Armadale is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, within the City of Armadale, located on the south-eastern edge of the Perth metropolitan region. The major junction of the South Western and Albany Highways, which connect Perth with the South West and Great Southern regions respectively, is located within the suburb. It was once the terminus of the Armadale railway line, one of eight major railway lines to service Perth.

History Plentiful in natural resources, the area now known as Armadale was long occupied by Aboriginal people prior to the founding of the Swan River Colony. Records of encounters with the original Aboriginal inhabitants of this district are sparse in detail,Carter, J & B; Settlement to City: A history of the Armadale district and its people; City of Armadale, 2011, pp. 1-4. but early on there was conflict between these inhabitants and the settlers, which led to the establishment of a small garrison at Kelmscott.Carter 2011, pp. 17-21. The township of Kelmscott was gazetted in 1830,Carter 2011, p. 10. and for the next sixty years was the administrative and social hub for those colonists who took up land between present-day Kelmscott and Byford.

Interest in settlement at Kelmscott waned soon after the township was established, the district's inaccessibility (no road from Perth having yet been formed) and a general shortage of labour being factors militating against farming in that area. However, several large land grants had been taken up in the district, including one of over 8000 acres (Location 31) initially held by John Adams, and over the next few decades this allocated land presented a constraint to others seeking land for settlement in the area.Carter 2011, p. 27. Parts of these larger allocations were subdivided and on-sold, and smaller allocations were taken up alongside them. Thus, during the 1840s a number of farming properties were established in the foothills along the Canning River, Neerigin Brook, Wongong Brook and Beenyup Brook. Names of these early settlers included White, Stuart, Martin, Armstrong, and Mead.Carter 2011, p. 31.

In the late 1846, the Swan River Colony's first mine was established in the area now known as Armadale. The mine was the first undertaking of the Western Australian Mining Company, formed that year, and the object was to extract lead or copper - the ores of both metals having been in evidence. Land was purchased, and over the next few years shafts were dug by contractors. There was little yield, and in 1850 shareholders resolved to wind up the operation.Carter 2011, pp. 33-38. One of the shafts of this mining venture is still extant south of Bedfordale Hill Road.City of Armadale, Municipal Heritage Inventory Review 2008, entry for place #003 (A37), pp. 6-8.

By 1835, a road had been surveyed from Perth to Kelmscott and within a few years roads to Albany and Bunbury were also marked out enabling the establishment of overland mail services.Popham, D.; First Stage South: a history of the Armadale-Kelmscott district, Western Australia, Town of Armadale, 1980; pp. 17-19. However, it was not until 1851 that work began to properly form the road between Perth and Kelmscott. The work was assisted by the arrival of convict labour in 1852, and during the next few years the roads from Kelmscott to Albany and from Kelmscott to Pinjarra were formed.Carter 2011, pp. 46-51; Popham 1980, pp. 31-32. It was at the junction of the roads to Albany and Pinjarra that the township of Armadale was born when an enterprising settler saw opportunity to establish a wayside inn there, some time around 1853. The property was sold to Thomas Saw in 1856, and together with his father-in-law, Henry Gibbs, in 1856 he applied for a wayside licence to sell liquor. Their wayside inn was named the Neerigin Inn after the brook that flowed out of the Darling Range at this point. For many years the district was known as Neerigin or Narrogin, and a hotel bearing this name still stands on the site of the original wayside inn.Popham 1980, pp. 32-33; Carter 2011, pp. 53-54.

In 1889, the northern section of the South Western Railway was constructed from Perth to what is now Armadale,Popham 1980, p. 58. and in 1897 a station was built at this location to service the sparsely scattered population of this district.Carter 2011, p. 92. It has been claimed that the station was named 'Armadale' because a name other than Neerigin had to be found to avoid confusion with the wheatbelt town of Narrogin, and that from this the town which sprang up near the station took its name. Other theories have also been put forward for the origin of the name. What is certain is that the name was not in use before the arrival of the railway.Popham 1980, pp. 58-59; Carter 2011, p. 90.

The railway provided impetus for growth in the district, and in May 1893 local residents held a public meeting to discuss the creation of a roads board that could give attention to the maintenance and development of local roads. At this point in time, roads in the district were the responsibility of the Canning, Fremantle, Jandakot, Murray and Wandering road boards for all of whom it was an outlying and unimportant area. In October 1894, Parliament agreed to the formation of a roads board which on 12 December 1894 was gazetted as the 'Kelmscott Roads Board',Carter 2011, pp. 92-94. later to be the Armadale-Kelmscott Roads Board (1910), the Armadale-Kelmscott Shire Council (1961), then the Armadale Town Council (1979), and now the City of Armadale (1985).Carter 2011, pp. 419-421.

Natural and cultural attractions The places listed below are Armadale's more popular and accessible natural and cultural attractions. For a more comprehensive list of those places that have been identified as having historic cultural heritage value, refer to the City of Armadale's Municipal Heritage Inventory (MHI). However, the MHI does not include places of natural or Aboriginal heritage value.City of Armadale, Municipal Heritage Inventory Review 2008.

