The Naval Base Holiday Shacks look over Cockburn Sound from a limestone ridge about 4 m above sea level in the suburb of Henderson. On the southern side of the shacks is a sandy beach, perfect for swimming and lazy days in the sun.
 
This land has always been part of the territory of the Beeliar people of the Whadjuk Nyungar nation. However, its importance to Beeliar people was completely disregarded by the first white settlers who claimed the land for themselves. The land overlooking Cockburn Sound was originally granted to a settler called Thomas Peel (1793-1865) as part of a much larger land grant.
 
Peel was an Englishman who had organised a group of British settlers to emigrate to the newly established Swan River Colony. There were about 500 men, women, and children from a wide range of regional and economic backgrounds.

In January 1830 Peel was granted 250,000 acres, extending from Cockburn Sound inland to the Darling Scarp, an area that became known as Peel Estate. When Peel and the first group of settlers arrived, they landed on a beach close to where the Naval base Shacks now are. They set up a temporary camp nearby which Peel called Clarence.

Perhaps the first European protest in Cockburn was prompted by  the conditions endured by the settlers at Clarence. Many people in the group felt they had been lied to by the Governor and Peel, who had promised them arable land to farm. Instead, they found coastal environments they were ill equipped to deal with and very poor living conditions.


 

Food was scarce and the gradual depletion of resources saw the settlers burning their own furniture to use as fuel in their cooking fires. Illness was also rife in the new settlement. 28 people died within the first seven months of dysentery, scurvy, and childbirth complications. To make matters worse, Peel became unwell himself after suffering a gunshot wound to his right hand (possibly during a duel) and went to recuperate on a ship, abandoning the settlers when they most needed him.

The non-payment of wages was a source of unrest in the camp and some settlers started applying to the Governor to release them from their contracts with Peel. In July 1830 some single men and a few families were released from their agreements.

News that the social conditions at the camp were poor, and general protest at unreasonable expectations to stay, forced Governor Stirling and Swan River Colonial Secretary Peter Broun to send a deputation to the camp in October 1830. As a result, they navigated the cancellation of agreements between Peel and his settlers, and by November 1830 most of his settlers had left.


 

In 2007, Notre Dame archaeologist Dr Shane Burke claimed archaeological evidence showed Clarence  had been located at Mt Brown, and not at Woodman Point as was previously thought. He stated that for 120 years much of this site had remained largely undisturbed.
 
The Naval Base Caravan Park is currently situated on the westernmost portion of the site.  Burke surmised the settlement hospital and store had been located on the site where the shacks are currently found.
 
The Naval Base Caravan Park is made up of six rows of campsites and 178 holiday shacks covering a 4.5-hectare area. The site, owned by the Commonwealth, was used as an informal camping ground as early as 1933 and leased to the Cockburn Roads Board in 1957 for the purposes of recreation and camping.


 

The State Government indicated in 2006 that with the completion of the Landgate Management Plan, the Naval Base shacks would become part of the Beeliar Regional Park. They recommended the shacks be removed, and the site become either a Caravan Park or a Bush Forever site.

This was devastating news for 178 Shack owners who felt very strongly about maintaining the site.  The Naval Base Holiday Association began working with Council to develop a way forward that enabled the shacks to remain, and to address issues raised by the Council.
 
In 2010, as President of the Naval Base Holiday Association, Nola Waters, a Coolbellup resident, and long-time shacks owner, led the ‘Save Naval Base Shacks’ campaign. Nola (1940-2024) had been the first woman to be elected a councillor for the City of Cockburn and served for many years, until 2003.

 

In August 2010, giving evidence at the Inquiry into Shack Sites in Western Australia, Nola informed the committee of the work of Dr Shane Burke, and his finding that the area was an historical site dating back to 1829, and should be considered for Western Australian Heritage Council listing. Nola also mentioned the social value of the sites, and the sense of community; with annual events at Easter and Christmas, a shop on the site which supplied lunches to staff at local businesses like Alcoa, public access to the ablution blocks on site and the popular Coastcare planting days.

Other shack owners were also instrumental in fighting for the shacks’ protection. Hilda Srhoy’s daughter Chanel and her school debating team addressed a Council meeting in November 2010 wearing Save the Naval Base Shacks Tee-shirts. They drew the Council’s attention to how important the Shacks were for children.

In Dec 2010 a petition to Save Naval Base Shacks, with 3,078 signatures, was presented to the City of Cockburn.


 

Brothers John and Kevin Nelson who had been camping in the area with their parents since the 1950s and spending holidays at the Shacks since the 1960s, organised for signs, tee-shirts and banners to be made.

On 6 September 2011 it was announced that the holiday shacks at Henderson’s Naval Base would stay.
 
In 2012, under the charge of the City of Cockburn, a ‘Statement of Significance for the Naval Base Holiday Park Heritage Area’ was drafted; with the area considered significant as a 'good example of the holiday camps that used to exist along the Western Australian coastline but have disappeared in the face of development… as a holiday destination the overall site has a high level of integrity and authenticity'.


 

 

We heard they were going to get rid of the shacks and we had been coming to the area around here since we were small kids, over 50 years. We knew we had to do something and put a fight on. We organised for signs to be made that said, ‘Save Naval Base Shacks - from extinction’ and hung them, and banners on the fence along the road. We also got about 100 tee-shirts printed and sold them to other shack owners. Then we made a petition up and got over 3,000 signatures.

 Oral history John and Kevin Nelson, interviewed by Denise Cook and Jo Darbyshire, City of Cockburn’s Passion and protest Project, 25 March 2025.

      ~ John and Keven Nelson