HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Perth Wetlands, also known as the Perth Great Lakes or the Great Lakes District, was a collection of fresh-water
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...
s, swamps and
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s located on the Swan Coastal Plain north of the city of
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
in
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. Over a period of 80 years from the first British settlement in Western Australia in 1829 most of the wetlands were reclaimed for use as housing, parks and
market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...
s.


Location

The wetlands were spread from Claisebrook Cove, north of the present city on the Swan River, through to
Herdsman Lake Herdsman Lake ( nys, Njookenbooro), also known as Herdsmans Lake, is a freshwater lake located on the Swan Coastal Plain, north-west of Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Herdsman. The main shared use path around the lake is approxima ...
to the north-west of the city, approximately east of the coast. The lakes were located in the present-day suburbs of
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
,
Highgate Highgate ( ) is a suburban area of north London at the northeastern corner of Hampstead Heath, north-northwest of Charing Cross. Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has two active conservation organisat ...
, West Perth,
East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...
, Northbridge, North Perth, Leederville,
West Leederville West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
,
Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
,
Glendalough Glendalough (; ) is a glacial valley in County Wicklow, Ireland, renowned for an Early Medieval monastic settlement founded in the 6th century by St Kevin. From 1825 to 1957, the head of the Glendalough Valley was the site of a galena lead min ...
, Mt. Hawthorn and Herdsman, and the
local government areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...
of the
City of Perth A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, the City of Vincent, the
Town of Cambridge The Town of Cambridge is a local government area in the inner western suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about west of Perth's central business district and extending to the Indian Ocean at City Beach. The Town covers ...
and the City of Stirling. Jualbup Lake, formerly known as Dyson's Swamp and Shenton Park Lake, is located in
Shenton Park Shenton is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sutton Cheney, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England, situated south-west of Market Bosworth. Shenton was formerly a chapelry an ...
in the City of Subiaco.


History


Aboriginal uses

Aboriginal tribes occupied the area around Perth for around years before European settlement, using the wetlands as a source of food (fish, waterfowl, crayfish and turtles) and fresh water. Local
Nyungar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...
tribes continued to use the lakes for resources and as a meeting place up until they were reclaimed for housing developments in the 1940s, with meetings of up to 400 people recorded in
corroboree A corroboree is a generic word for a meeting of Australian Aboriginal peoples. It may be a sacred ceremony, a festive celebration, or of a warlike character. A word coined by the first British settlers in the Sydney area from a word in the l ...
s at Lakes Monger and Henderson as well at Hyde Park.


European settlement

Perth was founded by Captain James Stirling in June, 1829. The area on which Perth was built was described by George Seddon in ''Sense of Place'' (1972) as follows:
The site '' f Perth''was a well-timbered, low and narrow sand-ridge running east- south-east from Mt Eliza. ... To the north of this narrow ridge, there was a chain of freshwater lakes: Smith's Lake, Lake Henderson, Third Lake, Lake Sutherland, Lake Irwin, Lake Tompson, Lake Poulett, Stones Lake, and Tea Tree Lake, which was part of Clause's Brook. These lakes were in a broad valley running south-east from Lake Monger to the Swan River...
Following the arrival of the first Europeans in 1829, the township of Perth was gradually expanded. The area to the north of the township, was not considered ideal for settlement due to the extensive wetlands that stretched for almost immediately north of the town site. Gradually, lakes closer to the city were drained, with the first drainage work commencing in 1832. Some wetlands were reclaimed by individual settlers on whose land the lakes encroached, others were reclaimed to be used for public works and housing. At the same time, the Swan River foreshore was reclaimed to ease transportation along the river. The last of the lakes were drained in the 1880s. However, some areas including Herdsman Lake, Lake Monger and Third Swamp (now Hyde Park) were unable to be drained due to their location, size or depth.


