31-652: Somerton may refer to: Places [ edit ] Australia [ edit ] Somerton, New South Wales Somerton Park, South Australia , a seaside Adelaide suburb Somerton Man , unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach Somerton, Victoria United Kingdom [ edit ] Somerton, Newport , Wales Somerton, Norfolk , England East Somerton West Somerton Somerton, Oxfordshire , England Somerton, Somerset , England Hundred of Somerton ,
62-503: A station on the Mungindi railway line and is served by the daily NSW TrainLink Xplorer passenger service to and from Sydney and Moree . It claims the title "Koala Capital of World". In recent years the local shire council has moved away from this promotional tagline and there are concerns over the health of the local koala population and the impacts of climate change and local mining developments on koala habitat. Gunnedah and
93-435: A former administrative unit Somerton, Suffolk , England Somerton Castle , Lincolnshire, England United States [ edit ] Somerton, Arizona Somerton, Ohio Somerton, Philadelphia , a neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Somerton, Virginia , a former town in the defunct Nansemond County People [ edit ] Edward Somerton (died 1461), an Irish barrister Baron Somerton,
124-530: A mining boom resulting in rental properties being leased by mining companies for up to $ 1,350 per week. Gunnedah has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: According to the 2016 census of Population, there are 9,726 people in Gunnedah. The most popular sport in Gunnedah by a wide margin is Rugby league . The local team, the Gunnedah Bulldogs, play out of Kitchener Park. They compete in
155-486: A popular holiday park and a NSW Sport and Recreation Centre. The main purpose of the dam is to supply irrigation, stock and household needs in the Namoi Valley, although it is an extremely popular weekend destination for Tamworth and Gunnedah residents. Somerton village is unique in the area as it sits squarely on the high-yielding Gunnedah and Narrabri aquifer formations. The Gunnedah aquifer formation sits above
186-559: A primary school, roadhouse, hotel and memorial hall. Somerton is located close to a number of key employment hubs in the New England region, including the regional cities of Tamworth and Gunnedah. Initially known as Goora, the town of Somerton has a rich history, founded on the wealth of the Liverpool Plains . Somerton stands alone in the area as being a very old settlement, chosen by the first Commissioner of Crown Lands for
217-559: A private railway some 5.7 kilometres (3.5 mi) in length had been completed from the railway station to their mine. In September 1957, the Government Railway took over the working of the line. Dorothea Mackellar wrote her famous poem My Country (popularly known as I Love a Sunburnt Country ) about her family's farm near Gunnedah. This is remembered by the annual Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards for school students held in Gunnedah. In early 2012, Gunnedah experienced
248-407: A serious set-back in business, when his general store burnt out completely - which was found through a Coronial Inquiry to have occurred through no fault of his own. On 22 February 1913, Heugh used newspaper advertising to optimistically notify his patrons that a new store was under construction, and he would temporarily trade from his previous premises while the new store was built. After establishing
279-491: A subsidiary title of the Earls of Normanton See also [ edit ] All pages with titles containing Somerton Somerton railway station (disambiguation) Summerton (disambiguation) Summertown (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Somerton . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
310-527: A textbook subtropical climate with temperatures regularly exceeding 40 °C in summer and dropping below 0 °C in winter. This is due to the town's far inland location on the North West Slopes . Its average annual rainfall is 632.9 mm (24.9 in), which is spread throughout the year, however severe thunderstorms in the summer months often cause heavy downpours which boost rainfall totals. The highest daily maximum temperature recorded
341-507: Is a town in north-central New South Wales , Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area . In the 2021 census the town recorded a population of 8,338. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains , a fertile agricultural region, with 80% of the surrounding shire area devoted to farming. The Namoi River flows west then north-west through the town providing water beneficial to agricultural operations in
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#1732766243301372-557: Is a village between Tamworth and Gunnedah on the Oxley Highway in northern New South Wales Australia . In the 2016 census , there were 277 people in Somerton. Somerton Village adjoins the plentiful Peel River . The area surrounding Somerton is an agricultural region specialising in broad-acre cropping and large scale grazing. Lucerne is grown along the fertile Peel River flats. Services available in Somerton include
