Merriwa is a town located in the

Upper Hunter Shire The Upper Hunter Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi Shire, Murrurundi and Merr ...

, in the far west of the

Hunter Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, ...

region of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The town is located on the

Golden Highway Golden Highway (also known as Mitchells Line of Road at its eastern end) is a highway, located in the Hunter and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. It runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle on the coast, allowing road transpo ...

, northwest of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and about halfway between

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

. At the 2011 census, Merriwa had a population of 1,790 people. Up until 2004, Merriwa was part of the

Merriwa Shire Merriwa Shire was a local government area in New South Wales, Australia. Merriwa Shire was based in the town of Merriwa, New South Wales, and covered an area of the upper Hunter Valley region, bounded by the Liverpool Range to the north, drain ...

local government area, when it was merged with nearby Scone Shire and Murrurundi Shire councils to form the Upper Hunter Council. The 1940 Melbourne Cup winner, Old Rowley, retired to Merriwa.

Events

Every year, Merriwa hosts a range of events including;
Merriwa Morgans Cup Races
– Held Annually in April
The Festival of the Fleeces
– Queens Birthday June Long Weekend Annually
Merriwa Springtime Show
– 3rd weekend of September annually Merriwa sign

Heritage listings

Merriwa has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Bow Street: Colonial Cottage Museum (1857) * Merriwa railway line * Merriwa Courthouse attached police station and prisoner cells (1860–1958) * Fitzroy Hotel Merriwa (1914) * The Royal Hotel Merriwa (1914) * Holy Trinity Church (1875–99) *The Catholic Church (1881)

Climate

Schools

* Merriwa Central School (Multi-campus) * St Joseph's Private School

Notable people

Catherine Cecily O'Brien Catherine Cecily O'Brien OP (1893–1945) was an Australian Dominican sister and educationist who was known for her innovative teaching methods and for being an advocate of quality education for girls. Biography Catherine was born near Merriwa ...

, Dominican sister and educationist * Lachlan Walmsley, a Scottish international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for the

Halifax Panthers The Halifax Panthers are a professional rugby league club in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They play home games at The Shay and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Halifax Panthers have won the League Ch ...

in the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

References

External links

Suburbs of Upper Hunter Shire Towns in the Hunter Region {{UpperHunterShire-geo-stub