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Upper Swan, Western Australia

Coordinates: 31°46′23″S 116°01′30″E / 31.773°S 116.025°E / -31.773; 116.025
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Upper Swan
Perth, Western Australia
Shell service station on Great Northern Highway
Map
Coordinates31°46′23″S 116°01′30″E / 31.773°S 116.025°E / -31.773; 116.025
Population549 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)6069
Area19.8 km2 (7.6 sq mi)
LGA(s)City of Swan
State electorate(s)Swan Hills[2]
Federal division(s)Hasluck[3]
Suburbs around Upper Swan:
Bullsbrook Bullsbrook Gidgegannup
The Vines Upper Swan Brigadoon
Belhus Baskerville Brigadoon

Upper Swan is an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 33 kilometres (21 mi) north-east of Perth's central business district in the City of Swan. The locality sits at the confluence of the Swan River, the Millendon Junction to Narngulu railway line and Great Northern Highway, which is where the main suburban townsite is located. The rest of the locality is characterised by rural and industrial land uses such as vineyards, equestrian estates and quarries.[4]

History

[edit]

Name

[edit]

Prior to the introduction of localities and suburbs, the descriptive name "Upper Swan" was used generally for the whole area at the head of the Swan River,[5] including localities such as Belhus, Henley Brook, Brigadoon and Millendon. Examples of this usage include the Upper Swan Memorial Hall in Baskerville[6] and the All Saints Church in Henley Brook, which was previously known as the Upper Swan Church.

The name became specific to the modern-day bounded area of Upper Swan in 1972, when the postal locality was gazetted.[7]

Prehistory

[edit]

The Swan River was traditionally used by the Noongar people as a thoroughfare to the coastal plains.[8] During a clay extraction operation in Upper Swan in the 1980s, a 40,000 year old artefact scatter was identified on the north bank of the river[9][10] by researchers Pearce and Barbetti. It is considered to be one of the most ancient Aboriginal discoveries in Australia.[11]

Colonial era

[edit]

The 1829 establishment of the Swan River Colony brought a system of land grants for settlers to take up and farm. The modern suburb of Upper Swan was contained mostly within Swan Location 1, along with small parts of Locations 3 and 4. Location 1, "Ellen's Brook" was granted to George Leake and Location 3 was granted to Peter Broun who named it "Coulston".[12] William Shaw took up Location 4,[13] naming it "Belvoir" after Belvoir Castle in Shaw's native Leicestershire.[14]

The original Upper Swan Bridge circa 1901, facing south

The first townsite activity established in the area was a remote military barracks on the Coulston estate in 1832, to police local land grants against theft of stock from native Whadjuk Noongar people.[5][15] Shaw established the area's first vineyard at Belvoir using South African grapes,[14] while Ellen's Brook became a successful pastoral farm under the management of Henry Bull. After 1838, Leake gifted the northern Upper Swan half of Ellen's Brook to Bull, who named the new estate "Woburn Park".[16] The southern part of Location 1 became Belhus. Bull ultimately left Western Australia in 1848, leaving Woburn Park to be managed by agents,[17] while Belvoir passed into the ownership of the Loton family.[18]

Indentured labour consisting of Aboriginal prisoners and British convicts were brought in by the government to build the Upper Swan Bridge over the Swan River,[19] forming the beginning of the Gingin Road. Further developments came with the Swan Road District establishing local government in 1871,[20] followed by the construction of the Midland railway line over a new bridge and through Upper Swan in 1891.[21] The railway was complemented with a new rail siding[22] in Upper Swan in 1894. Finally, Upper Swan Primary School was established in 1905[23] to serve children of the local area.

Modern era

[edit]

The area around the Upper Swan Siding was subdivided into one-acre and half-acre lots as the 'Upper Swan Estate' in 1910.[24] However, the area remained rural and did not see any substantial residential development or take-up until the 1970s.[25] The access roads in the neighbourhood were gazetted in 1923.[26]

As the rural land holdings became subdivided from their original colonial grants,[27] new hobby farmers, horticulturalists and viticulturalists began to move into the area to establish orchards and wineries,[28] following the gold rush population boom.[29] This followed a similar trend in other areas of the fertile river plains such as Henley Brook and Belhus, establishing the modern character of the Swan Valley region.[30] Well-known large-scale vineyards in Upper Swan included S. W. Copley's St. Alban estate[31] and the Noack family's Swanville estate,[32] while prominent families with agricultural smallholdings included the Kendalls,[33] the Hallatts,[34] the Nolans[35] and the Glavotas.[36] Notably, the Loton family's Belvoir vineyard and estate avoided subdivision altogether.[5]

The original convict-built Upper Swan Bridge was destroyed in a flash flood in the winter of 1926,[37] causing widespread disruption for residents and businesses in the area. It was rebuilt later that same year,[38] before being rebuilt again in 1955.[34]

