GNOWANGERUP

HEMA Map reference 74/G6

33° 56' 16" S 118° 00' 21" E

Statistics

Km from Perth	356
Population	737
Rainfall	403mm
Max Temp	C
Min Temp	C
Autogas
Telecentre	Yes

Caravan Park

Unknown

Services

Police	08 9827 1202
SES	08 9827 1160
Hospital	08 9827 2222
Tourist bureau	08 9827 1007

Attractions

Steam tractor, Aylmore mineral spring, Stirling Range, Machinery museum, History Centre.

Buildings of note

Unknown

Calendar of events

January: Australia Day Breakfast. August: Merino stud fields days. December: Carols by candle light.

Description

The town's name, like so many in W.A. originates from the Aboriginal language. The closest translation is probably, "Place of the mallee hen eggs" and the name is thought to originate from an Aboriginal legend about two warriors who fought and killed each other near some mineral springs. One warrior was reincarnated as a mallee hen 'gnow' and the other as an emu 'waitch' which in turn became the name of the town of Wagin.

The ‘Place of the mallee hen’ was explored by settled in the 1850s, but not gazetted as a town until 1905 (another source quotes 1908) when the original spelling was Ngowangerupp. Sandalwood was the main industry in the area in the late 1800s and by 1912 the railway arrived. There are natural mineral springs near the town which were originally responsible for drawing people to the area.

Today it is the centre of a sheep breeding area that incorporates several merino studs. Gnowangerup is both the name of the town and the name of the shire. Within the shire boundaries there are two other towns: Bordern and Ongerup. The shire covers about 5,000 square kilometres with most of the area being part of the oldest land on the planet. It is estimated that rocks in this region are 3,000 million years old.

The Stirling Range that we see today was, 1,500 million years ago, part of a large lake that gradually filled with sediments. After the sediments had been turned into rock, geological forces pushed them upward to form one of the few true mountain ranges in W.A.

A link to Ned Kelly

Ned Kelly may have been hanged as a bushranger but before he died he did father some children and his daughter moved here and was the publican at the local hotel. Today a statue of Ned stands near the pub. (This story needs confirmation.)