Cranbrook is a small town in the Shire of Cranbrook in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

between Katanning, Kojonup and Mount Barker, situated 320 km south of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. It is billed as "The Gateway to the Stirlings", referring to the nearby

Stirling Range National Park Stirling Range National Park is a national park in the Great Southern (Western Australia), Great Southern region of Western Australia, approximately south-east of Perth. There is also an eponymous Suburbs and localities (Australia), locality, ...

. At the 2006 census, Cranbrook had a population of 280. The settlement grew after it was one of the original railway stations on the Great Southern Railway when the railway opened in 1889, and was gazetted a townsite in 1899. In 1926, through the ''Boyup Brook-Cranbrook Railway Act 1926'', a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

connection from the Donnybrook–Katanning railway to the Great Southern Railway was approved, which would have connected Cranbrook to Boyup Brook by rail. Construction of this line was started but never completed. The name is taken from the town of Cranbrook in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, about 65 kilometres south east of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is believed to have been named by Mr J A Wright, who was manager of the Western Australian Land Company which built the railway. The

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

peoples know the area as Twonkup or Dwangup; it was a traditional meeting place of the Menang peoples from the south, the Goreng from the south east and the Kaneang from the south west. It was also an important law ground and burial ground with over forty burial mounds found around the area. The town is a

Cooperative Bulk Handling The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled ...

receival site. Two other gazetted townsites are located within the locality of Cranbrook, Pootenup and Tunney. Both are at the eastern border of the locality and shire and the area of the gazetted townsites stretches into the neighbouring Shire of Broomehill-Tambellup.

References

External links

Shire of Cranbrook
Towns in Western Australia Grain receival points of Western Australia Shire of Cranbrook {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub