Merriwa is a town located in the

Upper Hunter Shire The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires. The Mayor of the Upper Hunter Sh ...

, in the far west of the

Hunter Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...

region of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The town is located on the

Golden Highway Golden Highway is a highway, located in the Hunter Region, Hunter and Orana (New South Wales), Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia. It runs eastwards from Dubbo towards Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle on the coast, allowing roa ...

, northwest of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and about halfway between

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

and

Dubbo Dubbo () is a city in the 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 Newell, Mitchell, and Gol ...

. 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, drai ...

local government area, when it was merged with nearby

Scone Shire Scone Shire was a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The shire offices were located in the town of Scone. It was established on 1 January 1958 following the amalgamation of the Municipality of Scone with ...

and

Murrurundi Shire Murrurundi Shire is a former local government area, centred on the town of Murrurundi, New South Wales, Australia. It was abolished by amalgamation in 2004, with the parts of the shire north of the Liverpool Range being incorporated into the ...

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 March 2020 marked the first of what is set to be an annual event - The "Le Tour de Merriwa" - an 84 km ride along the newly finished and quite, rural Coulson's Creek Road towards Willow Tree with what will become an iconic climb up to the Gap! Merriwa sign

Heritage listings

Merriwa has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Bow Street: Colonial Cottage Museum (1857) *

Merriwa railway line The Merriwa railway line is in the Hunter Valley of Northern New South Wales, Australia. The line branches from the Main North line at Muswellbrook and travels southwest to Denman then generally northwest through Sandy Hollow to the town of ...

Merriwa Courthouse Merriwa may refer to several places: * Merriwa, New South Wales Merriwa is a town located in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the far west of the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located on the Golden Highway, northwest of ...

(1958) *

Fitzroy Hotel Merriwa Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

(1914) *

The Royal Hotel Merriwa ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

(1914) *

Holy Trinity Church (1875-99) Holy Trinity Church may refer to: Albania * Holy Trinity Church (Berat), Berat County * Holy Trinity Church, Lavdar, Opar, Korçë County Armenia * Holy Trinity Church, Yerevan Australia * Garrison Church, Sydney, South Wales, also known as '' ...

*The Catholic Church (1881)

Climate

Schools

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

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 Merriw ...

, Dominican sister and educationist

References

External links

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