Wundowie is a town in
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 ...
located between
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
and
Northam 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, to th ...
. It was the location of an iron works, and siding and stopping place on the
Eastern Railway.
It was named in 1907 and was a siding on the
Chidlow to
Northam section of the railway. The origin of the name is from nearby Woondowing Spring which is an Aboriginal word thought to come from Ngwundow, meaning "to lie down".
Following the decision of the government to construct the
blast furnace
A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally pig iron, but also others such as lead or copper. ''Blast'' refers to the combustion air being "forced" or supplied above atmospheric ...
and
wood distillation plant (to produce
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
) in 1943 at Wundowie, plans were made to develop the townsite. Lots were surveyed in 1946 and the town was gazetted in 1947.
The design of the town was based on the concepts of the
garden city movement of town planning. This is reflected in its street pattern, subdivision layout, location of land uses, open space and the civic core of the town. Construction of the town was by the Western Australian Department of Housing.
The
charcoal iron works commenced production in 1948, and the railway station was opened in 1949. In 1974 the plant was sold to Agnew-Clough Ltd and upgraded. By 1979, a shortage of hardwood timber resulted in the saw mill being closed. In 1981 iron production ceased.
The railway line was continued for a while from Northam to service Wundowieafter the main closure of the Chidlows route and the opening of the
Avon Valley route in 1966.
See also
*
Wundowie charcoal iron and wood distillation plant
References
Further reading
* Clayden, B. J. (1958) ''A short history of the wood distillation, charcoal, iron and steel industry, Wundowie: the plant and the town'', Thesis – Graylands Teachers College – held in
Battye Library
* Seabrook, Benjamin (2000) ''Wundowie the charcoal town''. (reminisces about the town over the last 40 years). ''Avon Valley Advocate'', 26 January 2000, p. 14
* Saunders, D. M. and Pearce, D. G. (1978) ''The financial viability to Westrail of railing iron ore from Koolyanobbing to Avon and Wundowie for Agnew Clough'' Perth, W.A. Westrail, Management Services Bureau, Planning Division
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Towns in Western Australia
Shire of Northam