Mardella
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = suburb
| name = Mardella
| city = Perth
| state = wa
| image = Mardella Old General Store, December 2020 01.jpg
| caption = The former General Store at Mardella
| lga = Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale
| map_type = nomap
| local_map = yes
| zoom = 11
| coordinates = {{coord|32.32036|S|115.95101|E|display=inline,title}}
| postcode = 6125
| est = 1997
| pop =
| area = 64.4
| area_footnotes = {{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL50901|name=Mardella(Suburbs and Localities)|access-date=23 July 2022}}
| stategov = Darling Range
| fedgov = Canning
| near-nw = Oldbury
| near-ne = Mundijong/
Jarrahdale
| near-w = Baldivis
| near-e = Jarrahdale
| near-sw = Baldivis
| near-s = Hopeland/
Serpentine
| near-se = Serpentine
| dist1 = 41
| location1= Perth
| dist2 = 20
| location2= Armadale
| dist3 = 20
| location3= Rockingham
| dist4 = 32
| location4= Mandurah
}}
Mardella is an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia, lying approximately {{convert|41|km|mi}} south-southeast of the central business district. It is located within the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, and at the 2011 census had a population of 303 people. Although falling within the Perth metropolitan area, Mardella is mostly rural in nature, with a significant proportion of the population engaged in farming.{{Census 2011 AUS|id=SSC50469|name=Mardella (State Suburb) |accessdate=28 January 2017|quick=on}}
History
Mardella is named after the Mardella Farm, which was established in the first few decades of European settlement.For instance, [http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2933013 this March 1861 advertisement] in The Perth Gazette offers "Mardella Farm, Serpentine" for sale or lease. The names of both Mardella and the nearby Medulla Brook are derived from the same Aboriginal root word. Mardella has been used as a locality name since at least 1898, when a railway siding on the South Western Railway was opened under that name. However, it was only formally gazetted as a suburb in 1997.[https://www0.landgate.wa.gov.au/maps-and-imagery/wa-geographic-names/name-history/historical-suburb-names Perth suburb names], Landgate. Retrieved 28 January 2017. A community organisation erected a district hall in the 1950s,[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148937720 "Mardella Hall Site Granted"], South Western Advertiser, 19 June 1952. and at one stage Mardella supported a general store.[http://www.mingor.net/localities/mardella.html Mardella], Photographs of Perth and the South West of Western Australia. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
Geography
The Serpentine River flows through Mardella, forming parts of its western and southern boundaries. The suburb also contains Medulla Brook, a small ephemeral stream. The western portion of Mardella contains a significant amount of uncleared bushland, as well as a small pine plantation. The rest of the suburb is mostly farmland. Mardella's eastern boundary is the South Western Highway, which links Perth with the South West. Part of its northern boundary is the route of a proposed extension to Tonkin Highway.Perth Street Directory (4th edition), Quality Publishing Australia (2014), pp. 340–341, 361–363.
The Lowlands Nature Reserve, situated along the Serpentine River in the west of Mardella, was declared in 2014.{{cite web |url=https://www.dcceew.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/capad2022-terrestrial-wa.xlsx |title=Terrestrial CAPAD 2022 WA summary |author= |website=www.dcceew.gov.au/ |publisher=Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water |access-date=18 November 2024}}{{cite web |url=https://nationalmap.gov.au/ |title=NationalMap |author= |date= |website=nationalmap.gov.au |publisher=Geoscience Australia |access-date=18 November 2024 |quote=}} It is located around the heritage listed Lowlands Homestead.{{cite web |url=https://inherit.dplh.wa.gov.au/Public/Inventory/Details/4da91a7f-d087-438a-87af-2265f98dc761 |title=Lowlands Homestead |author= |date= |website=inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au |publisher=Heritage Council of Western Australia |access-date=18 November 2024|quote=}}