York, Western Australia


York is the oldest inland town in Western Australia, situated on the Avon River, east of Perth in the Wheatbelt, on Ballardong Nyoongar land, and is the seat of the Shire of York.
The name of the region was suggested by JS Clarkson during an expedition in October 1830 because of its similarity to his own county in England, Yorkshire.
After thousands of years of occupation by Ballardong Nyoongar people, the area was first settled by Europeans in 1831, two years after Perth was settled in 1829. A town was established in 1835 with the release of town allotments and the first buildings were erected in 1836.
The region was important throughout the 19th century for sheep and grain farming, sandalwood, cattle, goats, pigs and horse breeding.
York boomed during the gold rush as it was one of the last rail stops before the walk to the goldfields.
Today, the town attracts tourists for its beauty, history, buildings, festivals and art.

History

Indigenous

The Ballardong people, a sub-group of the Nyoongar, occupied the land before European settlement.

Post-European settlement history

With the increasing population of the Swan River Settlement in 1830, it became evident that suitable land would have to be discovered for the growing of crops needed to provide necessary food.
Ensign Robert Dale, a 20-year-old officer of the 63rd Regiment, led a small party in the first exploratory journey over the Darling Range, during the winter months of 1830 into what was later to be known as the Avon Valley.
He returned with a report of "park-like lands with scattered trees", and after a second expedition, Lieutenant-Governor Stirling concluded that there appeared to be of "the finest imaginable sheep-land".
As a result, Stirling decided that the new district should be thrown open for selection and this was done by Government Notice on 11 November 1830. By December 1830, had been allotted, and in January 1831, another. Before the end of 1831 a further in small lots had been taken up.
In September 1831 Dale escorted the first party of settlers to the district, reaching the Avon valley on 16 September. They immediately set about the construction of huts, the preparation required for their stock and the cultivation of new land. Dale proposed an area south of the summit of Mt Bakewell as the site for a future town to serve the district.
In September 1833 a garrison of eight troops of the 21st North British Fusiliers was stationed at York. Rules and regulations for the assignment of town allotments at York were gazetted in September 1834 and allotments were advertised for sale from July 1835.
A township did not begin to appear until 1836. In July 1836 York comprised two houses, a barn, an army barracks and some out-houses, with about of cleared land. The town grew slowly at first due to difficulties with the local aboriginals, as well as problems associated with using English farming techniques in an unfamiliar climate.
In 1831, Revett Henry Bland settled in York, and with his business partner, Arthur Trimmer, leased a site north of the town and took a grant over a block to the south which they established as a farm, later called Balladong Farm, after the Ballardong Noongar, the Aboriginal occupiers of the area. Later, part of the land to the south came to be called Bland's Town or Bland Town. Bland was resident magistrate from 1834 to 1842.
In 1836, John Henry Monger Snr arrived and bought the of land immediately north of the town site from Bland and Trimmer for £100 on which the first house in York had been constructed of wattle and daub. Monger opened a hotel by early 1837, constructing in 1842 a "long, low building" opposite the hotel for a store, and "every three months his wagons would journey to Guildford or Perth for supplies".
In July 1836 Lieutenant Henry William St Pierre Bunbury of the 21st Regiment was sent to York to respond to rising levels of violence between colonial settlers and Ballardong Noongar people. His mission was "to make war upon the native". After many individual skirmishes and killings of Ballardong people, rumours of an attack on the natives, in which "several... were wounded, and one woman was killed", were reported. In response to this, Ballardong people speared a shepherd called Knott. Bunbury initially tried to cover up Knott's death to avoid further conflict.
In July 1837 Bunbury was again sent to the York district after the spearing deaths of two young settlers called Chidlow and Jones. In the ensuing violence soldiers and settlers killed at least 18 Ballardong Noongar people.
In 1840, the York Agricultural Society was established, which became very influential in the following years, holding annual shows to the present day. The York Racing Club was established in 1843. Both societies continue today.
A shortage of labour was a problem for the farming community, particularly at harvest time. A sandalwood boom in the late 1840s lifted the town.
At the request of the influential York Agricultural Society, from 1851, convicts were transported to the Colony and relieved the labour shortages. As "ticket-of-leave" men, they constructed many of the early buildings.
Solomon Cook constructed a flourmill in 1851 and then steam engine in 1852 to power his mill.
York was connected by rail in 1885. Following the discovery of gold in the Yilgarn in 1887, the town was teeming with miners, all alighting from the train and preparing to make the long journey across the plains to the goldfields.
In the 1880s the question as to whether or not the railway line to the Goldfields should be run through York or Northam was the subject of bitter debate. "Tradition is that State Parliamentarians became so tired of hearing the rival Northam/York arguments that they suggested that representatives of the two towns decide the issue by a game of cards." In December 1891, the State Government decided that the line should run through Northam because the distance to Yilgarn was shorter and £500 cheaper.
The 1968 Meckering earthquake damaged a number of buildings and resulted in removal of the Royal Hotel.
Between 1968 and 1971, due to the general downturn in rural activities, and a progressive reduction in railway operations in favour of Northam, many York businesses closed and the population reduced.

