Werris Creek

The area was originally occupied by the Gamilaraay people. "Werris" appears to derive from an Aboriginal word first written as "Weia Weia", but the exact meaning is not known. There is a similar Aboriginal word pronounced "werai", which means "look out", which might be related, because there are 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{{Cite web|last = Premier Postal History|title = Post Office List|publisher = Premier Postal Auctions|url = https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=NSW&country=|access-date = 2011-05-26}} and a railway station was built there in 1879, designed by the NSW railway engineer John Whitton. It is {{convert|411|km|0|abbr=on}} from Sydney by rail and was termed 'the first railway town in Australia'.{{cite web|url=http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/lab/90/rogers.html|title=Philippa Rogers The Australian Railway Monument and Rail Journeys Museum|publisher=www.historycooperative.org|access-date=2008-05-05}}

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.{{cite news|last=Clifford|first=Catherine|title=Hollywood actor Angelina Jolie starts filming scenes for the movie 'Unbroken' in Werris Creek|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-13/hollywood-comes-to-werris-creek/5154382|access-date=15 December 2013|newspaper=ABC News|date=14 December 2013}}

Werris Creek has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Main Northern railway: Werris Creek railway station{{cite NSW SHR|5012287|Werris Creek Railway Station, yard group and movable relics|hr=01285|fn=H98/00165, 12/08066|access-date=18 May 2018}}

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.

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.[http://www.nbntv.com.au/index.php/2009/03/19/werris-creek-primary-closes-doors/ Werris Creek Primary closes - NBN Television News story, 11 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 Group 4 Rugby League 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. 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 Valley 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.

Image:Werris Creek railway station.JPG]]

Werris Creek railway station opened in 1878, and was moved to its present location in 1880.[http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Werris+Creek&line=NSW:main_north:0 Werris Creek Railway Station]. NSWrail.net. Accessed 1 April 2008. The heritage listed Werris Creek station building, built in the late 1880s, was designed by the famed NSW railway engineer John Whitton. The Australian Railway Monument was opened in October 2005 near the station and part of the station building has been opened as a railway museum.Werris Creek ARM opens Railway Digest November 2005 page 16 A historic display depicts the history of Werris Creek as the first railway town in Australia from the age of steam through to the modern day diesel. It is still served by the daily NSW TrainLink Xplorer service to and from Sydney Central which amalgamates/divides at the station, half the train to and from Armidale, the other half to and from Moree.[https://transportnsw.info/regional-north-west-line North West timetable] NSW TrainLink Werris Creek was a railway town with a large locomotive depot.Locomotive Depot No 9: Werris Creek Roundhouse July 1986 pages 4-28

Marie Hodson, a country musician, lives in Werris Creek.{{Cite web |last=Clifford |first=Catherine |date=8 March 2013 |title=Nearly 80 attend Festival post-mortem |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-08/nearly-80-attend-tcmf-post-mortem/4561900?date=201303&pfmredir=sm |access-date=2 July 2023 |website=ABC News}}

Tokyo 2020 Australian rhythmic gymnast Scott Suckling began his career in Werris Creek.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

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".{{Citation|title=Werris Creek|url=https://open.spotify.com/track/0xROcfqDisD603e2s2imc2|language=en|access-date=2021-05-01}}

Bobby Rivers played by musician and Australian Rock Legend, Jon English, reminisces about growing up in Werris Creek in the 1960s during an episode of the final series of his TV sitcom All Together Now, an actual yearbook from Werris Creek school 1967 was used as a prop in the episode.{{Citation|last=Entertainment|first=Umbrella|title=Watch All Together Now - Series 4 Online {{!}} Vimeo On Demand|date=2019-04-03|url=https://vimeo.com/ondemand/alltogethernowseries4|access-date=2021-05-01}}

In 2013, different historic locations in Werris Creek including the train station, alleyways and streets were filmed for Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken" (2014). During the filming, Angelina visited Werris Creek and walked around the town talking with locals and happily had pictures taken with them.{{Cite web |last=Clifford |first=Catherine |date=12 December 2013 |title=Angelina Jolie begins filming in small NSW town |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-13/hollywood-comes-to-werris-creek/5154382 |access-date=1 May 2021 |website=ABC News|language=}}

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Category:Liverpool Plains Shire

Category:Railway towns

Category:Towns in New England (New South Wales)