We had read that the Avon Valley was a lovely place to go looking for heritage towns and buildings. So we spend a day doing just that from our base in Fremantle. We even got a touch of Christmas. It was a great day and we especially loved the town of York – magnificent buildings.
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
We went to the Avon Valley on 19 September as part of a brilliant stay at Fremantle on 17 to 22 Sept. Our time in Freo is covered in a separate post – click here – and our day in Rottnest Island, or Rotto as the local say, is also in a seperate post – click here
The Avon River is a tributary of the Swan River. It flows 240 kilometres from source to mouth, with a catchment area of 125,000 square km. The river basin covers much of WA wheatbelt and extends beyond that in some areas near the almost-always-dry Lake Moore in the northeast. Water is received regularly from only the extreme western edge of the basin. European settlement started at York in the 1830s.
Getting there
The towns in which we are interested in the Avon Valley are about 80km or so from Perth. In particular we wanted to see the historic towns and buildings. The drive out increasingly became rolling hillside farmlands, all in a lovely shade of green.
We stopped at Noble Falls, a delightful spot about 5 kilometres outside the quaint country town of Gidgegannup. There were some lovely wild flowers around.
A bit further on we came to an alpaca farm, and a large black one came up to the fence to talk to Kerry. Not surprisingly we nicknamed him/her Sooty. They do get quite big, but he was very friendly. He was so calm, chattering his teeth to me and letting me pat him.
To see a video of “Sooty” the Alpaca, click here
Toodyay
Our first town was Toodyay and we took the Avon Historic Tourist Drive to get there. Lovely farmlands. The town really is delightful – had a homely feel about it. There are some wonderful old buildings, such as the Victoria Hotel (1864) and attached billiard saloon. The post office dates from 1897, and St Stephens Anglican church from 1862. Also the old Mill from 1870.
The streetscape is also attractive, with a red phone box out in the street. So unusual to see an old fashioned phone box anywhere these days.
Then I spied something very unusual – a Christmas shop, indeed a large one. I called Kerry over as she loves Christmas shops. She was very restrained. Bought a beautiful elf to sit on the breakfast bar and a couple of lovely silver ornaments (that hopefully don’t break)
I saw a lunch special on a board outside a cafe and could not resist – choritizo soup. Delicious. Their iced chocolate was to die for, and their profiterole was pretty good too.
Northam
The drive down to Northam (27kms) was very pretty and – the green farmlands are such a contrast to further north.
Northam is a much larger town, which made it seem much less personal. A welcoming water jet in the river beckoned us over the bridge. The town is home to over 185 heritage listed buildings, so what we saw was only a small selection.
The Post Office, dated from 1909, looks great. It was commandeered by the armed services during the wars. And what’s more, in the needles in strawberries saga, a man has set up a van out front selling large punnets very cheaply. Kerry got a punnet and we ate them as we drove along. The Commercial Hotel (1908) also looks great, further along from the Post office, but is fenced off. It is not clear if remedial works are being undertaken or it is fenced off for safety reasons. What a way to travel. Driving along and reaching down for a beautifully fresh strawberry every couple of minutes.
The railway station looks in fine condition and is used for commercial purposes. The Town Hall was built in 1897-98 and is currently being refurbished. The Link Theatre is unusual. The Northam Theatre Group purchased the old Presbyterian Church, and community volunteers converted it into the Link Theatre. The town hall also looks great, and is being refurbished.
A photo selection of other old buildings follows.
York
We drove further south for about 35kms to York. There is so much canola being grown that we saw a feast of yellow in all directions.
Just before we get to York we stoped at what looks like a lovely old church, in the middle of nowhere. We quickly realised that it is now a home, after we captured a few photos.
York is some town – the oldest inland town in WA, and steeped in history. It is approximately 97 kilometres by road east of Perth in the Avon Valley, which is one of the most fertile sections of the State.
With the increasing population of the Swan River Settlement in 1829 (the year of WA foundation), it became evident that suitable land would have to be discovered to grow cereals and other crops.
To read more on the history of York, click here.
More than 200 buildings or sites in York are heritage listed, most within the town itself. The entire town site of York has been listed as an Historic Town on the Register of the National Estate of the Commonwealth. Many of York’s older homes and buildings have now been restored and, while some have retained their original use (e.g. the Post Office), others have been adaptively re-used with success, such as the old Primary School.
On the way into town we diverted to the left and saw the cutest cottage and garden. Just lovely. And at the end of the street, there is a stunning building that was once a maternity hospital. Now a private home. This big old house is magnificent. We were talking to a lady later on and she said it is haunted too (lots of mums and babies died there back when it was a hospital). And, there is more – just up from there is the Residency Museum, which was unfortunately closed that day for renovations. This was the residence of the Magistrate and was built between 1842 to 1859.
We love this town on first acquaintance. We have parked outside the Town Hall and a cafe in a lovely building. The Town Hall, many say the most striking building in town, was completed in 1911 and featured colonial revival columns and ornate facades, jarrah floors, balustrades and impressive pressed tin ceilings. At the time of its construction it was said to have the largest floor area of any building in WA. It still boasts one of the largest public halls in Australia, and currently houses the town’s Visitor Information Centre.
Across the road is a super large bilby made from straw. This is part of the York festival which is current.
The Castle Hotel had a “Virgins’ Parlour” – read the note.
The post office.
The main street is brilliant – so many great old buildings still being used today. .
We love these old “sub-signs” on the “Settlers” building.
On one of the side streets we found the catholic Church of St Patrick. The original Catholic Church was built in 1859. Today it is the Church Hall. The new church was started in 1875 and finished in 1886. It is a huge church which has been designed in the grand Gothic Revival style of the late nineteenth century. The building is credited to the architect and convict, Joseph Denis Nunan, who was an Irish patriot transported to Fremantle for seven years for wounding a policeman.
We met a woman who knows the town well and she told us a lot of the history. She said we must go to the old Mill and have a coffee. This is a massive and imposing building had a big For Sale sign on it. It was also closed so we missed out on our coffee.
What a great day!
To see photos for this post, click here
To see a short video of “Sooty” the Alpaca, click here