Margaret River Historical Society

Visiting the cluster of small buildings which make up the local historical museum really is like stepping back in time to the 1920s. Not only is there an old schoolhouse set up ready for a class of children, but a stroll around the site will take you past the wash house, dairy, machinery shed and into an original ‘Groupie’, an old Group Settlement house. Inside the unlined wooden cottage are many examples of the ingenuity of the group settlers. Old kerosene boxes have been converted into shelving and cupboards, and even padded to create an armchair. Look out for many other hand-made items, including needlework and a children’s wooden chair. The wooden schoolhouse from the old settlement of Bramley, just a few kilometres north east of the Margaret River town, has been relocated to the site and houses a fascinating collection of photographs and archives which tells the history of Margaret River and districts during the early 1920s when the Group Settlement Scheme brought people to the district. The volunteers who run this Museum pride themselves on the ‘hands-on’ experiences that they give visiting school children, who get to do the washing with a washing board, and make scones which are cooked in the Metters wood stove.

Address:

The Old Settlement
69 Bussell Highway
Margaret River WA 6285
Australia

Opening Hours

Tues 10am - 12:30pm; Thurs 1:30 - 4pm; Sat to Sun 10am - 3pm

Resourcefulness and resilience were just two of the qualities needed by the group settlers to be able to create a life for themselves. When the Congregational Church needed new carpet, Mrs Agnes Hope...

"Bushfires raging all round the school. Children too small to help beat out fires in case of necessity so allowed to go home at 1:30". This entry from February 17, 1921 is one of the many fascinating...

The Group Settlement Scheme relied on migrants who wanted to improve their lot in life and were prepared to work hard to get ahead. This ambition was revealed in an amusing discovery in the wall of...

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