Morven is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Murweh,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Morven had a population of 184 people.

Geography

The town is located on the

Warrego Highway The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint ...

South West Queensland South West Queensland is a remote region in the Australian state of Queensland which covers . The region lies to the south of Central West Queensland and west of the Darling Downs and includes the Maranoa, Queensland, Maranoa district and parts o ...

, east of Charleville, south of Augathella, west of Mitchell, west of Roma, west of Miles, west of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

and west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. Morven Aerodrome has an unsealed runway of red loam, . It is operated by Murweh Shire Council.

History

Originally, the area on which Morven now sits was a popular spot for bullock teams on the road between Mitchell and Charleville. In 1859, a small area was taken from the property Victoria Downs and set aside for public use and designated on maps and documents as 'Victoria Downs Reserve'. It was on the

Cobb & Co Cobb & Co was the name used by several independent Australian coach businesses. The first company to use 'Cobb & Co' was established in 1853 by American Freeman Cobb and his partners. The name grew to great prominence in the late 19th century, ...

mail route from Brisbane to Charleville. Later it became informally known as 'Sadlier's Waterhole' after Captain TJ Sadlier and his wife camped at the property. In 1876, a post office was opened and called Morven. When officially surveyed in 1880, it was officially given the name Morven. It is believed to be named after Morven in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Morven State School opened on 24 September 1887. All Souls Anglican Church opened in 1906 and was dedicated in 1926. On Sunday 14 March 1926,

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

James Duhig opened and consecrated the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic church. On Tuesday 26 April 2016, the Morven Hotel Motel was burned down. It was a big loss to the town as it was the only hotel in the town. It was rebuilt by members of the local community in 2020 and now trades as Sadleir's Waterhole after the original name for the community.

Demographics

In the , the locality of Morven had a population of 276 people. In the , the locality of Morven had a population of 199 people. In the , the locality of Morven had a population of 184 people.

Heritage listings

Morven has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: * Angellala Rail Bridge, west of Morven on the Roma–Cunnamulla railway line

Education

Morven State School is a government primary (Preparatory to Year 6) school for boys and girls at Albert Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 23 students with 3 teachers (2 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 20 students with 3 teachers (2 full-time equivalent) and 5 non-teaching staff (2 full-time equivalent). There is no secondary school in Morven. School Bus Route S280 conveys students from Year 7 to Year 12 to Charleville State High School in Charleville to the west.

Transport

Morven is ideally situated at the junction of the

to Charleville and the

Landsborough Highway Landsborough Highway is a highway in western Queensland, Australia, running in the northwest–southeast direction from Morven to Cloncurry. The Landsborough Highway runs through vast tracts of land that was once occupied by William Landsboro ...

to Augathella. this, coupled with the strategic position on which Morven is situated makes it an ideal launching point for travellers heading up to the Stockman's Hall of Fame or Trucks headed for Darwin. Morven is a timetabled stop for the Intercity Bus Services operated by Greyhound Australia: * Gx493

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive mines in world history, based on co ...

* Gx494

* Gx495

to Charleville * Gx496 Charleville to

Morven Railway Station serves the town and people of Morven. it is used by the twice-weekly Westlander passenger train. * The Westbound service (3S86) from Brisbane Roma Street to Charleville stops at Morven Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:55 am. * The Eastbound service (3987) from Charleville to Brisbane Roma Street stops at Morven Wednesdays and Fridays at 7:55 pm.

Facilities

Morven has a historical museum and heritage trail. Nearby is the Tregole National Park (where the Mulga Lands and the

Brigalow Belt The Brigalow Belt is a wide band of acacia-wooded grassland that runs between tropical rainforest of the coast and the semi-arid interior of Queensland and northern New South Wales, Australia. The Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Aus ...

meet). The Murweh Shire Council operates a public library in Morven on the Warrego Highway. The Morven branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association has its rooms in Roma Street. All Souls Anglican Church is in Eurella Street () and holds services on the 3rd Sunday of every month. Sacred Heart Catholic Church is in Eurella Street (). No regular services are held at this church. The Sadlier's Waterhole Hotel is on the

on the site of the Morven Hotel/Motel (which was destroyed by fire in 2016). Other facilities include: * Morven Police Station () * Morven Fire Station () * Morven SES Facility () * Morven Community Health Clinic () * Morven Ambulance Station () * Morven Cemetery ()

Attractions

Morven Historical Museum is at 53 Albert Street ().

Media

the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

and its sister channels ABC Kids/

ABC TV Plus ABC Family is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television (Australian TV network), ABC Television network. The television channel, channel broadcasts a range of f ...

ABC ME ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...

and

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

transmits to Morven through its relay station, ABMNQ, situated at 26°30′20″S 147°8′4″E (Morven–Nebine Road) and it also transmits ABC Radio National to Morven on 107.5 FM. Radio 4VL (part of the Resonate Radio Network) transmits to Morven on 105.9 FM. The

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

and its sister channels, 7two and

7mate 7mate is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Seven Network on 25 September 2010. The channel contains sport and regular programs aimed primarily to a male audience, with programming drawn from a c ...

transmit to Morven through its regional area affiliate, ITQ. The Nine Network and its sister channels

9Gem 9Gem is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, launched by the Nine Network in September 2010. The channel provides general entertainment and movie programming, from which the original name "GEM" is derived. History The la ...

and

9Go! 9Go! is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel, which was launched by the Nine Network on 9 August 2009, replacing Nine Guide. It is a youthful channel that offers a mix of comedy, reality, general entertainment, movies, anima ...

transmit to Morven through its regional area affiliate,

Imparja Imparja Television (IMP) is an independent Australian television station servicing over , across six states and territories of Australia, states and territories: Northern Territory, South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Aust ...

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as the 10 Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Paramount Global's Paramount Networks UK & Australia, UK & Australia division and is o ...

and its sister channels

10 Bold 10 Bold Drama (set to rebrand as 10 Drama in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air digital television multichannel owned by Network 10. It originally launched on 26 March 2009 as One HD with a focus on broadcasting sports-based programming and eve ...

and

10 Peach 10 Peach Comedy (set to rebrand as 10 Comedy in 2025) is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture betwee ...

transmit to Morven through its regional area affiliate, CDT. The

Special Broadcasting Service The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public broadcasting, public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from tax revenue. SBS operates six TV channels (SBS (Australian TV chann ...

and its sister channels

SBS Viceland SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS V ...

SBS World Movies SBS World Movies is an Australian free-to-air television channel showing international movies. The channel features foreign language films, documentaries, independent, annual films, art films and mainstream cinema and interviews with intern ...

and

SBS Food SBS Food (formerly Food Network) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). The channel airs programs about food and cooking, from cultures around the world. History SBS first ...

also transmit to Morven.

References

External links

* {{authority control Towns in Queensland South West Queensland Shire of Murweh Localities in Queensland