Centenary of Western Australia 1929 Henley Brook, Western Australia, Australia
By Iluvtrekking on 31-Dec-16. Waypoint GA9224

The cache is small and insignificant, but the location is not

The All Saint Church in Henley Brook is the oldest church in Western Australia. It was built by Richard Edwards between 1838 and 840 with the first service taking place in 10 January 1841. The site is on a small hill overlooking the Swan River and near the conjunction of the Swan and Ellen Brook. This site was where Captain James Stirling camped during his 1827 exploration of the area

On 13 March 1827, Stirling's expedition of the Swan River finished in the area but was unable to venture further upstream due to lack of navigable water. The party made camp on the high bank overlooking the river. He wrote in his diary:

"...the richness of the soil, the bright foliage of the shrubs, the majesty of the surrounding trees, the abrupt and red colour banks of the river occasionally seen, and the view of the blue mountains, from which we were not far distant, made the scenery of this spot as bieutiful as anything of the kind I have ever witnessed..." The cemetery that surrounds the church includes the graves of a number of individuals who were significant to the development of the colony: William Mackie, Frederick Irwin, John Connolly and Richard Edwards are all buried in the graveyard.

In 1929 to mark the centenary of settlement a lychgate was erected to mark the farthest point inland that Captain James Stirling's 1827 expedition reached. During 1974 a memorial wall was built in the south west corner of the cemetery. As part of the WAY 1979 celebrations the West Australian chapter of the Australian Institute of Builders restored the lychgate. Wrought iron gates completed the boundary fence in 1991; the gates are decorated with the words All Saints and Ellen's Brook.