Local Government
Perth
Region
Metropolitan
Various
Swan Canning Riverpark
Perth
Metropolitan
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| (no listings) |
| Type | Status | Date | Documents |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHP - To be assessed | Current | 24 Sep 2010 |
| Type | Status | Date | Grading/Management | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | ||||
| (no listings) | ||||
The place is one of the most prominent landmark in the State of Western Australia
The place has an exceptional level of aesthetic value
The place is highly significant as the primary water way through the Perth metropolitan area and, being the focus of the earliest settlements in the State, still retains numerous sites and places that provide evidence for this story
The place is highly significant to the Western Australian Noongar population as a focus point for ceremony, spiritual life and subsistence during both prehistory through to the present day
The place has long been the focus of recreation and community life in the metropolitan area and has iconic values as the centrepiece of the State
The Swan Canning Riverpark covers 72.1 square kilometres of river reserve and adjoining public lands. The Swan Canning Riverpark supports a diverse array of plant and animal life, some endemic to the region. The Swan and Canning rivers, which stretch and snake their way for 280 kilometres from Wickepin to the deep blue of the Indian Ocean in Fremantle, represent an important slice of West Australian history, as well as holding significant cultural values for Perth, serving as an important feature of the city’s landscape.
The Swan River runs through the Perth metropolitan area from its mouth at Fremantle to Walyunga National Park in the northeast. The Canning River, diverting from the Swan at Canning Bridge, continues to Araluen in the southeast.
The Indigenous population of Western Australia, in the metropolitan area comprising the Noongar language group, utilised the resources of the Swan River for thousands of years prior to European settlement. Although the resources it contained were integral to this focus, the rivers were also significant components in Noongar spiritual and ceremonial life. This focus, and the spiritual links, continues to the present day. Although explored by the French and Dutch during the seventeenth, and early nineteenth centuries, the first British expedition to explore this part of Western Australia did not take place until 1827. Captain James Stirling arrived on the western side of the continent in the H.M.S Success in March and his reports of the region were favourable. The Canning River was also explored during this expedition with Stirling naming it after George Canning, a British Statesman and Prime Minister of Great Britain. Stirling’s favourable reports encouraged the establishment of the Swan River Colony in February 1829. European settlement initially centred around the mouth of the Swan at Fremantle and spread out towards Perth and Guildford. Long thin ribbon grants were allotted to early settlers in the Swan District to give them equal river frontage but poor soils and a noxious weed resulted in movement further east into the Swan Valley. With the introduction of convicts to the Swan River Colony in the 1850s infrastructure building and the availability of a labour force allowed the river valleys to be fully exploited for agriculture. With the commencement of Western Australia’s gold rush in the 1890s the population increased, as did the settlement focus on the Swan and Canning Rivers. This continued throughout the early twentieth century with the majority of the population living in and around the river park and along the coastal areas of the State. The intensive infrastructure building seen during this period saw the construction of a safe harbour at the mouth of the Swan in Fremantle and, during the early twentieth century, large sections of the river along the Perth foreshore were subject to reclamation. The Swan and Canning Rivers have, from the earliest period of settlement, been a focus of Western Australian life. This continues to the present and will continue far into the foreseeable future.
| Library Id | Title | Medium | Year Of Publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9531 | Swan and Helena rivers management framework: heritage audit and statement of significance, final report 26 February 2009. | Heritage Study {Other} | 2009 |
Large Conservation Region
| Epoch | General | Specific |
|---|---|---|
| Present Use | Transport\Communications | Water: Other |
| Present Use | SOCIAL\RECREATIONAL | Other |
| Original Use | Transport\Communications | Water: Other |
| General | Specific |
|---|---|
| SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES | Sport, recreation & entertainment |
| TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS | River & sea transport |
| DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY | Land allocation & subdivision |
| OCCUPATIONS | Commercial & service industries |
| DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY | Aboriginal Occupation |
| DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY | Exploration & surveying |
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