Murrurundi, New South Wales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Location of Murrurundi in New South Wales (red)

This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

Murrurundi is a rural town in Upper Hunter Shire, located in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales. Murrurundi, which is 193 km by road from Newcastle and 309 km from Sydney, has a population of 2162 people (ABS 2006). The town is almost completely surrounded by mountains of the Liverpool Range, and is located on the Pages River, a tributary of the Hunter River.

Prior to European settlement, the Murrurundi district was home to the Wanaruah - and possibly the Kamilaroi - Aboriginal people. European settlement of the area began in the 1820s, and the town itself was established by the New South Wales government in 1840. In the same year, a local landholder - Thomas Haydon - established an adjacent private township called Haydonton. In 1913, the two neighbouring settlements were merged to create the modern-day town of Murrurundi.

The name "Murrurundi" is often erroneously thought to come from an Aboriginal word meaning "nestling in the valley". It does in fact mean "five fingers", a representation of the rock formation visible at the northern end of the township.

Annual events include the annual rodeo and the King of the Ranges stockman challenge.

There are only a few sporting facilities due to the low population. These sports are senior rugby league, touch football, swimming club and cricket.

The New England Highway runs through the town, and it is served a rail service.

[edit] Railway station

Murrurundi railway station is located on the Main North railway line, 352 km from Sydney. The station opened in 1872 and consists of a substantial brick station-house with a passing loop and goods yard.^[1] It continues to be served by a daily rail service operated by a Countrylink Xplorer train to and from Sydney and Armidale/Moree.