Katrine Precinct

Author

Shire of Northam

Place Number

16758

Location

Lot 50 Katrine Rd Katrine

Location Details

Includes: Katrine Causeway & St Saviour's Church

Local Government

Northam

Region

Avon Arc

Construction Date

Constructed from 1850, Constructed from 1864

Demolition Year

N/A

Statutory Heritage Listings

Type Status Date Documents
Heritage List Adopted 21 Feb 2020

Heritage Council Decisions and Deliberations

Type Status Date Documents
RHP - To be assessed Current 27 Jun 2003

Other Heritage Listings and Surveys

Type Status Date Grading/Management
Category
Register of the National Estate Indicative Place
Municipal Inventory Adopted 2. Considerable significance

Child Places

  • 25058 Katrine Causeway

Physical Description

Inn was constructed in 1842 the Barn in 1858 and the house in the 1860s. The barn is in a group of farm buildings which have been recorded for their vernacular interest and association with the pioneer Viveash family but, apart from the barn, these buildings suffer from lack of maintenance and unsympathetic alterations. The barn is a significant example of the type of farm building erected at this period, is in good condition and still in use. December 2007 that the buildings have been restored and converted into bed and breakfast accommodation. Includes: Katrine Causeway & St Saviour's Church. The Church is a stone structure with rendered quoins to door and window openings and a corrugated iron roof. It has leadlight gothic arched windows. Along Katrine Road there are a number of ruins and former building sites that represent the early development of the Northam region. Katrine Homestead – The homestead at Katrine was developed over a period of forty years. One of the earliest buildings in the area was the Katrine Inn, which is a single roomed red brick and shingle roofed building visible from Katrine Road. It is said it was built 1842. In recent times it has been partially rebuilt and relined and reroofed with iron. Various sturdily built outhouses, barns and sheds make up the rest of the homestead buildings. The building materials vary from brick to stone. The brickwork is English bond in some sections and garden wall bond is also visible. The tall protective verandah to several elevations provides protection to the glazed areas and is an indicator of the high ceilinged rooms inside. The kitchen buildings at the rear are built of handmade red clay bricks with timbered and corrugated iron roof. The windows are timbered box frames. A cellar was accessible from outside the house, adjacent to the external original kitchen, laundry and cooks room. A very old stone barn, in excellent condition, bears the date 1858 on the wall. The barn is a large rectangular building made of stone with timber framed roof and corrugated iron. On the south eats side is a large archway which gave height to allow the wheat and hay carriages that passed through to unload. The barn is strongly built and well portioned, with ventilation panels in the north east gables. The barn was built by convicts. . St Saviours Church – St Saviours or Katrine Church is the oldest existing church in the Northam district. Located in a rural setting with minimal landscaping, it is a very distinctive building. Constructed of stone blocks with mortared quoins, it has a gabled parapet, a high pitched roof (now corrugated iron, but previously shingle), a small mortared entrance porch and a sweeping entrance stairway. The porch and steps were added in the 1890s using the original brick flooring. Wooden flooring was laid and the shingle roof was replaced with iron. Nearby is a small cemetery, with graves of prominent Northam pioneers: Viveash, Cooke, Wilkerson and other names like Middleton, Bostock and Masters.

History

The original land grant for this property, known as Location T Grant, was officially made in 1832, to Dr JP Lyttleton, who arrived in Western Australia in 1829. He died in 1835 and the property ownership passed to his widow, Mrs Sarah Lyttleton. Peter Chidlow was known to be either leasing or performing location duties there until his death in 1837. In 1838 Katrine was leased to JT Cooke and the first building was erected at that time, of which only part of the foundations remain. Cooke still held the lease when the property was sold to Dr S Viveash in 1842 for 520 pounds. Later Viveash installed James Wilkerson as his manager when he moved to Guildford. His son, Simeon, began to rune the Katrine property in about 1860, with the help of a manager. He inherited the property in 1880. The buildings making up the Katrine Homestead Group were used by the wider community too, and they housed a school, a staging inn, barn and stable complex to service travellers and locals. Its location close to the safe winter ford across the Avon River led to settlement developing around the Katrine Homestead. After four generations Katrine passed out of Viveash family hands and became property of Ross and Pam McKenzie in 1985. In 1988 agreement was finally given by the Northam Shire to subdivide, allowing land containing the historic buildings to be sold to Rex and Christina Downie, who began the timely task of restoring the decaying buildings, which were close to being lost. The rebuilt Inn building is presently utilised as a Bed and Breakfast facility. By 1850 quite a large group of mainly English and some Irish settlers were established In the Katrine area. The newly ordained priest Charles Harper was holding church services in homes near Katrine, notably that of Mrs Jane Slade, whose husband Lieutenant Frederick Slade had died in July 1850. In 1851 it was decided to rent a vacant cottage from Mrs Slade to be used ass a chapel until a church could be built. Christenings, marriages and burial services of people of all denominations took place here between 1852-63. No longer needed after St Saviours was built, the chapel fell into disrepair and has since been eroded and washed away by the river in floods over the years. The church was built uphill from the Katrine river crossing, the safest ford over the Avon River during winter, and so was a natural meeting place for many pioneer families in the district. The land for the Church was donated to the Anglican Church in 1861 by Simeon Viveash, and the church was built be John Sewell under contract to Cooke, Abraham Morgan and James Wilkerson. The church was consecrated by Rev Matthew Hale, the first Bishop of Perth in 1862. In 1867 the ford was converted into a more permanent causeway, using convicts from the Toodyay depot, making access to the church much easier.

State Heritage Office library entries

Library Id Title Medium Year Of Publication
6813 Images CD No. 24 : Katrine area. C D Rom 2004
9552 Katrine: a monument of settlement. Book 2009

Place Type

Precinct or Streetscape

Uses

Epoch General Specific
Present Use Transport\Communications Road: Bridge
Original Use MONUMENT\CEMETERY Cemetery
Original Use RELIGIOUS Church, Cathedral or Chapel
Original Use Transport\Communications Road: Bridge
Present Use RELIGIOUS Church, Cathedral or Chapel

Architectural Styles

Style
Victorian Free Gothic

Construction Materials

Type General Specific
Wall STONE Other Stone
Roof METAL Zincalume

Historic Themes

General Specific
DEMOGRAPHIC SETTLEMENT & MOBILITY Settlements
SOCIAL & CIVIC ACTIVITIES Religion
TRANSPORT & COMMUNICATIONS Road transport

Creation Date

10 Jun 2003

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Approved

Last Update

21 Feb 2020

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.