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Manning Park
Manning Park is part of Beeliar Regional Park.
Henry Manning, a London merchant, bought much land in the Colony from 1840, and in 1854 sent a younger brother, Charles Alexander Manning, to manage his estates. C.A. Manning established a farm in the area where Manning Park is now and built a house called 'Davilak' (short for Davey's Lake, Davey being the previous owner), which became also the name of the Road to the farm, and a Hotel in South Fremantle.
Charles's son from his first marriage, Lucius, inherited the Davilak Estate in 1871 and planted vineyards and raised horses and cattle. He and his wife Florence had seven children, including Azelia Helena, b. 1872, after whom the currently existing house is named the Azelia Ley Homestead, she having married John Morgan Ley in 1900.
Davilak House (now Azelia Ley Homestead Museum) n.d. Fremantle Library ref. no. LH993
Wikipedia:
In 1860 Charles Alexander Manning bought 364ha of land at Hamilton Hill, and six years later built Davilak House for his son Lucius Manning. The house of twelve rooms was built using convict labour and was owned by the Manning family until they abandoned it in the late 1950s. It burnt down in 1960, and after this the Shire of Cockburn took over the administration of the whole estate.
A second homestead was built in 1920 by the eldest daughter of Lucius Manning, Azelia Ley. She had married John Morgan Ley in 1900, and after he died in 1927 she continued to maintain the family farm. This house became derelict after Azelia died in 1954, but was restored by the Historical Society of Cockburn in 1983 and now serves as a comprehensive Azelia Ley Homestead Museum of artifacts pertaining to the Cockburn district.
Charles Manning purchased the estate in 1860, with the family farming a 923 acre area
from North Lake to Coogee.
Cockburn Coast Heritage Report:
"The Manning Estate comprises one restored turn-of-the-century dwelling and associated outbuildings (Azelia Ley Homestead), archaeological remains of two previous dwellings (Davilak and the Old Farm) and historical gardens. The Manning Lake (originally named Davilak Lake) and floral surrounds are also significant natural features. This place is a valuable archaeological resource that has the potential to yield important information and hidden secrets from our early colonial past."
The site, or parts thereof, is listed on the following heritage inventories:
• Register of the National Estate;
• National Trust of Western Australia; and,
• The City of Cockburn Local Government Inventory and Heritage List.
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Map of the area showing Davey's ownership of the land containing the lake before it was sold to Manning. (Click/tap.)
From the agenda of the City of Cockburn Ordinary Council Meeting 5 May 2022.
Recommendation
In summary, development/provision of trails for mountain bikes in Manning Park is not supported as they would have an adverse impact on the significant environmental values of the area and adversely impact on other trail users.
It is acknowledged that implementing such a restriction, given the current level of use by mountain bikers and the size of Manning Park, will require a number of months to review all existing trails and install signage and other control measures (such as CCTV).
It is therefore recommended that use of mountain bikes be excluded from Manning
Park, with the exception of designated cycle paths, effective from 1 March 2023.
This would allow the City to ensure all users are provided with sufficient notification,
undertake a full review of all existing sanctioned and unsanctioned trails (including
costing of works to close all unsanctioned trails), identify and install appropriate
signage, and undertake costing of additional resources required to police the area.
References and Links
Cockburn Council page for Manning Park, including a page about Manning Park Trails, and a Cockburn Walk Guide Booklet.
The latter page has a link to a copy of the Manning Park Master Plan 2018-2028.
There is also a page about the name 'Davilak'.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 10 April, 2022 and hosted at freotopia.org/parks/manningpark.html (it was last updated on 24 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.