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41-669: Perth Hills is a term used primarily for marketing purposes to identify the part of the Darling Scarp and hinterland east of the scarp that lies within the Shire of Mundaring , City of Swan , and the City of Kalamunda and as part of the constituent bodies belonging to the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council of Perth , Western Australia . The term is most commonly found on tourist maps, and on

82-524: A horticulturalist were recognised, and he was appointed superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens , a position that he would hold until his death. In November 1816, Fraser was transferred to the 46th Regiment. He again transferred regiments in August 1817, this time to the 48th Regiment of Foot. On 6 January 1821, Fraser was discharged from the army and formally appointed Colonial Botanist,

123-534: A field collector. He was a member of three of John Oxley 's expeditions: his 1817 expedition to the Lachlan River and Bathurst , his 1818 expedition into north-eastern New South Wales, and his 1819 expedition in the areas of Port Macquarie and Hastings River . He visited Tasmania in 1820, and in 1826 visited Tasmania, New Zealand and Norfolk Island . Early in 1827 Fraser was appointed to accompany Captain (later Admiral Sir) James Stirling on

164-569: A lump of granite from the ridge". Each group having returned to the junction of the Swan with Ellen Brook, the party returned down the Swan River, arriving back at the ship on the 18th. At the conclusion of the expedition, Fraser wrote a glowing report of the quality of the soil in the area. The report, which Statham-Drew has described as "euphoric", states: "In giving my opinion of the Land seen on

205-577: A party of 18 men in two boats, in exploring up the Swan River. With Stirling and Frederick Garling , Fraser climbed Mount Eliza , becoming the first Europeans to do so. At the present-day site of Perth , Stirling named a feature near Heirisson Island Point Fraser in Fraser's honour, and about a mile upstream Fraser discovered a fresh water brook and lagoon that were named Clause's Brook and Clause's Lagoon respectively, in honour of fellow explorer Frederick Clause . The party camped at Clause's Brook, and

246-481: A position that he had been holding informally at least since 1819. Over the subsequent decade, he organised the development of Sydney Botanic Gardens from the governors’ kitchen garden to a world-renowned botanic garden, receiving and sending plants and seeds to all the major horticultural centres as well as to penal settlements and major gardens in New South Wales. From 1817, Fraser travelled extensively as

287-553: A very different region to the neighbouring Swan Valley . Larger wineries in the region combine vineyards with popular restaurants. The Australian Geographical Indication "Perth Hills" was entered in the Register of Protected Names on 25 March 1999. Bushfires in the area are often cited in news media as fires in the Perth Hills . The serious bushfire in 2014 was frequently referred to as the Perth Hills bushfire , rather than

328-551: Is the entry point for that part of the hills in the Mundaring shire. Another "Welcome to Perth Hills" sign is on Kalamunda Road , before the road climbs to Kalamunda. The area also includes the Bickley and Carmel Wine region. The hills above Armadale and localities are quite separate from the other hills localities. Perth Hills is also a wine region , with some 35 wineries. The climate of warmer days and cooler nights makes it

369-560: The Archaean Yilgarn Craton in the east from the younger Pinjarra Orogen and overlying Phanerozoic Perth Basin to the west. The Darling Fault is exposed for over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi), from the area east of Shark Bay , to the southern coast of Western Australia east of Albany . The location of the scarp must once have coincided with the location of the fault , but the scarp has since eroded about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) eastwards. The original location of

410-735: The Parkerville bushfire , in reports and media. A fire in February 2021 - the 2021 Wooroloo bushfires was reported as a fire in the Perth Hills. Darling Scarp The Darling Scarp , also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges , is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth , Western Australia . The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon , to

451-637: The Serpentine National Park , John Forrest National Park and the Greenmount National Park , or were simply known as State Forests (e.g. State Forest No.42). Following a change in 2005, the separate parks have been known as the "Parks of the Darling Range", and take up 23,948 hectares on the scarp. Further in August 2008 the parks were given indigenous names: Charles Fraser (botanist) Charles Fraser

