Werris Creek
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Werris Creek New South Wales |
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War memorial and church, Werris Creek.
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 Werris Creek
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| Coordinates | 31°20′S 150°39′E / 31.333°S 150.650°ECoordinates: 31°20′S 150°39′E / 31.333°S 150.650°E |
| Population | 1,437 (2011 census) |
| Postcode(s) | 2341 |
| Elevation | 380 m (1,247 ft) |
| LGA(s) | Liverpool Plains Shire |
| State electorate(s) | Tamworth |
| Federal Division(s) | New England |
Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had a population of 1,437.
The area is thought to have been once occupied by the Kamilaroi Aborigines.'Werris' appears to derive from an Aboriginal word first written as 'Weia Weia', though the exact meaning is not known. There is a similar aboriginal word pronounced "Werai" which means "look out" and this may be related because of the 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 and a railway station was built there in 1879, designed by the NSW railway engineer John Whitton. It is 411 km (255 mi) from Sydney by rail and was termed 'the first railway town in Australia'.
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.
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.
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