Documentation of Places
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REGISTER OF HERITAGE PLACES Assessment Documentation 11. ASSESSMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE SIGNIFICANCE Cultural heritage significance means aesthetic, historic, scientific, social or spiritual value for individuals or groups within Western Australia. In determining cultural heritage significance, the Heritage Council has had regard to the factors in the Heritage Act 2018 and the indicators adopted on 14 June 2019. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following entry refers to the deaths in custody of Aboriginal people. 11(a) Importance in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Western Australia’s history Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island is associated with the very earliest periods of exploration of Australia by Dutch, French and English explorers, and later by the Dutch East India Company, who after accidentally coming across it, used its presence on the coast of New Holland (Western Australia) as a navigational aid. As an Aboriginal prison with a brutal reputation, the Quod, and Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island more widely, was used by the Colonial government as an actual and symbolic means to defeat Aboriginal resistance to colonisation in the State. As the site from 1838-1931 of exile, and often death, of Aboriginal men, many from the North-West, it illustrates the Colonial and later State Governments’ policies on incarceration of Aboriginal people and methods of dealing with the Aboriginal resistance to the invasion of their country. Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground, unmarked for over a century, and believed to have been the site of more Aboriginal deaths in custody than any other location in the State or nation, reflecting the impact of the place, and the prison system more generally, on the deterioration of Aboriginal wellbeing since British colonisation. The buildings and elements dating from the period Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island operated as a Aboriginal Prison demonstrate the planning and development of a nineteenth century island penal establishment. The regimented and hierarchical layout of the former Superintendent’s Residence (Cottages F & G), Second Superintendent’s Quarters (Manager’s Residence) and cottages located along the sea wall with the Quod, former Mill and Hay Store (Museum) and archaeological Register of Heritage Places Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island 4 14 June 2021 remnants of the fenced gardens behind, demonstrates both the self-sufficiency of the settlement as well as the harsh conditions faced by the inmates. Collectively, the buildings from this period, including the Boys’ Reformatory, the Pilot Station and Governor’s Residence, are a remarkably intact example of a British colonial outpost established from the 1830s in the formative years of the Swan River Colony. Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island demonstrates the role of Aboriginal labour in the development of Western Australia. Aboriginal prisoners provided most of the manpower that sourced the raw materials for and built the main buildings, structures and road infrastructure within Thomson Bay Settlement, which is reflective of development elsewhere in Western Australia where Aboriginal labour was utilised, yet not acknowledged. The landscape of Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island comprises a density and diversity of cultural features that illustrate human occupation and the evolution of the place from early colonial settlement to the present. The range of features includes the planning and layout of the area; roads and tracks laid down in the nineteenth century that remain in use; garden walls which defined former cottage subdivisions and Governor’s Residence (Hotel Rottnest) domain; engineering structures such as the causeway, the cutting through View Hill ridge, wells and water tunnels and underground tank, jetties; and archaeological sites. The layers of settlement are also reflected by the discernible remnant native vegetation which has survived from the early colonial settlement period; remnant plantings of nineteenth century agricultural crops; abandoned cultivation areas from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; and extensive early twentieth century plantings of ornamental trees. The place is associated with the Pilot service that guided ships into Fremantle Harbour for over fifty years. The place played an important role in housing internees and prisoners of war during World War I, in maintaining Australia’s World War II national coastal defence system and more recently, as a quarantine facility for returned Australians during the Covid-19 pandemic. Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island is associated with the Colonial and State Governors. The original rendered stone wall defining the Government House Domain surrounding the Government Residence is still extant reflecting the importance of the site as the seat of Government for the period of time when Colonial Governors were in residence. The 1920s conversion of the former summer residence of the Governor of Western Australia and other buildings in the Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island to tourist accommodation demonstrates the development of Western Australia’s tourist and recreational resources in the early part of the 20th century. Demonstrating and reflecting the importance of the coastal location of Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island, Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island is valued for its role in housing internees and prisoners of war during World War I, its importance in Australia’s World War II national coastal defence system, as an annex of Fremantle Prison, as a holiday location and more recently, its use to quarantine returned Australians during the Covid-19 pandemic. Register of Heritage Places Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island 5 14 June 2021 11(b) Importance in demonstrating rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Western Australia’s heritage The unique combination of historical overlays has created a unique cultural landscape at Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island. It is also rare in demonstrating a distinctive way of life which is of exceptional interest to the State, through the place’s association with the Aboriginal Prison, and its function as a major public recreational resort. Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island contains the only purpose- built Aboriginal Prison in Australia. The construction and operation of the Aboriginal Prison demonstrates the attitudes towards and treatment of Aboriginal prisoners and the administration of prison establishments from colonial settlement of the Swan River Colony from the 1830s to the 1930s. The importance and significance of the Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground to Aboriginal people can be considered fairly unique as a site of memorial significance for Aboriginal people throughout the state. Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island is a rare example of a complex archaeological landscape that encompasses pre-colonial Aboriginal occupation, and the range of activities undertaken on and around the island after colonial settlement including the prison era, use by the Department of Defence and as a holiday destination. Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island contains a collection of unusual structures of comparatively early vintage representing some of Western Australia’s earliest surviving fabric close to the main population centre. These structures are also rare because of their continuity of use since their construction, and are rare on a national level as a large collection of rare buildings, concentrated in a sea wall environment, rather than a harbour environment. The methods of construction used in the roof systems of former Superintendent’s Residence (Cottages F & G), Second Superintendent’s Quarters (Manager’s Residence) and cottages located along the sea wall are rare in Western Australia, with the use of stone and split timber trusses, commonly referred to as ‘Vincent’s Trusses’. These methods, constructed under the direction of Vincent, utilised local materials, and were used at a time when roofs were largely made of rushes or shingles cut from sheoak. Being situated on an island, Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island is unique in the way in which so many very significant cultural elements are concentrated in a single place. Similar individual attributes are found in many places, but the combination on Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island is unique. The functions of the Aboriginal Prison, Boys’ Reformatory School, and Pilot Boat service, are all represented in the built environment in a legible way, and represent a series of practices that were either discontinued or are no longer common in this State. The Governor’s Residence (Hotel Rottnest) is one of only two purpose built retreats for a colonial administrator in the Australian colonies, and a rare demonstration of a particular feature of the British Empire. The use of the former residence is still evident, and it remains the most impressive building on the Island, with its crenelated parapets forming a distinctive landmark overlooking Thomson Bay. Register of Heritage Places Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island 6 14 June 2021 The quokka (Setonix brachyurus) is the most well-known animal on Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island. It is the sole representative of the genus Setonix. There are limited populations remaining in south-western Australia, with the largest population located on the island, with interactions common within Thomson Bay Settlement, Wadjemup/ Rottnest Island.