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492-591: The Swan River Colony occurred in the 1830s. The best known of these is the expedition of Ensign Robert Dale , who appears to have gone from a point near Guildford , to the south side of Greenmount Hill and up through the Helena Valley . The Darling Scarp originated as the local expression, in the Perth area, of the extensive Darling Fault , a major and ancient geological discontinuity separating

533-489: The "edge" of the scarp are those that sit at its western edge, and in most cases command excellent views of the Swan Coastal Plain : The suburbs near Midland and Kalamunda are often referred to as the Perth Hills . The suburbs to the south of Kalamunda are the locations of the main Perth Metropolitan television station transmission towers. There is also another site at Mount Lennard near Collie that Services

574-826: The "unpardonable sin of Fraser": that he did not state the extent of good land in the area. In 1828, Fraser accompanied Allan Cunningham on an expedition that connected the Moreton Bay settlement with the Darling Downs , via Cunninghams Gap . Later that year he was sent by the Governor to collect plants and establish a public garden at Brisbane . He also undertook many collecting trips to Van Diemen’s Land and Norfolk Island. Charles Fraser died on 22 December 1831. He had collected and catalogued hundreds of Australian plants. According to Hall (1978), more than thirty plant species were named after him, including species in

615-421: The 1830s show the scarp labelled " General Darlings Range"; this later became Darling Range, a name by which the formation was still commonly known in the late 20th century despite common understanding of it being an escarpment. There is also a tendency to identify the locations on or to the east of the scarp as being in the " Perth Hills " (or simply "The Hills"). The earliest traverses by British settlers in

656-672: The Banks of Swan River, I hesitate not in pronouncing it superior to any I ever saw in New South Wales east of the Blue Mountains...." Together with Stirling's effusive report on the naval, strategic and geological qualities of the area, the reports were instrumental in convincing the British Colonial Office to establish the Swan River Colony , and provided impetus to the period of excessively favorable publicity that has been labelled " Swan River mania ". In reality

697-469: The Southwest areas including Bunbury . Also in the late twentieth century, dieback affecting jarrah timber in particular infected large tracts of the forest. Currently only the restriction of vehicle access has proved effective in slowing the spread of this disease. This gained greater acceptance and publicity through the decision to allow Rally Australia to operate along services roads provided that

738-533: The Swan River expedition of 1827, an expedition to explore the Swan River on the west coast of Australia , and assess its suitability as a site for a new British settlement. The expedition arrived in the area on board HMS  Success on 4 March. After surveying the coastal waters off the Swan, Stirling and Fraser briefly reconnoitred the lower reaches of the River on the 7th. The following day, Stirling led

779-421: The early 2000s, Greenmount National Park and John Forrest National Park were repeatedly burnt by bushfires - in most cases through suspected arson. A network of reserves of crown lands on the escarpment have been connected into a regional park to maintain and conserve parts of the escarpment. In most cases the reserves or parks had individual names prior to being incorporated into the larger park, for example

820-539: The early to mid-twentieth century numerous rock quarries existed on the edge of the escarpment - visible and affecting both the aesthetics and the environment of the escarpment. In the area where the Helena River emerges from its valley to the sandplain , there are still four quarries evident, despite being unused as quarries for fifty years or more. Mountain and Stathams quarries are now managed as rock climbing locations. There have also been visible quarries on

861-688: The easternmost limit of the various aquifers present in the Perth Basin sediments, most notably the Southwest Yarragadee Aquifer . The scarp forms a divide between the hypersaline groundwaters typical of the Yilgarn Craton basement from the fresh ground waters of the Perth Basin. Some dams along the scarp are contaminated by seepage of saline water from the granite into the base of the dam's water column and must be periodically flushed to preserve water quality. Also in

