Claise Brook: The lost river of Perth

One mile east of Point Frazer was seen an extensive lagoon of Fresh Water, covered in its centre with aborescent Metrasideros; its banks produce an amazing quantity of interesting Plants, and with an elevated flat immediately behind, might be cultivated with advantage. The magnificence of the Banksia and aborescent Lamia, which here was seen thirty feet in height, added to the immense size of the Lantholea of this spot, and impart to the forest a character truly tropical (Charles Fraser 1906).

As Perth began to expand, one of the obstacles to development was the Claise Brook valley with its intermittent flows and seasonal lakes. Claise Brook was an ephemeral fresh water stream which ran from Lake Monger through Lakes Georgiana, Sutherland, Irwin and Kingsford, and drained down Wellington Street to Tea Tree Lagoon at what is now known as Claisebrook Cove. Another tributary of the drain ran from Lakes Thompson and Poulett (Birdwood Square), through Stones Lake (Perth Oval) to join the main stream at Water Street (now Royal Street). 

The name of the waterway of Claise Brook and it’s cove was originally “Clause’s Brook”, after the ship’s surgeon aboard Captain James Stirling’s vessel that explored the Swan River in March 1827. Clause wrote about the area in his journal, but the first publication to mention Claise Brook was the Inquirer newspaper in 1848. The Inquirer announced that land at the mouth of the brook was reserved for use by a water mill. From the early 1850s, the area began to be known as Claisebrook after a convict depot was established in the area, rather than Claise Brook which chiefly referred to the waterway. According to Historian Richard Offen, the names seem to have been fairly interchangeable. (Richard Offen, 2016)

In 1885 most swamps at the back of Perth had been drained but Smith’s Lake and Lake Monger were still used for domestic water supply and the water from the main drain running into Claise Brook was used by residents living along its banks (Hunt 1980).

As the land was cleared of vegetation the water table began to rise and overwhelm the Claise Brook drain causing flooding in the town. The drain was expanded in 1899 to accommodate greater volumes. 

In the 1880s it was still possible to catch gilgies (freshwater crayfish) in the Claise Brook drain, but by the 1890s a population influx meant that East Perth became very overcrowded. Two large open drains, with the city as their catchment area, flowed into East Perth where they joined together to form the Claise Brook drain. The stench of the drain became notorious, and it received waste from a tannery, soap factory, brickworks, factories, stables, laundries, four saw mills, and foundries. By the turn of the century the drain was considered a disgrace to the council and local children were warned not to go near it. One of the open drains in Coolgardie St was known as the ‘fever drain’ (Stannage 1979). 

The East Perth Redevelopment Authority (EPRA) was established in 1991 to manage the redevelopment and urbanisation of the East Perth area. Former industrial land (including the former East Perth Gasworks, scrap yards, brick works, stables, warehouses and railway yards), has undergone extensive environmental rehabilitation and remediation. 

Claisebrook Village now covers 137.5 hectares of riverfront land in East Perth. Claise Brook itself remains a drain buried beneath the city. An interpretive art work now follows some of the brook’s trajectory into the walled harbour of Claisebrook Cove.