Medina Townsite

Child Places

• 12086 First Municipal Roads Board Office
• 12095 Medina Shopping Centre
• 24503 Anglican Church (fmr)
• 24486 Medina Avenue Trees
• 15098 Uniting Church
• 15099 Uniting Church Manse
• 27231 House, 19 Cowcher Way West, Medina
• 24441 Medina Town Hall
• 24535 Chalk Hill
• 24437 Medina Infant Health Centre
• 12105 Harry McGuigan Park
• 03051 Kwinana Police Station (fmr)
• 24439 Medina State School

Values

The referring party believes that the place was the first purpose built town in Western
Australia, and one of the first few in Australia.
The place was designed by Margaret Feilman, who was responsible for the design of a
number of State Housing Commission public housing estates.
The place is was built for the BP Refinery, Western Australia's only oil Refinery, which has
supplied most of Western Australia's fuel needs for over 50 years.
The subdivision of lots, street layout and design characteristics of the houses, demonstrate
the dominant 1950s attitude to the planning, disposition and amenity of a low-cost housing
estate and the standards of accommodation considered to be suitable for public housing
for rental to low-income residents

Physical Description

Medina Townsite is located between the BP Oil Refinery and the Kwinana Freeway. It covers an area
approximately 4.5 square kilometres.
Medina Townsite includes areas of original bushland. The limestone ridge and native trees on the
western side act as a buffer zone between the townsite and the industrial area close to the coast.
The houses built in Medina by the State Housing Commission are typical of modest, vernacular houses
of the Post-War era. They are simply detailed using standard materials, construction techniques and
planning.
The landscape of the suburb is undulating. The houses are set back form the street, with mature
plantings surrounding them. The original lots have not been subdivided.
Original house types vary in design and materials used include weatherboard, fibrous cement sheeting,
half weatherboard/half sheeting, and brick. Yet the area has a high level of homogeneity and high
authenticity.

History

The limestone ridge (Chalk Hill) that divides Medina Townsite from the industrial area is an
ancient Indigenous campsite. The area is part of a trail of fresh water lakes and natural springs
running north-south along the coast that were used for Nyoongar people for hunting and
gathering.
Nicholas Baudin, explored the area of East Rockingham in 1803, and named île Bauche
(renamed Garden Island by James Stirling), Point Peron and île Berthollet (now Carnac
Island). With the establishment of the Swan River Colony in 1829, the settlers made their
first camp at the southern end of Cockburn Sound, and for a time it was considered as a
suitable place to found the colony’s capital, owing to its potential as a harbour. In the end,
Perth was chosen as the capital, but Cockburn Sound continued to be used as an
anchorage. In December 1829 Thomas Peel, an English speculator, brought out four
hundred indentured settlers. A townsite called Clarence was surveyed near Woodman’s
Point to provide temporary accommodation for Peel’s group, with the intention that the lots
would eventually be sold to private settlers. The site was inhospitable, and within two
years the town had been deserted.
The Mandurah area was settled by Peel and others in the 1830s, and the main road to
Fremantle passed on the east side of Lake Cooloongup up to the coast. This route, which
is now known as Mandurah Road, became a “spine” along which the East Rockingham
settlement was to develop.

Integrity/Authenticity

High

Uses

Historic Themes

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.