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902-419: The fault, are of Cenozoic age, and are composed of materials such as sandy limestone , travertine and dune sand on which the city of Perth is built, including sand dunes of Pleistocene age formed during the last glacial period . This area is also a distinct physiographic section of the larger Yilgarn Block province, which in turn is part of the larger West Australian Shield division. The Scarp, like

943-678: The fertility of the soil would have been influenced by the greenness and apparent health of the native plants, a method that would have had some validity in England, but has little validity in Australia where the vast majority of plants are adapted to dry, infertile soils. Finally, Appleyard (1979) speculates that "the question must be asked: had the persuasive Stirling unduly influenced - not maliciously but seductively by his boundless enthusiasm - Charles Fraser to pen words that did little credit to his professional and administrative standing?" Fraser

984-466: The following morning three Noongars approached Fraser while he was alone in the camp, angrily gesturing for him to leave. By 14 March the party had traced the Swan River to its junction with Ellen Brook , where the boats could go no further. Stirling then split the party into three groups, each to explore in a different direction. Fraser's group was sent in an eastward direction, where they discovered "many curious and interesting Botanical specimens and

1025-676: The genera Acacia , Boronia , Allocasuarina , Dysoxylum , Dryandra , Ficus , Hakea , Lomatia , Marsdenia , Persoonia , Sophora and Swainsona . His specimens are now principally in the herbaria at Kew; the Natural History Museum, London; the Oxford University Druce-Fielding Collection; and some have returned to the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney Herbarium. Fraser

1066-545: The government Department of Environment and Conservation pamphlets and materials relating to the regional headquarters at Mundaring Weir – The Perth Hills National Parks Centre (formerly known as the Hills Forest Discovery Centre) and its "Nearer to Nature" programs and activities. It is also sometimes used in books and pamphlets. In earlier usage of the term "The Hills" by people living in Perth ,

1107-464: The hills, giving higher rainfalls in settlements in the ranges compared with their coastal neighbours. The scarp is part of the Jarrah Forest bioregion. The natural vegetation of the scarp is predominantly jarrah–marri forest , characterised by jarrah ( Eucalyptus marginata ) and marri ( Corymbia calophylla ), with bullich ( Eucalyptus megacarpa ) and blackbutt ( Eucalyptus patens ) in

1148-590: The identification of specific locations along the Darling Scarp (also called the Darling Range) found some places more commonly referred to than others. Both Kalamunda and Darlington , as separate and specific areas, were frequently referred to specifically as "The Hills", due to their presence on the edge of the scarp. Greenmount Hill is often considered the "entrance point to the Hills", because

1189-605: The main road – the Great Eastern Highway – passes through this location, adjacent to the route of the much earlier road, the York Road . The "Swan Hills" is a name often given to a part of the range centred on Toodyay Road and its corridor through the north-eastern part of the City of Swan and Gidgegannup . However, the term "Swan Hills" is also used in other ways as well. A "Welcome to Perth Hills" sign within 100 metres of Chippers Leap on Greenmount Hill

1230-457: The rest of south west Australia, has a Mediterranean climate, with mild rainy winters and warm dry summers. Average annual rainfall is 1300 mm along the scarp, declining to the east and north. Often the Bureau of Meteorology identifies different weather for "the hills" in comparison to that of the Swan Coastal Plain . Also, in traditionally hot summers, strong easterly winds travelling across

1271-493: The scarp have presented serious issues for planes using the Perth Airport because of the alignment of the runways. On 2 September 1999, the number one engine of a Qantas Boeing 747 , en route from Sydney Airport coming into land on Runway 06/24, struck the runway surface upon landing, due to wind shear caused by rolling winds on the Darling Scarp. In addition, orographic uplift is produced when rain clouds move over

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1312-481: The scarp in the Gosnells and Herne Hill areas. Legislative restrictions upon such developments were initiated in the late twentieth century to prevent further visible scars on the western face of the scarp. In the late twentieth century, the proving of bauxite deposits correlating to the extensive jarrah forests saw wide-ranging protests against the proposals to mine the forests. Campaign to Save Native Forests

