Item
| Name of Item |
Speewa Ferry Crossing on the Murray River |
| Item Number |
4301081 |
| Type of Item |
Built |
| Item Sub-Type |
**** |
| Roadloc |
|
| Address |
**** **** Speewa 2735 |
| Local Government Area |
Wakool |
| Owner |
Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) |
| Current Use |
Vehicle Crossing |
| Former Use |
Vehicle Crossing |
|
|
Statement of significance
| Statement of significance |
The Speewa Ferry has Local significance as the only example of a ferry crossing in continuous use on the Lower Murray. |
| Date Significance Updated |
12 May 2009 |
|
|
Description
| Designer |
**** |
| Builder |
**** |
|
|
| Construction years |
**** - 1979 |
| Physical description |
Speewa Ferry is a vehicular ferry crossing the Murray River.
The Ferry is a two cable ferry running approximately N-S across the river. There is a small enclosed cabin for the operator. |
Physical Condition
and/or
Archaeological Potential |
Original condition assessment: 'The ferry is in very good condition.' (Last updated: 15/05/1998.)
2007-08 condition update: 'Good.' (Last updated: 17/4/09.) |
| Modifications and dates |
Concrete ramps were upgraded in 1980, extended in 1981 and overhauled in 1982. (Wakool Shire Council website) |
| Date condition updated |
17 April 2009 |
|
|
History
| Historical notes |
Speewa is a parish in Wakool county with a short frontage to the River Murray on the New South Wales side. In both Speewa and the neighbouring parish to the West, Puah, there is an island in the river called Speewa Island. It seems probably that it is in this vicinity that the Speewa ferry was introduced. The area was initially used for grazing and by the 1890s there were a sufficiently large population for a provisional school to be established in location upstream from Speewa parish, but still called Speewa. This school closed in 1900 after only eight months and did not reopen. With the Village Settlement just downstream at Nyah in Victoria and a burgeoning dried-fruits industry at Koraleigh to the north in NSW, interstate commerce was more vibrant and the need for a ferry at Speewa became apparent.
The Speewa Ferry is believed to have first operated circa 1914. A Tooleybuc ferry vessel, built in 1888, was installed at Speewa in 1928 when it was made available for public use. The ferry was replaced in 1979. (Wakool Shire Council website) |
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|
Listings
| Heritage Act - s.170 NSW State agency heritage register |
|
|
|
|
| Local Environmental Plan |
01992 |
116 |
6937 |
|
|
|
Assessment of Significance
| Historical Significance |
The ferry has historical significance at a local level as one of only two ferry crossings serving the Murray River and one that has been servicing the crossing at Speewa since circa 1914. |
| Historical Association |
**** |
| Aesthetic/Technical Significance |
**** |
| Social Significance |
The Speewa Ferry has social significance at a local level as evidenced by its inclusion on the Wakool Local Environmental Plan 1992. It is probable that the significance lies more in the attachment to the crossing than any particular attachment to the ferry vessel itself. |
| Research Significance |
The ferry crossing is the only remaining on the Murray below Hume Weir and provides the opportunity to understand the type of crossing that existed before the bridges were built. The other ferry is across the river at Wymah. |
| Rarity |
The Speewa Ferry has rarity value as the only example of a ferry crossing in continuous use on the Lower Murray. |
| Representativenes |
**** |
| Integrity/Intactness |
**** |
| Assessed Significance |
Local |
|
|
References |
|
| Written |
Government Schools of New South Wales |
1993 |
Map of County of Wakool |
|
| Written |
Ernestine Hill |
1965 |
Water into Gold, |
|
|
|
Study details |
| Murray Crossings Heritage Study |
1998 |
Hughes Trueman Reinhold |
|
Yes |
|
| Oral History - Vehicular Ferries |
1998 |
NSW Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) |
|
No |
|
|
|
Custom fields
| Roads and Maritime Services (replacing Roads and Traffic Authority) Region |
South West |
| Bridge Number |
3376 |
| CARMS File Number |
469.618 |
| Property Number |
Ferry Crossing |
| Conservation Management Plan |
**** |
|
|
Images |
 | | Speewa Ferry - Murray River |
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