The Butterabby Grave near Mullewa

Mullewa
Typical northern wheatbelt town with some notable buildings designed by Monsignor Hawes.
Located 450 km north of Perth, 99 km east of Geraldton and 282 m above sea level, Mullewa is a typical northern wheatbelt town whose primary raison d'etre focuses on the railhead and the bulk loading facilities. This small settlement, with its solid council offices and Town Hall in the centre of town, its large Aboriginal population (it was the centre of some much publicised racial tension in 1985) and its ageing hotel and shopping centre is the home of some of Monsignor Hawes' finest religious buildings.

The area around Mullewa was first settled in the 1850s and the shire was declared in 1861. Named, so the story goes, after the local Aboriginal word for 'swan' (there is a suggestion that the Aborigines named a local spring Mullewa, sometimes spelt Mullawah - alternative meanings also include 'rain', 'a land of plenty', and 'a place of fog'), the town reached its nadir in the 1890s when it became an important stopover point between Geraldton and the Murchison goldfields. The railway arrived in 1894 and for a brief time Mullewa was the transportation node for the whole of the Central West.

Mullewa, along with Geraldton, Northampton, Yalgoo, Tardun, Morawa, Perenjori and Nanson, can boast a number of religious buildings by the famous Western Australian architect-priest Monsignor John Hawes. Between 1915-1939 Hawes designed and helped to build a large number of churches and church buildings in the Central West.

Although some of Hawes' buildings are larger and more imposing Mullewa has the greatest number of Hawes' buildings of any town in the Central West. There is the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul, the Priest House (now known as the Monsignor Hawes Priesthouse Museum) which stands nearby, the Mass Rock on the outskirts of town, and the headstone for Selby John Arnold in the town's Pioneer Cemetery.

Hawes was Mullewa's first resident parish priest. He arrived in the town in late 1920 and started building the church three years later. It was to be his most personal and most original church and, as he wrote at the time, his devotion to the task was complete. 'I am building into these stones at Mullewa, poor little feeble church that it is, my convictions, aspirations and ideals as to what a church should be.'

Outside Mullewa on the Mount Magnet road is an area known as the old Show Ground. It was here that Monsignor Hawes carved a simple altar in the rock and held mass for the local Aborigines. This was not racism but a recognition that the Aborigines were unlikely to attend mass in the formal and very European surroundings of the church.

On 26 August 1985 The West Australian's front page headline screamed 'Town Erupts - Mayhem at Mullewa after hotel bar death'. It was an ugly incident which occurred when an Aborigine, Victor Maitland Simpson was attacked by Brian David Williamson, the publican of the Railway Hotel, after he had refused to leave the pub. Simpson subsequently died, the publican was charged with assault, and the local Aboriginal community, incensed by the death, did over $50 000 worth of damage to the hotel. It was symptomatic of the problems which lie just below the surface in a town such as Mullewa which, to the passer–by, looks so peaceful and quiet.

The troubles in 1985 were part of a continuing conflict between whites and Aborigines began in the earliest days of settlement and which are remembered in the solitary grave at Butterabby south of the town.

The grave is a stark reminder of the conflict which led to the deaths of both whites and Aborigines throughout Australia as graziers moved sheep into land which the Aborigines had used for thousands of years. Inevitably the Aborigines killed the sheep and fought the pastoralists. When James Rudd and a convict labourer, Thomas Bott, moved to Butterabby in 1864 they were moving into an area where black–white relations were already tense. On 22 August, after Bott had only been in the area for about three months, he was attacked by a group of five Aborigines who speared him, beat him up and took everything they could from his hut. Bott survived until 18 September during which time he identified his attackers. The attackers were caught, taken to Perth and tried, found guilty, returned to the site of the murder and, watched by as many members of their tribe as the local authorities could find, were hung from a nearby gumtree.

Things to see:  

The Church of our Lady of Mt Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul

The Church of our Lady of Mt Carmel and the Holy Apostles St Peter and St Paul
The building which was mostly built by Hawes - he was architect, foreman and labourer - is an attempt to recreate a Romanesque church typical of the village churches in Italy and Spain. It is a low church designed to keep the sun out and to blend into the harsh semi-desert environment. Hawes, who saw each of his churches as expressing some aspect of his faith, saw the church and its buildings as symbolising the antiquity of Christianity.

The church has been internally altered in recent times but there is still plenty of detail for the visitor to enjoy. It is claimed that one of the gargoyles is a caricature of the Bishop of Geraldton with whom Hawes was engaged in a bitter dispute at the time of construction. The bell tower has seven bells the largest of which was cast in Oregon as a railway bell and the pipe organ was given to the church by Hawes' mother.

The Priest House
Next to the church is The Priest House which is open to the public from 10.00-11.45 and 1.30-3.00 Monday to Friday. It was completed in 1927 and is now a museum. It is a truly unusual and charming building with an ingle–nook fireplace, half-panelled walls, latticed bow windows with box seats and lots of Hawes' memorabilia including a plaster bust he made as an arts student and a cup he won at the races in Yalgoo. Inspections can be arranged by phoning (08) 9961 1166

Pioneer Cemetery
About 1 km north of the town on the Mullewa-Carnarvon road is the Pioneer Cemetery. Here is the only example of a Hawes' designed and constructed headstone. The stone was carved for Selby John Arnold, one of the altar boys in the Mullewa Church.

Butterabby Grave
To get to the Butterabby site take the Mingenew Road west of Mullewa and proceed along it until you reach the sign: 'Gravestones - Butterabby'.

The grave is on private ground and is marked by a single piece of stone on which is written 'In these graves lie James Rudd speared here at Butterabby 23 Sept 1864. Also Garder, Wangayakoo, Yourmacarra, Charlacarra, Williacarra. Natives sentenced in Perth and hanged here 28 Jan 1865 for the spearing of Thomas Bott at Butterabby 22 August 1864.'

Useful Publications
A number of useful books and booklets are available at the Shire Offices including Wildflower Country - Mullewa Western Australia, Monsignor Hawes Heritage Trail and the De Grey-Mullewa Stock Route.

	Motels
	The Railway Motel/Hotel Grey St Mullewa WA 6630 Telephone: (08) 9961 1050 Rating: **
	Hotels
	Club Hotel Maitland Rd Mullewa WA 6630 Telephone: (08) 9961 1131
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Tallering Station Homestead Guest House Mullewa WA 6630 Telephone: (08) 9962 3045
	Caravan Parks
	Mullewa Caravan Park 47 Main Rd Mullewa WA 6630 Telephone: (08) 9961 1007 Rating: ***
	Camping & Other
	Erong Springs Station Gascoyne via Mullewa WA 6630 Telephone: (08) 9981 2910 Facsimile: (08) 9981 2910
	Cafés
	Mullewa Tourist Information Centre 5 Jose St P. O. Box 47 Mullewa WA 6630 Telephone: (08) 9961 1505