Point Belches

Point Belches is a small point on the south side of Swan River, Western Australia, about 250 metres (820 ft) east of The Narrows within the area known as Perth Water.^[1][2] The land is part of the South Perth Esplanade, and the water off the point is used as a commercial water skiing area.^[1]

Today Point Belches refers to a small feature on the eastern side of the peninsula now commonly referred to as Mill Point.

Captain James Stirling discovered Point Belches during the Swan River expedition of 1827. He named it in honour of Peter Belches, a member of the exploring party who was Third Lieutenant on Stirling's ship, HMS Success.^[2][3]

Plan of Perth townsite from 1838 showing Point Belches situated north of Miller's Pool, opposite Point Lewis.

While Point Belches now refers to a small feature on the eastern side of the peninsula, Stirling almost certainly intended the name to refer to the entire peninsula.^[1][2][4] The Old Mill on the peninsula is identified in early sources as being on Point Belches.^[2][5][6] Furthermore, historic plans mark Point Belches north of Miller's Pool^[7]: 7 on the opposite side of Pool Neck to its contemporary location east of Miller's Pool.^[4][8][9]

It was a stopping point for early ferries on Perth Water.^[10] The peninsula itself is now commonly referred to as Mill Point, although strictly speaking this name also refers to a smaller feature, on the western side of the peninsula.^[1][2]

The peninsula during the 1926 floods. Miller's Pool is just left from the centre of the image.^[4]

Notes

1. "Swan Canning Riverpark Boating Guide" (PDF). Department of Transport. Government of Western Australia. December 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
2. "Swan River System Landscape Description, Precinct 7 (South Perth – Canning Bridge to the Causeway)" (PDF). Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. Government of Western Australia. September 1997. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
3. Stirling, James (1827). An Account of the Expedition of H.M.S. "Success," Captain James Stirling, RN., from Sydney, to the Swan River, in 1827  – via Wikisource.
4. "Swan River, sheet 16, by R. Clint, Point Belches and Millers Pool [Tally No. 005127]". Department for Culture. Government of Western Australia. 1 January 1831. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
5. Parsons, Alan (2006), Construction of Shenton's mills on Point Belches 1833-1837, A. Parsons, retrieved 3 June 2012
6. "The Old Mill". Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954). Perth, WA: National Library of Australia. 4 July 1929. p. 32 Edition: The Western Mail CENTENARY NUMBER. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
7. Shardlow, Ross (March 1996). Buhagiar, Chris (ed.). "George McCarter, Barrack Street Boat Builder" (PDF). Maritime Heritage Association Journal. Fremantle: Maritime Heritage Association. pp. 6–10. Retrieved 6 October 2023.
8. "File 020 - Survey of Mill Point, South Perth [Tally No. 005129]". Department for Culture. Government of Western Australia. 15 March 1833. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
9. Engineering Heritage Western Australia (October 2012). "Recognition of Perth's First Public Water Supply Scheme for an Engineering Heritage Marker" (PDF). Engineers Australia. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
10. "SOUTH PERTH AND THE CITY". The West Australian. Vol. XXVII, no. 7, 775. Western Australia. 1 March 1911. p. 8. Retrieved 26 February 2023 – via National Library of Australia.

31°57′58″S 115°50′59″E / 31.96609°S 115.84979°E / -31.96609; 115.84979