Varley is a small town located between Hyden and

Lake King Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the tow ...

in the Wheatbelt region of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The area surrounding the town was opened for agricultural purposes in the 1930s and by 1938 the local progress association began campaigning to have the townsite gazetted. The move was approved in 1938 and the townsite was gazetted on 22 November 1939. The town is named after the nearby Lake Varley and Varley Rock which were both named by the explorer

Frank Hann Frank Hugh Hann (19 October 184521 August 1921) was an Australian pastoralist and explorer. Early life Hann was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Hann. Fellow explorer William Hann was his older brother. They were born in Wiltshire, England a ...

in 1901. It is thought that Hann was honouring a public servant in the mines department, Gustavus Varley. The main industry in town is

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

and grain farming with the town being a

Cooperative Bulk Handling The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym for Co-operative Bulk Handling), is a grain growers' cooperative that handles, markets and processes grain from the wheatbelt of Western Australia. History CBH was formed on 5 April 1933, at a ...

receival site. The town has a population of approximately 200 living in the town and district. The facilities in Varley include a comprehensive museum, recreation centre and golf course. Nearby attractions include the

Rabbit Proof Fence The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from th ...

and the abandoned

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 ...

mining town of Hatters Hill.

Notable people

Iain Eairdsidh MacAsgaill Iain Eairdsidh MacAsgaill (19 February 1898 – 4 June 1934), alias the Bàrd Bheàrnaraigh ("the Bard of Berneray") was a Scottish World War I veteran of the King's Own Cameron Highlanders, a Western Australian bush poet in Scottish Gaelic, ...

, (1898—1934), alias the ''Bàrd Bheàrnaraigh'' ("the

Bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...

of Bernera"),

Scottish-Australian Scottish Australians ( sco, Scots Australiens, gd, Astràilianaich Albannach) are ‌‍‍‍‍residents of Australia who are fully or partially of Scottish descent. According to the 2021 Australian census, 130,060 Australian residents wer ...

immigrant from the

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; gd, Beàrnaraigh Mòr), often known just as Bernera ( gd, Beàrnaraigh), is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest Scottish island. Great Bernera l ...

, who lived and farmed near Lake Varley from 1925 to 1933. Best known for his locally composed poems and songs of

homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

, which are an important part of modern

Scottish Gaelic literature Scottish Gaelic literature refers to literature composed in the Scottish Gaelic language and in the Gàidhealtachd communities where it is and has been spoken. Scottish Gaelic is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages, along with Irish ...

. Ronald Black (1999), ''An Tuil: Anthology of 20th-century Scottish Gaelic verse'', Polygon,

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Page 752-753.

References

{{authority control Shire of Lake Grace