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Old Observatory Heritage Information

The end of the nineteenth century was a period of prosperity for Western Australia. The gold rushes in Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie had increased the government's wealth and there was plenty of money available for public buildings and expansion.

Alongside the growth of transport and communication systems and the introduction of electricity, came a growing demand for an observatory. For the Premier at the time, Sir John Forrest, it was a symbol of a new status for the once impoverished colony in the west, and evidence of its people's growing intellectual and cultural maturity.

In 1895 the Government Astronomer of South Australia, Sir Charles Todd visited Perth to advise on the site and necessary equipment for an observatory. A site was picked on the northern edge of the Mount Eliza ridge and work began on the construction of the Transit Circle Building, the Dome and the residence building. The latter was an imposing building designed by G Temple-Poole, with wide verandahs and city views.

The observatory had many uses including providing a state time service, providing weather recording and forecasting and seismological recording.

When Western Australia's first Government Astronomer, W E Cooke, arrived in 1896, he found that that there was no such thing as standardised time. The citizens of Perth had been guessing the time, and one person's watch could often vary by 15 minutes from that of another. It was a normal occurrence to miss the train as a result of this haphazard time keeping!

By 1896, Cooke had set up two clocks, one of which was connected to electric currents to perform various functions. Among its functions, it controlled public clocks at Kings Park, the railway station, the telegraph operating room and the Fremantle town clock. In addition, it controlled the firing of a time gun at 1pm Monday - Friday, and at noon on Saturdays (holidays excepted). The time gun was a cannon that was loaded with a wad of newspaper. The 1 o'clock firing would shower Parliament house in tiny pieces of newspaper, and the whole town would jump.

By the 1920s, the Government Astronomer ceased to live in the residence and it was taken over for government offices. The building began to deteriorate as a result of minimal maintenance.

In 1955, the government identified the observatory site as the most appropriate site for new government offices. There was also a need to relocate the observatory away from the city's pollution and lights. The state's observatory was relocated to Bickley, and building began on the tower block, Dumas House in 1963. During its construction all but one of the observatory buildings was destroyed.

The residence building was spared and continued to house government offices until 1985, when it was handed over to the National Trust.

Work began to restore the building and in 1986, the headquarters of the National Trust moved from the Old Perth Boys' School in St George's Terrace, to the Old Observatory.