The Early History of Perth Oval Land - By Bill Forrest

The early history of the land that was to become Loton’s Park and later Perth Oval is interesting and does help to explain why in the winter months the eastern side of the oval would become a quagmire of mud.

In 1844 a member of the colony purchased an acre of land from Edward and Jane Barron. At the time the land was part of a twenty six acre grant belonging to the Barrons, and was known as Stones Lake. All of this land except for a few acres was purchased by William Thorley Loton and he later transferred the land to the City of Perth who in due course developed the area into playing fields.

An early map of Perth indicates that below the 26 acre grant at Stones Lake there was an underground lake which was part of a lakes system that included Lake Thomson (between Beaufort and Lake Streets) Lake Poulett, Lake Sutherland, Lake Herdsman, Lake Irwin, Lake Kingsford (between Wellington and James Streets where the Perth railway station is now situated) and Claise Brook which after entering from the Swan River, widened into what was known as Tea Tree Lagoon.

The land that was nurtured by this artesian water supply was suited to market gardening especially the Barron’s 26 acres which in those days was bounded by Stirling Street, Bulwer Street, Guildford Road (now Lord Street) and the present Edward Street.        Market gardening was carried out at the site, including by Chinese gardeners, into the early 1900’s. Perth Oval was opened in 1910. The Perth City Council purchased a few surrounding acres in 1927.