Warramboo (wɔrˑræmˑbʉː) is a locality in the Australian state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

located on the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

about north-west of the state capital of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

and about south-east of the municipal seat of

Wudinna Wudinna is a town in South Australia. The area was first settled by Europeans in 1861 when Robert George Standley lodged a claim for of land surrounding Weedna Hill ('weedna' later became changed to Wudinna which may be an Aboriginal word meanin ...

. It is north of

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

on the

Tod Highway Tod Highway is an important 177 kilometre highway serving South Australia's Eyre Peninsula's wheatbelt, and is designated route B90. It is named after Robert Tod who explored the area in 1839. Route Tod Highway begins from Eyre Highway at Kyanc ...

and is the north-western terminus of the wheat haulage lines radiating from Port Lincoln on the

Eyre Peninsula Railway The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a gauge railway on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. Radiating out from the ports at Port Lincoln and Thevenard, it is isolated from the rest of the South Australian railway network. Peaking at 777 kilometr ...

. The railway line was built from 1907–1915 to develop the cereal industry. The grain silos are a distinctive local landmark of the town. At the , Warramboo and the surrounding area had a population of 248. Warramboo has little in the way of services, with no shops or petrol stations. However, the local post office still services the local community, which is mainly engaged in agriculture. Warramboo has one of the largest (historical) windmills in the southern hemisphere, located ~10 km west of the township and still present today. The water from this mill was unfortunately not suitable for people or livestock due to the high salt concentration.

History

The traditional inhabitants of the Warramboo district and much of the South-West region of Eyre Peninsula are the Nawu/

Nauo people The Nauo people, also spelt Nawu and Nhawu, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the south-western Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The Nauo language became extinct by the twentieth century, but efforts are being made to revive it. Countr ...

. The word 'warramboo' means 'a lake/place of water', referring to the prevalence of samphire swamps in the region. A public school was erected at Warramboo during early European settlement and remained a source of education for children 5–12 years old from 1920 until its closure in 2002. The town hall was also built in the 1920s. The original wood and iron hall was demolished and a new stone hall built in its place in 1934. The local

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 ( Central Eyre Football Club) was formed from an amalgamation of the Warramboo and

Kyancutta Kyancutta is a small wheatbelt town at the junction of the Eyre and Tod Highways on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. Once a busy town with an airport, Kyancutta is now nearly a ghost town, acting only as a centre for the agricultural di ...

Football Clubs in 1986. The Central Eyre Football Club was one of six teams in the

Mid West Football League The Mid West Football League was an Australian rules football competition based in the Eyre Peninsula region of South Australia, Australia. It was wound up prior to the 2021 season after Wudinna and Central Eyre merged and transferred to the Ea ...

Mining proposal

Iron Road Limited Iron Road Ltd is an Australian iron ore exploration and mining company, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange () in Perth, Western Australia since 2008 with an objective to develop a world class magnetite mine and infrastructure in South ...

has plans to develop a magnetite mine and infrastructure near Warramboo. The

Central Eyre Iron Project Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

is planned to produce a high quality, low impurity iron concentrate for steel manufacturers, at an output of 24 million tonnes per annum of approximately 67 per cent iron concentrate over almost 30 years. The company has acquired land for a new deep water port at

Cape Hardy Cape Hardy is a high, dune-capped granite headland on the eastern coast of Eyre Peninsula and which protrudes into Spencer Gulf in South Australia. It is located between the towns of Port Neill and Tumby Bay, north-northeast of Lipson Cove. G ...

on the western shore of

Spencer Gulf The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe and ...

, which would be connected to Warramboo by a utilities corridor in which would be a substantial standard gauge heavy haul railway, service road, power line and water pipeline.

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia Eyre Peninsula

History

Mining proposal

See also

References