Perenjori

 

 

PERENJORI

 

GPS 29 26 39 S 116 17 14 E

 

 

 

 

FIND ACCOMMODATION

 

Morawa

Three Springs

Nearby Towns

Carnamah

Latham

 

 

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STATISTICS

Distance from Perth

348Km

Population

184

Average Rainfall

332mm

Mean Max Temp

27.4C

Mean Min Temp

12.4C

 

SERVICES

Police

08 9973 0500

Fire and Rescue

8am-5pm 08 9973 1002
5pm-8am 08 9973 1050

Medical

08 9971 0200

Visitor Centre

08 9973 1105

 

CARAVAN PARKS

Perenjori

08 9973 1193

 

HOTEL / MOTEL / B AND B

Hotel

08 9973 1020

 

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

 

 

DESCRIPTION

 

Wheat, sheep and mining are the mainstay of the economy in this area. The wildflowers that bloom in the shire also account for a thiving tourism industry which may be seasonal but is an important income resource.

St. Joseph's church was designed by M. Hawes and is described as 'utilitarian' with regards to its outside appearance. It is one of the few buildings designed by Hawes that is so plain outside. It is possible to see the inside of the church by collecting a key from the shire office.

St. Pauls church was built in 1960 incorporating a crying room. The room had a double glazed window and a loudspeaker so that mothers with crying infants would not miss the service but would not disturb other parishioners.

Perenjori is part of the Monsignor John Hawes Heritage trail that includes the towns of: Carnamah, Morawa, Mullewa, Geraldton, Northampton, Yalgoo, Nanson and Bluff Point.

There is an excellent nature based campsite at Camel Soak about 42 kilometres east of Perenjori. Here a large granite outcrop holds a large pool of water that was originally used by the camel trains and men building the vermin proof fence that runs north to south through the shire.

Another campsite is located near John Forrest Lookout a little further north east.

Hidden behind a screen of trees on the west side of Karara Station Road are the ruins of Damerwah State Farm that opened in the 1920s. This was an agricultural research farm where new strains of wheat were tested.

Header Muster

On the 19th of December 2003, 56 combine harvesters gathered in a paddock on the Cannon family's farm at Bunjil.

The result was an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records for the first ever header muster where the vehicles all worked on the same paddock at the same time.

200ha of wheat was stripped in just 24 minutes and yielded 495 tonnes of grain.

 

HISTORY

 

The area was explored by John Forrest in 1869 but remained untouched until gold was discovered by George Woodley at Rothsay in 1894. Rothsay is about half way between Paynes Find and Perenjori and today is just a ghost town.

By 1897 Rothsay was a small settlement around the mine and at its peak it reached a population of around 500 but the mine closed down in 1902. Claude de Bernales reopened the mine in 1932 but it failed to deliver and was abandoned until 1987 when Metana Minerals had another go but again the mine failed after about 5 years. The area is thought to have produced in excess of 90,000 ounces of gold during the mining years.

Matt and Tom Farrell started farming in the area in 1906 but it took a long time for the town site of Perenjori to be developed.

Perenjori is located between the areas considered farm country and station country. Mining is also an increasing activity in the area. It started life as a railway siding on the Wongan Hills to Mullewa line and was gazetted as a town site in 1916. Small schools were first established in outlying areas in 1912 and the town's first store established in 1922. The town hall was constructed from 1924-5 and this was followed by a hotel in 1927 (Note.This date may be incorrect as we have also seen a date of 1919 for the hotel's construction.)

Originally part of the Irwin Road Board, in 1916 the Morawa-Perenjori Road Board was formed. In 1928 the Perenjori Road Board split from the Morawa Road Board and became a separate entity. In 1931 a hospital was constructed.

The name comes from an Aboriginal word perangary which means waterhole. (One source quotes the name 'Peranj-jiddee' that refers to bushes that surrounded a nearby waterhole.) This is yet another town where the railway station sign was incorrectly written and resulted in the name of the town being changed.

 

TALL TALES AND TRUE

 

Illiterate Pigs Beware

Joe O'Dea built the first structure of any significance in the town of Perenjori.

With his wife he ran a makeshift restaurant and catered to the culinary needs of the railway workers.

Joe kept a number of animals but they were rarely restrained and often wandered into the crop fields of farmers.

One put up a notice saying, 'Poison laid here', but Joe just said that his pigs couldn't read.

The farmer's response was to shoot one of the pigs....

From the book 'Sound of the Cockies' by Bill and Jenny Bunbury.

 

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OTHER INFORMATION

 

ATTRACTIONS

 

Fossicking, wildflowers, salt lakes, nearby ghost towns, Church of St Joseph, Heritage trail, Caron rail trail, Rothsay heritage trail, Mongers lake, Camel Soak, John Forrest Lookout, Damperwah State Farm, Orchid Ridge, People's Pathway.

 

BUILDINGS OF NOTE

 

Church of St Joseph 1937, Hotel.

 

ELECTORAL ZONES

 

State : Moore

Federal : Durack

 

OTHER INFO.

 

Postcode : 6620

Local Government : Shire of Perenjori

 

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