Denmark River and Bridge Western Australia

Denmark is a coastal town located on

Wilson Inlet Wilson Inlet is a shallow, seasonally open estuary located on the coast of the Great Southern region of Western Australia. Description The inlet receives water from the two main rivers: the Denmark River and the Hay River and some smaller ...

in the Great Southern region of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, south-south-east of the state capital of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

. At the 2016 census, Denmark had a population of 2,558; however, the population can be several times the base population during tourist seasons.

History

'' 't Landt van de Leeuwin'' (Leeuwin's Land) was the original Dutch name for the area from King George Sound to the Swan River. It was named after the Dutch East Indiaman , which sighted the coast from

Hamelin Bay Hamelin Bay is a bay and a locality on the southwest coast of Western Australia between Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. It is named after French explorer Jacques Félix Emmanuel Hamelin, who sailed through the area in about 1801. It is ...

to Point D'Entrecasteaux in 1622. The coastline of the Denmark area was observed in 1627 by the Dutchman

François Thijssen François Thijssen or Frans Thijsz (died 13 October 1638?) was a Dutch- French explorer who explored the southern coast of Australia. He was the captain of the ship t Gulden Zeepaerdt'' (''The Golden Seahorse'') when sailing from Cape of Good ...

, captain of the ship (The Golden Seahorse), who sailed to the east as far as Ceduna in South Australia and back. Captain Thijssen had seen the south coast of Australia and charted about of it between Cape Leeuwin and the

Nuyts Archipelago The Nuyts Archipelago is an island group in South Australia in the Great Australian Bight, to the south of the town of Ceduna on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula. It consists of mostly granitic islands and reefs that provide breedin ...

. Two centuries later, when the first Europeans entered the lands around the present Denmark, the area was inhabited by the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

called the river and the inlet Kwoorabup, which means "place of the black wallaby" (kwoor). The Denmark River was given its modern name in December 1829 by naval ship's surgeon

Thomas Braidwood Wilson Thomas Braidwood Wilson FRGS (bapt. 29 April 1792 – 11 November 1843) was an Australian surgeon and explorer. He was baptised in Kirknewton, West Lothian, Kirknewton, West Lothian, Scotland, the son of James, and Catherine Boak. Sea voyages ...

after his mentor,

naval surgeon A naval surgeon, or less commonly ship's doctor, is the person responsible for the health of the ship's company aboard a warship. The term appears often in reference to Royal Navy's medical personnel during the Age of Sail. Ancient uses Specialis ...

Alexander Denmark, Physician of the Fleet, Resident Physician at the

Royal Hospital Haslar The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, which was also known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, was one of Britain's leading Royal Naval Hospitals (and latterly a tri-service Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), MOD hospital) for over ...

, and past-Physician to the Mediterranean Fleet. Wilson found the river while exploring the area in company with the Noongar Mokare from King George Sound, John Kent (officer in charge of the Commissariat at Frederick Town, King George Sound), two convicts and Private William Gough of the 39th Regiment, while his ship the ''Governor Phillip'' was being repaired at

King George Sound King George Sound (Mineng ) is a sound (geography), sound on the south coast of Western Australia. Named King George the Third's Sound in 1791, it was referred to as King George's Sound from 1805. The name "King George Sound" gradually came in ...

. In August 1895 Millar completed the purchase of of freehold timber country at Denmark River, known as the Denmark Estate, and in October 1895, after a stock exchange listing in London to raise the capital,

Millars Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited Millars' Karri and Jarrah Company (1902) Limited, commonly known as Millars, was a Western Australian focused timber and timber railway company. Millars' Karri and Jarrah Forests Limited was a public company incorporated in London in July 1897 w ...

commenced a railway extension from

Torbay Torbay is a unitary authority with a borough status in the ceremonial county of Devon, England. It is governed by Torbay Council, based in the town of Torquay, and also includes the towns of Paignton and Brixham. The borough consists of ...

to Denmark River. The formation was completed and the first timber mill constructed at Denmark timber station in December 1895. A post office and savings bank was opened on 30 August 1897. Millars built its third mill in 1898 and by 1900 there were 800 workers and their families resident at Denmark, for a total population of 2,000.

