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Mount Richon
PerthWestern Australia
Schoenstatt Shrine, Mount Richon, Western Australia, November 2021 01.jpg
The Schoenstatt Shrine in Mount Richon
Population 2,105 (2011 census)
 • Density 1,320/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
Postcode(s) 6112
Area 1.6 km2 (0.6 sq mi)
Location
LGA(s) City of Armadale
State electorate(s) Armadale
Federal Division(s) Canning
Suburbs around Mount Richon:
Armadale Mount Nasura Mount Nasura
Armadale Mount Richon Bedfordale
Wungong Wungong Bedfordale

Mount Richon is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia in the City of Armadale. Formerly part of Armadale and Wungong, Mount Richon was approved as a suburb in 2003. It occupies the western slope of the Darling Range from the intersection of Albany and South Western Highways south to Leys Rise, is bounded on the west by South-Western Highway and is bounded on the east by Albany Highway and Bungendore Park. Mount Richon is named after a vineyard that formerly existed in the area.

History

The major themes in the documented history of this suburb are as follows (in chronological order):

  • Aboriginal occupation.
  • Early exploration by European settlers.
  • Early grants, two boundaries of which create the 'indent' on the eastern boundary of the Mount Richon suburb.
  • Establishment of the W.A. Mining Company and the Colony's first mining venture (Cole's Shaft) in the late 1840s.
  • Formation of the Albany and South Western Highways, and establishment of the Narrogin Inn.
  • Dead Man's Gully and the associated legend.
  • Establishment of the Armadale Brickworks, the associated extraction of shale from the escarpment and the extraordinary tramline operated by 'endless haulage gear'. Wood cutting by members of the Serls family and others and the consequent creation of Bedfordale Hill Road.
  • Establishment of the Marian's Vineyard (aka Slavonian Vineyard), later renamed the Richon Vineyards by GVP McCarthy.
  • Operation of granite quarry on the south side of the Albany Highway, east of the Narrogin Inn, in the 1920s.
  • Closure of the Armadale Brickworks and shale quarry, and early suburban development on the escarpment above the Armadale town centre.
  • Trouble with bushfires originating in Bedfordale (fanned by the Easterly Wind).
  • Closure of the Richon Vineyards in the 1950s, removal of vines and gradual ruination of the cellars and homestead.
  • Suburban development around Tredale Avenue consequent to the establishment of Armadale High School in 1957.
  • Subdivision south of Tredale and the building of the Schoenstatt Shrine around 1990.
  • Southward expansion: development of the caravan park, demolition of the derelict Richon Cellars in 1989 and subdivision of the former vineyard property in the early 1990s.

Water courses

Four identifiable water courses pass through the suburb, and a fifth flanks the southern boundary.

The Neerigen Brook flows northwards alongside the Albany Highway from Bedfordale Hill Road to near the intersection of Carradine Road. It joins the Wungong Brook at the northern end of Twelfth Road in Westfield, the two brooks forming what is from that point named the Southern River - a major tributary of the Canning River. The Neerigen brook is seasonal by nature, but has at times been known to flow all year around.

An unnamed, seasonal stream originating from springs in the escarpment runs on the south side of the Schoenstatt Shrine and under the highway into the Armadale Brickworks site. This stream discharges into the Wungong Brook half a kilometer west of the intersection of Rowley and Eleventh Roads.

An unnamed, seasonal stream originating from springs on the escarpment forms a steep-sided ravine which passes under the South Western Highway between the caravan park and former vineyards. The ravine is known as 'Dead Man's Gully'. The lower course of the stream is indistinct, but passes under the South Western Railway just south of the crossing to Wungong Road, and from this point the stream joined its northern counterpart near Ninth Road and one kilometer south-east of this discharges into the Wungong Brook.

An unnamed winter brook originates from springs on the hillside in the lower northern corner of the area formerly known as McCarthy's bald patch, flowing down a shallow gully in the public open space alongside and above Chateau Court. Originally the gully took a broader profile in the present-day vicinity of Chateau Court and was filled in where the Richon Vineyard cellars were constructed (flows having been diverted around the southern side of the cellar building). The stream is not discernible west of the South Western Highway.

A seasonal stream originates at springs in Bungendore Park near the south-eastern corner of the suburb, and takes the name Cooliabbera Creek from the property on which the southern watershed is located. This creek flows out of a steep sided valley in the escarpment. It runs parallel to Leys Rise, just outside the southern boundary of the suburb, and joins the stream from Dead Man's Gully just north of the intersection of Eleventh and Rowley Roads, after which it discharges into the Wungong Brook.

Flora and Fauna

Much of the eastern boundary of Mount Richon adjoins parkland of regenerated bush, and some the more elevated parts of the suburb retain remnant native trees and understorey. Kangaroos, individual or in groups of up to twenty, are regular visitors to many of the properties in the suburb - attracted by the fresh greenery of the gardens. Smaller marsupials are also sometimes sighted. Pockets of bushland in this area provide habitat for a range of different lizards and snakes. Small freshwater crayfish, known locally as gilgies, are found in the Neerigen Brook. Birds frequenting this area include the kookaburra, magpie, mudlark, black crow, and several kinds of wrens. As many as 82 different species of birds have been sighted in the adjoining Bungendore Park.

Present day character

The northern section of Mount Richon, north of the point where Hobbs Drive intersects Bedfordale Hill Road, contains suburban housing mostly of the 1960s through to the 1980s. Older housing, some as early as the 1930s, fronts onto the South-Western Highway. The disused shale quarry of the old Armadale Brickworks occupies a large area immediately north of Bedfordale Hill Road, and on the opposite side of Bedfordale Hill Road is a reserve named Tredale Park. The section immediately south of this, the arteries of which are Talus Drive and Rise Court, contain larger suburban lots (semi-rural) with housing stock mostly dating to the 1990s and the Schoenstatt Chapel. Immediately south of this is a caravan park, known as Hillside Garden Village. The southernmost area is that which was formerly the vineyard, bounded on the north by Deadman's Gully and on the south by Ley's Road. This area comprises suburban lots, those on the more elevated ground being larger and of a semi-rural character.

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