Bundarra is a small town on the Northern Tablelands of

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 ...

. The town is located on

Thunderbolts Way Thunderbolts Way (and at its northern end as Bundarra Road) is a country road located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, linking Inverell via Bundarra, Uralla and Walcha to Gloucester The road is partially seal ...

and on the banks of the Gwydir River, in the

Uralla Shire Uralla Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The New England Highway passes through the Shire. The Shire was established on 1 January 1948 as a result of the amalgamation of the Mun ...

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 ...

, from the state capital,

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. At the , Bundarra had a population of 394 and the surrounding area had 676 persons.

History

Bundarra is named for the Kamilaroi word for the

grey kangaroo Grey kangaroo is a kangaroo that is grey. Species include: * Eastern grey kangaroo (''Macropus giganteus'') * Western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-fa ...

. Kamilaroi and Anaiwan people were the earliest inhabitants of the Bundarra area. A local hill nearby Bundarra called "Rumbling Mountain" is the subject of an Aboriginal myth that attempts to explain its periodic rumbling and shaking. Bundarra

Station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

was founded in 1836 by Edward G. Clerk and a hotel and store were established on the future townsite. A church was constructed on the site in 1857 around the same time as the town survey. The old buildings in Bundarra’s main street were constructed between 1860 and 1880. A school was established in 1869, becoming a central school in 1955. The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

convent was built in 1908 and a newspaper, the Bundarra Advocate was founded. At one stage the town included three

hotels A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

. three stores, three butchers and a bank.

Copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

and

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

were also found in the area. The

bushranger Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...

, Fred Ward, known as

Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushrang ...

, stole two horses belonging to a police inspector from Abington station, near Bundarra in 1868. The Bundarra bridge, a five-span iron lattice truss bridge, was constructed in 1881. The bridge, crossing the Gwydir River, is 204 metres in length and 5.6 metres wide between kerbs. The bridge has been listed 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 ...

, being of state significance due to its design, historical value and aesthetic appearance. The bridge was the focus of a large community celebration for its centenary and is still in use today. The historic townscape of Bundarra led to the town hosting some on location filming for the Fred Schepisi directed film, '' The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'', based on the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

shortlisted novel by

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel ''Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, wh ...

. The town was serviced by the ''

Bundarra & Tingha Advocate The ''Bundarra and Tingha Advocate'' was an English language newspaper published in Bundarra, New South Wales. It was published from 1900 to 1932. History The ''Bundarra and Tingha Advocate'' was established on 1 December 1900. It was also ...

'' newspaper, published in Bundarra, from 1900 to 1932.

Heritage listings

Bundarra has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Oliver Street: Bundarra Police Station and Courthouse Bundarra Police Station and Courthouse (former) together with The Basin Nature Reserve, Baldersleigh Road have been placed on the (now defunct)

.Aussie Heritage

Fauna

Bundarra is part of the

Bundarra-Barraba Important Bird Area The Bundarra-Barraba Important Bird Area lies in the Northern Tablelands of north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is important for the conservation of the endangered regent honeyeater and is classified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) ...

which is home to one of only three breeding areas in New South Wales for the endangered regent honeyeater. The colony consists of around 30 birds of around 1,500 remaining in total.

Platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypu ...

es can be seen in the Gwydir River at Bundarra near the Bundarra bridge.

Facilities

The town today includes a K-12 central school, police station, two churches, the Grace Munro Centre (a state of the art

aged care Elderly care, or simply eldercare (also known in parts of the English-speaking world as aged care), serves the needs and requirements of senior citizens. It encompasses assisted living, adult daycare, long-term care, nursing homes (often called re ...

facility), an agricultural supplies store, garage, hotel, sporting club and golf course, rural transaction centre (with Centrelink access), community technology centre, general store/bottle shop/newsagent/gift shop and a takeaway store that is open seven days a week. The General Store operates as a basic post service too, with the full post office closing in August 2016. Camping is possible at the camping ground with powered sites and hot shower facilities, and at a free site on the edge of town and on the river. Annual events in town include the Agricultural show in January, the

Goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

Races in April and the

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working va ...

in November. There are good fishing spots along the Gwydir River where it is possible to catch some Murray cod.

References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales)