Armadale Neerigen Brook

Flowing from the Darling Scarp through present-day Armadale, Neerigen Brook is one of the district's oldest recorded natural features and played an important role in its Aboriginal, agricultural and European history.

Long before European settlement, the brook formed part of the traditional landscape of the Whadjuk Noongar people. The name Neerigen is recognised as a local Noongar word, although its exact meaning is now unknown.

Naming the brook

The earliest known European reference dates to 1846, when Assistant Surveyor Alfred Hillman recorded it as "Nerregen Brook". Over the following decade it appeared on government survey plans and reports under several spellings, including Neerigen, Neeregen, Neeregan, Neeregin and Nuregen Brook. Despite the different spellings, they all referred to the same watercourse. In 1849, the brook was already being used as a landmark to define land boundaries when the Government Gazette described a 10-acre parcel of land near its western corner. By 1856, local farmer Thomas Saw described his wayside inn as being "situated on the Neerigen Brook" when applying for a licence, demonstrating that the brook was already a well-known landmark in the district.

Neerigen Brook

The district itself was originally known as Narrogin, a name derived from Neerigen Brook. During the early twentieth century, some maps mistakenly labelled the watercourse Narrogin Brook. In 1925, the Surveyor General corrected the error, confirming that Neerigen Brook was the proper historical name.

As settlement expanded, Neerigen Brook became a vital source of water for local farms, orchards and vineyards. It supplied water to Sir Arthur Stepney's Derrynasura Estate, one of Western Australia's largest vineyards, as well as nearby properties including Brookside (later Minnawarra) and the Oaklands Homestead, where water from the brook irrigated extensive market gardens operated by Joseph and Ethel Treeby, one of the State's leading market gardening families. The brook also supported dairies, orchards and citrus groves throughout the district, with numerous landowners later installing pumps and pipelines to draw irrigation water directly from the stream.

Derry Creek

Although some local residents later referred to sections of the watercourse near the former Derrynasura Estate as "Derry Creek", there is no evidence that this was an official name. Historical survey plans, government records and early newspaper reports consistently refer to the watercourse as Neerigen Brook or one of its historical spelling variations. "Derry Creek" appears to have been an informal local name associated with the nearby Derrynasura vineyard rather than a recognised geographical name.

By the early twentieth century the brook continued to be important to Armadale's agricultural success. A 1908 newspaper feature described the fertile valley surrounding Neerigen Brook as one of Western Australia's richest fruit-growing districts. Derrynasura alone covered around 400 acres, with approximately 100 acres growing 80,000 grapevines, producing more than 15,000 gallons of wine each year. Nearby orchards grew peaches, apples, pears and oranges, while dairies and sheep grazing formed part of the productive rural landscape.

Historical ruins

Neerigen Brook also influenced the development of Armadale's transport routes. Remnants of an 1800s convict-built trail survive beside the brook, although later road construction buried or disturbed parts of it. Nearby are the remains of an early stone weir, where timber boards could be inserted between stone walls to dam the brook and supply water to early settlers.

During heavy rain in July 1953, Neerigen Brook overflowed its banks, flooding nearby businesses and leaving up to 18 inches (450 mm) of water inside some buildings.

Urban development

Parts of Neerigen Brook today have been modified by urban development. The brook flows through Minnawarra Park, where it was reshaped to form the park's ornamental lakes, before continuing through culverts under roads. While some sections have been engineered for drainage, Neerigen Brook remains a natural watercourse.

The Neerigen Brook Reserve Management Plan (2008) recognised the brook's significant Aboriginal, historical and environmental values. It identified surviving heritage features including the convict trail and stone weir, while noting that the reserve provides important habitat for species such as the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Water Rat, Brush-tailed Possum, Bobtail, King's Skink and Glauert's Froglet. The reserve also preserves mature flooded gums, marri, wandoo and jarrah, despite many sections having become degraded by invasive weeds. The report recommended restoring native riparian vegetation, removing artificial barriers that interrupted the brook's natural flow and improving public access while protecting its ecological values.

Wirra Willa Gardens

One of the most significant historical properties beside the brook is Wirra Willa (place of green trees), whose gardens occupies almost four acres along the creek. Established almost a century ago by successive owners, particularly a number of passionate amateur horticulturalists, the gardens became one of Western Australia's finest examples of a Paradise-style garden. Mature native and exotic trees, camellias, azaleas, magnolias, winding paths, stone walls, a formal rose garden and remnant bushland were carefully established beside the brook, whose permanent water helped sustain the landscape.

The gardens also became an important source of propagation material for nurseries throughout Western Australia. One owner, Mary Hargreaves, who also contributed to the development of Araluen Botanic Park, placed one of the National Trust's earliest conservation covenants over the property to help ensure its long-term protection.

Selling the property

Following the National Trust's decision that it could no longer purchase or financially support the property, Wirra Willa was offered for auction by Elders on 26 March 1977. The property was passed in at $80,000, although the Metropolitan Region Planning Authority (MRPA) was reportedly considering purchasing it for public use. After earlier attempts to amend the restrictive covenant proved unsuccessful, the Hargreaves requested that it be removed altogether. The covenant was formally discharged on 5 April 1977, allowing the property to be sold four months later. It remains the only known National Trust restrictive covenant in Western Australia to have been successfully removed at the owner's request.

Following decades of private ownership, changing ownership and ongoing concerns over the property's future, the City of Armadale purchased Wirra Willa in 2022. Restoration commenced in 2024, with the City documenting the gardens through each season before preparing a long-term conservation plan. Future works aim to restore historic plantings, conserve significant landscape features and eventually open the gardens to the public.