Attractions

York is located in the valley between Mount Bakewell and Mount Brown, known to the Ballardong Noongar as ' and '. On the road to York in Spring are canola fields which draw many tourists.
In addition to its heritage and Arts and Crafts buildings and other architecture, the town features the York Motor Museum, the Courthouse complex, galleries, bric-à-brac and book shops, skydiving and paragliding, and walks along the picturesque Avon River and up Mt Brown.
The main attractions in the town include:
The main attractions outside the town include Australia's oldest racecourse. In addition to the historic Faversham House the town has four historic hotels: Settlers House, the York Palace Hotel, the Imperial Hotel and the Castle Hotel. The town is popular with walkers, cyclists, and photographers.
York offers a splendid wildflower garden behind Faversham House, as well as Avon Park, next to the town on the river, and Peace Park.
The York Agricultural Show and The York Festival are normally held in September and October each year.

Heritage buildings

With its hamlet Bland's Town, York has buildings from each decade from the early settlers, the convict period, the coming of rail, the Gold Rush, and the Federation boom, culminating in the York Town Hall.
Faversham House, overlooking the north end of Avon Terrace, is one of the grandest surviving Colonial homes in the State.
More than 200 buildings or sites in York are heritage listed, most within the town itself. Many of York's older homes and buildings have now been restored and, while some have retained their original use, others have been adaptively re-used with success, such as the former York Primary School.

Arts and Crafts buildings and other fine architecture

The Principal Architect, George Temple-Poole, was a follower of Arts and Crafts Style which came out of the Arts and Crafts Movement inspired by William Morris and John Ruskin. The railway station building, is one of the earliest Federation Arts and Crafts buildings in Australia and could be a Cotswold cottage from Bibury in Gloucestershire, that William Morris considered the ideal in house design. The Old York Hospital has similarity to William Morris's own home, Red House and is one of the most admired Arts and Crafts buildings in the State. The former York Primary School also repeats a motif from Red House.
Federation Free Style buildings include the York Post Office, the Courthouse and police station. All are designed by Temple-Poole and are on the State Heritage Register.
The centre of the town has fine examples of a dozen other Victorian and Federation architectural styles, virtually uninterrupted by modern buildings. The Victorian Georgian style buildings include the old sections of Settlers House and the Castle Hotel.
The Convent School House is a Victorian Tudor building, the same style as many of Perth's early buildings and also probably designed by Richard Roach Jewell.
York churches include the Victorian Romanesque style Anglican Holy Trinity Church, designed by Richard Roach Jewell; St Patrick's original church ; St Patrick's Church ; and the Uniting Church Chapel constructed in Victorian Georgian style and the Uniting Church in Victorian Academic Gothic style.
The Catholic Presbytery is in Victorian Rustic Gothic style.
The coming of rail in 1885 brought the Victorian Filigree style Imperial Hotel.
Gold rush buildings include the Federation Warehouse style York Flour Mill, now a café and gallery, at the entrance to York and many of the buildings in Avon Terrace.
The Western Australian Bank building, designed by JJ Talbot Hobbs and the Masonic Hall, are in Victorian Academic Classical style.
Most of the main street, Avon Terrace, has Victorian or Federation Free Classical buildings, including the Co-op , the York Motor Museum, and Dinsdale's Shoe Emporium designed by Wright, with a cluster of Federation Romanesque buildings at the north end, including the former Fire Station.
Early 20th century buildings include the stunning Federation Mannerist style Town Hall, and an exemplar of Federation Filigree style, the Castle Hotel, designed by William G Wolf, who designed His Majesty's Theatre.