The area saw further facility developments towards the mid-century. The Bureau of Meteorology established the Upper Swan Research Station in 1951 for climate tracking, which was operated continuously for over 40 years until its closure in 1998.[39] The area's first service station, Ginger's Roadhouse, was also founded on Great Northern Highway at this time by the Squires family.[40] A syndicate of mining companies also proposed to develop an aluminium refinery and residual disposal site in Upper Swan, on what is now The Vines.[41] Despite being assented to in 1971 by an Act of Parliament,[42] it failed to proceed after the Environmental Protection Authority refused approval.[43]

Yagan Bridge side by side with the sawn-off piles of the original Upper Swan Bridge

The Shire of Swan gazetted Upper Swan as a postal suburb in 1972.[7] At this time, houses began to be constructed in the acreages around the rail siding,[25] following the decommissioning of the rail siding in 1967.[22] This established the area's first suburban community. Much later in 1989, The Vines estate[44] was established in Upper Swan on the other side of the Ellen Brook, but it was subsequently transferred to the new locality of Ellenbrook in 1992.[45]

Clay extraction operations, a common feature of Upper Swan, had begun to increase in both land holdings and business proponents throughout the 1980s, including companies such as Midland Brick,[46] Bristile, Metro Brick and Prestige Brick.[47] This led the Environmental Protection Authority to enforce stricter approval conditions to guarantee the protection of water relationships and the Western Swamp Turtle in the area.

Yagan Memorial Park, a tribute to the Noongar warrior Yagan was built in Belhus in 2010, close to the boundary with Upper Swan. The park was opened with a traditional reburial ceremony for Yagan. As part of the opening, the Upper Swan Bridge was renamed to the Yagan Bridge.[48]

Following a re-zoning effort in 2015, a group of adjoining landowners on the banks of the Ellen Brook sold their Upper Swan holdings to Satterley Property Group to form the beginning of the Clementine Estate suburban development.[49] The first lots at Clementine were released for sale in 2021.

Geography

[edit]
An ex-Metro Brick quarry on Coondaree Parade

Upper Swan is surrounded by the Swan River and the Ellen Brook waterways to the east, south and west, forming most of its boundary lines. Bullsbrook is located to the north. From 1972 until 1992, its boundaries also included The Vines and the northern half of Ellenbrook.[45]

The suburb is very large with a variety of active agricultural and industrial land uses. The portion south of the Swan River contains many wineries and hobby farms, functioning as a part of the Swan Valley tourism region. Dotted around the locality are various equestrian studs, agistments and riding schools on large rural lots.[50] Several clay quarries and extraction pits operate in the vicinity of Great Northern Highway that have significantly altered the natural landscape, although owners Midland Brick have committed to rehabilitation of ex-quarries, along with donation of land holdings to create buffer zones.[51]

The Ellen Brook Nature Reserve in the north of Upper Swan is an 83 hectare wetland conservation area, created in 1962.[52] It is one of only two conservation habitats left for the critically endangered Western Swamp Turtle.[53] The reserve is fenced off with no public access permitted.

Bells Rapids Park is located in the east,[54] leading to Mount Mambup on the Darling Scarp. Pullman Park, a rehabilitated quarry area, is in the south below the Yagan Bridge.[51] Almeria Park is built on what was originally the Upper Swan Siding. A substantial portion of the locality in the scarp to the east consists of uninhabited virgin bushland.

Topographically, most of Upper Swan is low-lying, sitting at an average of 20 metres above sea level within the flood plains of the Swan River. This drops further to only 11 metres immediately around the banks of the river.[55] An exception is the area of the Darling Scarp, where Mount Mambup reaches a peak of 224 metres,[56] dominating skyline views from most areas in the suburb.

Demographics

[edit]

At the 2021 Australian census,[57] Upper Swan had a population of 549. The median age was 52, far higher than the state and national average of 38. The most common ancestries in Upper Swan were English (47.7%), Australian (36.1%), Scottish (9.8%), Irish (8.4%) and Italian (4.9%). 2.4% of residents identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. 74.7% of residents were born in Australia.

Politics

[edit]

Upper Swan is part of the Hasluck electorate at the federal level,[3] and the Swan Hills district,[2] at the state level. The suburb has one polling booth located at Upper Swan Primary School, covering Upper Swan and also adjacent rural areas in the Swan Valley.

Facilities

[edit]

Upper Swan has three service stations on Great Northern Highway that provide light shopping and cafe options, including Ginger's Roadhouse which has been in continuous operation since the 1950s.[40] Residents rely on the nearby centre of Ellenbrook for main line retail shopping,[60] civic services and emergency services such as police,[61] fire[62] and ambulance.

