The town derives its name from a nearby spring. The spring was discovered and the name recorded by explorer George Fletcher Moore in 1836. The area was settled in the 1840s and one of the first settlers, J Scully, named his property Bolgart. The townsite was gazetted in 1909.[2]
The name of the town is Aboriginal in origin and means place of water.
The town was struck by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake on 11 March 1952 followed by several aftershocks. The earthquake was felt as far away as Perth, where taller buildings were rocked.[3]
The town also has a small agricultural museum housing a restored early twentieth century Marshall oil-fired tractor.
Moss Rock Bell Tower
Moss Rock Bell Tower taken in 2025. The Bell still rings!
In 1999, a local resident named Doris Martin organized the construction of a bell tower.[5] This was done in response to Liberal State Premier Richard Court's construction of the Swan Bells tower in the Perth and highlight the lack of funding for country towns. The Swan Bells Tower cost $5.5 million to construct[5][6] and According to Doris "spending massive amounts of money on an (unwanted) belltower came at the expense of small rural communities desperately in need of help"[5]
The Bolgart Bell tower was crowd funded, using no grants and only partial help from the local shire.[7] $377 was given in private donations and another $1300 was donated from state and federal politicians, where one third of the 117 asked contributed to the project. Additionally, a $1000 bronze bell and plaque created in a Welshpool foundry was donated through a "can you help" column in The West Australian newspaper.[5]
a four legged windmill in Bolgart, likely similar to the one used in constructing the Bolgart Bell Tower
Using locally donated labour and materials, construction was finished within 10 months. The tower consisted of rocks, recycled copper, and an old windmill frame. At the same time, the Swan Bells tower was just starting construction and wouldn't see completion until the 10th of December 2000.[5] The still functional Bell can be rung freely with a small pulley at the base of the tower.
PremierCourt reportedly conceded defeat in "the battle of the belltowers",[5] agreeing to officially unveil the bell tower in Bolgart on the 21st of November 1999 where he declared the tower functional in front of hundreds of onlookers.[8]
Doris Martin wrote a book called "The building of the Bolgart belltower"[9] Which includes photos and diagrams of the project. Doris explained that the Bell Tower was first inspired by her brother's letter about Henry Longfellow's poem "The Bell of Atri", using the story to criticize the state government ignoring those who are unfairly treated.[7]
↑Martin, Doris M (December 2009). "Bolgart Belltower – 10 Years On"(PDF). The Toodyay Herald. p.19. Archived(PDF) from the original on 17 March 2025. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
↑Martin, Doris (1999). The Building of the Bolgart belltower. Bently, Western Australia. ISBN0646384201.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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