South West Life

At 2.5km, the Dardanup Heritage Walk Trail is a concise tour and summary of the historical buildings of Dardanup and their stories.

One of the key families in the European history of Dardanup is the Little family. Thomas Little arrived in Dardanup in 1838 at the request of Charles Princep of India who wanted to purchase land and establish a horse breeding business to supply horses to India.

Although that venture didn't quite work out, Thomas and family stayed on in Dardanup and established their own farming venture and built a number of buildings in the area. Thomas himself was also instrumental in setting up an Irish Catholic Community in the area, being a Roman Catholic himself.

It's not surprising that the Little family had such an influence on the development of Dardanup. In 1856 a survey was taken which showed that the official population of Dardanup was 111, and that 76 of those came from the Little family.

There was, of course, a lot of Irish influence in the town. This influence played an important role in the escape of Irish Fenian convict John Boyle O'Reilly in 1869. The story goes that the local Irish community helped in O'Reilly's concealment, passage, and eventual escape to America, including O'Reilly hiding in a well which is now located on the site of Dardanup Engineering Works. If you want to know more about this story, have a read of our article on the escape of John Boyle O'Reilly.

Anyway, a lot of these buildings and stories form part of the Dardanup Heritage Trail, which is a 2.5km walk around the town of Dardanup. There are 15 points of interest along the trail, although a couple of them are not available to the public. The points of interest along the trail are:

1. St Mary's Anglican Church - consecrated and opened in 1906, still in it's original condition, and still uses it's orginal organ!
   
   
2. Original Dardanup Shop - Built in 1902
   
   
3. Post Office - Built in 1895
   
   
4. Pioneer Cemetery - In use since 1850, the cemetery is the final resting place for many of Dardanup's pioneers. It was closed in 1928 due to waterlogging, and since then only relations of those already buried there were allowed later burial.
   
   
5. Church of the Immaculate Conception - Opened in 1938, this church was built when the previous church built by Thomas Little could no longer fit everyone.
   
   
6. Old Mercy Convent - Built in 1922, this large building was used by the Sisters of Mercy until 1972.
   
   
7. Thomas Little Hall - The first Catholic Church to be built outside Perth in Western Australia. Built in 1854 and used until 1938.
   
   
8. Don Hewison Centre - A one room school built in 1896, making it one of the oldest public schools in the state.
   
   
9. The Rodger's House - this is not open to the public, but was built in 1897 and can be viewed from Ferguson Road.
   
   
10. Sir James Mitchell Memorial Plaque - Sir James Mitchell, who was Premier of Western Australia, as well as Lt. Governor and then Governor of Western Australia, was born in Dardanup.
    
    
11. Dardanup Shire Hall - Opened in 1956
    
    
12. RSL War Memorial & Palmer Park - A memorial to World War I & II casualties.
    
    
13. Shire Offices - Built in 1950
    
    
14. O'Reilly's Well - this is unfortunately not available for public viewing, but is located about 30 metres off Doolan Street.
    
    
15. Dardanup Hotel - Opened in 1905, this is the second Dardanup Hotel. The first one mysteriously burnt down two years after it opened.

Take an hour or two off to have a wander through Dardanup - A Historic Town.