Toorak Hill, Goldfields Water Supply Reservoir

Statement of Significance

*Toorak Hill Reservoir has great cultural significance for the region and for Western Australia and national significance as a key component of the development of the GWSS.
* Toorak Hill Reservoir is highly significant as a key element in the development of the immediate region and the Eastern Goldfields.
*Toorak Hill Reservoir is significant for its association with technical innovation and social and political ambition.
*Toorak Hill Reservoir is a landmark due to its location and as well known local viewing platform of CooIgardie and the surrounding countryside.
*Toorak Hill Reservoir has archaeological and interpretive potential to inform and communicate its significance and thus improve Public understanding of the history, technology and social development of the region and the
Goldfields Water Supply.

Physical Description

The Reservoir is located 1.8 kilometres north from Bayley Street, on Toorak Hill overlooking the town of Coolgardie. It is accessed from Moran Street via a gravel track running alongside the old inlet pipe from Bulla Bulling. The track reaches the base of the reservoir bank and then curves to the east winding around the base to finish at the entry gates to the tank. There is a barrier gate located just before the track winds around the base preventing vehicle access. On the east side of the tank is a level cleared area which is host to a large guyed aerial and small cabin.
Near the beginning of the vehicle track to the reservoir are the remains of the valve pit (Item 13 on plans attached) where the main from Bulla Bulling, the inlet pipe and the timber bypass joined. Unfortunately this
element has been severely damaged although its purpose is still easily read.
At the end of the inlet pipe, before it enters the tank, are two valve pits (Item 8 and 9 on the plans attached). The first is a concrete pit containing a valve meant to control water into the tank. The second pit is rock lined and
contains a pipe offset and valve, which connects to the break pressure well directly on the southwest (Item 11).
Further to the east past the barrier gate is the town supply conduit with a pit and valve to control the flow (items I and 2). Another valve and pit of unknown purpose is close by. The outlet pipe to Kalgoorlie is located on the southeast side of the tank and is marked by a large valve pit structure and valve (Item 5) and a prominent and deep trench (Item 6). A short distance to the south lies the trench for the overflow (item 4).
A link mesh cyclone fence surrounds the reservoir. The reservoir (item 3 on plans attached) is a round concrete type with straight sides set into the crown of the hill, approximately 100 metres in circumference (31m in
diameter). The spoil from excavation forms a steep earthen bank to the tank. The water gauge is intact and adjacent to an embedded steel rung ladder. The inside surface of the tank is networked with many cracks the
majority of which are horizontal. There is evidence of attempts to waterproof the cracking with bituminous material. A large vertical crack on the northwest has been patched with a rubberised material held by a frame. To the north east of the tank is the upstand of the inlet pipe.
Besides cracking in the walls the reservoir is in good and intact condition and is still holding water (February 2001). The inlet outlet pipes and control valves are intact and have the appearance of good condition. The town service is also in good condition except for the valve pits, which have deteriorated and are in danger of
collapse. A security fence and appropriate signage protect the reservoir from unauthorised entry.
The reservoir and its accessories are located in an attractive bushland setting with views to the town and surrounding countryside. There is evidence that the place has been well used in the past as a picnic spot and scenic lookout.