Primary school students attend the nearby Upper Swan Primary School in the suburb, while high school students fall into the single catchment area of Aveley Secondary College in Ellenbrook.[63]

Electricity is provided to the suburb from Western Power's Muchea substation.[64] An NBN communications tower exists near Pullman Park, serving NBN's Fixed Wireless internet service to the majority of the suburb, as well as the adjoining areas of Belhus, Brigadoon and Bullsbrook.[65]

Transport

[edit]

Upper Swan is dominated by Great Northern Highway (National Highway 95) which spans the locality from north to south. The highway links to Bullsbrook in the north and Midland to the south, across the Yagan Bridge. The only other arterial road is West Swan Road (State Route 52) in the south-west, which crosses the Ellen Brook and links to Ellenbrook. A minor access road, Railway Parade, links Upper Swan to the back of The Vines via a second road bridge over the brook. No roads traverse the Darling Scarp in this area.[66]

Transwa provides a stop at Upper Swan for its Mid West regional coach routes to Moora, Geraldton and Kalbarri.[67] The following Transperth metropolitan bus routes have stops at Upper Swan:

  •    310 Upper Swan to Midland Station – serves Railway Parade, Apple Street and Great Northern Highway[68]
  •    311 Bullsbrook to Midland Station – serves Great Northern Highway[69]

