The First World War Memorial is situated in a five way intersection, forming a traffic island in the centre. It is surrounded by a grassed strip and enclosed by a low post and chain fence.
The concrete memorial comprises a shallow trough, with a tall and elaborate centrepiece.
The trough measures 7 metres in diameter and is painted blue internally. A small leaded marble plaque on the north face bears the inscription; Erected by the citizens of Paroo Shire in memory of those gallant Australians who fell in the Great War 1914 - 1918.
The centrepiece comprises four basins, decreasing in scale as they reach the peak. The lower basin has scalloped edges which incorporates heads of gargoyles. It is supported by four large winged griffins holding shields bearing emus and kangaroos. They sit on a base with foliated designs at the centre and corner of each face.
Above the first basin is a square pedestal with moulded festoons on each face. This is surmounted by an urn-like element with four small winged griffins and scrollwork at the top, which is the support for the second basin. This is also has scalloped edges and heads of gargoyles. The shaft continues to rises to a third basin which is simpler in design and is surmounted by a small boy figure. The final basin is located above the figure's head.
The entire shaft, which tapers towards the peak, is heavily ornamented with a variety of design elements, including scrollwork, panels and foliated patterns.
","history":"It is not known by whom the Cunnamulla War Memorial Fountain was designed. The concrete memorial honours those who fell during the First World War. The names of the fallen are not listed on the memorial, but on an honour board in the Civic Centre. Indeed, if not for an inscription, the fountain would be difficult to identify as a war memorial.
By 1920 the Paroo Shire had decided to erect a war memorial fountain in the centre of Cunnamulla town. However, it appears that the memorial was not erected immediately as in July 1924, the masonry firm of A L Petrie, Brisbane wrote to the Paroo Shire Council offering designs. Little is known about the origins of the fountain, however there is an identical fountain (not a memorial) in the New South Wales town of Wellington, indicating that it was a stock line and not specially commissioned.
The town of Cunnamulla was first settled in the 1880s to serve the developing pastoral area. The railway was extended to the town in 1898, increasing its importance as a centre for the district.
Australia, and Queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before the First World War. The memorials erected in its wake became our first national monuments, recording the devastating impact of the war on a young nation. Australia lost 60 000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served. No previous or subsequent war has made such an impact on the nation.
Even before the end of the war, memorials became a spontaneous and highly visible expression of national grief. To those who erected them, they were as sacred as grave sites, substitute graves for the Australians whose bodies lay in battlefield cemeteries in Europe and the Middle East. British policy decreed that the Empire war dead were to be buried where they fell. The word 'cenotaph', commonly applied to war memorials at the time, literally means 'empty tomb'.
Australian war memorials are distinctive in that they commemorate not only the dead. Australians were proud that their first great national army, unlike other belligerent armies, was composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not they paid the supreme sacrifice. Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war. Such evidence is not readily obtainable from military records, or from state or national listings, where names are categorised alphabetically or by military unit.
Australian war memorials are also valuable evidence of imperial and national loyalties, at the time, not seen as conflicting; the skills of local stonemasons, metalworkers and architects; and of popular taste. In Queensland, the soldier statue was the popular choice of memorial, whereas the obelisk predominated in the southern states, possibly a reflection of Queensland's larger working-class population and a lesser involvement of architects.
Many of the First World War monuments have been updated to record local involvement in later conflicts, and some have fallen victim to unsympathetic re-location and repair.
Although there are many different types of memorials in Queensland, fountains were an uncommon selection as the main town memorial. They were more often used in school grounds where, as drinking fountains, they also served a useful function.
Fountains were selected as memorials, as water was considered symbolic of renewed life and cleansing. Water is a significant element in many memorials of note, including The Pool of Reflection in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. Many other smaller memorials had drinking spouts and water troughs incorporated into their designs.
As water is a scarce commodity in rural Queensland, a fountain may have been considered a suitable 'sacrifice' as a memorial.
There was originally a captured gun or 'war trophy' within the enclosure, but this was removed at some stage.
