Hill of heritage — New chapter begins for WA’s oldest farm with opening of new Strawberry Hill visitor hub

A new chapter championing the Menang Noongar story behind WA’s oldest farm, Strawberry Hill, was celebrated this week at the opening of a new visitor hub. Barmup, on Middleton Road, is an important Aboriginal heritage site, and a meeting place, which was home to traditional camp sites generations before colonial settlement. Archaeological evidence shows the site was used by Aboriginal people for generations before the arrival of Major Edmund Lockyer in 1826. The State Heritage-listed Strawberry Hill became WA’s first farm in 1827 and was used by the Government to produce food for soldiers and convicts. It was the first building to be acquired by the National Trust of WA in 1964, passed on from the Bird family, who had lived there for 67 years. A new visitor hub exploring the stories behind the Menang and settler history of the site, as well as guided tours of the farm’s grounds, will open to the public on Saturday. Heritage Minister David Templeman, Regional Development Minister Alannah MacTiernan and Aboriginal elder Ezzard Flowers planted a tree on the grounds on Tuesday to symbolise the intertwining of two cultures central to the visitor hub. National Trust WA chief executive Julian Donaldson said the new hub, about two years in the making, aimed to take the pressure off the original, fragile farmhouse. “What we thought was important was to tell the story of the whole landscape and we can do that from the new visitor hub,” he said. “We can orientate people in the landscape, then they can move across to the old house and move around the place with a much fuller experience.” Heritage Minister David Templeman said the project had reinterpreted the heritage of Strawberry Hill by making it accessible. “It demonstrates that when heritage is embraced and valued, it can become a valuable asset for the community and a tourism drawcard,” he said.