A road train assembly area exists on Apple Street[70] for freight movements on the Perth to Darwin National Highway. The current Millendon to Narngulu railway line operates as a freight line for grain.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Upper Swan (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ a b "District of Swan Hills" (PDF). Government of Western Australia - Office of the Electoral Distribution Commissioners. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Map of Commonwealth Electoral Division of Hasluck" (PDF). Western Australian Electoral Commission. September 2024. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  4. ^ "Upper Swan Local Area Plan" (PDF). City of Swan. December 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Bourke, Michael J. On the Swan: A History of the Swan District, Western Australia. University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 9780855642587.
  6. ^ "Baskerville Upper Swan Memorial Hall". Virtual War Memorial Australia. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  7. ^ a b "History of metropolitan suburb names – U". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Indigenous history of the Swan and Canning Rivers" (PDF). Debra Hughes-Hallett. 2010. p. 63. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  9. ^ "Main Roads Western Australia - Environmental Impact Assessment - Great Northern Highway: Section 1: 6.45SLK to 12.56SLK" (PDF). ATA Environmental. April 2004. p. 107. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  10. ^ "ACHIS - Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Inquiry System". Government of Western Australia - Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  11. ^ "The Australian history we don't know". The Conversation. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  12. ^ "Peter Broun". Freotopia. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  13. ^ "Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Documentation - Boundary Tree, Swan Locations 4 and 5, Baskerville". Heritage Council of Western Australia. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  14. ^ a b "Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Documentation - Belvoir Homestead Group". Heritage Council of Western Australia. 27 June 1919. p. 1. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  15. ^ "Guide to the Swan River Papers" (PDF). Bruce & Anne Buchanan. 2004. p. 19. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  16. ^ "Finding Home - Part 1 The Upper Swan - Map". State Library of Western Australia. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  17. ^ "Register of Heritage Places - Assessment Documentation - Henry Bull's Cottage". Heritage Council of Western Australia. 6 February 1998. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  18. ^ "Mr. E.T. Loton - "Belvoir", Upper Swan, Western Australia". Australian Farm and Home. National Library of Australia. 21 September 1931. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  19. ^ "Cradle of the Colony: A Story of Guildford and the Swan Valley" (PDF). City of Swan. p. 7. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  20. ^ "Swan Road District - Progress During 63 Years". The West Australian. 22 September 1934. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  21. ^ "The Midland Railway - Its Jubilee Year". The West Australian. National Library of Australia. 31 October 1936. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  22. ^ a b "Midland Railway of Western Australia (MRWA) Stations & Sidings". Carnamah Historical Society & Museum. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  23. ^ "School History". Upper Swan Primary School. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  24. ^ "New Townsite on Upper Swan Estate - Lord, Hassen & Co. Auctioneers". State Library of Western Australia. 1910. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  25. ^ a b "Landgate Map Viewer Plus - Perth Metropolitan Area - 10/07-06/09/1974". Landgate. 1974. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  26. ^ "Western Australian Government Gazette No. 13" (PDF). Government of Western Australia. 23 March 1923. p. 520. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  27. ^ "Western Australia Bonnes 40 chain cadastral map 1B/40". State Library of Western Australia. 1953. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  28. ^ "Mr. Donald Grant's Vineyard, Upper Swan". Western Mail. National Library of Australia. 1953. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  29. ^ "Swan Valley - History". Swan Valley. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  30. ^ "Swan Valley post-settlement history". City of Swan. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
  31. ^ "A Progressive Upper Swan Vineyard - Mr. S. W. Copley's Magnificent Property". The Sunday Times. National Library of Australia. 6 April 1924. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  32. ^ "Swanville Winery". Heritage Council of Western Australia. 9 November 1999. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  33. ^ "Swan Shire Bridges Project - Synopsis of Interview with Doug Kendall". J.S. Battye Library of West Australian History: Oral History Collection. 29 May 1993. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  34. ^ a b "Swan Shire Bridges Project - Synopsis of Interview with Reg Hallatt". State Library of Western Australia. 1993. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  35. ^ "Upper Swan". The Swan Express. National Library of Australia. 21 February 1935. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  36. ^ "The History of Clementine, Upper Swan". Satterley Property Group. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  37. ^ "Upper Swan Bridge Demolished - Main Northern Road Blocked". The West Australian. National Library of Australia. 23 July 1926. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  38. ^ "Swan Shire Bridges Project - Synopsis of Interview with Grace McLean". State Library of Western Australia. 1993. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  39. ^ "Climate Data Sites - Upper Swan Research Station". Australian Government - Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  40. ^ a b "Ginger back on familiar territory". The Advocate. 17 October 2002. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  41. ^ "Item 1970/226 v2 - Alumina refinery. Upper Swan. C.S.R. Hanwright & Pacminex". State Records Office of Western Australia. 1970. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  42. ^ "Alumina Refinery (Upper Swan) Agreement" (PDF). The Bulletin. Government of Western Australia. 15 December 1971. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  43. ^ "Edenologists one up on aluminarians". The Bulletin. National Library of Australia. 1 April 1972. p. 22. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  44. ^ "Swanning it in Luxury near Perth - Francis O'Mara". Australian Financial Review. 18 July 1988. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  45. ^ a b "Western Australian Government Gazette - No.113" (PDF). Government of Western Australia. 7 August 1992. p. 3877. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  46. ^ "Proposed clay extraction, Lot 6 Almeria Parade, Upper Swan - Midland Brick Company Pty Ltd" (PDF). Environmental Protection Authority. January 1992. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  47. ^ "Proposed clay extraction, Lots 23 and 51 Apple Street, Upper Swan - Pilsley Investments Pty Ltd (Prestige Brick)" (PDF). Environmental Protection Authority. March 1992. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  48. ^ "In tribute to the famous Aboriginal warrior, Yagan, the Upper Swan Bridge was renamed the Yagan Bridge in 2010.". In My Area – Upper Swan Archived 3 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine – City of Swan. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  49. ^ "Nigel Satterley snaps up Perth Swan Valley greenfield site for $90m". Australian Financial Review. 1 December 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  50. ^ "Upper Swan Local Area Plan" (PDF). City of Swan. August 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  51. ^ a b "Midland Brick - Environmental Management Program - Clay Excavation, Hallett and Copley Roads Area, Upper Swan" (PDF). RPS Bowman Bishaw Gorham. 2 June 2007. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  52. ^ "Ellen Brook Nature Reserve". Friends of the Western Swamp Tortoise. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  53. ^ "Guidance for the Assessment of Environmental Factors - Protection of the Western Swamp Tortoise Habitat, Upper Swan/Bullsbrook" (PDF). Government of Western Australia - Environmental Protection Authority. June 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
  54. ^ "Bells Rapids". City of Swan. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  55. ^ "Western Australia topographic map". topographic-map.com. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  56. ^ "Peak: Mount Mambup". PeakVisor. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  57. ^ "Upper Swan - 2021 Census - All persons QuickStats". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 10 August 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
  58. ^ "Upper Swan – polling place". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  59. ^ "2021 State General Election - Swan Hills District Profile". Western Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
  60. ^ "Clementine - Explore Amenities Upper Swan". Satterley Property Group. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  61. ^ "Ellenbrook Police Station". Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  62. ^ "Minister for Police & Road Safety - New fire station contributes to Ellenbrook's growth". Government of Western Australia. 1 September 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  63. ^ "Perth High School Catchment Area Map". Move Homes. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 1 November 2024.
  64. ^ "Network Capacity Mapping Tool". Western Power. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  65. ^ "NBN Rinseout Maps". Rinseout.org. Retrieved 23 November 2024.
  66. ^ "Open Street Map". Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  67. ^ "Transwa System Map" (PDF). Transwa. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  68. ^ "Route 310". Bus Timetable 91 (PDF). Transperth. 26 April 2023 [effective from 12 June 2023].
  69. ^ "Route 311". Bus Timetable 91 (PDF). Transperth. 26 April 2023 [effective from 12 June 2023].
  70. ^ "Media Release: Newly Upgraded Apple Street Road Train Assembly Area". Anthony Albanese. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
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