Linga Longa at Lynton Station - WA < Aussie Caravanning Lifestyle

You never know what you will find if you don’t take the opportunity to stop and a look around. This particular day while driving along the road from Horrocks to Port Gregory we noticed the remains of what looked like some significant old stone buildings and a sign that said “Lynton Convict Depot” ruins.

Linga Longa Staytion at Lynton WA

We decided the site looked to important to drive by so did a quick check of the mirrors and turned into the parking bay beside the gate. The ruins are open for the public to walk through. There are information plaques beside the remains of each building. What a fascinating place and as we found out when we ventured further Lynton Station has a direct link to “Anna and the King of Siam”. More about this a little later.

Convict Depot at Lynton Station

The Lynton Convict Depot was built in 1853 to receive ticket-of-leave convicts to supply labour to the Geraldine Lead Mine. However, due to the high cost to maintain the small settlement it was closed in 1857. The property also housed a store, bakery, lockup, hospital, lime kiln, cemetery and an administration block, the ruins of which are scattered around the Lynton Convict Depot site.

Lockup at the Convict Depot at Lynton Station

Lynton Homestead

Further along the driveway you will find additional buildings associated with this historic property including Lynton Homestead which was built for the supervisor of the depot, Captain H A Sanford. The upper level was used for the Captain and his family while the lower level housed the kitchen and servants quarters. On the closure of the convict depot in 1857 the residence was leased by Charles von Bibra and became a boarding house and inn serving passing miners, whalers and shepherds in the district.

Linga Longa at Lynton Station is a farmstay at Lynton Station which caters for all sorts of campers and caravanners. There appears to be ample room for all sorts of vehicles. Sites are $15 per person per night with an additional fee of $5 for a powered site. There are flushing toilets, showers, a small camp kitchen and BBQ facilities. There’s even an air strip for those who are fortunate enough to have their own plane. The fly in visitors can even taxie up to their cabin accomodation if they want to. Telstra mobile reception is also available.

Things to Do

Being close to the beach there are boating facilities nearby at Port Gregory for those keen fishermen and the station provides a fish cleaning station where they are happy for the resident chooks to clean up the offal. It seems like a great place to make a base to explore the surrounding areas such as

• The Pink Lake
• Port Gregory
• Hutt River Province
• Horrocks
• Lucky Bay
• Northampton
• Kalbarri

Pink Lake – WA

Greg and Jenny are the owners of Lynton Station while a caretaker is on hand to help you settle into your site. The sites are large giving you plenty of room to spread out.

Now to the romantic side of this post. Anna Leonowen lived at Lynton with her husband from 1855 until the depot closed. Long story short, Anna moved to Perth after the closure and then Singapore with her husband and children. The family moved again to Penang and unfortunately Anna’s husband Thomas died in 1859. As a widow with two out of four surviving children she took up teaching in Singapore.

In 1862 she was offered a position to teach the 39 wives and children of the King of Siam. She accepted and served the court until 1867. Anna left for England because of ill health and while she was away the King fell ill and died. Her memoirs were then made into a novel written by Margaret Landon – “Anna and the King of Siam”.

There was also a movie released under the same title. Later in 1956 another movie was released, one which I have watched a few times starring Deborah Kerr in the role of Anna Leonowens and Yul Brynner as the King of Siam. This of course was the great movie “The King and I”.

Fact or fiction it gave me goosebumps to read that for a short period of time this women lived at Lynton Station in good old Western Australia and went on to write her memoirs about her teaching positions in the Kingdom of Siam.