Basalt Rock Walls, Paisley Centre, Bunbury

Values

• Basalt Rock Walls has aesthetic value as a wall constructed from Bunbury Basalt which has distinctive characteristics being a fine- grained hard rock usually black or grey in colour.
• The use of Bunbury basalt to construct Basalt Rock Walls may be uncommon as it was primarily used in the construction of roads.

Physical Description

The place comprises two random rubble walls made from Bunbury basalt. The Basalt is grey to black in colour and appears to be set in concrete.
The longer wall surrounds the rear of the Paisley Centre, now the Bunbury Museum and was constructed in 1990. It serves as a diving wall between the Paisley Centre and the adjacent shopping precinct.
The smaller walls are used as landscaping and contain shrubs and other plants in the adjacent area.

The Bunbury Basalt is a unique volcanic rock formation found in very few places in the world, the only other place in
Australia where it can be seen is at Black Point, South coast in the Shire of Manjimup, WA some hundreds of kilometres
from Bunbury and only accessible by four wheel drive. It was formed as part of the Kerguelen oceanic plateau found in the Southern Indian Ocean. The plateau as formed during the break up of Gondwana approx 130 million years ago.

History

Bunbury basalt is the term given to the black basalt formation most evident along the beach front at Bunbury, in Capel, and Black Point in D’Entrecasteaux National Park on the south west coast of Western Australia. These examples are part of the Kerguelen large igneous province that formed 130 to 95 million years ago as Australia, India and Antarctica split apart. The characteristic hexagonal columns or pillars of basalt were formed by the movement of molten basaltic lava that followed volcanic eruptions during the period. As with other basalt formations, Bunbury Basalt is a fine- grained hard rock usually black or grey in colour.
Quarrying of the basalt along the Bunbury shorefront began in the 1890s to extract basalt for macadam road construction. The Bunbury municipal quarry was operational between 1890 and the 1960s, producing large amounts of crushed gravel for road material. In the 1940s, the operations were threatened with closure due to a dispute between the Western Australian government and the Bunbury Council over whether the quarrying was permissible at the place, which had been awarded Class A reserve status.
Basalt is still extracted and in use, but is no longer extracted from the resource located along the beach front, which is now utilised as a community beach and picnic area. The Bunbury Basalt Quarry is currently under operation by the Hanson Heidelberg Cement Group is recognised as a ‘major strategic resource’ of the greater Bunbury region. Basalt continues to be extracted from the quarry in 2016 for use in the construction industry and road work operations.
Basalt Rock Walls, Paisley Centre, Bunbury was constructed in 1990. There is no further information available about the construction of this wall.

Condition

Good

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.