1353-551: The scarp is indicated in places by an unusual landform known as the Ridge Hill Shelf . The Darling Plateau is covered by lateritic materials that cover the underlying geology. The Archaean granites and gneisses of the Yilgarn Craton form the high ground of the Perth Hills and can be observed in road cuts, with good examples in the Mundaring Weir area. The only exposed sediments of the Perth Basin, west of

1394-420: The soils of the area are quite poor, and Fraser would later be heavily criticised for the inaccuracy of his report. Analyses of the expedition reports has shown that the party explored only within the narrow strip of rich alluvial soil that occurs near the Swan River, and thus they were unaware of the infertile grey sand that constitutes most of the sand plain. It has also been argued that Fraser's assessment of

1435-590: The south of Pemberton . The adjacent Darling Plateau goes easterly to include Mount Bakewell near York and Mount Saddleback near Boddington . It was named after the Governor of New South Wales , Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling . The feature was first recorded as General Darling Range by Charles Fraser , Government Botanist with Captain James Stirling aboard HMS  Success in March 1827. Maps from

1476-678: The supporting communities existed along the escarpment because of the high quality jarrah forests. In the early twentieth century, most of the main rivers flowing off the escarpment had mainly been used for dams for water supply for metropolitan Perth. The dams on the scarp include: The only free flowing water from the Darling Range in the Peel Region is the Dirk Brook in Keysbrook and the Murray River . The scarp also defines

1517-695: The valleys. The Darling Range ghost gum ( Eucalyptus laeliae ) is endemic to the western slopes of the scarp. Heath is found on granite outcrops. Low woodlands of Banksia grow on sand sheets. Native mammals include the quenda ( Isoodon fusciventer ), chuditch ( Dasyurus geoffroii ), woylie ( Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi ), and brush-tailed phascogale ( Phascogale tapoatafa wambenger ). Quokka ( Setonix brachyurus ) and western ringtail possum ( Pseudocheirus occidentalis ) are often restricted to riparian areas. The Darling escarpment has been exploited for stone quarries , forestry and bauxite mining. Extensive timber railways and timber mills and

1558-460: The vehicles had a thorough wash including the under carriage at the end of each stage. In late 2004, the largest bushfire in the northern Jarrah Forest for at least 100 years created significant issues for the forest as well. As a result of this fire intensity the Government increased the volume of controlled burns along the entire escarpment to reduce the buildup of flammable materials. In

1599-668: Was born in Blair Atholl , Perthshire , Scotland in 1788. He worked as a gardener , probably for the extensive estates of the landlord, the Duke of Atholl , and subsequently had connections with the botanic gardens of Edinburgh and Glasgow. He enlisted as a soldier in the 56th Regiment on 8 June 1815, and served in the East Indies before arriving in Sydney on board the convict ship Guildford on 8 April 1816. There, his skills as

1640-479: Was one group to oppose the activity. The lengthy process of protest forced the government and miners to check their original proposals, and wide-ranging processes to guard segments of the jarrah forests from mining ensued. The current mining activity in the region is extensive - the main mines being Huntly and Willowdale. The building and developing of rail access across the scarp developed three separate main routes over eighty years. The localities or suburbs on

1681-748: Was to bear most of the blame with the Swan River colonists for the misinformation that they received. In a thinly veiled attack on Fraser, Eliza Shaw wrote "that man who reported this land to be good deserves hanging nine times over". A naval officer stationed at the Swan River wrote that Fraser's report was so "highly coloured" that it was inevitable that people coming to the colony would be disappointed. John Morgan indirectly criticised Fraser with his comment that botanists are no more capable of assessing land for farming purposes than farmers are capable of discussing "the merits and character of an extraordinary shrub". Finally, in December 1832, Robert Lyon wrote of

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