Although I have lived and travelled to many places, I guess that Norseman in Western Australia would probably be classed as
my "home town". I first went to Norseman in the earlier 1960's and stayed there until 1969. Up until
that time I rarely spent more than twelve to eighteen months in any one place, and some of the towns I lived in simply do
not exist any longer. Most were small railway towns with a population of only 30 to 50 people.
Above is a map showing the location of the township of Norseman. The town is situated at the Southern end of the area
known as the Eastern Goldfields in Western Australia and on the junction of the main road connecting East and West Australia.
and the road that joins Kalgoorlie to the Port of Esperance on the South coast. That road from East to West is
known as the "Eyre Highway" and forms part of National Route Number One, which travels right around Australia,
basically following the coastline where it can. The original "Eyre Highway" on the South Australian side
was actually North of the current road. See my section on the Nullarbor Plain, to learn more about this unique but barren part of Australia.
Norseman owes its existence to the discovery of gold. In 1893 gold was discovered at a place that was named Dundas,
which is about 23 kilometres (14 miles) South of the current township. However, despite the influx of many seeking
their fortunes, the gold rush was short lived. In 1894, another prospector by the name of Laurie Sinclair found more
gold North of the original finds at Dundas. There is much rumour about how he actually found the gold, some stories
state that his horse went lame, and he got down and saw gold on the ground. Another states that he actually
found a gold nugget in his horse's hoof, and yet another claims he had camped for the night and his horse had pawed at the
ground during the night and uncovered gold. No one really knows the actual truth, but Sinclair named his find
after his horse which was named "Norseman". That would make the township one of the very few, if not the
only town in the world to have been named after a horse.
This find led to another gold rush to the area, and the current town of Norseman quickly outgrew the original township of
Dundas (which no longer exists). The town boomed and before long had hotels, breweries, newspapers, a racetrack,
churches (the original Anglican Church is still standing today), and all the other benefits of a thriving mining town.
However it also had its drawbacks. Water was very scarce, and was obtained from various rock holes, but at an
inflated price. Eventually Norseman was to be connected to the Goldfields water scheme (more about that in my Eastern
Goldfields section), and the non availability of a regular water supply was overcome.
If you exclude Eucla on the Western Australian / South Australian Border, (which has grown from a single dwelling to a
small village over the past 25 years) then Norseman is the first actual town you reach after travelling the long lonely
journey across the Nullarbor Plain. For many years it was know as "The Eastern Gate To The Western State",
although I do not know if they still use that slogan.
Many mines opened and operated for a number of years, and when I first went there in the early 1960's there were five gold
mines and an iron pyrites mine in full operation. It also had its own School Of Mines, and many people learned their
mining knowledge at that school. The old School of Mines has now been converted into a local museum. That
museum actually has some pieces from the house we first lived in on display. By the time I left in 1969, only one
gold mine was still operating, but another has since been re-opened as an open cut mine. The population of the town
in the early 1960's was about 6,000. Today it is estimated that only about 1,200 remain there. (It could even be
less, I do not have up to date figures)
When I lived there, we lived in the original Cobb and Co. Stage Station house that was built in the late 1890's.
Sadly that has been demolished as it was an important part of the towns history. (Cobb and Co. are to Australia,
what Wells Fargo are to the USA ~ The original stage coach companies)
However although small it does have all the facilities for anyone travelling across Australia, and is certainly a welcome
place to stop overnight as it is only about eight hours travel from Perth.
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Norseman
Eastern Gate
To The
Western State |
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Norseman
Town Plan |
The above are from an old Tourist Pamphlet and give an idea of the size and street plan of Norseman township. It can
be seen that Norseman is not a very large town.
The photograph on the left shows the township of Norseman from the air. In the foreground is the Central Norseman Gold
Corporation gold treatment plant. The large grey dump is one of many tailings dumps from the gold treatment plants.