","criteria":"War Memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War. The monuments manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
|War memorial fountains of this scale are uncommon in Queensland, however water is a popular symbolic element suggesting renewed life and cleansing. It is rare as a war memorial with imagery not found on other memorials.
|The memorial is of aesthetic significance as a distinctive landmark in the centre of a small country town.
|It has a strong and continuing association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event and as the focal point for the remembrance of that event.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15536,"place_ref":600761,"name":"Paroo Shire Honour Board","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"16 John Street","suburb":"CUNNAMULLA","lga":"PAROO SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Paroo Honour Board is a panel of pressed copper; richly decorated in low relief with patriotic symbols such as flags, laurel wreaths and cannons. This decoration provides a rich frame for columns of names, each on an individual brass strip. The honour board is mounted on a marble slab, measuring 1.82 x 1.55 metres, which is in turn mounted on a wooden frame with a bronze edge trim.
\nA total of 370 names of those who served in World War I are listed alphabetically with further spaces indicating that hostilities had not yet ceased at that time. In the tradition of memorials, the rank of the deceased is not indicated.
\nThe honour board is displayed on the east wall of the main collection room in the Cunnamulla Library. The wall and modern fixtures used to mount the honour board are not of state-level cultural heritage significance.
","history":"The Paroo Honour Board commemorates those from Paroo Shire who served in World War I and was unveiled in 1918 by the then State Governor, Sir Hamilton John Goold-Adams. It was originally located in the old Shire Hall, housed in the Civic Centre between 1971 and 2019, and currently on display in the Cunnamulla Library.
\n
Australia, and Queensland in particular, had few civic monuments before the First World War. The memorials erected in its wake became our first national monuments, recording the devastating impact of war on a young nation. Australia lost 60,000 from a population of about 4 million, representing one in five of those who served. No previous or subsequent war has made such an impact on the nation.
Australian war memorials are distinctive in that they commemorate not only the dead, but also those who fought and returned. Australians were proud that their first great national army was composed entirely of volunteers, men worthy of honour whether or not they paid the supreme sacrifice. Many memorials honour all who served from a locality, not just the dead, providing valuable evidence of community involvement in the war. Such evidence is not readily obtainable from military records, or from state or national listings, where names are categorised alphabetically or by military unit.
Many communities honoured their volunteers after the war ended, but the Paroo board is early and was installed before the close of hostilities. It has the date of the commencement of the war, 1914, on the left hand side of the memorial, but the corresponding space on the other side is empty. Spaces have also been left for names to be added. The design selected is a handsome, but standard type of Wunderlich honour board found in a number of other towns in Queensland. It commemorates all those from Paroo Shire who served in World War I, the dead not being indicated in any way.
Beneath the standard words 'Roll of Honor' and British and Australian flags is a plaque on which 'Paroo Shire' is encircled by the commemorative inscriptions 'Brave hearts and true, God guide them' and 'Shall their sacrifice be in vain?' This is an uncommon challenge; a more usual inscription on similar Wunderlich honour boards is 'Those who answered the Empire's call'.
The Honour Board was relocated to the public foyer of the Civic Centre in 1971, which was officially opened by the then Premier, Hon J Bjelke-Petersen on 23 April 1971. In 2019 it was relocated for display in the Cunnamulla Library.
War memorials, including honour boards, especially those dating from the Boer and First World Wars, are a local tribute to war dead and are an important element of Queensland towns and cities. They represent a conscious expression of emerging Australian nationhood and reflect public taste and social attitudes of their time. Such memorials are important in demonstrating the pattern of Queensland's history, as they are representative of a recurrent theme that involved most communities throughout the state. They provide evidence of an era of widespread Australian patriotism and nationalism, particularly during and following the First World War.
|It has an unusual inscription that has not been found on another honour board in Queensland.
|The memorials manifest a unique documentary record and are demonstrative of popular taste in the inter-war period.
