St Arnaud is a town in the

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

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 ...

, 244 kilometres north west of the capital

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. It is in the

Shire of Northern Grampians The Shire of Northern Grampians is a local government area in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia, located in the western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 11,431, having fallen from 12,087 in 2 ...

local government area. At the , St Arnaud had a population of 2,318. It is named after French marshal

Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud (20 August 1798 – 29 September 1854) was a French soldier and Marshal of France. He served as French Minister of War until the Crimean War when he became Commander-in-chief of the army of the East. Biog ...

, commander-in-chief of the army of the East. It is one of quite a number of towns, streets etc. named after people and places of the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

History

St Arnaud is a former gold mining town, situated on the main route between

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

and

Mildura Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

. The town was settled in the mid-1850s, the post office opening on 1 February 1856. StArnaudMainStreet

Traditional ownership

The formally recognised

traditional owners Native title is the designation given to the common law doctrine of Aboriginal title in Australia, which is the recognition by Australian law that Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander people) have rights ...

for the area in which St Arnaud sits are the

Dja Dja Wurrung Dja Dja Wurrung (Pronounced Ja-Ja-war-rung), also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the Traditional owners of lands including the watersheds of the Loddon and Avoca riv ...

people who are represented by the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.

Demographics

As of the 2021

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, 2,318 people resided in St Arnaud. The

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

age of persons in St Arnaud was 52 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 13.8% of the population. People over the age of 65 years made up 32.0% of the population There were slightly more females than males with 51.9% of the population female and 48.1% male. The average household size is 2 people per household. The average number of children per family for families with children is 1.8. 85.2% of people in St Arnaud were born in Australia. Of all persons living in St Arnaud, 2.3% (54 persons) were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. This is higher than for the state of Victoria (1.0%) and lower than the national average (3.2%). The most common ancestries in St Arnaud were English 44.6%, Australian 43.4%, Scottish 12.7%, Irish 12.5% and German 3.9%.

Climate

St Arnaud has a warm temperate climate with Mediterranean characteristics. Summers are usually very warm and dry but thunderstorms can occur. Maximums around 32C are expected with minimums around 15C. Winters are quite frosty most nights but daytime temperatures seem to climb to about 9-14 with varied weather.

Present

The town features many well-preserved historic buildings which line the main thoroughfare of Napier Street, including a generous collection of pubs. A number of attractive gardens exist in town, including Pioneer Park (believed to be Australia's only remaining public park designed by

Edna Walling Edna Margaret Walling (4 December 1896 – 8 August 1973) was one of Australia's most influential landscape designers. Early years and migration Walling was born in Yorkshire and grew up in the village of Bickleigh in Devon, England, seco ...

), the Queen Mary Botanic Gardens, the Market Square gardens adjacent to the council offices and Lord Nelson Park which offers sporting facilities as well as attractions such as the old Lord Nelson Mine and views from Wilsons Hill. The heritage listed 1878 St Arnaud Railway Station received a $1M upgrade in September 2019, to provide a permanent public gallery and a hub for arts, a marketspace for local artists and producers, artists' library and lounge and a community space for lectures and workshops. A short drive south of St Arnaud towards Avoca is the St Arnaud Range National Park, featuring steep and forested terrain, camp sites and the Teddington Reservoir.

Governance

St Arnaud is in the

. Formerly it had its own local government area, the

Town of St Arnaud The Town of St Arnaud was a local government area about northwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The town covered an area of , and existed from 1861 until 1994. Its area was surrounded by the Shire of Kara Kara. Histor ...

which was headquartered at the former St Arnaud Town Hall, however this was amalgamated into a new shire in 1993. St Arnaud today is a secondary service base for the Shire of Northern Grampians, while the headquarters are in Stawell.

Culture

Events

The town began an annual festival in 1996, which is held in November every year and includes events such as music concerts, market day, Gopher Grand Prix and numerous exhibitions and displays. The former town hall functions as a community and performing arts space. The St Arnaud Raillery Gallery, located at the refurbished St Arnaud Railway Station in Queens Avenue, has regular revolving exhibitions in various mediums. An arts, crafts and producers' marketspace promotes locally produced items.

Sport

St Arnaud has an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

team competing in the

North Central Football League The North Central Football League is an Australian rules football league based in North Central Victoria, Australia. The League was formed in 1930. Previous leagues in the area were the Birchip Football Association (as it was last called until ...

. The St Arnaud

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

Club, with five teams, competes in the North Central Hockey Association. Playing its home games on the grass of Lord Nelson Park, the club has had success on and off the field, with numerous players chosen to play in representative teams. The St Arnaud

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

Club competes in the North Central League against other surrounding towns. A horse racing club, the Wimmera Racing Club, schedules two race meetings a year at St Arnaud, including the St Arnaud Cup meeting in October. Affiliated with the Australian Clay Target Association, the St Arnaud Gun Club hosts down-the-line shoots each month (except January). With three layouts, the gun club provides for traditional down-the-line, continental and ball trap events. Golfers play at the St Arnaud Golf Club course. St Arnaud fields two teams which play in the North Central Tennis Association.

Transport

St Arnaud is located at the junction of the Sunraysia (B220) and Wimmera Highways (B240). The B220 heads north to Donald and south to Avoca, while the Wimmera connects St Arnaud to Horsham in the west and Bendigo in the east. Coach services also connect St Arnaud to major centres including the V/Line service to Mildura and Melbourne via Ballarat. Train services for passengers ceased with the closure of the

Mildura railway line The Mildura railway line is a heavy rail line in northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Yelta station to Ballarat station via the settlements of Mildura, Ouyen and Maryborough in an approximate south-southeasterly direction. ...

in 1993, however St Arnaud railway station is still an important freight stop on the line. St Arnaud Aerodrome 6.8 km west of the town centre provides for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

Notable residents

* John Ogburn, modern artist, born in St Arnaud * Patrick Alfred Jennings, first Catholic Premier of New South Wales, shopkeeper and gold mine owner in St Arnaud * Pharez Phillips, St Arnaud town councillor, shopkeeper and farmer, who won the first federal election for the seat of Wimmera *

Gerald Ridsdale Gerald Francis Ridsdale (born 20 May 1934) is an Australian laicised Catholic priest and sex offender. He was convicted between 1993 and 2017 of a large number of child sexual abuse and indecent assault charges against 65 children aged as young ...

, former Catholic priest convicted of child sexual abuse and indecent assault charges against 54 children *

Brudenell White General Sir Cyril Brudenell Bingham White, (23 September 1876 – 13 August 1940), more commonly known as Sir Brudenell White or C. B. B. White, was a senior officer in the Australian Army who served as Chief of the General Staff from 192 ...

, Chief of the General Staff of the Australian Army, born in St Arnaud

Government agencies in the town

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victo ...

* Northern Grampians Shire Council *

Country Fire Authority The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 ...

Victoria State Emergency Service Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) is a volunteer-based organisation responding to natural disasters and working to ensure the safety of communities around Victoria, Australia. Each State and territory of Australia has its own independen ...

Centrelink The Centrelink Master Program, or more commonly known as Centrelink, is a Services Australia master program of the Australian Government. It delivers a range of government payments and services for retirees, the unemployed, families, carer ...

References

External links

St Arnaud Football ClubSt Arnaud Historical SocietySt Arnaud Agricultural SocietyNorthern Grampians Shire Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Arnaud Towns in Victoria (Australia) Wimmera Mining towns in Victoria (Australia)