Aboriginal Interpretation Centre, Champion Lakes, Kelmscott. The centre is a space where Nyoongar culture and heritage can be celebrated, discussed, strengthened and understood; and it was designed in consultation with the City of Armadale's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee (ATSIAC).Carter 2011, p. 408. Old Jarrah Tree, Armadale Shopping City, corner Third Road and Church Avenue, Armadale. The tree is estimated to be between 400 and 800 years old and for 88 years its surrounds were the Armadale Primary School.Carter 2011, p. 398. The tree is the most ancient of recognizable features in the Armadale CBD) and is one of the more unusual places entered in the W.A. Register of Heritage Places (reference # 09009). Cole's Shaft, Summit View (off Bedfordale Hill Road), Mt Richon. Remains of Western Australia's oldest mining venture. This is a place that has been entered in the W.A. Register of Heritage Places (reference # 15263). Minnawarra Park, Orchard Avenue, Armadale. The park is home to the History House Museum and the accompanying historic church and school. The school building was relocated from the corner of Third Road and Church Avenue to this site in 1987, in one piece, the first such relocation of a brick structure undertaken in Australia. Armadale Settlers Common, Settlers Road (off Canns Road), Armadale. A place with many walk trails and a range of rare flora and fauna. Araluen Botanic Park, Roleystone. Churchman Brook Dam, Canning Dam and Wungong dam. Three major water reservoirs for the Perth metropolitan area that are of interest for their scenic qualities and engineering heritage. Bungendore Park and Wungong Gorge. An area of regenerated bushland of scenic, botanical, and geological interest. Schoenstatt Shrine, Talus Drive, Mt Richon. A replica of a place of pilgrimage in Germany. Birtwistle Local Studies Library, located inside the Armadale Library: Armadale Central Shopping Centre at Shop 64/10 Orchard Avenue, Armadale. Heritage walk from Armadale Railway Station up Jull Street to Narrogin Inn and beyond:

Former Armadale Post Office (c.1900), south-east corner of Jull Street and Streich Avenue, Armadale. A typical country town post office designed by the PWD under the direction of architect George Temple-Poole (1856 – 1934). The earlier Post and Telegraph Office of 1898, which is now the oldest building standing in Armadale, is attached to the northern side of the building. The building now serves as the regional office of the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. Railway Hotel (1902), north-east corner of Jull Street and Streich Avenue, Armadale. Originally a Federation Queen Anne style building, the hotel lost its graceful two-storey verandahs in the 1960s and was 'Tudorized' in the early 1980s when Armadale experienced a craze for mock Tudor buildings. The mock Tudor treatment has since been removed, but remains on the adjoining Fox and Hounds Tavern (a building of the late 1970s, formerly known as the Tudor Rose Tavern).

Soldiers Memorial Park, Jull Street / Orchard Avenue, Armadale. The oldest landscaped park in Armadale. The brick obelisk is held to be the oldest WWI memorial in Australia, and this together with a grove of mature trees forms the setting for annual Anzac Day commemoration activities. Former Shire Council Offices, Jull Street, Armadale. The original 1902 office building is on the south side of the street, and on the north side are the 1967 offices which were designed by W G Bennett, Allen & Allen architects.

St Matthews Anglican Church (1904) and old manse. Designed by prominent architect Sir Joseph John Talbot Hobbs (1864-1938), this is the oldest church building in Armadale that is still being used for its intended purpose. The 1960s addition which addresses Prospect Road is by Forbes and Fitzhardinge Architects. The church is entered in the W.A. Register of Heritage Places (reference # 08774). Armadale Town Hall (1936). Designed by the architectural partnership of Oldham, Boas & Ednie-Brown. The Town Hall replaced the Mechanics Institute hall (1898), one of the first public buildings in Armadale, which was situated where the carpark is now. The town hall is entered in the W.A. Register of Heritage Places (reference # 04669). Bert Tyler Vintage Machinery Museum, Jull Street, Armadale. The local visitor information centre is based here. Dr Colyer's house (1952), Jull Street, Armadale. A small house in the English vernacular revival style designed by architect Marshall Clifton (1903 - 1975). Narrogin Inn (1936), junction of Albany and South Western Highways. A two storey hotel in the Tudor revival style designed by architect John Berkeley Fitzhardinge (1911-2008). It stands beside the site of the original 1850s wayside inn. Muckross Tearooms, South Western Highway. Located just above the Narrogin Inn, this building recalls the era when Perth residents would make weekend outings to Armadale in motor coaches. The building also served as a local gymnasium. Pioneer Village, Albany Highway, Armadale. A tourist development of the early 1980s intended to be evocative of an historic goldrush town, similar to Sovereign Hill in Ballarat. There is also a playground for children. Elizabethan Village, Canns Road, Bedfordale. A collection of Tudor buildings in mock half-timbering built by Stanley Leopold Fowler in the late 1970s to provide an English themed heritage tourism experience. These buildings, Shakespeare's Birthplace, Anne Hathaway's Cottage and The Cobweb Restaurant (now the Elizabethan Village Pub) replicated original heritage buildings associated with the playwright William Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom.

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