A. Nominated Place
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To help your nomination be successful, please fill out this form with as much information as possible. Feel free to expand the answer fi elds as much as you require or append information to the form. It is important that you attach images and a map of what you are nominating by email or by fax. Please note that places which have been nominated during past three years will not be reconsidered by the South Australian Heritage Council unless you can provide significant new information not provided through the previous nomination and assessment. For assistance with this form you may contact: Your local historical society or heritage adviser may be of assistance OR you may telephone an assessment officer in Heritage South Australia on (08) 8124 4960. A. Nominated Place 1. Name Name of Place I Object : Wallaroo railway turntable and roundhouse; yard office building Any other or former name(s): Wallaroo rail siding and works, engine roundhouse and workshop Is the place already on another not to my knowledge heritage list? 2. Location Street Address: 109 Chatfield Terrace Suburb I Town: Wallaroo Post Code: 5556 Local Council Name: Copper Coast Council Land Description: Title: Volume: Folio: Parcel Type: Parcel No: (if known) CT 6170 418 A D90525 A30 Plan Type: Plan No: Section: Hundred: D 90525 Wallaroo GPS Location/s : Longitude I Easting I X I Latitude I Northing I Y (Datum GDA94 Z53) (If known) 137° 36"42"; 741405E -33° 56' 02"; 6242092N 3. ownership Name of Owner(s): Contact person: (if different from owner explain relationship) Postal Address: Phone Number: Ownership History: none 4. Nominator (your details) Your Name/s: Organisation/Position: Daytime Phone: Fax: Pagel IPostal Address: Email Address: Page2 B. Description 5. Description of nominated place or object Description of the nominated place or object and Railway turntable, pit, lines, mechanism. Footings for its current condition: roundhouse and associated structures The turntable is set in a large circular pit with concrete walls and is guided by a circular rail in the base. The turntable is fixed to the centre of the pit on a metal, rotating base that supports a platform and rails. A metal A-frame gantry is fi xed across the centre of the platform to run the turntable motor. A small corrugated iron shed for the operator sits on one end of the platform. Multiple pairs of rails radiate around the turntable which provide access to and from the roundhouse and the railway yard. Associated rail yard offices? Remain south of the turntable. Maj ority of all associated building have been destroyed - a pity Are you aware of any modifications or additions Dirt road through the former round house to the place or object? Can you provide dates for these changes? Do you believe there may be historical items yes under the ground? Should an archaeological investigation be considered? Date you inspected the place or object: 20 19, from outside fenced area Have you had any contact with the Owner? No Current use of the place or object: vacant Original or former use(s) : Railway yards and workshop Are there any current or long-term threats Yes, possible expansion of bulk grain handling facilities, tourist to the nominated place or object? facilities Name of Builder: Any other information: T-Ports grain facility and port, Ferry - passenger dock and associated facilities proximal to the site C. History 6. Origins and history Years of Construction: Start: circa 1880"s Finish: circa 1970's Name of Designer I Architect: South Australian Railways (SAR) Webb. Page3 History of the nominated place or object: The Wallaroo Roundhouse and historic remanent of development of railways in South Australia and symbolises the importance of the railways as the State was colonised and developed. More so it also is important as a relic of the significant part it played in the Copper mining and grain handling and transport in the Copper Coast region. The railways at Wallaroo played a significant role in the development of the smelters, movement of ore between Moonta and Kadina. The construction of the port relied on the railway to move bagged grain. The railway played a pivotal role in transport over 100 years at this location. The small remanent of the Wallaroo rail yards preserves an example of the expansion of the SA rail network that supported mining and agriculture and thus the economic development of South Australia. I believe that the rail lines in the Wallaroo region were originally part of the 1870 trend to localised narrow gauge (3' 6") lines in the more remote areas. I'm unsure of the date of construction of the roundhouse and turntable but suspect it may have been during the 1920s commonly referred to as the Webb era. The standard design developed for the roundhouses was part of Webb's rejuvenation of SAR. The Wallaroo turntable is the only one remaining in the Copper Coast area. The