Ashley () is a small rural locality of 339 people on the

Carnarvon Highway Carnarvon Highway is a state highway in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia, linking the township of Rolleston in Queensland's Central Highlands Region, via the town of St George, eventually to Moree in northern New South Wales. It is th ...

, 17 km north of Moree,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and 692 km from Sydney. The village boundaries are within the

Moree Plains Shire Moree Plains Shire is a local government area in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The northern boundary of the Shire is located adjacent to the border between New South Wales and Queensland. The Shire is located adja ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

. The village is at a height of 201.4 metres and is in Bogree parish,

Courallie County Courallie County is one of the 141 Cadastral divisions of New South Wales. Courallie is believed to be derived from a local Indigenous Australians, Aboriginal word. Parishes A full list of parishes found within this county; their current Loc ...

. Ashley was named after the English home of Mr Hassall, MP for Moree in the State Parliament. The public school opened as Medgun Creek in February 1898 and the name was changed to Ashley in October 1908 before finally closing in August 1968. A post office opened on 20 April 1899 and closed in 1978. The railway opened on 29 September 1913 and closed on 17 December 1974. There is a general cemetery, hall, a park and a small Rural Fire Service. It is a major cotton producing centre with two large modern

cotton gin A cotton gin—meaning "cotton engine"—is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, enabling much greater productivity than manual cotton separation.. Reprinted by McGraw-Hill, New York and London, 1926 (); a ...

s operating in the district. The cotton is grown on the irrigated black plains that surround the area.''Reader's Digest Guide to Australian Places'', Reader's Digest, Sydney Other agriculture produce such as sheep, wool, wheat and beef cattle are also found in the Ashley area. The Midkin Nature Reserve on Gingham Road, has been placed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

References

Towns in New South Wales Moree Plains Shire {{NewSouthWales-geo-stub