934, the first additions were made to the factory, whose produce became well known. In 1947, the boiler room to accommodate the large boilers (extant) that produced power for the factory was built, and a small sawmill was erected on the adjacent site to utilise surplus power. In 1951, Manjimup Diary Produce Company Pty. Limited sold the factory to Watsons Supply Stores (renamed Watsons Foods Pty. Ltd. that year), who had a chain of butter factories in the South-West, but the transfer of the land to Watsons Foods Pty. Ltd., was not registered until 1954. Meanwhile, the State electricity supply was extended to Balingup in 1953, the boilers at the Cheese Factory became obsolete, and the sawmill ceased operation. In 1958, the Cheese Factory at Balingup was transferred from Watsons Foods Pty. Ltd. to Capel Dairy Company Proprietary Limited, of Capel, which purchased a portion of the adjoining land, Nelson Location 8114, to extend the area of the site in 1963. In the inter-war and World War II periods milk from the surrounding district was delivered in milk cans to the factory, but in the post-war period bulk milk transport was introduced, and by the mid-1970s most bulk milk used at the Balingup Cheese Factory was produced outside the district. In c. 1978-79, Capel Dairy Company Proprietary Limited decided to transfer its cheese factory activities to Capel, and closed the factory at Balingup, one of the longest operating cheese factories in this State. The place was sold to Stephen Julian Cox and Beverley Jane Smitchens, who moved to Balingup and took up residence at the place, which was referred to simply as The Cheese Factory, where she worked as a potter and other craftspeople displayed and sold their wares. Under their ownership (1979-85), and then under Desmond Samuel Milburn (Taylor from 1987) and Jennifer Begg Taylor (1985-97), the place became well known as the Old Cheese Factory Arts and Crafts Centre, with a café and an outdoor eating area, and the requisite toilet facilities added at the rear. It became the largest Art and Craft Centre in the State, and was runner up on three occasions in the Sir David Brand Awards for Tourism (twice as a Local Attraction). In 1997, the Old Cheese Factory was transferred to Mary Jane Kent, of Balingup. She and her husband continued the Arts and Crafts Centre, and he also established a business in antiques and collectables at the place.

Integrity/Authenticity

The place is now used as a craft outlet which is a compatible use.
The external form is still evident and the internal form is still legible. The early boilers are extant.

Condition

Fair

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.