List of features


Remaining features


Former features

*Tea-tree Lake - a small lagoon that appeared seasonally to the west of Claise Brook during flooding. *Lake Kingsford - a lake located close to the inner-city of Perth that was drained in the 1830s. Most of the railways in Perth, and associated infrastructure, including
Perth Railway Station Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midland ...
,
Perth Underground Station Perth railway station is the largest station on the Transperth network, serving the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. It serves as an interchange between the Airport, Armadale, Fremantle, Joondalup, Mandurah and Midlan ...
, the
Horseshoe Bridge The Horseshoe Bridge in Perth, Western Australia is a traffic bridge that connects the Perth CBD to Northbridge, carrying William Street. It was constructed in 1904 to pass over the Fremantle railway line, with the horseshoe shape designed to f ...
and the main section of Wellington Street, were built on reclaimed land from Lake Kingsford. *Stone’s Lake (''Yoorgoorading'') -
Perth Oval Perth Oval, currently branded HBF Park (under a sponsorship agreement with HBF Health Fund) and called Perth Rectangular Stadium for international football matches, is a sports stadium in Perth, the capital of the Australian state of Western ...
is located on the site of Stone's Lake *Lake Poulett (“First Swamp”; known by Noongar Peoples as ''Chalyeding'') *Lake Thomson (“Mew’s Swamp”) - partial reclamation by Thomas Mews led to the name Mew’s Swamp being given *Lake Henderson (''Boojoormelup'') *Lake Georgianna - a small lake to the south of Lake Monger, near the present-day
Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of State Route 2, which continues south as Kwinana Freeway and Forrest ...
Interchange. *Lake Irwin - a medium-size lake in between Lakes Sutherland and Kingsford.
Perth Entertainment Centre The Perth Entertainment Centre was an indoor arena and cinema complex in Perth, Western Australia, located on Wellington Street at the northern edge of the Perth central business district. It was demolished as part of the Perth City Link projec ...
and later Perth Arena were built on reclaimed land on the former site of the lake. *Lake Sutherland (“Padbury’s Lake”) *Second Swamp


Nature


Flora

Species that are or were prominent in the Perth wetlands include(d):


Trees and shrubs

*''
Melaleuca rhaphiophylla ''Melaleuca rhaphiophylla'', commonly known as swamp paperbark is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south west of Western Australia. It has narrow, needle-like leaves and profuse spikes of white or yellowish flowers at ...
'' (swamp paperbark) - found especially in Lakes Herdsman, Monger and formerly Lake Henderson. *''
Banksia littoralis ''Banksia littoralis'', commonly known as the swamp banksia, swamp oak, river banksia or seaside banksia and the western swamp banksia, is a species of tree that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the p ...
'' (swamp banksia) - *'' Eucalyptus rudis'' (flooded gum) - *'' Eucalyptus camaldulensis'' (river red gum) - *Various species of ''
Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants endemic to Australia. Species are known by the name grass tree. Description All are perennials and have a secondary thickening meristem in the stem. Many, but not all, ...
'' (grass trees) *'' Melaleuca preissiana'' (modong) *''
Banksia littoralis ''Banksia littoralis'', commonly known as the swamp banksia, swamp oak, river banksia or seaside banksia and the western swamp banksia, is a species of tree that is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the p ...
'' (swamp banksia) *''
Kunzea ericifolia ''Kunzea ericifolia'', commonly known as spearwood, native tree or yellow kunzea, or as kitja boorn, poorndil or condil by the Noongar people, is an erect woody evergreen shrub that is endemic to Western Australia. It has soft green linear leav ...
'' (spearwood) - woody, evergreen shrub usually metres tall. *''
Banksia ilicifolia ''Banksia ilicifolia'', commonly known as holly-leaved banksia, is a tree in the family Proteaceae. Endemic to southwest Western Australia, it belongs to ''Banksia'' subg. ''Isostylis'', a subgenus of three closely related ''Banksia'' species w ...
'' (holly-leaf banksia)


