Hamelin Bay Jetty and Settlement (Former)

Child Places

• 03466 Hamelin Bay Jetty

Statement of Significance

Hamelin Bay Jetty and Settlement (Former) is of significance:
• For its historical association with the small harbour community that existed at Hamelin Bay at the height of the timber industry in the late 1800s.
• For its essential role in the success of the local timber operation run by M.C. Davies and his successors from the early 1880s until c.1900.
• As a site of potential historical and maritime archaeological significance.

Physical Description

The surviving remains of the jetty structure include numerous round timber piles at the shoreline and breaking the surface of the water out into the bay. These clearly illustrate the orientation of the jetty and, through interpretation of the documentary evidence, the former railway alignment.
Physical evidence of the structures and other development associated with the nineteenth century timber industry settlement and harbor infrastructure at Hamelin Bay has not been identified or inspected (although oral evidence suggests that remnants of building materials have been seen in the vicinity of the small lake near the bay). However, given the length of occupation as a timber industry settlement (1880s to realty 1900s) it is likely that there is archaeological evidence of this era.
There is currently (2012) no prominent interpretation of the jetty, or the associated settlement and timber industry.

History

In 1875, Maurice Coleman Davies, a contractor in Adelaide, visited Western Australia to inspect the timber industry. Davies was to become the driving force behind the timber industry in the South West, promoting Western Australian timber in Australia and internationally. Davies’ first mill was operating at Coodardup (now Kudardup) by 1881 and at around the same time he built a jetty at Hamelin Bay and laid a 3'6" gauge railway (with steel rails) to connect the harbour with the locality of Karridale. In 1882, work commenced on a new jetty at Flinders Bay, also to be connected by rail to Karridale, thereby providing Davies' operations with alternative ports for shipment of timber - Flinders Bay used in winter, and Hamelin Bay used in summer. Tram lines were built along the length of both jetties, enabling timber to be unloaded by crane onto the waiting ships. From these ports the Karri and Jarrah timbers were shipped around the world. The Hamelin Bay jetty was constructed in two phases and eventually attained a length of 1800 feet (approx. 550 metres). During this period a small community was established at Hamelin Bay to accommodate the workers at the port.
With the closure of the local timber industry in 1913, Hamelin Bay was abandoned and the remains of the jetty settlement were left to rot away, as reported in 1917: The decaying jetty is cumbered with rusting anchors and cables, rotting ropes and broken wreckage. Fragments of hull and spar lie embedded on the beach, and the skeletons of wrecks, whose ribs are still held together by stubborn keels, show ghastly clear through the crystal waters a cable length from shore. lt was a wild nor'-wester that, years ago, burst on that lovely bay, driving the great ocean rollers in thunderous crash and sheets of spray, and swept every vessel in port ashore. The rusting rails and trailing telephone wire on the jetty decking, the rotting lighters on the beach, all show what once has been. Looking landward, where the forest clad ranges dip down to the sea and a little lagoon above high water-mark, the roofs of huts and houses peep through the dense undergrowth and scrub which curtain their paneless windows, choke their tumble-down chimneys, and obliterate their one-time garden patches. All are eloquent of abandonment and desertion. But it was not the great storm that killed Hamelin; it was the cutting out of the timber. There are no inhabitants to speak of now, but the beautiful little bay will surely have a thriving future as a seaside and forest resort. Hamelin Bay then remained largely undeveloped until the 1950s, but one example of a small local maritime industry was the commercial fishing of salmon around Hamelin Bay from the late 1940s, when professional fishermen camped at the bay during the spawning run in March/April, cleaning the fish on the beach and then trucking them to canning factories in Perth.
In 1953-54 a new phase of development, linked to the growth of local tourism, was established with the opening of the Hamelin Bay Caravan Park (where the old timber yard of M.C. Davies had been set at the approaches to the jetty).
In 2004 an archaeological survey reported that the surviving remains of the jetty structure were mostly represented by piles that break the surface in three sections and a terrestrial section (part of the shore section), comprised of two bents and other supporting structure.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low: The use has been altered and the original use cannot be readily discerned.
Low: The place has been considerably altered, with the loss of significant fabric. The original intent/character is no longer clearly evident.

Condition

Poor

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.