Unveiled in 1918, the Paroo Shire Honour Board is an intact example of a lavish, though typical Wunderlich honour board; richly decorated, it is a good example of the work of this firm.
|Thoughtfully designed and finely crafted in decorative pressed copper, brass, bronze and marble, the Paroo Shire Honour Board is of aesthetic significance for its beautiful attributes. It incorporates classical composition and symbolic details to provide a dignified focus for the remembrance of those involved in a major world event.
|The Paroo Shire Honour Board has strong association with the community as evidence of the impact of a major historic event. It is also associated with the work of Wunderlich, a company that was part of the fabric of the Australian building industry for much of the twentieth century.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion D | Criterion E | Criterion G","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places | The place is important because of its aesthetic significance | The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group for social, cultural or spiritual reasons"}, {"heritage_type":"State Heritage","site_id":15538,"place_ref":600763,"name":"Zero Obelisk","alternate_name":null,"street_address":"East Bank, Warrego River","suburb":"BARRINGUN","lga":"PAROO SHIRE COUNCIL","register_entry_date":"1992-10-21","description":"The Zero Obelisk at Barringun is a truncated pyramid of concrete render over stone, measuring 0.9 x 0.9 x 0.9 metres marking the Queensland - New South Wales border at Barringun. Part of an inscription on the Queensland side which reads 'G. WAT' (George Chale Watson) is still visible.
","history":"The Zero Obelisk marks the beginning of the first official survey of the border between the colonies of Queensland and New South Wales in 1879-80.
The need for an official survey of the border had been recognised for many years but the work was not begun until mid 1879, when officers from both colonies met at the telegraph station at Barringun in New South Wales which was close to the border (Latitude 29°S). The surveyors were JB Cameron and J Conder, Trigonometrical Surveyors, from New South Wales and GC Watson, Surveying Commissioner of Crown Lands, Warrego District, from Queensland.
John Brewer Cameron was born in Scotland and immigrated to Victoria with his family in 1853. Noted for being athletic and adventurous, he travelled first to the Victorian goldfields and then to New Zealand. Returning to Victoria, he joined a government geodetic surveying party working in the area near Mount Baw Baw. This experience decided him to take up a career in surveying. He went to Fiji as a surveyor in 1869, then returned in 1872 to Victoria where he specialised in surveying and geodesy. By 1879 he was a First Class surveyor in the Trigonometrical branch of the NSW Lands Department and a member of the Royal Geographical Society of New South Wales. In this year he undertook his most notable commission, to survey the border between Queensland and New South Wales.
The survey work began at Zero obelisk at Barringun, the division of work between the surveyors being described by Cameron in a letter to his uncle, Ewen Cameron:
Mr Watson is responsible for chainage while I am for the astronomical portion in finding true meridian, giving true bearing, setting off the chords, and finding latitude at every convenient site.
After observations at Barringun to determine the latitude, the team began surveying the border in a westerly direction to the intersection with the border with South Australia at Longitude 141° E, known as Cameron's Corner. This was a distance of 235 miles over difficult country. Watson and Cameron did not get on and they had to contend first with flooding in both the Warrego and Paroo systems and then drought. Health problems and shortages of both food and water added to their problems. Watson withdrew at the one hundred mile post due to lack of water, but Cameron was determined to carry on. This section of the survey took 12 months and 15 days to complete and details of it were given in the first Annual Report of the NSW Department of Lands 1880 Appendix 1.
In 1881 Cameron returned to Barringun to survey the easterly section to the Barwon River. This 200 mile survey was easier with good water and grass available throughout. When the survey was complete Cameron commemorated the event by placing a wooden post carved with his name on the river bank. Although this was not the first border survey, it was the official survey.
In 1883 Cameron moved to New Guinea where he carried out important surveys under the direction of Sir William MacGregor. He died in 1897 in Brisbane during a return trip to New Guinea and is buried in the Toowong Cemetery.
","criteria":"The Zero Obelisk, Barringun marks the first official survey of the border between what were then the separate colonies of New South Wales and Queensland when an accurate definition of the border was important for legal and economic reasons. It illustrates a remarkable feat of surveying in the nineteenth century and is a reminder of the extraordinarily difficult conditions under which many early surveyors worked.
|The Zero Obelisk is one of the few extant physical reminders of the official survey undertaking to mark the Queensland - New South Wales border.
|As a commemoration of one of his most notable accomplishments, the obelisk has an important association with the life and career of JB Cameron and other surveyors, whose work contributed to the development of Australia.
","criteria_letters":"Criterion A | Criterion B | Criterion H","criteria_definitions":"The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history | The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage | The place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland's history"} ]}