Metricup 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 near the town of Cowaramup 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 ...

. It is in the Margaret River wine region and its

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

is the

City of Busselton The City of Busselton is a local government area in the South West region of Western Australia, approximately south of Perth, the state capital. The city covers an area of and had a population of 40,640 as at the 2021 Census. It contains two ...

. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 263.

History

Established as the social centre for Group 60 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, Metricup was known as Boyndlie Park until 1928, when it was renamed to its present name after the

railway siding In rail terminology, a siding is a low-speed track section distinct from a running line or through route such as a main line, branch line, or spur. It may connect to through track or to other sidings at either end. Sidings often have lighter r ...

on the

Flinders Bay branch railway The Flinders Bay branch railway, also known as the Boyanup to Flinders Bay section ran between Boyanup and Flinders Bay, in South Western Western Australia. The section from Flinders Bay to Busselton has now been converted into a rail trai ...

; no variant of the name appears in any South West Aboriginal word lists and it is believed that the name was invented by the

Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the state owned operator of railways in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra respon ...

department. A school operated in the area from 1924 to 1953 and the St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, which is still operating, opened in 1935.

Present day

Tourist accommodation, Wine-making, cattle-farming, and gourmet food production are the main industries of the area. Metricup contains the Margaret River Chocolate Company, established in 1999 as the first chocolate factory in the Margaret River region, and the Margaret River Dairy Company, which under an earlier incarnation was the first Western Australian company to commercially produce

Brie Brie ( ; ) is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie (itself from Gaulish ''briga'', "hill, height"), the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in colour with a slight gre ...

cheese in 1986.

St Mary's Anglican Girls' School St Mary's Anglican Girls' School is an Independent school, independent, Anglican, day school, day and boarding school for girls, located in Karrinyup, Western Australia, Karrinyup, a suburb north of Perth. Established in 1921 at West Perth, We ...

, which is based in the Perth suburb of Karrinyup, has an outdoor education centre in Metricup.

References

{{authority control Capes region of South West Western Australia City of Busselton