Resource depletion Resource depletion occurs when a natural resource is consumed faster than it can be replenished. The value of a resource depends on its availability in nature and the cost of extracting it. By the law of supply and demand, the Scarcity, scarcer ...

soon resulted in a total collapse of the local karri timber industry. By May 1903, with the closure of No 1 Mill, the Denmark milling industry was in decline. On 30 September 1904 Millars' Denmark operation was closed down. In 1908 Millars sold the Denmark Estate and the Elleker-Denmark railway to the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

. A townsite was surveyed and provision made for a school site, recreation reserves and town hall site. In 1911 the Denmark Ward of the Albany Roads Board was excised to form the Denmark Roads Board. The population declined dramatically, and revived only with the introduction of the

Group Settlement Scheme The Group Settlement Scheme was an assisted migration scheme which operated in Western Australia from the early 1920s. It was engineered by Premier James Mitchell and followed on from the Soldier Settlement Scheme immediately after World W ...

in the 1920s. Small farms of were cleared from woodland to create pasture for cattle, dairying and orcharding, mainly apples. Conditions were often poor and some of the small farmers could hardly survive. They worked in one of the timber mills operating around the middle of the 20th century. Tourism started when American soldiers, stationed in Albany during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, made outings to Denmark. After the war, Denmark became a popular holiday destination for Western Australians. By the 1960s the population had increased to 1,500 and Denmark was becoming attractive to alternative life-stylers and early retirees. Intensive agriculturists such as wine growers had discovered the value of the rich karri loam for their vineyards.

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

and

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

were the first grapes grown on Denmark soil, soon followed by other varieties. Within 50 years the area became a wine subregion of critical acclaim, as part of the

Great Southern Wine Region The Great Southern wine region is in Western Australia's Great Southern region. It comprises an area from east to west and over from north to south, and is Australia's largest wine region. It has five nominated subregions for wine, the P ...

. The first winery, Tinglewood, opened in 1976, and by 2008, over twenty vineyards had been established around Denmark.

WAGR rail service

Millars' Elleker-Torbay-Denmark railway line closed on 31 May 1905. During negotiations over the sale of the railway line the State leased the line and WAGR rail services began on 3 May 1907. In 1908 Millars sold the railway to the state government. Line extension works beyond Denmark were started in 1926 and on 11 June 1929 the first passenger service ran to Nornalup. The Nornalup-Denmark-Torbay-Elleker rail service was permanently shut down on 30 September 1957 and the rails were lifted in 1963.

Climate

Denmark has a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

''(Csb)'' with warm, dry summers and mild, wet winters.

Demographics

According to the 2016 census, Denmark had a population of 2,558. Of these, 67.9% were Australian-born, 11.8% were born in England or Scotland, 2.3% were born in New Zealand and 1.2% were born in South Africa. 2.1% identified as Aboriginal. The demography fluctuates depending on tourism; with the town at full capacity during school holidays and throughout the summer. The many holiday houses kept in Denmark usually belong to wealthy Perth-based families. During the census (Tuesday 9 August) 19.6% of dwellings were unoccupied (national average 11.2%).

Facilities

Denmark is a rural town with timber milling, orcharding, beef cattle and dairy farming as its primary industries. Soil and climate attract wine growers, with tourism being the fastest growing business in Denmark. There is limited commercial fishing in

. Denmark has no harbour. The town is home to the Western Australian College of Agriculture – Denmark, a working farm and educational facility for Year 10, 11 and 12 students providing specialist education in farming and farm-related studies. It is also home to Denmark Senior High School. Denmark was awarded the title of Australia's Tidiest Town in 1998. On the Denmark River near Wilson Inlet there is a wooden Heritage Railway bridge where several walking trails come together including the

Bibbulmun Track The Bibbulmun Track is a long-distance walk trail in Western Australia. It runs from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany, and is long. It is managed by government agencies, and has a foundation. It traverses the Darling Range and has i ...

, which runs from the Perth region to Albany, and the "Denmark–Nornalup Heritage Trail". Denmark is on the

South Coast Highway South Coast Highway is a Western Australian highway. It is a part of the Highway 1 network. With a length of , it runs from Esperance to Walpole roughly in parallel to Western Australia's south coast. Even then the journey is pretty much i ...

, and is serviced by the

Transwa Transwa is Western Australia's regional public transport provider, linking 240 destinations, from Kalbarri in the north to Augusta in the south west to Esperance in the south east. The Transwa system provides transport between Perth and the ...

public transport system. The town has an airstrip for small planes.

