Denham (Western Australia)

Denham
Building in Denham, built from blocks of seashells
State :  Australia State : Western Australia Founded : 1898
Coordinates : 25 ° 55 '  S , 113 ° 32'  E Coordinates: 25 ° 55 '  S , 113 ° 32'  E
Residents : 699 (2016)
Time zone : AWST (UTC + 8) Postal code : 6537 LGA : Shire of Shark Bay
Denham

Denham (636 inhabitants) is the only town and administrative seat of the Shire of Shark Bay community in Western Australia . The place on the west coast of the Péron Peninsula on the border with the François-Péron National Park is the westernmost in Australia. For tourists, Denham is a popular starting point for the organized dolphin feedings of Monkey Mia in the resort on the east coast about 25 km away .

history

Denham Harbor

Denham's history began as a pearl fishing village called Freshwater Camp in the mid-19th century .

Lieutenant Benjamin Francis Helpman of the Swan River first discovered pearls from the oyster Pinctada radiata in the waters of Shark Bay in 1854 . He claimed a sole usage license, which, however, was not enforceable in practice; Fishermen from all over Australia and Asia were attracted to try their luck in this profession.

The oyster shells were layered in vats on the beach and dried until the shells cracked and the pearls fell out. Contemporary reports mention an unbearable stench.

After half a century the sandbanks were depleted. In May 1898, the settlement was officially registered as a parish by the government of Western Australia and named in honor of Captain Henry Mangles Denham , who stopped by in 1858 and reported on the expanding pearl fishing settlement .

In the 20th century, fishing shifted to non-pearl-forming mussels, crabs and shellfish.

The tourism in Denham, which dominates today as the economic basis, developed in the second half of the 20th century in the course of the expansion of Monkey Mia as a resort for organized dolphin feedings. This attraction takes place several times a day about 25 km northeast of Denham.

Infrastructure

Denham
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.     2.9   30th 22nd     11   32 23     15th   31 22nd     16   29 19th     35   26th 17th     42   23 14th     34   22nd 12     21st   22nd 13     8.2   24 15th     5.4   25th 16     3.5   27 18th     1.4   29 20th Temperature in ° C ,  precipitation in mm Source: Bureau of Meteorology, Australia, data: 1988–2006, 1977–2006

The 100-kilometer long only connecting road from the mainland across the Péron Peninsula ends in Denham. Monkey Mia is also connected by an asphalt road on the edge of the national park; its sandy slopes, on the other hand, are only accessible for vehicles with all-wheel drive.

Administrative facilities, tourist information centers, shops, cafes and restaurants, accommodation, leisure and sports clubs are concentrated along the harbor mile. The residential areas are spread over an area of ​​around four square kilometers on the inland streets.

Outside the local area there is a small airfield for sightseeing flights over Shark Bay.

There are sports facilities for bowling, tennis, inline skating and a golf course.

Buildings made of clam blocks and streets made of pearl oyster shells

The shell rock (Coquina) as a building material

By the middle of the 20th century, numerous buildings in Denham were built from biogenic sedimentary rock cemented cockles of the species Fragum erugatum ( Coquina ), which occurs on more than 100 km of coastline between Shell Beach and the Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve .

Almost all of these buildings have disappeared from the 21st century townscape, with the exception of St. Andrew Church from 1954 and a seafood restaurant.

The mining of the mussel rock is forbidden after the establishment of the protected area in 1990.

Some streets used to be paved with pearlescent shells. In the 1960s, the pavement was covered with regular asphalt. The loss of this former characteristic is regretted in today's descriptions.

Destinations in the area

• Little Lagoon : Small inland lake 5 km east of Denham with a beach and barbecue facilities.
• Monkey Mia
• Shell Beach
• Stromatolites in the Hamelin Pool Marine Nature Reserve
• François Péron National Park
• Dirk Hartog Island and Shark Bay Marine Park (organized boat trips to watch dugongs , sea ​​turtles , whales , rays and dolphins ).

literature

• Janine Günther, Jens Mohr: West Australia and the Top End, Verlag 360 °, 1st edition 2005

Web links

Commons : Denham, Western Australia  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• AUSTRALIEN-INFO.DE: Description of the city, the surrounding area and its sights
• Official website of the Shire Shire of Shark Bay (English)
• Denham (including Nanga) - Main township for travelers wanting to visit ( English ) The Sydney Morning Herald . February 8, 2004. Retrieved April 10, 2014.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Denham (L) (Urban Center / Locality) ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2020.
2. ↑ Bureau of Meteorology, Australia: Klimainformationen Denham. World Meteorological Organization, accessed April 6, 2012 .