Werris Creek facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Werris Creek New South Wales
Single St, the main street of Werris Creek, 2017
Werris Creek Location in New South Wales
Population	1,437 (2011 census)
Postcode(s)	2341
Elevation	380 m (1,247 ft)
LGA(s)	Liverpool Plains Shire
County	Buckland
Parish	Church of Saint Pat-Ricky Martin
State electorate(s)	Tamworth
Federal Division(s)	New England

Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had a population of 1,437.

History

The area is thought to have been once occupied by the Kamilaroi Aborigines.'Werris' appears to derive from an Aboriginal word first written as 'Weia Weia', though the exact meaning is not known. There is a similar aboriginal word pronounced "Werai" which means "look out" and this may be related because of the prominent hills in the area. In earlier years Werris was written in a variety of ways, including Werres, Werries and Weery's.

The first European settlers came to the area in the 1830s and the Weia Weia Creek Station was established by the Reverend Francis Vidal around 1841. By the 1870s, there were 20 pastoral families occupying the valley and on the eastern side of the present townsite was Summer Hill station, belonging to John Single, after whom the main street is named.

Werris Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1878 and a railway station was built there in 1879, designed by the NSW railway engineer John Whitton. It is 411 km (255 mi) from Sydney by rail and was termed 'the first railway town in Australia'.

On 2 October 2013 Werris Creek was slated to be the location for a film, Unbroken, written by the Coen brothers, and directed by Angelina Jolie.

Geography

Werris Creek is overlooked by Mount Terrible, known to the locals as 'Terrible Billy'. It is 380m or 1246 feet above sea level. It has an average annual rainfall of 685 mm or 27 inches. On 18 July 1965, for the first and only time in recorded history, Werris Creek was blanketed by three inches of snow.

Facilities

Werris Creek has one school, Werris Creek Public, which was established in the 1880s, The town previously had two schools, with St Joseph's Catholic school having been established in 1915 but it closed on 9 April 2009.

The town has a swimming pool (opened in 1968), tennis courts, bowling green and golf club. There is a rugby league team, the Magpies, which is part of the NSW Country Rugby League, Group 4 competition. In 1996 the Werris Creek Magpies won the Clayton Cup for being the best performed, premiership-winning first grade team, in country New South Wales.

The town has a large grain silo and a recently opened (2005) coal mine. The main employer in the town is Pacific National rail company. A high percentage of the working population are also employed in nearby Tamworth.

Werris Creek is a four-hour drive from Sydney and is situated midway between the famous wine growing area of the Hunter Region and the cooler climate vineyards of the Northern Tablelands. Werris Creek is also located within three hours of beaches in Newcastle and four hours of Australia's coastal resorts of Forster, Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour.

Country music

American singer/songwriter and Country/Rockabilly recording artist Jason Lee Wilson memorialized the town in the song "Werris Creek" which was included on his 2007 debut solo album entitled "High Country".

Images for kids

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  Werris Creek railway station.