A restless triumphant music

Heritage and sound in 19th century Western Australia

Abstract

The fundamental principles underpinning heritage conservation in Australia have long recognised that places may have sensory values that contribute to their significance. As such, acoustic values should be assessed as part of the evaluation process. But there is still no agreed methodology for identifying, describing, or assessing the way places sound as part of the heritage assessment process, and acoustic values are therefore rarely present in heritage citations. Even if sound is not determined to be a significant cultural heritage value, it can be an valuable tool in interpretation. This paper discusses the historic sounds of places valued by the Colonial community during the earliest period of settlement in the far south west forest region of Western Australia. It then examines the acoustic experiences of these places today and their management after two decades during which the concept of 'soundscape' has become more mainstream, and asks whether acoustic values are being recognised and appropriately protected.