Hi everyone, I hope you and yours are doing well.
As
children in the late 1950s and early 1960s we sometimes stayed with our Aunt and Uncle in
Bunbury for summer school holidays. The harbour jetty was a gathering place for locals and we
would walk out on the jetty to go fishing or crabbing.
The
jetty was constructed by convict labour employed by local contractor, William
Forrest in 1864. Previously people and goods were transferred by boat from
ships anchored offshore. The jarrah and karri wooden decking was supported on
piles of jarrah, blackbutt and wandoo.
 |
| Bunbury jetty - circa 1899 |
The
jetty was extended nine times due to silting.
By 1957 it was 1,677 metres in length. In 1908 Bunbury was Western
Australia’s principal shipping port. In that year, the jetty was visited by 21
sailing ships and 126 steamers, averaging 900 to 1300 tons. There was provision
for 9 vessels to moor alongside at a time. The first wheat was exported from
the port in 1914.
As
the port became busier and more modern methods were used to load and unload
vessels the harbour developed away from the jetty, which was decommissioned in
1982. Despite an intensive campaign by the Bunbury Timber Jetty Preservation Society, the
jetty fell into disrepair and its demolition was completed in June 2013.
Today
only the electric ship loading crane remains. The 3 tonne Arrol Gantry Electric Crane crane was built in 1911 by
Sir William Arrol & Co Ltd in Parkhead, Glasgow. Arrol was a civil engineer
who also built the Forth Rail Bridge in Scotland and the Tower Bridge in
London. He also built the Arrol Gantry at the Harland and Wolff Shipyards in Belfast
which were used to construct the Titanic and her sister ships.
The crane was transported in pieces from Scotland to Bunbury and erected on site. It was one of several located on the Bunbury jetty to load and unload ships. The other three were constructed in Western Australia by the WA State Implement Works in 1922 using Arrol's plans. It is considered to be the only one of this type of crane surviving in Australia.
With the jetty dismantled, the crane was re-located to the breakwater causeway and refurbished by the Bunbury Timber Jetty Preservation Society.
The crane seems to sit uncomfortably without the jetty, despite its value as
one of the few remaining pieces of infrastructure from the early 1900s period
of the Bunbury Harbour development.
Bunbury is still a port - there is the Outer harbour (2 ship berths) which you can see LHS below, and an Inner harbour (6 berths). You can see a map and read more about it on the Southern Ports link below.
Today you can walk out along the breakwater, and learn more about the history of the original jetty on the placques. There are places to sit, learn more about the jetty and harbour, and there are places to moor your boats. And when you get back to the land there are restaurants, a safe swimming beach and children's play area.
The above photo taken from the Bunbury lookout tower was taken in 2007. Below is February 2026 photo of the Inner Harbour showing the new breakwater, which you can see in the map below. Circled is the crane.
You might also like - A walk along the Koombana Bay waterfront, Bunbury - 2024
More information:
Heritage Council of WA - Bunbury Timber Jetty
Southern Ports facilities and services
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