Merredin, Western Australia
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Merredin () is a town in
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 ...
, located in the central Wheatbelt roughly midway between
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 ...
and
Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...
, on Route 94,
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 (Western Australia), Wheatbelt and the Goldfields-Esperance, Goldfie ...
. It is located on the route of the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers drinking water, potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie, Western Australia, Coo ...
, and as a result is also on the Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail. It is connected by public transport to Perth via the''
Prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...
'' and ''
MerredinLink The ''MerredinLink'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth railway station, East Perth and Merredin railway station, Merredin. History The ''MerredinLink'' was introduced in June 2004 w ...
'' rail services.


History

Merredin's history varies from that of other wheat-belt towns in Western Australia in the sense that it started as a stopping place on the way to the goldfields. The first European explorer into the area was the Surveyor General J. S. Roe, who travelled through the region in 1836 but was not impressed by its dryness and the low rainfall. By the 1850s
sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus ''Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods. Sanda ...
cutters were in the area but there was little agriculture. It was not until Assistant Surveyor Charles Cooke Hunt explored the area in the period 1864–66 that it began to open up. Hunt saw the pastoral potential but realised the importance of water. He called the area Hampton Plains after John Stephen Hampton,
Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch, King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional, ceremonial and commun ...
1862–68. Hunt made five journeys through the area. Of the five journeys the first was exploratory (1864), the second established a track which moved from waterhole to waterhole (1865) and the third built a series of wells and dams (the Hunt's Dam at Merredin is located about north of town off the Merredin-Chandler Road). The result was a road which later became known as the
York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...
to Goldfields road and, until the arrival of the railway, was the only link between the coast and the gold towns of
Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...
and Coolgardie. It is almost certain that Hunt climbed Merredin Peak (a short distance out of town to the north) and that he heard the town's name from the local
Aboriginal people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
. Hunt claimed that the local Aborigines referred to the place as "Merriding" while other explanations suggest that the name comes from "merrit-in" – "the place of the merrit" ( Eucalyptus flocktoniae or ‘Merritt ’ is a tree which was used for making spears) – or that it was the name used by the Aborigines to describe the "huge bare granite rock" which the locals call Merredin Rock but which is officially named Merredin Peak. In the late 1860s a number of large pastoral leases were taken up in the area but no township evolved. As late as 1889, when Assistant Surveyor Henry King set up camp on the north side of Merredin Rock, there was still no township. The first settlement was established to the north of Merredin Peak on the York to the Goldfields road but it was hastily moved when the railway, which could not follow the gradients of Hunts Road, was built a few kilometres to the south. In 1888 the area to the east of Merredin was officially proclaimed a goldfield and over the next decade prospectors and fossickers poured through the area. Gold was discovered at Coolgardie in 1892 and at
Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie-Boulder (or just Kalgoorlie) is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder as the surroundi ...
a year later. At first the prospectors used Hunt's waterholes road and this meant that they passed through the site of the modern town. In 1893 the
narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...
() railway that was being continually extended eastwards from Perth, reached the town. Merredin's importance as a town was directly related to the establishment of a superb water catchment scheme on Merredin Peak. The narrow-gauge railway was extended eastwards from Merredin to Southern Cross in July 1894, and to Kalgoorlie in January 1897. A rock wall was built around the contours of Merredin Peak. It led to a channel which in turn led into a dam which had a storage capacity of . The scheme held every drop of water which landed on the Peak and directed it all into the dam which provided water for both the town and the railway. The entire structure is still intact and can be easily reached at the northern end of town. Constructed between 1893 and 1896, the Railway Dam ensured that Merredin would become much more than just another wheat-belt siding. The need for the water from Merredin Peak disappeared in 1903 when C. Y. O'Connor's
pipeline A pipeline is a system of Pipe (fluid conveyance), pipes for long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas, typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countries ...
was completed. The pipeline joined the waterless goldfields at Kalgoorlie and
Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...
with the plentiful supplies of water in the
Helena River The Helena River is a tributary of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in Western Australia. The river rises in country east of Mount Dale and flows north-west to Mundaring Weir, Western Australia, Mundaring Weir, where it is dammed. ...
east of Perth. Merredin Peak's Railway Dam continued to supply water to the railway until 1968 and even today is still used as the water supply for the fountain outside the Merredin Railway Museum and railway station. In 1904 the Agricultural Research Station was established. It was here that the Bencubbin strain of wheat was developed. Land in the present townsite was offered for sale in 1906 and by 1911 the Merredin Roads Board had been formed. The narrow-gauge rail line from Merredin to Bruce Rock was built in 1913 to serve the developing sheep and wheat belt area of Western Australia, now known as the Great Southern. The final section of the Narrogin-Merredin narrow-gauge rail line, from Bruce Rock to Corrigin, was built in 1915, thus completing the narrow-gauge rail link that linked Merredin and Narrogin. In 2023 Merredin was listed among several Western Australian towns to be affected by an outbreak of the venereal disease
syphilis Syphilis () is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium ''Treponema pallidum'' subspecies ''pallidum''. The signs and symptoms depend on the stage it presents: primary, secondary, latent syphilis, latent or tertiary. The prim ...
.


Military history

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 ...
, Merredin was the location of RAAF No.26 Inland Aircraft Fuel Depot (IAFD), built in 1942 and closed on 14 June 1944. It was situated on Cummings Street and has since had a house built on top. Usually consisting of 4 tanks, 31 fuel depots were built across Australia for the storage and supply of aircraft fuel for the
RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...
and the
US Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...
at a total cost of £900,000 ($1,800,000).


Pipeline pumping station number 4

Merredin was the location of number 4 pumping station of the
Goldfields Water Supply Scheme The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers drinking water, potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie, Western Australia, Coo ...
, which was rebuilt a number of times.


