The townsite of Chidlow, like the many different trees that surround it, has at its heart many different strands of WA’s pioneering life from the late nineteenth century. While most of those strands are no longer visible today, they became part of a fabric strong enough to enable the small townsite to embrace change but still grow and stay connected… which is still the case today.
The first strand was laid down by William Chidlow when he located and utilised a watering hole on the Old Northam Road (near Liberton Road). William and his brother Peter (fatally speared by Aborigines in 1839) were servants of John Morrell of Northam. Although the settlement was called Chidlow’s Well after William, he farmed in Northam from 1840 until his death in 1879.
The next strand began in 1883 when it became known that Chidlow’s Well was to be the terminus of the second section of the Eastern Railway opening in March 1884. Settlement began in earnest with the influx of railway workers and their families. It was at this stage that Lake Leschenaultia came into being to provide much needed water for the trains, so much so, that by 1898 the station yard was dominated by two enormous water towers. It remained an important stopping place – even after the railway line continued to York in 1885 – being officially listed as a Refreshment Stop in 1889.
Crossing over with the railway timeline, the sawmillers cut a swathe across a wide expanse of the current Shire of Mundaring due to it being declared a Special Timber Area in 1883. This industry with its sawmills and associated businesses contributed greatly to the growth of Chidlow’s Well and surrounding area until 1910 when the forests were depleted.
However, by this time, Chidlow’s Well had become very popular with travellers as a railway refreshment stop and had become a beehive of activity: it could boast a butcher, baker, newsagent and hairdresser and had no less than five general stores.
The forest depletion and dwindling of the sawmilling industry did not lessen the growth of the town because by the end of the century another strand was being woven into its structure: orchardists. Several properties in town supported over 100 trees/acre and were flourishing at the turn of the century. The orchards remained a viable part of the town’s economy until the 1940s.
‘Rosedale’ a property at the end of Rosedale Road had been settled in 1897 by a Charles Cook who by 1907 had developed the property into a ‘paradise’ market garden, orchard and apiary.
Cook was a remarkable man who chaired many boards and associations in the area including the Chidlow Progress Association which had been formed in 1897. As Chairman of the building committee, in only a few months he raised community finance and construction of the Old Chidlow Hall, which opened on 26 January 1905.
He was the town’s first JP and stayed in Chidlow until 1917 when he moved his family to Toodyay.
Initially the railway line divided the townsite with the hotel and Post House on the South side and houses and shops were on the opposite. However, in 1908 the original hotel burnt down and it was rebuilt on Thomas Street which was fast becoming the main street with many permanent buildings being erected. The Post House was re-erected on its current site in 1910.
Despite efforts by the Colonial Secretary Malcolm Fraser to immortalise William Chidlow as early as 1883, John Forrest ignored the request and it wasn’t until 1920 that the town was renamed Chidlow due to agitation by residents.
Chidlow established itself over the next 20 years as a town that could survive independently of its pioneering roots and was adapt enough to take on the next strand in its development: army training camps.
The establishment of army camps in Western Australia was seen to be of paramount importance to Australia due to WA’s insufficient defence which was highlighted by the threat in March 1942 of a potential Japanese invasion of Australia.
Chidlow was chosen for its geographical position and for military and strategic advantages and soldiers became an accepted part of the community until the camps were disbanded in 1944.
Also disbanded was the railway station in 1966 when the service was discontinued because the Avon Valley standard gauge line came into operation. Station buildings, platform and shunting lines were torn up and carted away. An iron railway sculpture in the Village Green stands as an icon to those days when Chidlow’s Well station was the ‘Refreshment Stop’ on the Eastern line.
Present day residents of Chidlow look forward to the future while embracing the past. ANZAC Day services, organised by the RSL, are held each year and the Hall is again becoming the hub of social events as it was at the turn of the century. The football team, Chidlow Cougars, still proudly wear the black and gold colours of old.
Source: Mundaring A History of the Shire, by Ian Elliot. Published by the Shire of Mundaring 1983