Heritage listing for Cooper's Mill on Coolenup Island, N. Yunderup

17/12/96

The first flour mill built in the Murray district is to have its heritage values recognised by the State Government.

Historic Cooper's Mill on Cooleenup Island, North Yunderup, is to be listed on the Heritage Council of Western Australia's interim register of heritage places.

Heritage Minister Richard Lewis said Cooper's Mill was built in 1843 and was the only one of several built in the area at that time to survive.

"Cooper's Mill is an important reminder of flour milling in the early days of the Murray district," Mr Lewis said.

"It is also directly associated with the respected Cooper family, who were pioneers of the Murray district."

Mr Lewis said Joseph and Elizabeth Cooper arrived in WA in 1830 with four of their eight children.

The family, which was entitled to land grants of 840 acres, took up some land in Fremantle and a further 675-acre block in the Murray district.

In addition, they took up land on an island for the mill and leased a 10 acre block in the centre of the island. A house was built facing the main channel of the river, not far from the mill.

"Cooper did most of the construction work himself and left the running of the family farm, Redcliffe, to his eldest son," Mr Lewis said.

"He died in an accident in 1847 before the mill was completed. The mill was left to two of the younger brothers, who were born in WA, and they completed it by 1850."

Cooper's Mill is a two-storey cylindrical limestone tower with a square brick addition. In the early 1860s it was converted from wind to steam power to cope with increased business.

Access to the Cooper's Mill site on Cooleenup Island is by boat only. Its location on a small island in the delta of a river is unusual in WA.

For some time, the mill was well-placed to receive wheat from Murray district settlers and was profitable. By 1865, however, it closed down because most of the grain-producing country was centred further inland.

Mr Lewis said the mill building languished unused for years and was later utilised as a smoke house for the curing of fish.

The abandoned house and mill were later pillaged for their materials and at the beginning of the twentieth century a recluse lived at the mill.

It was restored in 1930 and then again in 1984 by the Federal Government, the Peel Management Authority and the Murray Shire Council.

Mr Lewis said Cooper's Mill had important historic and aesthetic values.

"The mill is set in a tranquil riverside setting and is a well-known landmark in the landscape of the Peel Inlet," he said.

"It is also representative of the endeavours of a courageous young family facing the rigours and hardships of life in rural WA following the early death of the patriarch of the family.

"Cooper's Mill is in good condition and deserves the protection of the State's heritage laws."

Media contact : Bronwyn Hillman 222 9595, 221 1377