History

Assessment 2001
Architect/Designer: C Y O'Connor
Builder: Public Works Department
Construction 1901-1902
Toorak HH1 reservoir was constructed to service the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme, which began official operation in January 1903. This scheme was effectively built to supply fresh water from the coast to a water deficient goldfields and to supply water to regions along its route. The goldfields were established after a number of gold finds in the late nineteenth century in the interior of the state to the east of the Western Australian capital, Perth. The first significant gold discovery was made at Yilgarnin 1887 by HA. Anstey, B.N. Colreavy; N. Higgins and C. Glass. Nearby Southern Cross became the regional cenre fo the prospectors that followed, many of whom travelled from the Kimberley where earlier strikes had recently dried up. After about three years the gold yield started to thin in the Yilgarn region, and prospectors drifted away in search of that elusive strike Using Charles Hunt's earlier records, Arthur Bailey and John Ford travelled over 190 kilometres east of Southern Cross and returned in September 1892 with 554 ounces of gold, discovered at Fly Flat, just east of the present town of Coolgardie.
News of the strike coincided with the collapse of the Victorian economy, as well as a global recession, and hopeful prospectors descended upon Coolgardie from all over the world. Most came from'the Eastern Colonies
And new Zealand, others came from the United Kingdom, United States, South Africa Afghanistan and (before 1901) China. After landing in Western Australia at either Esperance or Fremantle, those with means went by coach, and later by train, while others traversed the dusty road by bike. Many more carried their worldly possessions in a wheelbarrow and walked the 400 to 500 kilometres. Those who came from Perth travelled the road and sought water from the wells that Charles Hunt had developed thirty years earlier.
Once they reached Coolgardie, fresh water was to prove even more elusive than gold. In the initial months of the strike, prospectors had to wait at Southern Cross for news of the water situation before they could continue their journey. Permits were required to travel to Coolgardie and water holes were designated to ensure enough 5supply for the travellers. When rain did fall prospectors would materialise like mushrooms; 300 men appeared in Coolgardie two days after rain fell on 8 March 1893. According to a newspaper article, there were 2,000 men in Coolgardie by June. It is not recorded when women arrived, but it seems that some at least followed their menfolk from the beginning for by 1894 the first government school was established in Coolgardie, with twenty five children being taught the ‘3R's1 in a tent.
The average yearly rainfall for Coolgardie is 176.5mm and rain may not fall at all for twelvemonths. In the early years, those who could afford it left Coolgardie for the dry season. The others had to pay between I and 3 shillings per gallon of water, depending on the season. The only sources of water at the time were from either the Raeside, or 35-mile soak, water from condensers, or water carted by train from Northam, then by camel from Southern Cross. Brackish water, which could be used -for household purposes', was produced at the
Government shaft about one mile from the town and was sold at 2 pence per gallon." Bores were also sunk for mining purposes. Outside of the town the little rain that did fall was caught in rock catchment areas. This water was more precious than a person's life, as proven when a man was acquitted for shooting an Afghan camel driver because he was washing his feet in a rock hole. No doubt this acquittal had a lot to do with the Typhoid epidemic that was sweeping the area. Typhoid fever was spread through a bacteria called typhoid bacilli that bred in contaminated water in the dams and soaks constructed through the Eastern Goldfields. In the 1890s, Typhoid fever had reached epidemic proportions, not
only in Coolgardie, but also in Perth and Northam. Clean, fresh, running water was imperative for the epidemic to be stopped and investment in the place to continue.
Even with its depredations and diseases, Coolgardie continued to grow. In 1894, the shanty town of mostly hessian tents got its first (temporary) Post Office and the telegraph was extended from Southern Cross to
Coolgardie and then Kalgoorlie" Coolgardie's first and most successful newspaper, The Coolgardie Miner, was published in May. In July, Coolgardie was declared a municipality with the-Coolgardie Municipal Council
being elected in December.14 In the space of two years, Coolgardie had become a substantial town. By 1898 Coolgardie had reached its zenith of development with a population of 15,000 in the town boundaries and
another 10,000 in the surrounding countryside. This was without a permanent water supply. The severe lack of water on the goldfields for human and animal consumption and for gold production was to be addressed by the Coolgardie Water Supply Scheme. This scheme collected water in a weir in the Helena
Valley and pumped it to the goldfields using 8 steam driven pumping stations strategically located along the length of the pipe track. The original scheme was to pump the water to Coolgardie and into the Toorak tank as
the terminus of the pipe. However by 1898 the alluvial gold was drying up and prospectors had moved on to the more popular fields at Kalgoorlie where gold had been discovered in 1893. In the light of the rapid development of Kalgoorlie it was decided, during the course of pipeline construction, to extend the supply 38.5 kilometres to terminate in another reservoir at Mt Charlotte in the KaIgoorIie fields. " The name of the project
was accordingly changed to the GWSS. The new purpose of the Toorak tank was to supply the town of Coolgardie and to gravity feed water to the reservoir at Mount Charlotte. Water was gravity fed to the Toorak tank from the large reservoir at Bullabulling that was in turn serviced from No 6 Pump Station at Dedari.
Excavation of the Toorak Hill Reservoir started in 1900 and was completed in 1901.16 The last 24 miles (38.4kms) of trench to Toorak Hill was excavated during 1902.17 Water reached the reservoir on 22 December 1902 after taking 10 months to travel the 525 kilometres from Mundaring Weir. At the Coolgardie opening ceremony in January 1903, the Mayor's wife had the dubious honour of the first drink of water from the scheme out of a solid gold cup The water was lightish brown in colour and it had a less than pleasant taste caused by the tar used in joining the pipes. However by now the town had lost most of its population and the suburb of Toorak Hill was deserted By 1904 the population had plummeted to 4,000. For those remaining residents, water now cost 7s per 1000 gallons, a big saving from 15s per 100 gallons of condensed water.
On the recommendation of the 1909 report on the corrosion of the main steel conduit it was decided to replace and enlarge the existing bypass pipe around Toorak Hill.21 This pipe provided a bypass route for water enroute from Bullabulling to Mt Charlotte in case the tank was unserviceable. After much deliberation an Oregon timber bypass conduit supplied by the Australian Timber Pipe Company was laid in 1911 around the base of the hill (see attached plans). After the initial problems, the wood bypass pipe seemed to have proven adequate to the task for it was still in use in 1939 and appeared likely to last another five years at least
Co incidentally, it was about this time that Karri timber stave pipe was being used on some sections of the main pipeline as a replacement for the original steel pipe. During the 1980s a new steel pipe bypass was laid, mostly above the ground. Unfortunately cracks in the concrete walls and floor were a major problem during the service life of the reservoir. Many treatments were tried but none had complete success. In 1944 the largest crack was covered with a large rubber sheet held by a steel frame. However even these measures appear to have been less than successful. From the mid 1980s the reservoir was used only as a temporary town service during shutdowns and was eventually taken out of all service as the towns supply now came directly from the main conduit.
Toorak Hill
Toorak Hill was always a popular picnic spot, as it affords the best views of CooIgardie. When the train from Kalgoorlie ran every Sunday, day trippers would climb the hill to enjoy the day on the reserve south of the reservoir. Although the tank was fenced off, this did not stop the local children from swimming in it.
The place was recorded as a Historic Site by the National Trust on 27 October 1976. It is listed on Coolgardie's Municipal Inventory with a Category 1 and is on the Shire of CooIgardie's Town Planning Scheme

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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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.