Old Cooya Pooya homestead in Pilbara to have interim heritage listing

June 29, 1998

The old Cooya Pooya homestead, which traces a direct link to the pioneering days of the Pilbara pastoral industry, is to be protected under the State's heritage laws, Heritage Minister Graham Kierath announced.

Cooya Pooya Station will be placed in the Heritage Council of Western Australia's Register of Heritage Places on an interim basis.

The listing recognises the major role Cooya Pooya Station played in the development of the North-West pastoral industry more than 100 years ago.

Mr Kierath said the homestead could help the public understand what life was like on a pastoral station of a bygone era.

"The homestead has close associations with the early pastoralists of the inhospitable Pilbara region," Mr Kierath said.

"It was also a regular stop on the main thoroughfare through the region and was well known for the social events hosted there.

"Cooya Pooya is highly valued by the local community, which is demonstrated by the several attempts in recent years to preserve it for future generations."

Mr Kierath said Cooya Pooya Station, which consisted of the single storey stone and iron homestead, detached kitchen, shearer's kitchen and other buildings, was located 35km south of Roebourne on the banks of the Harding River. Its name was most likely taken from a nearby pool known as "Cooa Pooey".

The first settler of the station was Thomas Lockyer, of Northam, and his four sons, who took up a lease in 1882 on what was then known as Table Hill Station. It is assumed the first stone homestead and the shearer's kitchen were built around the time of the arrival of the Lockyers.

William Hall, who had arrived in the area in the early 1860s, ran the blacksmith shop on the station, tended the horses and looked after travellers who were passing through.

"The road inland passed through Table Hill, so the homestead was a regular stopping place for those travelling through the Pilbara, and this tradition continued until the 1950s when the route was diverted through Pyramid Station," Mr Kierath said.

"By the early 1890s, the Lockyers employed nearly 100 European, Chinese and Aboriginal workers. They ran sheep on the tableland and stud sheep, cattle and horses closer to the homestead."

Mr Kierath said Samuel Burges took up the lease on Table Hill in the early 1900s, changed the name to Cooya Pooya and built the existing homestead.

It was constructed by Bunnings Bros, who had established themselves in the Pilbara before moving to Perth.

Mr Kierath said ownership of the station changed many times over the years. One of the most notable owners was Percy Stove, whose use of concrete additions on the homestead to guard against cyclones earned him the nickname "the Concrete King".

In 1982, the Water Corporation bought Cooya Pooya as the property was in the catchment area of the Harding River Dam project, a major component of the West Pilbara water supply. Building the dam involved a main dam embankment across the Harding River, within a gorge near the Cooya Pooya buildings.

"The Roebourne Tourist Bureau launched a fight to save the station buildings from vandalism and the waters of the dam," Mr Kierath said.

"Bureau staff members often camped at the homestead on overnight and weekend stays, but were unable to find a permanent caretaker and the place soon fell into disrepair.

"Restoration of Cooya Pooya Station was mooted in late 1994 but these proposals never came to fruition.

"The buildings currently remain vacant and are in poor condition, but the original fabric remains and is capable of being restored."