Banksiadale is a locality and former town in the Peel region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

north of Dwellingup. Its

local government area 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

is the

Shire of Murray The Shire of Murray is a local government area of Western Australia. It has an area of and is located in the Peel Region about south of the Perth CBD. The Shire extends across the Peel Inlet and the Swan Coastal Plain into the Darling ...

History

Banksiadale is named after the

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Banksia ''Banksia'' is a genus of around 170 species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes, and woody fruiting "cones" and head ...

'', as the area consists of

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...

forest with unusually thick understorey of ''

Banksia grandis ''Banksia grandis'', commonly known as bull banksia or giant banksia, is a species of common and distinctive tree in the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the tree as beera, biara, boongura, gwangia, pira or peera. I ...

'' (Bull Banksia). For over 50 years, the area was home to a small

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

milling town. The Hotham Valley railway (operated by WAGR) was opened from Pinjarra to Dwellingup in 1910 to access the jarrah and marri timber in the area. In 1911, a site to produce timber for a wide range of general railway purposes was selected 8 km north of Dwellingup and a railway was opened to it in January 1912. The No. 2 Railway Mill was built in the same year and began operations in December 1912. By 1917, a network of railways covering 33 km of track extended from Banksiadale to the areas in which timber was being felled. In the year of 1926 alone, the Banksiadale mill produced 185,000 sleepers, and 6,347 other loads, of which the WAGR utilised a little more than 50%, the balance being sold or stacked. By 1946, the local timber had been exhausted and WAGR obtained another concession at Asquith Block, 30 km east of Harvey upstream from Nanga Brook, which was being worked by Millar Brothers. A railway from Asquith Block was completed in 1948 (including a 28-span timber trestle bridge which is now heritage listed). In the early 1950s, Asquith logs were brought to Banksiadale by

G class G class or Class G may refer to: Railways * NZR G class (1928), a type of steam locomotive used in New Zealand * Tasmanian Government Railways G class, a class of 0-4-2T steam locomotive used in Australia * V/Line G class, a class of diesel-ele ...

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s (later replaced by more modern and powerful Cs class) and the sawn timber was returned to Dwellingup. The Dwellingup fires in January and February 1961 devastated the countryside but the Banksiadale townsite and timber mill escaped damage. The mill only, was burnt down in 1963 and was not rebuilt as it was on land destined to be flooded when the South Dandalup Dam was constructed. Many of the mill houses were transferred to the Dwellingup townsite and private homes were sold to be demolished. Railways were subsequently removed, but ARHS special excursion trains took visitors into the area in the 1960s.

Present day

Its main feature is Lake Banksiadale, which is dammed by the South Dandalup Dam. Most of the area is declared disease risk area for ''Phytophthora cinnamomi'' dieback.

References

{{Authority control Towns in Western Australia Darling Range Shire of Murray