St Arnaud is a town in the
Wimmera
The Victorian government's Wimmera Southern Mallee subregion is part of the Grampians region in western Victoria. It includes most of what is considered the Wimmera, and part of the southern Mallee region. The subregion is based on the social ...
region of
Victoria,
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 ...
, 244 kilometres north west of the capital
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
. It is in the
Shire of Northern Grampians local government area. At the , St Arnaud had a population of 3,453.
It is named after French marshal
Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud, commander-in-chief of the army of the East. It is one of quite a number of towns, streets etc. named after people and places of the
Crimean War
The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
.
History
St Arnaud is a former gold mining town, situated on the main route between
Ballarat
Ballarat ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria.
Within mo ...
and
Mildura
Mildura ( ) is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 at the 2021 census. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red ...
. The town was settled in the mid-1850s, the post office opening on 1 February 1856.
The former
Anglican Diocese of St. Arnaud (1926-76) was based in St. Arnaud. Its cathedral is now known as Christ Church Old Cathedral, on the corner of Queens Ave. and Raglan St.
Traditional ownership
The formally recognised
traditional owners
Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...
for the area in which St Arnaud sits are the
Dja Dja Wurrung
The Djadjawurrung or Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the traditional owners of lands including the water catchment areas of the Loddon and Avoca ...
people
who are represented by the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation.
Demographics
As of the 2021
census
A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, 2,318 people resided in St Arnaud. The
median
The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
age of persons in St Arnaud was 52 years.
Children aged 0–14 years made up 13.8% of the population.
People over the age of 65 years made up 32.0% of the population
There were slightly more females than males with 51.9% of the population female and 48.1% male.
The average household size is 2 people per household.
The average number of children per family for families with children is 1.8.
85.2% of people in St Arnaud were born in Australia.
Of all persons living in St Arnaud, 2.3% (54 persons) were Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
This is higher than for the state of Victoria (1.0%) and lower than the national average (3.2%).
The most common ancestries in St Arnaud were English 44.6%, Australian 43.4%, Scottish 12.7%, Irish 12.5% and German 3.9%.
Climate
St Arnaud has a warm temperate climate with Mediterranean characteristics. Summers are usually very warm and dry but thunderstorms can occur. Maximums around 32°C–40°C are expected with minimums around 15°C. Winters are quite frosty most nights but daytime temperatures seem to climb to about 9°C–14°C with varied weather.
Present
The town features many well-preserved historic buildings which line the main thoroughfare of Napier Street, including a generous collection of pubs. A number of attractive gardens exist in town, including Pioneer Park (believed to be Australia's only remaining public park designed by
Edna Walling), the Queen Mary Botanic Gardens, the Market Square gardens adjacent to the council offices and Lord Nelson Park which offers sporting facilities as well as attractions such as the old Lord Nelson Mine and views from Wilsons Hill.
The heritage listed 1878 St Arnaud Railway Station received a $1M upgrade in September 2019, to provide a permanent public gallery and a hub for arts, a marketspace for local artists and producers, artists' library and lounge and a community space for lectures and workshops.
A short drive south of St Arnaud towards
Avoca is the
St Arnaud Range National Park, featuring steep and forested terrain, camp sites and the Teddington Reservoir.
Governance
St Arnaud is in the
Shire of Northern Grampians. Formerly it had its own local government area, the
Town of St Arnaud which was headquartered at the former St Arnaud Town Hall, however this was amalgamated into a new shire in 1993. St Arnaud today is a secondary service base for the Shire of Northern Grampians, while the headquarters are in
Stawell.
Culture
Events

The town began an annual festival in 1996, which is held in November every year and includes events such as music concerts, market day, Gopher Grand Prix and numerous exhibitions and displays.
The former town hall functions as a community and performing arts space.
The St Arnaud Raillery Gallery, located at the refurbished St Arnaud Railway Station in Queens Avenue, has regular revolving exhibitions in various mediums. An arts, crafts and producers' marketspace promotes locally produced items.
Sport
St Arnaud has an
Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
team competing in the
North Central Football League.
The St Arnaud
Hockey
''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
Club, with five teams, competes in the North Central Hockey Association. Playing its home games on the grass of Lord Nelson Park, the club has had success on and off the field, with numerous players chosen to play in representative teams.
The St Arnaud
Netball
Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
Club competes in the
North Central Football League against other surrounding towns.
A
horse racing club, the Wimmera Racing Club, schedules two race meetings a year at St Arnaud, including the St Arnaud Cup meeting in October.
Affiliated with the Australian Clay Target Association, the St Arnaud Gun Club hosts
down-the-line shoots each month (except January). With three layouts, the gun club provides for traditional down-the-line, continental and ball trap events.
Golfers play at the St Arnaud Golf Club course.
St Arnaud fields two teams which play in the North Central Tennis Association.
Transport
St Arnaud is located at the junction of the Sunraysia (B220) and Wimmera Highways (B240). The B220 heads north to Donald and south to Avoca, while the Wimmera connects St Arnaud to Horsham in the west and Bendigo in the east.
Coach services also connect St Arnaud to major centres including the V/Line service to Mildura and Melbourne via Ballarat.
Train services for passengers ceased with the closure of the
Mildura railway line
The Mildura railway line is a heavy rail line in northwestern Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Yelta station to Ballarat station via the settlements of Mildura, Ouyen and Maryborough in an approximate south-southeasterly direction ...
in 1993, however
St Arnaud railway station is still an important freight stop on the line.
St Arnaud Aerodrome 6.8 km west of the town centre provides for
general aviation
General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...
.
Notable residents
*
John Ogburn, modern artist, born in St Arnaud
*
Patrick Alfred Jennings, first Catholic Premier of New South Wales, shopkeeper and gold mine owner in St Arnaud
*
Pharez Phillips, St Arnaud town councillor, shopkeeper and farmer, who won the first federal election for the seat of Wimmera
*
Gerald Ridsdale, former Catholic priest convicted of child sexual abuse and indecent assault charges against 71 children
*
Brudenell White, Chief of the General Staff of the Australian Army, born in St Arnaud
*
Maurie Wood, footballer.
Government agencies in the town
*
Victoria Police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''.
, Victor ...
*
Northern Grampians Shire Council
*
Country Fire Authority
*
Victoria State Emergency Service
*
Centrelink
See also
*
St Arnaud Mercury
*
Lake Batyo Catyo
References
External links
St Arnaud Football ClubSt Arnaud Historical SocietySt Arnaud Agricultural SocietyNorthern Grampians Shire Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Arnaud
Towns in Victoria (state)
Wimmera
Mining towns in Victoria (state)