Ballandean is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Southern Downs Region The Southern Downs Region is a local government area (LGA) in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia. The region runs along the state's southern boundary with New South Wales and was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of War ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. The town has a number of nearby

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s which attracted tourists to the area. In the , the locality of Ballandean had a population of 316 people.

Geography

The Severn River marks part of the northern boundary. Kelvin Grove Creek, Washpool Creek, Accommodation Creek and Smiths Creek all flow through Ballandean into the Severn River. The

New England Highway New England Highway is an long highway in Australia running from Yarraman, Queensland, Yarraman, north of Toowoomba, Queensland, at its northern end to Hexham, New South Wales, Hexham at Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, New South Wales, ...

passes through Ballandean from north to south in the north-east of Ballandean in close parallel to the Southern railway line. The Ballandean railway station is in this area and the urban development surrounds the railway station. The station is now closed as there are no passenger services on this line. The rest of the locality is predominantly farmland. Apple Vale is a neighbourhood in the north of the locality ().

History

The name ''Ballandean'' derives from the name of a pastoral run, belonging to Henry Hayter Nicol in 1841, believed to be linked to his childhood association with Ballindean House, near

Inchture Inchture () is a village in Scotland between Dundee and Perth on the northern side of the Firth of Tay. It is approximately from Dundee city centre and from Perth. The village is bypassed by on the A90 trunk road and benefits from a flyover ...

Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The town was surveyed and officially named in 1872. Thomas Henry Fletcher built the Britannia Inn in the same year which attracted other businesses to the area. Fletcher went on to establish the first commercial orchard on the

Granite Belt The Granite Belt is an area of the Great Dividing Range in the Darling Downs region of Queensland and the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Granite Belt is centred on the town of Stanthorpe. The cool, high country of the gr ...

.Ballandean Post Office opened on 1 January 1873. Land in Ballandean was open for selection on 17 April 1877; were available. Ballandean State School opened on 18 January 1909 under head teacher Frances Emily Wallace. Apple Vale State School opened on 19 February 1914. In 1924, it became a half-time school in conjunction with Somme State School in

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France * Somme, Queensland, Australia * Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), ...

(meaning the two schools shared a single teacher). Both schools closed in August 1927. Apple Vale State School was on the south-west corner of Sundown Road and Mcmeniman Road (). St Oswald's Anglican Church was dedicated on 1 March 1926 by

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Gerald Sharp. Although it has now closed, the church building is still located at 12 Bents Road ().

Demographics

In the , the locality of Ballandean had a population of 338 people. In the , the locality of Ballandean had a population of 316 people.

Heritage listings

Ballandean has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: *

south-west The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A ''compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each ...

of Ballandean: Ballandean Homestead

Education

Ballandean State School is a government primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at Bent's Road (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 40 students with 5 teachers (4 full-time equivalent) and 6 non-teaching staff (3 full-time equivalent).

Attractions

The man-made

Ballandean Pyramid The Ballandean Pyramid is a man-made stone pyramid near the small village of Ballandean, Queensland, Australia. The pyramid is approximately 15 metres in height and built from blocks of the local granite. (It should not be confused with the ne ...

was constructed by Ken Stubberfield as a way to dispose of excess granite on his farm and is an unusual sight in Queensland. The Balladean railway station is a well-known landmark on the

due to the big dinosaur in front of it, nicknamed the Fruitisforus (''Fruit-is-for-us''). The dinosaur was originally constructed for a float in the 1998 Apple and Grape Festival. After the festival, the community placed it in front of the railway station to get passing traffic to stop and buy fruit for a community fundraiser. It proved so popular that it was reinforced with fibregrass and painted and made a permanent roadside feature. It is long and high.

References

External links

ad * {{Authority control Towns in Queensland Southern Downs Region 1872 establishments in Australia Populated places established in 1872 Localities in Queensland