Beyond that is the actual township. In the background of the photograph on the right you can see the salt
flats that surround much of the township. The photograph on the right was taken from one of the rare
larger hills in the area, called "Beacon Hill", which is just outside the town and gives a great view of the
surrounding area. It gets its name, because it hosted an aircraft beacon for aircraft travelling between Perth and
Melbourne, as they would all fly directly over the township of Norseman.
In the above photographs, the one on the left was taken in about 1975. It is a photograph of Norseman's Main Street,
(Roberts Street) and I apologise for the quality. Notice the width of the street, which allows for angle parking
along both kerbs and also centre parking. The streets were made that wide on purpose. In the earlier days,
before road and rail transport, everything was moved to and from the town by camel train. This excessively wide
street permitted the camel trains to actually turn around. The photograph on the right taken in about 1993, shows a
statue of the horse "Norseman" after which the town was named.
These two photographs are of the same mine, known as the "Regent" and probably the longest lasting gold mine in
the area, although it has now closed. (at least it had at the last of my knowledge, but it may have re-opened since).
The mine went down to a depth of about 1,675 metres (5,500 feet) and was one of a number of mines operated by the
Central Norseman Gold Corporation in its heyday. In fact in 1969, I actually worked underground at this mine for
about three months while I was waiting to enlist into the Australian Army. Life underground is very uncomfortable,
the air tastes stale, there is little circulation and basically everything is dark and damp, except for the small light on
your head. I don't think I would have liked to make a career of being an underground miner, but it was an experience
that many will never have. These photographs were taken in 1974 when the mine was still operational.
The photograph on the left shows the treatment plant operated by Central Norseman Gold Corporation. Ore from all its
mines was taken to this plant and crushed, and then treated with cyanide in order to extract the gold. The photograph
on the right shows one of the many tailings (Slime) dumps, where the leftovers where pumped and left to dry out. It
is thought that this dump alone still contains many millions of dollars worth of gold, but the cost of recovering it
outweighs the value. There is also the added issue that they are very highly contaminated with cyanide. There
are at least five or six of these tailings dumps.
The town is surrounded by salt flats and the largest is Lake Cowan, although it rarely holds water, and even when it does,
it is only for a short period of time. The picture on the left shows the causeway built across Lake Cowan, just North
of the town. It carries both the road and railway across the salt pan. Before the building of the causeway,
this area created many problems, because although dry, the salt crust is very thin and under it is a very slippery black
mud. Goods would be taken to the Northern side and off loaded, then man handled across the salt flats and loaded onto
other wagons for movement into Norseman. The photograph on the right gives some idea of the vast expanse of salt
flats. Some of the salt flats are very firm and one area has been utilised as the local airstrip, and there are
many parts where you can drive on it quite safely.
The area where it all began. On the left is a photograph of Dundas Rocks, near where the original gold discovery was
made in 1893. There is basically nothing left of the old township of Dundas, and the rocks are a popular picnic
spot for families. The only modern tie that Norseman has with the old township of Dundas is that the local Shire is
known as the "Dundas Shire Council". The photograph on the right is of Dundas Rocks taken in Spring and
showing wild flowers that grow in the area. This image was scanned from a Post Card which used a photograph taken
by "Arthur Pritchard". The "Pritchard" family are long time and well known identities in the area.
Since the really heady days of gold mining, I know at least one of the old mines ("The North Royal") which was
closed in the late 1960's has been re-opened as an open cut operation. Another old mine that had closed in the early
1960's also re-opened as a shaft in the 1980's when the town went through a mini boom period due to a greatly increased
price for gold on the world market. However that boom did not last long, and the town now relies heavily on tourism.
Many people spend time simply prospecting around and in some areas gemstones can be found, although none of them
are really precious stones such as sapphires or emeralds. They are basically a stone that is coloured and can be
polished, and can be purchased relatively cheaply.
Like all mining towns, Norseman has had its heyday, and they are never destined to return, but in its history, there have
been many millions of dollars worth of gold taken from the area. Added to that the value of the Iron Pyrites that was
mined for some time, and Norseman can say it played an important part in Western Australian Economic history.
Look at the "Eastern Goldfields" section for further information about mining in this area.
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