Shipwreck Databases Western Australian Museum

A study of the Hamelin Bay Jetty and the timber trade

Author/s M. Gainsford

Year of publication 2004

Report Number: 192

AbstractThe Hamelin Bay Jetty was a culmination of one man’s driving need to succeed in business. Maurice Coleman Davies originally of English birth moved to Tasmania with his family to start a new life. Davies then embarked on a career that would lead inexorably to the domination of the timber trade from south-western, Western Australia. Furthermore, his civil constructions have survived many years after his demise. These include jetties, mills, a lighthouse and general works (Heritage Council 1993:5).Jetties in Australia have been studied infrequently and therefore modest archaeological data is available concerning these structures compared to shipwrecks. To advance our knowledge of the jetty resource more investigation should be conducted on these structures. Studies should not just focus on the historical but also incorporate archaeology such as formation processes and systematic surveys of remaining structure and artefact deposits.This thesis has focussed on researching and analysing information derived from historical data on Hamelin Bay, legislation and control of jetties in Western Australia. From this information an archaeological analysis of the remaining structure of the Hamelin Bay Jetty and an analysis of site formation processes is attempted. These analyses are discussed in relation to Hamelin Bay and jetties Australia wide. Also, a comparison of survey techniques has been used to map the physical remains of the jetty structure providing insight into problems with jetty surveys and possible ways to survey a similar structure. Surveys have incorporated a range of techniques including, photographs of the structure for PhotoModeler, tape trilateration surveys and a plane table survey. Timber sampling was an aim but could not be completed due to time constraints. All accumulated survey data has been processed using specific programs, for example, Site Surveyor, PhotoModeler and ArcMap.This thesis provides information on the jetty structure and its degradation. It also allows ideas or techniques to be further developed into the future. Results from this study have highlighted deficiencies in the survey of jetty structures and possible ways that these might be overcome in the future employing either the same techniques or using more technology. It also concludes that there are a significant number of site formation processes acting on jetty structures that must be understood before disturbance work commences. A lack of legislation in Western Australia is also a problem for jetty sites. The minimal legislative framework for jetties is evident by the number of structures currently protected.