Geography


Climate

Merredin experiences a
steppe climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''BSh'').


Economy

The agricultural land around Merredin produces 40% of Western Australia's
wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
output. As a focal point for the region, Merredin's local bulk handling co-operative receives and processes in excess of a million tonnes of grain every year. The silos at the train facilities to the west of the main town are the biggest of their type in the southern hemisphere. One of the biggest problems to face the agricultural industry in Merredin is
salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt (chemistry), salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensio ...
. Extensive damage to buildings and roads is caused by rising saline groundwater. A recent study showed that the main source of this water is Merredin townsite itself. Roads, footpaths, buildings and open space have replaced native vegetation adapted to use up every drop of rain. Since the problem arose in the early 1970s, farmers and townspeople have been participating in a number of programs to improve the soil conditions, with some limited success.


Merredin Aerodrome

Merredin aerodrome was leased under a 100-year arrangement by China Southern West Australian Flying College (CSWAFC), a
joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...
between
China Southern Airlines China Southern Airlines (branded as China Southern) is a major airline in China, headquartered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. It is one of the three major airlines in the country, along with Air China and China Eastern Airlines. Established on 1 ...
and CAE in 1996, and was used as one of two pilot training facilities until September 2016. CSWAFC also operated from
Jandakot Airport Jandakot Airport is a general aviation (GA) airport in Jandakot, Western Australia that opened in 1963, about south-southwest of Perth Airport. Originally built on unproductive farm lands, it is now among residential suburbs in the south of ...
in
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 ...
until 2020. Merredin airport was leased for the sum of $1 with 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 ...
banking that investment would follow. The partnership in the years since has been successful. Upgraded facilities include bitumen runways, an operations viewing platform (which does not fulfil the regulatory requirements of a control tower), fire control equipment, hangars, classrooms, and housing. Although the aerodrome is leased by China Southern West Australian Flying College, the
Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an aeromedical retrieval service in Australia and the largest of its kind in the world. It is a non-profit organisation that provides urgent and emergency medica ...
and private users still have access. As of September 2016, the training school suspended operations in Merredin due to its inability to attract sufficient numbers of experienced staff with the appropriate regulatory approvals. Since then, issues have been raised over the leasehold arrangements. The aerodrome was put up for sale in June 2021.


Transport

Merredin is located on the
Eastern Goldfields Railway The Eastern Goldfields Railway, was built in the 1890s by the Western Australian Government Railways to connect Perth with the Eastern Goldfields at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. It is a part of the interstate standard gauge railway between Per ...
. Merredin serves as the middle stop of the ''
Prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * ''Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ra ...
'' train. At Merredin, the train stops for a scheduled 10 minutes, giving passengers a chance to stretch their legs. There, the train stewards disembark and serve the ''Prospector'' going back to Perth, so they never go any farther. The same is true for Kalgoorlie stewards, who disembark and get onto the Kalgoorlie train. It is also the terminus for the ''
Merredinlink The ''MerredinLink'' is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth railway station, East Perth and Merredin railway station, Merredin. History The ''MerredinLink'' was introduced in June 2004 w ...
'' rural train service.


Things to see

* Mangowine Homestead * Pioneer Women Memorial Waterfall


Notable people

The following people were either born or raised in Merredin. *
Tully Bevilaqua Tully Louise Bevilaqua (née Crook on 19 July 1972) is an Australian retired professional women's basketball player. She previously served as an assistant with the Phoenix Mercury in 2023. She formerly played for the San Antonio Stars in the ...
née Crook – women's basketball player for
Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...
in the US and in Australia, Canberra Capitals * Hendy Cowan – former leader of the National party and Member for Merredin * Tony Crook – former National Party politician and member for O'Connor, RFDS executive officer * Jeff Garlett – former Swan Districts and former now Carlton footballer * Geoffrey Gibbs AM – actor, head of the WA Academy of Performing Arts, Chairman of Trustees for the International Foundation for Arts and Culture * Rick Hart – businessman and public speaker, former President of Fremantle Football Club * Robert Juniper – landscape artist * Ken McAullay – former WA and
East Perth East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...
full back and WA
Sheffield Shield The Sheffield Shield is the domestic first-class cricket competition of Australia. The tournament is contested between teams representing the six states of Australia. The Sheffield Shield is named after Henry Holroyd, 3rd Earl of Sheffield, Lor ...
cricketer * Laurie Mayne – former Test cricketer born in Westonia * Don Randall – Australian Liberal party politician, member for
Canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...
until his death in 2015 * John Rutherford – first Western Australian cricketer to win a Test cap for Australia * Nelly ThomasOfficial Nelly Thomas website
www.nellythomas.com. Retrieved 17 September 2006. – winner of National Raw Comedy Competition in 2003 * Nicole Trunfio – won the Australian '' Search for a Supermodel'' series in 2003, then came third in the international version of the series. *
Arthur Upfield Arthur William Upfield (1 September 1890 – 12 February 1964) was an English-Australian writer, best known for his works of detective fiction featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon "Bony" Bonaparte of the Queensland Police Force, a mixed-race ...
– author of ''Boney'' series; worked at Burracoppin *
Bill Walker Bill Walker may refer to: Australian rules football * Bill A. Walker (1886–1934), Australian rules footballer for Essendon * Bill Walker (Australian footballer, born 1883) (1883–1971), Australian rules footballer for Fitzroy * Bill J. V. Walke ...
OAM – football player in the WAFL. Winner of four
Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant an ...
s. Grew up in the neighbouring town of Narembeen. A former student of Merredin Senior High School.


References


External links

* {{authority control Towns in Western Australia Grain receival points of Western Australia Eastern Goldfields Railway Merredin, Western Australia