Tomerong is a village in the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

region 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. It is located approximately 180 kilometres by road south 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 ...

and 20 kilometres south of the commercial centre of the

City of Shoalhaven The City of Shoalhaven is a local government area in the south-eastern coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is about south of Sydney. The Princes Highway passes through the area, and the South Coast railway line traverses t ...

Nowra Nowra is a city in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south-southwest of the state capital of Sydney (about as the crow flies). As of the 2021 census, Nowra has an estimated population of 22,584. Situated in th ...

in the County of St Vincent. The village is eight kilometres inland of the western shores of

Jervis Bay Jervis Bay () is a oceanic bay and village on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, said to possess the whitest sand in the world. A area of land around the southern headland of the bay is a territory of the Commonwealth of Australia ...

. Its population at the was 1,194. With a history of farming and

sawmilling A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, the village and its environs is now primarily low to medium density residential, providing easy access to tourist areas such as Huskisson on

and the commercial centre

. West and south west of the village the land is predominantly

State Forests A state forest or national forest is a forest that is administered or protected by some agency of a sovereign state, sovereign or federated state, or territory (country subdivision), territory. Background The precise application of the terms va ...

and

Crown Land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

adjoined by the

Morton National Park The Morton National Park is a national park located in the Southern Highlands, South Coast and Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia, situated approximately south southwest of Sydney. Location and features The most notable attractio ...

History

The first recorded European exploration of the area around Tomerong probably occurred when Lieutenant James Grant of the ''Lady Nelson'' ventured inland from Jervis Bay up to 13 kilometres in 1801. Land grants occurred around Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin in the 1830s and 1840s with the first Tomerong land sale occurring at Nowra on 8 May 1855. Settlement increased as the a bridge was constructed across Falls Creek and the development of the main south coast road provided transport and mail services. The Travellers Rest Hotel was opened in 1857 to service the travelling public and, five years later, a post office and school were established. Both celebrated their 150th (Sesquicentenary) anniversary in 2012. A church was constructed in 1877 and a general store commenced operation about 1882, but it was the development of the timber industry (from 1815 for cedar and from about 1860 for hardwood) that saw Tomerong's importance grow, just as farming had started to wane. For the next 100 years the industry was so important to the village that it resulted in the headquarters of the Clyde Shire being constructed in 1908. A school of arts was constructed in 1926 and remains a popular venue for entertainment, not only for the locals. The consolidation of sawmills saw local enterprises reduce in the 1960s and 1970s and the bypassing of the village in 1995 by the Princes Highway meant the village became more attractive for family living adjacent to the growth areas of St Georges Basin and Huskisson/Vincentia.

Contemporary Tomerong

Since the last sawmill closed in the mid 1980s and the main south coast road bypassed in 1995, the village, whilst quieter, has increased in population and dwellings. Its precinct (now Hawken Road) is still dominated by th
school of artspublic school
post office, church and the voluntee
Rural Fire Service
building. Th
school of arts
has a busy patronage with private and community events. A new Rural Fire Service building was opened in 1991 opposite the Union Church that, whilst undergoing major repairs in 2000s, has seen little use since 1993. The public school was the subject of a major building program in 1995 and remains the major employer in the village. Volunteer organisations are an important part of village life with members active in P&C, Rural Fire Service, th

(a Community Consultative Body active with the loca
Council
and the school of arts. Other bodies have been organised as required; such as th
Friends of Tomerong Union Church
that organised the church's restoration; th
Shoalhaven Unwanted Tip
Campaign (ShUT), that successfully lobbied to prevent a local shale quarry from being used as a non-putrescible waste dump; and the Sesquicentenary Committee organising celebrations for the primary school'
150th celebrations

Geography and climate

The village is 48 metres above sea level and is overlooked to the north by Tomerong Hill at 111 metres. The settlement is concentrated on a north to south spur of this hill which runs two kilometres down to Tomerong Creek 20 metres above sea level. A ridgeline, of about 100 metres above sea level, located two kilometres west of the village runs generally north to south. Creeks north east of the village generally drain to Currambene Creek and

, whilst those to the south generally run to

St Georges Basin St Georges Basin is a town in the South Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. St George Basin is located on the shores of St Georges Basin, within the City of Shoalhaven. It is roughly south of Nowra, and approximately south of Sydney. ...

. The village lies near the southern extremity of the

Sydney Basin The Sydney Basin is an interim Australian bioregion and is both a structural entity and a depositional area, now preserved on the east coast of New South Wales, Australia and with some of its eastern side now subsided beneath the Tasman Sea. ...

with the higher areas to the north and west comprising Nowra

Sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

that thins to the south and east to reveal Wandrawandian

Siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility.Blatt ''et al.'' 1980, p ...

. Average minimum and maximum temperatures in degrees Celsius and average rainfall in millimetres are shown in the following table.

References

External links

More information on Tomerong's historyCurrent information on TomerongTomerong Public SchoolTomerong School 150th (Sesquicentenary)Tomerong Union Church
{{authority control Towns in the South Coast (New South Wales) City of Shoalhaven