Mullewa is a town in the

Mid West The Mid West region is one of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is a sparsely populated region extending from the west coast of Western Australia, about north and south of its administrative centre of Geraldton and inland to east of W ...

region of

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 ...

, north of

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 east-northeast of

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

. Mullewa is well known for its abundance of wildflowers in the spring and is one of the few places in Western Australia the wreath flower grows in. The surrounding areas produce

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 ...

and other

cereal A cereal is a grass cultivated for its edible grain. Cereals are the world's largest crops, and are therefore staple foods. They include rice, wheat, rye, oats, barley, millet, and maize ( Corn). Edible grains from other plant families, ...

crops. The town is a receival site for

Cooperative Bulk Handling The CBH Group (commonly known as CBH, an acronym An acronym is a type of abbreviation consisting of a phrase whose only pronounced elements are the initial letters or initial sounds of words inside that phrase. Acronyms are often spelled ...

History

European settlers moved to the area in 1869 to take up pastoral leases for

farming Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. In 1894, the government built a

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 Minimum railw ...

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

from Geraldton to Mullewa and the town was gazetted in the same year. The town is named after Mullewa Spring, whose name is based on an Aboriginal name recorded by surveyor

John Forrest Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister in ...

in 1873. The meaning of the name is not certain, but the most accepted meaning is "place of

fog Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus and is heavily influenc ...

Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and Priesthouse

The architect priest Mgr

John Hawes John Cyril Hawes (7 September 1876 – 26 June 1956) was an architect and priest. Hawes was known for designing and constructing church buildings in England, Western Australia and The Bahamas. He served as a priest in the Church of England befo ...

built the Church mainly with his own hands and the help of parishioners. Work started in 1921 and the stone and tile church was completed, after some interruptions, in 1927. The eclectic design of the Church shows some influence of Spanish Mission style. Hawes built a presbytery for himself next to the church and this, known as the Priesthouse, was finished in 1929: it has been used as a museum since 1980. File:The Church, front.jpg, The Church, front File:Church gargoyle (Mullewa, Western Australia).jpg, Gargoyle on the Church File:Church, side view.jpg, Church, side view File:Priesthouse and Church.jpg, Priesthouse and Church File:Priesthouse, street view.jpg, Priesthouse, street view

Rail service

One of 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 ...

named overnight passenger services from Perth was known as The Mullewa, which ceased operation in 1974.

Junction

Mullewa was the junction of the railway line west to Geraldton, the Geraldton to Mullewa railway line, northeast to Meekatharra, the Mullewa–Meekatharra railway, and south to Northam, the Avon Yard to Mullewa railway line.

Isolation

The closure of the Meekatharra line and the decline of the tonnage on the southward line the line is no longer operationally connected with the rail system to the south. Iron ore from Tallering Peak mine was hauled by road 65 km south to Mullewa, and loaded onto railway wagons for hauling 107 km west-southwest to

, where ships of up to 60,000 DWT were loaded.https://web.archive.org/web/20120320090646/http://www.mtgibsoniron.com.au/op-tallering.asp Tallering operation

Media

Radio

Radio services available in Mullewa: * ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt (6GN 828 AM) – Part of the

ABC Local Radio ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites. Its programm ...

Network. *

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

– (6ABCRN 99.7 FM) – Speciality talk and music. *

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

– (6JJJ 98.9 FM) – Alternative music *

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...

– (6PNN 101.3 FM) – Rolling News bulletins, news magazine programs and LIVE coverage from Federal Parliament House of Representatives. * WAFM (96.5FM) – Top 40 Music * The Spirit Network (Radio 6BAY FM 98.1/1512 AM) – Classic Hits / Adult Contemporary Music format aimed at 35 years + audience. *Radio Mama- 100.5FM- Indigenous Community station

Television

Free-to-air broadcast television services available in Mullewa: *

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 ...

(ABC) – ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24 (digital channels) *

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 ...

(SBS) – SBS One, SBS Two, SBS HD (digital channels) *

WIN Television WIN Television is an Australian television broadcasting, Australian television network owned and operated by WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single television stat ...

, a dual affiliate of both the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

and

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 ...

. *

GWN7 Seven Regional WA is an Australian Television broadcasting in Australia, television network serving all of Western Australia outside metropolitan Perth. It launched on 10 March 1967 as BTW-3 in Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury, and became k ...

(Golden West Network), an affiliate of 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, ...

. The programming schedule is mainly the same as the Seven, Nine and Ten stations in Perth, with variations for news bulletins, sport telecasts such as the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

and

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

, children's and lifestyle programs and

advertorial An advertorial is an advertisement in the form of editorial content. The term "advertorial" is a blend word, blend (see portmanteau) of the words "advertisement" and "editorial". Merriam-Webster dates the origin of the word to 1946. In printed pub ...

produces a 30-minute regional news program each weeknight (originating from Bunbury) with a newsroom based in Geraldton, covering the local area.

Climate

Mullewa has a

semi-arid 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 se ...

with hot summers and mild to cool winters. The town features a dry summer/wetter winter routine, thus giving its climate some characteristics of the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

one.

References

External links

Map
{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Mid West (Western Australia) Grain receival points of Western Australia