Perth General Post Office Christmas decorations

Donnybrook stone is a fine to medium-grained

feldspathic Feldspars are a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagioclase'' (sodium-calcium) feldspa ...

and kaolinitic

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

found near the town of

Donnybrook, Western Australia Donnybrook is a town situated between Boyanup, Western Australia, Boyanup and Kirup, Western Australia, Kirup on the South Western Highway, south of Perth, Western Australia. The town is the centre of apple cultivation in Western Australia. Th ...

. It originates from the early

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

(144-132 MYA) and features

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

partings and colour variations which range from white to beige and pink. Donnybrook stone is used as

dimension stone Dimension stone is natural stone or rock that has been selected and finished (e.g., trimmed, cut, drilled, ground, or other) to specific sizes or shapes. Color, texture and pattern, and surface finish of the stone are also normal requirements. A ...

in the building industry and is both a commercial name as well as a

stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrati ...

name. Many public and private buildings in Western Australia feature Donnybrook stone. These include the facade and portico to the Parliament House building in West Perth, the

General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...

in Perth, the entry portal to the

Fremantle Railway Station Fremantle railway station is the terminus of Transperth's Fremantle line in Western Australia. History The original Fremantle station opened in Cliff Street on 1 March 1881 as the terminus of the Eastern Railway to Guildford via Perth. As ...

and the Police Courts building in

Beaufort Street Beaufort Street is a major road in the inner north-eastern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting the Morley area to the Perth central business district. For most of its length, it is a single-carriageway, two-way road with two lanes i ...

, Perth, the latter of which is constructed entirely of Donnybrook stone.

History

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

was found in Donnybrook in the mid-1890s and was being mined there in late 1898. There was controversy regarding its usage in the early twentieth century. There were up to eight quarries producing Donnybrook stone in and around the town in the 1930s. Most of these have since closed, however, in 1981 the Goldfields Quarry on the Upper Capel Road re-opened and now produces material for floor tiles and facing slabs. Several of the closed quarries are on the Donnybrook- Balingup Road.

Usage

The following list is from a 1984 publication - some items might have since been renamed as structures, demolished or changed:

Perth

GPO GPO may refer to: Government and politics * General Post Office, Dublin * General Post Office, in Britain * Social Security Government Pension Offset, a provision reducing benefits * Government Pharmaceutical Organization, a Thai state enterpris ...

- Forrest Place - upper floors * Commonwealth Bank Building, (CBC bank) - corner of Murray Street and Forrest Place upper floors *

Parliament House, Perth Parliament House, Perth is located on Harvest Terrace in West Perth, Western Australia. It is the home of the Parliament of Western Australia, including the Legislative Council (upper house) and Legislative Assembly (lower house). History Lo ...

- Harvest Terrace frontage - Main entrance, column facings and building frontage. First floor - central portion *

Supreme Court of Western Australia The Supreme Court of Western Australia is the highest state court in the Australian State of Western Australia. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in civil matters (although it usually only hears matters involving sums of A$750,00 ...

- Riverside drive frontage - external walls of basement * Police Courts - Beaufort Street - whole building * Public Health Department - Murray Street - whole building * State Library, James Street - arches to first floor and second floor balcony * Museum Building, Beaufort Street - window arches and sills * Government Stores, Murray Street - ground floor facing, window lintels and gable ends * University of Western Australia - Winthrop Hall

Fremantle

* Railway Station * Customs House * St John's Anglican church * St Patricks Catholic church * Scottish House

History

Usage

Perth

Fremantle

See also

References

Further reading