Kudardup is a locality in the

South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...

region of Western Australia. The locality is in the

Shire of Augusta-Margaret River Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

and on the

Bussell Highway Bussell Highway is a generally north–south highway in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of Western Australia. The highway links the city of Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury with the town of Augusta, Western Australia, A ...

, south of the state capital,

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 ...

. In 1883, M. C. Davies set up a timber mill here, Koodardup Mill, to exploit the nearby

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 ...

forest; it was moved to Karridale a year later. The name was also recorded for the nearby Coodardup Caves around this time. In 1921, became the area and the area soon became part 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 ...

; part of the

; In 1925, a stopping place on the Flinders Bay branch railway was established here its spelling was changed to "Kudardup" in 1926. In the 1940s and 1950s, it was part of the War Service Land Settlement Scheme as well as successfully run dairies. It was officially gazetted a townsite in 1957. In March 1961 Kudardup was devastated by bushfires.Matthews, H (2011) ''Karridale Bush Fires 1961'': Karridale Progress Association inc, WA : At the 2016 census, Kudardup and the surrounding area had a population of 241.

References

Towns in Western Australia Shire of Augusta–Margaret River {{WesternAustralia-geo-stub