Flora and fauna

Denmark is surrounded by native woodland with a large variety of trees, including the eucalypts marri,

karri ''Eucalyptus diversicolor'', commonly known as karri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is Endemism, endemic to the Southwest Australia, south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cre ...

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...

and

red tingle ''Eucalyptus jacksonii'', commonly known as the red tingle, is a species of tall tree endemic to the southwest of Western Australia and is one of the tallest trees found in the state. It has thick, rough, stringy reddish bark from the base of the ...

. The latter can reach a height of . A distinctive local tree is the red-flowering gum. There are many indigenous bird species, including splendid fairy-wrens,

emu The emu (; ''Dromaius novaehollandiae'') is a species of flightless bird endemism, endemic to Australia, where it is the Tallest extant birds, tallest native bird. It is the only extant taxon, extant member of the genus ''Dromaius'' and the ...

Australian white ibis The Australian white ibis (''Threskiornis molucca'') is a wading bird of the family (biology), family Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved b ...

Australian magpie The Australian magpie (''Gymnorhina tibicen'') is a black and white passerine bird native to Australia and southern New Guinea, and introduced to New Zealand, and the Fijian island of Taveuni. Although once considered to be three separate ...

s and

Australian ringneck The Australian ringneck (''Barnardius zonarius'') is a parrot native to Australia. Except for extreme tropical and highland areas, the species has adapted to all conditions. Treatments of genus ''Barnardius'' have previously recognised two sp ...

s. Many species of reptiles including snakes and skinks can be found.

Marsupial Marsupials are a diverse group of mammals belonging to the infraclass Marsupialia. They are natively found in Australasia, Wallacea, and the Americas. One of marsupials' unique features is their reproductive strategy: the young are born in a r ...

s such as the

western grey kangaroo The western grey kangaroo (''Macropus fuliginosus''), also referred to as a western grey giant kangaroo, black-faced kangaroo, mallee kangaroo, sooty kangaroo and (when referring to the Kangaroo Island subspecies) Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo, i ...

, the

southern brown bandicoot The southern brown bandicoot (''Isoodon obesulus'') is a short-nosed bandicoot, a type of marsupial, found mostly in southern Australia. A subspecies in Western Australia is also known as the quenda in South Western Australia (from the Noongar ...

and the

common brushtail possum The common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula'', from the Ancient Greek, Greek for "furry tailed" and the Latin for "little fox", previously in the genus ''Phalangista'') is a nocturnal, semiarboreal marsupial of the family Phalangeridae ...

also live in the area. The abundance of fish, squid and other marine life in the Denmark estuaries and along the coastline attracts

bottlenose dolphin The bottlenose dolphin is a toothed whale in the genus ''Tursiops''. They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus contains three species: the common bot ...

s and

seals Seals may refer to: * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impress an emblem, used as a means of a ...

; seasonally

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s rest there during their long migrations to the north. Greens Pool (located between Denmark and Walpole) is a sandy white beach ringed by large granite boulders. It is part of William Bay National Park and a main tourist attraction in summer. Denmark is a well-known recreational fishing location with a variety of catch including snapper,

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

bream Bream (, ) are species of freshwater fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Ballerus'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', '' Lepomis'', '' Gymnocranius'', ...

, King George whiting and

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

Notable people

* Emma Booth – actress, was brought up in Denmark. * Joel Hamling –

Fremantle Dockers The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers or colloquially Freo, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represen ...

footballer, was born in Denmark. *

Luc Longley Lucien James Longley (born 19 January 1969) is an Australian professional basketball coach and former player. He was the first Australian to play in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for four teams over 10 seasons. He m ...

– former centre in the American

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

, and his wife, musician and

celebrity chef A celebrity chef is a kitchen chef who has become a celebrity. Today, chefs often become celebrities by presenting cookery advice and demonstrations, usually through the media of television and radio, or in Books, printed publications. While telev ...

Anna Gare Anna Gare is an Australian musician, cook, television personality and author. Biography Gare was born 10 March 1969 in Subiaco, Western Australia and grew up in Fremantle. She attended the Lance Holt School, where as a student she ran a cantee ...

, are Denmark residents.

References

External links

Shire of DenmarkDenmark Local Visitor GuideDenmark Chamber of Commerce - Denmark Visitor CentreDenmark Wine Region
{{authority control Shire of Denmark Coastal towns in Western Australia South coast of Western Australia