Sloan’s Cottage, Leda

Sloan’s Reserve. Sloan Drive, Leda WA 6170

Over the coming years we will be working in partnership with the City of Kwinana to restore Sloan’s Cottage and establish a large productive garden, including a bush-tucker garden and wildflower walk. Our program will provide hands-on training to local residents.

Our training program:

• Establishes an abundant and productive organic garden at Sloan’s cottage using low technology strategies. We will be employing small and slow solutions to allow us to respond to feedback from the site. In many ways we will mimic some of the techniques George Sloan would have used to farm the site in the early Twentieth Century.

• Gives participants confidence and skills in growing, harvesting and processing their own organic food and bush tucker using Permaculture and organic gardening principles. Our focus will be on Regenerative agriculture systems. These are holistic farming systems that, among other benefits, improve water and air quality, enhance ecosystem biodiversity, produce nutrient-dense food, and store carbon to help mitigate the effects of climate change.

• Gives participants the opportunity to restore endemic native vegetation in selected areas of the site, and creates aesthetically pleasing landscapes.

• Provides meaningful engagement and a sense of community for participants.

• Makes Sloan’s a ‘living museum’ by celebrating the history of the property in partnership with the local community.

For more information contact stacey@museumofperth.com.au

A brief history of the Sloan Family

Courtesy of Lost Kwinana

In 1880 George Samuel Sloan married Emma Eliza Smirk, the eldest daughter of Thomas and Eliza Smirk, and in 1889 they took up 40 acres of land between Thomas Peel's estate and the coast.

Their first property, Woodland farm, was built in 1885 nearby. This was later part of land resumed for the new town of Kwinana in 1953.

The present day cottage was built in 1911 by Geroge and his sons Trevor and Melville. The land produced various fruits and vegetables, mostly potatoes and cabbage, that were sent for sale at Fremantle markets.

George Sloan died in 1917 and the farm was taken over by Trevor Sloan who continued working the farm. Trevor married Florence Brown and they purchased further plots of land nearby.

They continued to reside in the cottage until 1954, when the Kwinana council took over the building.

1961 to 1965 the place was occupied by Mr Ingham. Then Mr Gilber 1968 to 1969 when it them became vacant. It remained unoccupied for a number of years and was badly vandalised during this time.

During the years of 1973 to 1978, almost reduced to rubble and becoming a dangerous structure, it was in danger of being bulldozed. But council agreed to allowing Wally Procter (deputy Mayor of Kwinana), to be able to restore and preserve it. In receipt of a government grant in 1975, he took great personal and painstaking effort to ensure its stabilisation and preservation. The building also received some modern day conveniences such as water and power. Its due to the great personal effort of Wally that the building remains today.

After gaining heritage listing in 1992, the building has had a number of community groups care for it to this day. And a great credit to them and Kwinana council that it remains such a wonderful and rich landmark and marker of our rich local history.

Sources:

• WA heritage council.

• "Kwinana. Third time lucky", by Laurie Russel.

• City of Kwinana website information.

• Some photo credits thanks to Phillip Schubert.