South Perth was one of the earliest areas following settlement of the Swan River Colony by British migrants in 1829. For most of the 19th Century the Peninsula was used predominantly for agriculture and horticulture, while between 1835 and 1859 the Colony’s first successful wind-powered flour mill (‘Shenton’s Mill’) operated on Mill Point, the north-western tip of the Peninsula: the stone building is still preserved as a National Trust property.

 A 1905 photograph of the 1880 version of Shenton’s Mill, then rebuilt with double-deck verandahs, a rooftop lookout and an adjacent dance hall, as the Alta Gardens Hotel, by the ex-convict architect-engineer ‘Satan’ Browne.


A 1957 cartoon by Paul Rigby of the confrontation between the State Main Roads Department and conservationists, when it was found that the ruins of Shenton’s Mill lay in the path of the proposed Narrows Bridge and Freeway. The conservationists won, the State Government ordered a change in the Freeway Route, and Perth industrialist Sir Lance Brisbane funded the reconstruction of the Mill as a folk museum.


Shenton’s Mill in 1994, after further reconstruction by funding from Federal and State Governments and the City of South Perth.


 

Extract from "Peninsular City: A Social History of the City of South Perth" by Cec Florey

Historical Notes and Description from the City of South Perth Municipal Heritage Inventory

The Old Mill was the second mill built by William Kernot Shenton on 4.5 acres of land leased to him in April 1833 following his arrival from England in 1829. Shenton became South Perth's first permanent resident. The first mill, built in 1833, was ransacked by aborigines in 1834. The present mill was built in 1835 by millwrights Paul and James Lockyer, and was operated by the miller, William Steele, Shenton's partner. The mill was developed on Point Belches because of its proximity to Perth and water transport between Fremantle and Guildford. At its peak, the wind driven mill produced 680 kg of flower per day. However the mill did not prove to be profitable, and stopped production in 1859.

In 1880 a colourful South Perth resident, Thomas (Satan) Browne leased the buildings and converted them for use as a hotel and picnic ground called the Alta Gardens. He added a verandah which survived for nearly 70 years. The project did not succeed and the site was later used as a residence, wine saloon and poultry farm until resumed by the Government in 1929 to mark the centenary of Foundation.

In the late 1950s the mill was in danger of being demolished for the construction of the Kwinana Freeway, but was saved due to the intervention of local residents, the historical society and the efforts of the then Minister for Works, John Tonkin. The mill was granted to the City of South Perth to commemorate the centenary of the founding of Local Government in South Perth in 1892. The buildings and site were repaired and upgraded by Brisbane & Wunderlich and maintained as a folk museum from 1957 until vested in the National Trust in 1992.

A comprehensive Conservation Plan was prepared, and in 1994-95 extensive restoration of the mill was carried out, some of it as a LEAP (Landcare and Environmental Action) project, with the work being done by a group of young people seeking employment skills. The mill and cottage have been restored to a close approximation of their appearance in the 1830s.

The Old Mill, built in 1835, is the oldest industrial site in Western Australia and is to be found on the promontory of Point Belches in South Perth, alongside the Narrows Bridge.

The Old Mill is a stone structure, which has been plastered and painted/limewashed. The simple clear lines of the mill make it a picturesque early colonial building. The thick stone walls give it the character of a fortress, which was a necessary attribute in the early pioneering days. The original mill and cottage fell into a state of considerable disrepair, and restoration work in the late 1950s and in 1994-5 has remodelled the mill almost to its original form as an early 1830s industrial structure, despite replacement with modern materials in some cases. Originally wind driven, the mill is now electrically powered, and wooden struts have replaced the sails. Although the original machinery is altered or lost, it still has the potential to be reconstructed as an operating wind-driven mill.