Albany Fish Ponds

Statement of Significance

Albany Fish Ponds, comprising one large pond and two smaller former ponds, a former barrow pit and remnants of a timber retaining wall, enclosed within a timber, iron rail and woven wire fence; has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons:
As the first official pisciculture enterprise for the acclimatisation of trout and other fresh water fish in Western Australia, the place has rarity value.
The establishment of Albany Fish Ponds was part of the international acclimatisation movement, which saw the exchange of plant and animal species between European countries and new colonies and resulted in the introduction of European species to Australia.
The place has historic significance for associations with Governor Weld who encouraged the establishment of the Fish Ponds in 1874 after a visit to Ballarat.
The place was built by convict labour in the 1870s, under the direction of Resident Magistrate Hare and is a representative example of the employment of convict labour on public works in Western Australia in the mid nineteenth century.
As the site of the first official pisciculture enterprise in Western Australia, the place has potential to yield information about this industry through archaeological investigation.
The place has contributed to Albany's water supply since 1888, firstly through a lease to the Western Australian Land Company, and subsequently from 1897 through associations with the WAGR resulting in 1907/8 in the enlargement of the top pond by the Public Works Department to create a reservoir.
The place is a landmark in the City of Albany as a well-known site on the eastern outskirts of town which provides a continuous landscape link from the coast to Mt Melville above and as such forms a cultural environment that integrates with the surrounding landscape setting.

Physical Description

Albany Fish Ponds are a series of three ponds in tiers down a slope, comprising one large pond and two smaller former ponds, as well as a former barrow pit and remnants of a timber retaining wall, enclosed within a timber, iron rail and woven wire fence. The operating principal was that the ponds filled and over-flowed into the next, falling down sloping banks of about three metres. They were connected by wooden slipways between ponds. Exit from the lowest pond was by underground pipes to the locomotive sheds. It is unclear what remains of these structures as the ponds and surrounding land is seriously overgrown.

History

The establishment of Albany Fish Ponds was part of the international acclimatisation movement, which saw the exchange of plant and animal species between European countries and new colonies and resulted in the introduction of European species to Australia

The Governor of Western Australia, Frederick Aloysius Weld decided that fish should by introduced to fresh water streams and rivers. Albany was selected to be the base for acclimatising and rearing the fish. The Government Resident in Albany, Gustavus Edward Cockburn Hare implemented the project by choosing the site for constructing three fish ponds on the southwestern foot of Mount Melville. Natural materials such as clay, earth banks and local wood were used in the construction. This work was carried out between 1874-77. The three ponds were to be hatcheries for trout and perch but the project was unsuccessful. It has been suggested that the ponds were built using convict labour but the construction period is outside the period of transportation to Western Australia. However the ponds could have been built using local prisoners, former convicts or ‘Ticket of Leave’ men.

The West Australian Land company, builder and owner of the Great Southern Railway and its associated facility, the Albany Deep Water Jetty, formally opened in 1889, obtained the ponds as a collective source of fresh water supplies for ships and stream locomotives. A gravity main carried the water to the railway and the jetty. The company sold its land holdings, the jetty and the line to the WA government in 1896.

A growing demand for adequate water supplies to both the town and the port brought a decision in 1906 by government and council to build a 500 000 gallon reservoir at the fish ponds. The flow of water proved too slow. The ponds ceased to be used for the town’s water supply after 1914. The fishponds have a tragic association with a number of suicides in the 1930s.

In July 2000 the Fish Ponds were listed on the WA Heritage Council’s Register of Heritage Places.

Integrity/Authenticity

Integrity: High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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Last Update

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