Windy Harbour Houses

Statement of Significance

Aesthetic, Representativeness, Social and Historic

Physical Description

Windy Harbour comprises a settlement of small simply designed houses
built from second hand materials with little to no architectural input.

History

These notes have been derived from Windy Harbour Settlement by
Dave Evans 1992.
After the settlement of the Northcliffe area in the 1920s people began to
be attracted to Windy Harbour for day trips for picnics and fishing. As
Windy Harbour is a sheltered spot from the Southern Ocean it was soon
recognized as a superior fishing spot. One of the first tracks into Windy
Harbour was pushed through by the Ladhams family. However, this
track was difficult to traverse owing to steep sand dunes. The Manjimup
Road Board took on the task to provide a better track with a more direct
route. The builders apparently received 50 pounds for their effort. As
this track again proved inaccessible at certain times of the year it became
known as “The Fifty Pound Tragedy” shortened overtime to Tragedy
Track. Many stories arise from long term residents about getting to
Windy Harbour in spring and winter through he notorious bogs.
Visitors to Windy Harbour grew with the increasing ownership of motor
vehicles and families began to camp for longer periods in tents and rough
huts. These huts in the late 1930s began to get more enduring until one
day Roy Dunlop decided to stay as a permanent resident. Roy was a well
known identity in the area who took people for fishing trips in his boat.
The first person to build a fishing hut for holiday stays was Aubrey
Sheffield who came from Pemberton. He was soon followed by others
who began to cart in building materials that were usually second hand
such as timber offcuts or odd sheets of corrugated iron. Second hand
furniture was used in what has been described as rough lodgings. After
World War II the onset of more leisure time and increasingly reliable
motor cars led to more huts at Windy Harbour being erected.
By the 1950s about 80 dwellings had been constructed but the owners
(some said squatters) had no legal entitlements over the land and there
was no planning for the building sites. The local authorities decided this
situation could not persist and organized development and administrative
system under the Windy Harbour Progress Committee was introduced in
1953 and ratified in 1956 by the Minister for Lands EK Hoar the Member
for Warren. This allowed building controls and proper landing surveys
for the settlement.
The road to Windy Harbour was sealed in 1970 but even though this
allows very easy day trips from Northcliffe the overall services in the
settlement have not overly changed. There is no shop or liquor store,
both held in abhorrence by the early lease holders, and living is still very
simple in nature. Windy harbour is situated very close to Point
D’Entrecasteaux and is not encompassed by the Point D’Entrecateaux
National Park.

Condition

Various

Uses

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.