Werrimull is a small town and locality in the

Rural City of Mildura The Rural City of Mildura is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the north-western part of the state. It covers an area of being the largest LGA in the state. In ...

, part of the

Sunraysia Sunraysia is an illdefined district, sometimes incorrectly referred to as an economic region, located in northwestern Victoria and southwestern New South Wales in Australia. The region is renowned for its sunshine, intensive horticulture inclu ...

region of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. The place by road, is situated about 10 kilometres west of Karawinna and 10 kilometres east of Bambill. It is west southwest of

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 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point and Merbein are included, the area had ...

, 13 kilometres south of the

Sturt Highway Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions situated adjacent to the r ...

opposite Lake Cullulleraine. At the , Werrimull and the surrounding area had a population of 112, declining from 320 in 2011. ''Werrimull'' is an indigenous Australian word believed to mean Eagle. ''Werrimull'' is sometimes misspelt ''Werrimul'' possibly because it is confused with an indigenous group from the

Horsham Horsham is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby to ...

region.

History

The

Millewa The Millewa is a region of north western Victoria (Australia), Victoria in Australia. History The County of Millewa was proclaimed in the area in the nineteenth century. In the 1960s the then dryland farming areas of Nangiloc, Victoria, Nangiloc ...

was opened up to farming in the 1920s, the Post Office opening on 24 June 1924. The railway reached Werrimull in 1923, officially opened 1924, but closed by 1989. Much of the native

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...

trees were cleared to make way for farming. This has given rise to

soil salinity Soil salinity is the salt content in the soil; the process of increasing the salt content is known as salinization. Salts occur naturally within soils and water. Salination can be caused by natural processes such as mineral weathering or by the ...

in the area. Most of the Werrimull area was a

Soldier Settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlemen ...

with blocks of approximately allocated. This was found to be too small and many were unable to make a living in this region. The population of the Millewa has been in steady decline over many years. The area of the locality contains a number of previous localities which existed when the population was larger, namely Bambill which had a post office open from 1926 until 1959, Bambill South with a post office from 1928 until 1930, Karawinna with a post office from 1924 until 1970, Karawinna North on the

with a post office from 1928 until 1951, Yarrara with a post office from 1926 until 1978 and Yarrara North on the Sturt Highway.

The town today

The main industry in Werrimull and the Millewa is the

harvesting Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...

of grains such as

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

and

oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...

. There is also a strong

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

and

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult mal ...

industry. Werrimull is also a stop-over for a small number of tourists that visit the Millewa Pioneer Forest. Werrimull 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 oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

team competing in the

Millewa Football League The Millewa Football League is an Australian rules football league with teams based in north-western Victoria, Australia, Victoria and south-western New South Wales, Australia. The clubs are mostly based within the same area as the clubs in the ...

that was strong in the 1920s and 1970s. Their most recent premiership win was in 2013. Werrimull P-12 School, the main school in the Millewa, caters for students from the ages of 5 to 18.

References

External links

Millewa Pioneer Park
{{authority control Towns in Victoria (Australia) Mallee (Victoria)