Heritage listing for Donnybrook quarries

A.

  • Source of sandstone used in many of Perth's prominent heritage buildings 

A.T. Brine's Donnybrook Sandstone Quarries is the first set of former sandstone quarries to be recognised through their inclusion in the State Register of Heritage Places.

Heritage Minister Albert Jacob said the quarries, which operated from 1904 to the 1930s, were an important source of Donnybrook sandstone - a distinctive, high-quality building material.

"Donnybrook sandstone was Perth's premier building material at the time and was used in a number of high-profile public buildings, making a significant contribution to the character of Perth," Mr Jacob said.

These buildings include the Supreme Court buildings, Guildford Grammar School chapel, Perth General Post Office, Commonwealth Bank building and St Mary's Cathedral.

Donnybrook sandstone appears to have been quarried as early as the 1890s because it was used for Claremont Teachers College and for an 1897 building that is now part of the Art Gallery of Western Australia complex.

"Its use in the construction of the 1901 Law Courts led to a Royal Commission that recommended its widespread use in public buildings in Perth," the Minister said.

"Interestingly, the lintel of the First Church of Christ, Scientist in Perth is believed to be the largest piece of Donnybrook sandstone ever quarried."

Mr Jacob said while a number of quarries did, and still do, produce Donnybrook sandstone, A.T. Brine's Donnybrook Sandstone Quarries remained historically important.

The quarries still show evidence of the historical cutting tool and drill marks, and contain the ruins of small timber-framed buildings, a flatbed truck, engine, iron winch and other remnant equipment.

A.T. Brine's Donnybrook Sandstone Quarries is closely associated with prominent Western Australian builders A.T. Brine & Sons and S. B. Alexander, who built many high-profile buildings that helped shape Perth's streetscapes. A.T. Brine & Sons still operates today.

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Minister's office - 6552 5800