Dwellingup is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

located in a

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

and fruitgrowing area in the

Darling Range The Darling Scarp (), also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, West ...

east-south-east of Pinjarra. At the 2021 census, Dwellingup had a population of 524.

Name

Townsite lots were surveyed at this place by surveyor W.F. Rudall in 1909 after the Lands Department became aware that the site was planned as the terminus of the "Pinjarra-Marrinup Railway". Names suggested for the place by Rudall were "Dwellingerup" or "Marrinup", after nearby brooks, or "McLarty" after a local MLA who had been very active concerning the railway (

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

or Edward McLarty). Surveyor General H.F. Johnston chose "Dwellingupp" after being misinformed regarding the spelling of Dwellingerup Brook. Ignoring a suggestion from the Under Secretary to amend the name to "Dwellingdown", the Minister for Lands approved the name as "Dwellingup" in December 1909. Eventually, the spelling "Dwellingupp" was chosen by order of the Under Secretary for Lands, and the townsite was gazetted as Dwellingupp in February 1910. The spelling was amended to Dwellingup in 1915. Dwellingup is an Aboriginal name said to mean "place of nearby water" or "on and by the whole place there is fog, dew and mist".

Bushfires

In one of Western Australia's worst bushfires, the fires of 1961, many small surrounding communities in the area were destroyed, including 132 houses in Dwellingup itself. There were no fatalities, but 800 people were left homeless. The town was rebuilt. Dwellingup experienced serious bushfires again over the week starting on 3 February 2007. Sixteen houses were destroyed and thousands of hectares of private property and forest were burnt. There was no loss of life.

Bauxite mining

Dwellingup is near one of the largest

bauxite Bauxite () is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)), and diaspore (α-AlO(OH) ...

mines in the world, at

Huntly Huntly ( or ''Hunndaidh'') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460 in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith ...

, which supplies ore to the Pinjarra and Kwinana aluminium refineries.

Facilities

Dwellingup is home to Nanga Bush Camp, a popular camp for senior primary schools and

high schools A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. Some of the activities at Nanga Bush Camp include water rafting, night watching, swimming and bush walks. Another major attraction in the area is the

Hotham Valley Railway The Hotham Valley Tourist Railway (commonly Hotham Valley Railway) is a heritage railway, tourist and heritage railway in the Peel (Western Australia), Peel region of Western Australia. The railway operates over a section of the original Pi ...

. A Dwellingup Forest Ranger Tour operates between May and October, and is steam hauled between Pinjarra and Dwellingup. Dwellingup has a skate park and pump track. It also has the Munda Biddi Bike Trail and the Captain Fawcett 4WD Trail. The

Bibbulmun Track The Bibbulmun Track is a long-distance walk trail in Western Australia. It runs from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany, and is long. It is managed by government agencies, and has a foundation. It traverses the Darling Range and has i ...

, a long-distance walk trail, passes through Dwellingup.Website Bibbulmun Track Foundation
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Climate

Dwellingup is one of the wettest inhabited places in

, with an average annual rainfall of over 1,200 mm. It has a

hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Csa'').

References

External links

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Visitor Information
{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Darling Range Shire of Murray Timber towns in Western Australia Bushfire affected towns in Western Australia