MANUFACTURING

Manufacturing

Manufacturing has played a pivotal role in Katanning since its inception. It is one of the few towns in Agricultural Western Australia to start life with a secondary industry. Katanning’s Premier Roller Flour Mill was built in 1891 and purchased grain from the earliest settlers of the region.

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PREMIER ROLLER FLOUR MILL

With the success of their store and the establishment of the railway in Katanning, the Piesse brothers decided to build a flour mill. The York firm of Thorne, Bower and Stewart erected the mill in 1891 and it was equipped with machinery supplied by Otto Schumacher of Melbourne. Head miller Charles Quigley carried out the installation of the machinery. It was officially being opened on 1st May 1891.

The mill was to become the most dominant in the Great Southern region, having its production capacity doubled by 1909 and extensive alterations and additions in 1912. Upon the death of F H Piesse in 1912 his son Frederick took over the management of the mill. Further improvements were made, which included gantries, electric elevators and conveyors, and a storehouse capable of holding 1,500 tons. In 1915 the mill also erected five silos for wheat storage. Continue reading

BACON FACTORY

There appears to have been, for want of better words, a ‘bacon factory’ set up and operating in Katanning around 1917. It was set up during the Australian General Strike which affected shipping operating between Western Australia and the Eastern States. This meant there was a shortage of supplies including bacon. Small factories began popping up around the state to fill the shortage. However, it seems the Katanning concern was facing difficulties from the start and the following report appeared in the “West Australian” in its 17 November 1917 edition. Continue reading

GREAT SOUTHERN WINERY

The original winery was erected in 1904 using bricks from the Piesse brickworks. A brick distillery with a basement cellar was added in 1910 and this is the only remaining structure. The tower housed four water tanks.The wine was very successful and not only was supplied to surrounding districts, but was also sold overseas. Wine was exhibited at the Perth Agricultural Society’s Show. In 1904 it was awarded the Ferguson Challenge Cup and, in 1908, the winery received a gold medal at the Franco-British Exhibition in London. Although the wine was to win many other awards, the death of Frederick Henry Piesse in 1912 and eventful family mismanagement caused the Piesse family to sell off much of its property in the early 1920s. Continue reading

KATANNING ROLLED OATS

A flourishing secondary industry of the Katanning district, which during recent months, has assumed greater activity, is the manufacture of rolled oats at “Bermuda“, the farm of Mr. Alfred E Radford, on the Broomehill-Kojonup Road.An interesting feature of Alfred Radford’s industry is that the whole of the machinery and the process itself was his own invention, and the fact that the entire plant was made from old machines, such as threshers, binders and chaff cutters, renders it all the more ingenious. Continue reading

Manufacturing. Manufacturing.