Sedges

*''
Baumea articulata ''Baumea articulata'', commonly known as jointed rush, is a sedge in the sedge family, Cyperaceae, that is native to Western Australia. The grass-like plant is rhizomatous and perennial, it typically grows to a height of . It blooms between Septe ...
'' *''
Typha orientalis ''Typha orientalis'', commonly known as bulrush, cumbungi, or raupō, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the genus ''Typha''. It is native to Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, China and the ...
'' (broadleaf cumbungi) - generally considered a weed; also a fire hazard in summer.Herdsman Lake Regional Park Conservation Plan (PDF)
prepared for the Conservation Commission of Western Australia by ERM Mitchell Cotter. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
*'' Schoenoplectus validus'' (great bulrush) -


Herbaceous and aquatic plants

*'' Potomogeton pectinatus'' (fennel pondweed) *'' Najas marina'' (prickly waternymph) *''
Cotula coronopifolia The small marsh flower ''Cotula coronopifolia'' bears the common names brass buttons, golden buttons, and buttonweed. The flower heads are bright yellow discoid heads that look like thick buttons. Individual plants spread stems along the ground ...
'' (buttonweed) - an introduced species originally from Africa that appears on dried-up lakebeds during summer, especially in Claisebrook Cove.


Fungi

*''
Phytophthora cinnamomi ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' is a soil-borne water mould that produces an infection which causes a condition in plants variously called " root rot", "dieback", or (in certain ''Castanea'' species), "ink disease". The plant pathogen is one of the wo ...
'' - a soil-borne water mould causing dieback, a major plant fungus affecting trees at Herdsman Lake and Lake Monger.


Fauna

Species that are or were prominent in the Perth wetlands include(d):


Birds and waterfowl

Surveys have recorded over 30 different species of birds at Point Fraser,CBCG Perth Biodiversity Study
, section 2.3.1 Birds
and over 100 different species of native and non-native birds that inhabit Lakes Herdsman and Monger for some period of the year, around two-thirds of which breed there. The most notable species include: *'' Cygnus atratus'' (black swan) - Western Australia's state emblem, found on both the flag and
coat-of-arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its w ...
of Western Australia, as well as in Australian popular culture as a symbol of Western Australia. *Several varieties of duck, including: **'' Tadorna tadornoides'' (mountain duck) **'' Chenonetta jubata'' (wood duck) *Several varieties of cormorant, including: **'' Phalacrocorax varius'' (pied cormorant) **'' Microcarbo melanoleucos'' (little pied cormorant) **'' Phalacrocorax fuscescens'' (black cormorant) **'' Phalacrocorax sulcirostris'' (little black cormorant)


Reptiles and amphibians

*'' Cherax quinquecarinatus'' (common gilgie) - a small freshwater variety of crayfish that was especially present in lakes Herdsman and
Monger Monger may refer to: Traders * Peddler, a travelling vendor of goods * a merchant dealer, such as: ** Costermonger, a street seller of fruit and vegetables; in Britain also general (synonym) peddler ** Cheesemonger, a specialist seller of cheeses ...
. They were used as a source of food by Aborigines up until the 1940s. *'' Cherax destructor'' (common yabby) - an introduced species of crayfish posing a threat to the gilgy. It was first documented in Western Australia in the 1930s. *'' Chelodina colliei'' (long-necked turtle) - a small freshwater turtle
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
to Southwest Australia, growing up to in length.''Chelodina oblonga'', the Narrow-Breasted Snake-Necked Turtle
/ref>


Fish

*''
Pseudogobius olorum ''Pseudogobius'' is a genus of fish in the goby family, Gobiidae. It is widely distributed in tropical and temperate regions of the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. Species occur in freshwater and estuarine habitat types, such as mangroves and ...
'' (Swan River goby) - a small, native fish commonly found in Herdsman Lake.


See also

* Perth City Link * Islands of Perth, Western Australia


References

{{Reflist, 2


External links


History of Wetlands in PerthPerth Waterfront
Swan Coastal Plain Wetlands of Western Australia