Perry Lakes Reserve

Statement of Significance

The place has aesthetic value as a large well maintained parkland within a suburban setting that is accessible to the community.

The place has historic value for its remnants of coastal bushland in the metropolitan area that has remained intact since the early 19th century.

The place has historic value for its associations with prominent settlers Walter Padbury, Henry Trigg and Joseph Perry, who were significant figures in the early development of Western Australia.

The place has historic value for its association with William Ernest Bold who was an influential leader in the City of Perth who shaped the development of this portion of the Town of Cambridge in the early 20th century.

The place has social value for the members of the community who access the place for passive recreation and research.

The reserve has social value for current and former scouts, guides and their leaders who have attended group activities at the site, especially the large jamboree's held in 1979 and 1994/5.

Physical Description

Perry Lakes adjoins Bold Park and is located on the east side of Perry Lakes Drive creating a large area of natural bushland and open lawn within an urban setting. The parkland provides a range of recreational facilities including ovals, walk trails and sporting facilities. The parkland is approximately 80 hectares in size and contains two lakes, East Lake and West Lake.

The Fire Pit is located within the parkland, close to the scout hut and other sporting facilities. The pit is circular and of brick construction with a recessed central section and timber benches around the perimeter.

A commemorative metal sculpture is located within the grounds that honours 75 years of Scouting which occurred in 1982. The sculpture also acknowledges the 1979 world wide jamboree which saw 12000 scouts camp at the site.

History

The area now defined as Perry Lakes has been identified by the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Aboriginal Heritage Inquiry System as Heritage Place 3735 as a former camp and hunting place. As a wetland it is logical this place was used by the Whadjuk Noongar peoples for a range of functions prior to and following establishment of the Swan River colony in 1829.

Following the foundation of Perth, the townsite was laid out and limestone was in great demand for construction in the new colony. The earliest lime kilns in Western Australia were established at the initial settlement sites of Fremantle and Albany in the 1830s, where settlers had access to local supplies of limestone.

Henry Trigg, a carpenter and master builder from Gloucester, England arrived in the new colony of Western Australia in 1829. In I834, Trigg was granted 500 acres of land, which lay south of modern day Grantham Street, stretching from Floreat to the coastal sand hills. The western boundary of Trigg's land ran along the top of a limestone ridge. As a builder, Trigg recognised the value of this limestone outcropping and set up a quarrying and lime burning business. Trigg's business which became known as the 'Limekilns' prospered.

In 1839, Trigg purchased neighbouring land to the south, including what is now Perry Lakes and One Tree Hill, (now known as Reabold Hill). In the same year, Trigg was appointed Superintendent of Public Works, and in this role was responsible for overseeing the erection of many early government buildings in Perth.

In 1844, Walter Padbury, a pastoralist, acquired 426 acres of land adjacent to Trigg's property and later purchased Trigg's land including the Limekilns business for 2350, forming a 1,234 acre landholding which became known as the 'Limekilns Estate'. For the next 20 years Padbury built the Estate into a successful property, including the retention of the quarrying operations. At the height of operations, more than 50 men were employed at the quarry and lime kiln site.

In 1869, brothers Henry and Somers Birch purchased the Limekilns Estate from Walter Padbury for £1,000. On 1 November 1875, during their ownership of the property, the explorer Ernest Giles arrived in Perth after his 2,500 mile journey from Port Augusta. His camels were rested at the Limekilns Estate and later in the 1890s, the Limekilns Estate served as a temporary quarantine station for camels imported to Western Australia to provide transport to the goldfields, with a lake now within Bold Park becoming known as Camel Lake.

The Estate remained in the Birch's ownership until, 1880 when it was purchased by Joseph Perry for the sum of £1300. During his ownership, Perry kept the Quarry and limekilns in operation. Many of Perth's early public buildings, including the foundations of the Perth Town Hall (1870) were constructed using limestone from the quarry and kilns.

In 1880, a portion of the Limekilns property was rented to Charles Ball who offered to supply lime which was described as the most superior in the colony, from lime kilns of 30 years standing. Private quarrying ceased operation in 1906 and the Limekilns Quarry (Quarry Amphitheatre) remained disused for many years.

Changes to the rural nature of the area came about with the subdivision of land owned by the Catholic Church in 1911. This subdivision was called the Church Lands Estate, and the first house was constructed in 1912.

In 1917, the Perth City Council purchased the 1290-acre Limekilns Estate from Perry for £18,000 and it linked to the Endowment Lands bestowed on the Perth City Council by the State Government in 1902. In January 1918, the Limekilns Estate was included within the boundaries of the City of Perth, and adjoined a further 2281 acres of Endowment Lands. The City envisioned opening out the quarries and using the limestone in the construction of city roads but also setting a portion of the land aside for a public park on the site of
Perry's couch paddock and One Tree Hill (Reabold Hill).

The exact date that the municipal Quarry ceased operation is not known, but it is likely that operations ceased in the 1920s with the beginning of the development of the area for housing. During the middle decades of the 20th century the quarry was unused and largely inaccessible.

In 1919, One Tree Hill was renamed Reabold Hill after F. R Rea, the Mayor of Perth at the time the property was acquired by the City of Perth and W. E. Bold, the town clerk. By this time the lone Tuart tree that had previously sat atop the 286 ft. high hill, and given the place its name had disappeared.

In 1925, an area of land of approximately 1000 acres was set aside as a place of recreation and was named Bold Park in honour of William Ernest Bold (1873-1953), the retiring town clerk. Other sources have designated that the naming occurred in 1936. Perry Lakes was included in the original boundaries of Bold Park when it was established by the City of Perth.

Perry Lakes in its current form dates from 1962 when the area was landscaped in association with the construction of Perry Lakes Stadium and associated sporting tracks and facilities for the 1962 Empire Games. The Perry Lakes Stadium was demolished from 2010 to 2012 and is now being developed for residential occupancy.

The Perry Lakes Reserve has been redeveloped as part of the Perry Lakes redevelopment project. New facilities for passive and formal recreation have been built on the site included a skate park and a nature play ground.

Long term visitors to the Perry Lakes reserve have been groups of scouts and guides. The current Cambridge Scout and Guide Hall was built c2005 however prior to that fire pit has been located at the site for many years. Aerial photographs indicate the fire pit was present at the current location from the 1970s although further information is required to determine its date of construction.

A commemorative sculpture is located within the grounds that honours 75 years of Scouting which occurred in 1982. The sculpture also acknowledges the 1979 world wide jamboree which saw 12000 scouts camp at the site. The Australian Scout Jamboree was again held on the site in 1994/95. The Town of Cambridge have instigated a management plan for the reserve with a particular focus on maintaining water levels which have been observed as declining in recent decades.

Condition

Good

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Historic Themes

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