probable yard office complex appears to be an excellent example of architecture of the time and has an unusual "U" shape. I have not been able to find any reference to this at this stage. Historical sources used to support Peter Donovan (1992), Railway Heritage of South your nomination: Australia, (Adelaide: National Trust of South Please attach copies of pages from publications or Australia) newspaper articles as appropriate. Steam Locomotive Depots of the South Australian Railways https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/content/heritage surveys/mount-gambier-heritage-reviewsurvey-2007.pdf https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/heritage surveys/3-Peterborough-HeritageSurvey-1988.pdf HERITAGE SURVEY OF KADINA RAILWAY YARDS DRT 2722/90 Department of Transport February 1995 DANVERS ARCHIT ECTS Page4 D. Heritage Significance 7. Statement of State Significance · Why is the place or object important to South Australia? It is of State heritage significance because In broad terms the rail yard s at Wallaroo are one of a few remnants of South Australian Railways (SAR) network. These yards in parti cular it made a vital and ongoing contribution to the economic development of South Australia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. More specifi cally the turntable and foundations of the round house and what appears to be the yard office complex at Wallaroo are the only example of this railway infrastructure left in the copper triangle. There appears to be limited information about this roundhouse and turntable (office block) which in itself make it unique. It is one of eight roundhouses and turntables built in South Australia by SAR; six during the rejuvenation of SAR during the 1920s and two in the early 1950s during the gauge conversion (narrow to broad) of the South East network. Of the six constructed in the 1920s, all but two have been demolished and only one is listed. The roundhouses and turntables built during the 1920s are: Mile End freight terminal and marshalling yard, 43-bay roundhouse, 1926 (demolished 1970s, turntable since removed) Tailem Bend, 14-bay roundhouse, (was still in use in the 1990s, roundhouse since demolished turntable only SHP 17078) Peterborough, 22-bay roundhouse, 1920s, (4 bays removed 1970s, leaving 3 bays isolated, turntable remains, SHP 12694) Port Augusta, 5-bay roundhouse, 1920s, (ownership transferred to Commonwealth soon after the roundhouse and turntable were built, roundhouse still in use in the 1990s, since demolished. Google maps 201 0 show visible track form and turntable, status 201 8 unclear). Port Lincoln, 5-bay roundhouse, late 1920s-early 1930s, (Google maps 2018 indicate roundhouse and turntable still extant) Wallaroo, little is known about this roundhouse and turntable (most likely demolished prior to 1991 ). 8. Significance Criteria The South Australian Heritage Places Act 1993 lists seven criteria by which places are assessed as 'State significant.' Please tick the criteria you feel the place demonstrates and explain your reasons. x It demonstrates important A good example of railway infrastructure from the 1920's. part of the aspects of the evolution or evolution of the local rail network in the Copper Triangle. Transiti on from pattern of the State's history. copper mining to wheat and other transport in South Australia The roundhouse foundations and turntable at Wallaroo remain as a rare example of several such complexes which were built as part of the revitalisat ion program for Sout h Australia's railways instigated by the Rai lways Commissioner W A Webb in the 1920s. The remnants of the wallaroo railyards reflect the former importance of the Wallaroo as a regional railway centre associated with the development of the railway network in the north of the State. x It has rare, uncommon or It is one of a few remaining examples of this type of turntable, increased endangered qualities that are of development pressure may be putting this site at risk. One of the few cultural significance. railway structures left in Wallaroo. It is difficult to assess the office complex but the architecture is certainly of the period, its shape and size makes it unique. From the distance the building offers good examples of the railway Page5 facades of the period. The history of the buildings warrant investigation and I thought it important to bring this to attention of the State Heritage Branch. x It may yield information that will There seems to be limited information about this roundhouse, turntable and contribute to an understanding of office complex. Preservation may provide an opportunity to discover more the State's history, including its about this site. It would provide an opportunity to assess the archaeological natural history. significance of the site and identify the true design and function. D It is an outstanding representative of a particular class of places of cultural significance.