Wooroloo is a town on the outer fringe of the

Perth metropolitan region The Perth metropolitan region or the Perth metropolitan area is the administrative area and geographical extent of the Western Australian capital city of Perth and its conurbation. It generally includes the coastal strip from Two Rocks in th ...

, located off

Great Eastern Highway Great Eastern Highway is a road that links the Western Australian capital of Perth with the city of Kalgoorlie. A key route for road vehicles accessing the eastern Wheatbelt and the Goldfields, it is the western portion of the main road link ...

in the eastern part of the

Shire of Mundaring The Shire of Mundaring is a local government area in eastern metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia. The Shire covers an area of and had a population of approximately 38,000 as at the 2016 Census. History The Greenmount Road ...

. At the , Wooroloo had a population of 254.

History

The name comes from a

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

word that was first recorded in 1841, with other spellings also used. A timber mill operated by Byfield Brothers commenced operations in the 1880s, and Byfield's Mill was established as a railway stopping place for the Eastern Railway in 1893, being renamed to Wooroloo in 1897. A school opened on 22 August 1903 with 22 children and one teacher, and a community hall was built with help from residents of nearby Chidlow in 1904; the townsite of Wooroloo was declared in 1913. The Wooroloo Sanatorium for people with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

and

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...

was built in 1915, but by the 1960s the sanatorium was no longer required and the institution became a general hospital for the surrounding district. The facility was subsequently converted into a prison after Corrective Services took over the site in 1972. In 1970, Ray Williams, a Perth businessman, travelled around the world looking for what he considered to be the perfect horse to breed and cross with Australian horses. He decided upon

Andalusian horse The Andalusian, also known as the Pure Spanish Horse or PRE (Spanish language literally translates to “Spanish pure breed”. This name is sometimes capitalized when used in English-language publications, but is all lower-case in Spanish, wh ...

s after seeing them at an equestrian show in London, and subsequently travelled to

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and municipality in the province of Cádiz in the autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway between the Atlantic Ocean and the Cádiz Mountains. , the ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and in September 1971 bought the stallion "Bodeguero" and five purebred mares. He then started the first Andalusian stud in Australia at Wooroloo, "Bodeguero Stud", which in 1974 was incorporated into

El Caballo Blanco El Caballo Blanco may refer to: * El Caballo Blanco, Sydney * El Caballo Blanco, Wooroloo El Caballo Blanco (Spanish for The White Horse) was the name for an equine Andalusian theme park and resort that operated in the north-eastern Perth subur ...

, now El Caballo Resort.

Present day

Wooroloo contains a community hall, liquor and general store, post office and primary school (1903), and is also home to El Caballo Resort, with a convention centre and 18-hole golf course, as well as horse

dressage Dressage ( or ; a French term, most commonly translated to mean "training") is a form of horse riding performed in exhibition and competition, as well as an art sometimes pursued solely for the sake of mastery. As an equestrian sport defined b ...

displays. The town is the site of two major prisons in the Western Australian prison system, the minimum-security

Wooroloo Prison Wooroloo Prison Farm is an Australian minimum-security prison located in Wooroloo, Western Australia. It was established in 1972 under an arrangement that it would offer some of its amenities to the community of Wooroloo. It was previously the si ...

and the medium-security

Acacia Prison Acacia Prison is a medium security prison facility located in Wooroloo, Western Australia. The prison was opened in May 2001. Acacia was the first privately managed prison in Western Australia and was managed by Australian Integration Managemen ...

. The pool at Wooroloo Prison is open to local residents. The population in 1991 was 761, and in 1996 was 853.

Wooroloo Brook

:''See also

Wooroloo Brook Wooroloo Brook is a watercourse that runs through the Darling Range in Western Australia. It is a tributary which converges with the Avon River to form the Swan River. The name of the brook is also the name of a number of features and organis ...

'' The water course and catchment of the same name has its source in the locality.

Transport

Wooroloo, at 36 miles and 40

chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A c ...

from Perth, was a booking railway station from 1897 to 1965 on the Eastern Railway. Wooroloo currently has the 328

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

bus three times weekdays from Midland, with a journey time of approximately 50 minutes; also has two 331 trips during weekdays from Mundaring, with a journey time of approximately 35 minutes.Eastern 97 timetable
Transperth, effective 16 August 2020. Retrieved 2021-02-04 All services are operated by

Swan Transit Swan Transit is an Australian bus company operating Transperth services under contract to the Public Transport Authority. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History On 21 January 1996, Swan Transit commenced operating services in the Midl ...

References

External links

Wooroloo
on

Geoscience Australia Geoscience Australia is an agency of the Australian Government. It carries out geoscientific research. The agency is the government's technical adviser on all aspects of geoscience, and custodian of the geographic and geological data and knowl ...

El Caballo Resort
{{authority control Suburbs and localities in the Shire of Mundaring Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Bushfire affected towns in Western Australia