Water Reserve 8392. No1 RPF 144-mile peg South. East of Roe Loc 2866

Built between 1901 and 1903 (122 years ago). Well before Lake King 1928, before Newdegate and Hyden 1922, before Lake Grace 1911, and Kondinin 1910. It is the Oldest man-made structure in the Lake Grace Shire!

It was built by workers at the same time as the RPF was being erected. For crucial water supply to the labourers and future boundary riders doing maintenance.

It was built at the lower end of sheet rock to the North, catching the water from rainfall into a “tank” blasted out of solid granite rock. The workers used a Gad and Gympie style chisel and hammer to drill holes into the solid rock. In which they placed gelignite. The gelignite explosion shattered the rock into shards, that would then be dug out by hand. Then another layer of drill holes and gelignite used etc etc, to continue down to desired depth. The Tank is approximately 4mt across and 4mt deep, cone shape. Roughly holding 15,000 Lt.

It has a protective wire netting cover, and a surrounding boundary fence with gate. The cover wire netting had a small hatch in which a bucket and rope could be used to retrieve water.

Our family's original farm was just west of here. As children, we often came out to this area for picnics and other outings with our parents (1969). We explored the area and were amazed to discover the rock well, having never seen one before. In 1991, a book titled "The Longest Fence in the World" by F.H. Broomhall was published. This book provided the first comprehensive account of the No1 RPF, and it piqued our interest. After reading the book, we felt a sense of pride knowing that we lived in close proximity to such an incredible feat of engineering, constructed so many years ago. A picture of this well was featured on page 88.

Over time, with the advent of modernization and automobiles, water points like this well fell into disrepair and were no longer maintained. As a result, the original timbers of the boundary fence and cover gradually deteriorated until they collapsed into the well. With the Lake King 100th-anniversary celebrations approaching in 2028, I felt compelled to give back to the community by preserving a piece of our early history. In 2022, I persuaded the Penny family to assist me in restoring the Granite Tank to its former glory, using materials that better align with modern standards. The dilapidated well had become a hazard for animals seeking water due to the rotting timbers and torn wire netting, further emphasizing the need for its restoration. With financial support from the Lake King Progress Association, we completed the restoration project in two days.

This Water Reserve and surrounds has a huge history of people that traversed here. Its an area of Significant Confluence.

First white person was J.S.Roe and party in 1848, came within 500mt of here. (175 years ago) Next came C.E. Dempster in 1864 to Swallow Rock (yet to prove with research).( 160 years ago) In 1890Walter and Robert Dunn traversed here heading to the Yilgarn goldfields.(133years ago) Next was A.W. Canning, HS Trotman and party in 1901 to Survey this the No1 RPF. (122 years ago) Next was F.H. Hann and party in 1901 as well, actually bumping into Canning near Swallow Rock.

Next was Early Lake King and Newdegate settlers 1930’s depression, walking off farms /businesses, heading NE to Hatters Hill in search of Gold. As this was the only way using the grid to get through the No 1 RPF back then.

Much later, Peter Brock and Gelignite Jack Murray came through this grid in the 1979 Repco Reliability Trail. A few Kms away was the Checkpoint for the London to Sydney car marathon 1968