403-755: The Group 4 Rugby League competition, in which they have won seven premierships. Other sports teams include the Gunnedah AFL Bulldogs competing in AFL North West NSW , Gunnedah Red Devils RUFC competing in the Central Northern Rugby Union and Gunnedah FC competing in the Northern Inland Football . Gunnedah Shire is situated 264 metres (866 ft) above sea level on the Liverpool Plains in
434-526: The Namoi River valley. It is very flat; the tallest hills are 400 to 500 metres (1,300 to 1,600 ft) above sea level. The climate is hot in summer, mild in winter and dry, although rainstorms in catchment areas occasionally cause flooding of the Namoi River. Major floods cut transport links to the town, briefly isolating it from the outside world. The town is located on a rich coal seam and within
465-653: The Dunnet family, of Narrabri, who also publishes the bi-weekly The Courier newspaper in Narrabri. 2MO began broadcasting in 1930 and was only the fourth Radio Licence issued in Australia, being the first station established in Australia outside a capital city. The Oxley Highway and the Kamilaroi Highway both pass through Gunnedah, for a short distance, concurrently. The Oxley Highway leads to Tamworth in
496-568: The Liverpool Plains - Edward Mayne - as the headquarters for the vast Liverpool Plains Pastoral District in 1840. Somerton was established as the barracks for Commissioner Mayne and his contingent of Border Police troopers assigned to him to maintain order and consolidate British colonisation over the vast north western district. On 6 May 1856 notice was given that approved plans for the town of Somerton had been lodged in Tamworth, and
527-594: The New England Institute of TAFE is also located within the town. Local media include the Gunnedah Times and Namoi Valley Independent newspapers and the radio stations 2MO and 2GGG. The Namoi Valley Independent , published by Australian Community Media, switched to a digital-only newspaper model in 2020. The Gunnedah Times started as a print newspaper in November 2020 and is published by
558-641: The Somerton Sports Club in 1913, and registering a company David Heugh Pty Ltd in 1914, Heugh left the new general store in the responsibility of his brother, Blandford Heugh, and enlisted in the Army on 13 September 1914. David Heugh was the first person from the New England region to lose his life in Gallipoli , dying on 29 April 1915. The AIF Project also provides detailed insights into
589-514: The area focused on wool production, Gunnedah was initially known as 'The Woolshed' until taking its name from the local Indigenous people who called themselves the Gunn-e-darr , the most famous of whom was Cumbo Gunnerah . Coal was discovered on Black Jack Hill in 1877. By 1891, 6,000 tons of coal had been raised from shafts. The Gunnedah Colliery Company was registered in May 1899 and by 22 June
620-496: The area. The Gunnedah area is a significant producer of cotton, coal, beef, lamb and pork, and cereal and oilseed grains. Gunnedah is also home to AgQuip , Australia's largest annual agricultural field day . Gunnedah is located on the Oxley and Kamilaroi Highways providing convenient road links to much of the northern sector of the state including to the regional centre Tamworth , 75 kilometres (47 mi) distant. The town has
651-541: The bedrock and contains coarse sands and gravel with particularly high hydraulic conductivity - acting as the main conduit for groundwater west under the Liverpool Plains. The Narrabri aquifer formation caps the Gunnedah aquifer, and hydraulic conductivity is typically lower than that of the Gunnedah formation. Groundwater use in the Gunnedah Basin area totals some 1,260 gigalitres (280 × 10 ^ imp gal; 330 × 10 ^ US gal) mostly drawn from
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#1732766243301682-461: The east and Coonabarabran to the west. The Kamilaroi Highway leads to Quirindi to the south-east and Boggabri to the north-west. Gunnedah railway station is situated on the Mungindi (or North West) railway line , 475 kilometres (295 mi) from Sydney. The station, opened in 1879, consists of a substantial station building on a single side platform, a passing loop and small goods yard. There are also sidings serving an adjacent flour mill. To
713-403: The following men of Somerton that served at war: Somerton is close to a range of popular recreation facilities, including Keepit Dam and Somerton National Park . Keepit Dam is a popular inland sport and recreation destination, offering year-round attractions for water sports and fishing enthusiasts, nature lovers, bushwalkers , campers and picnickers. The lake foreshores are home to
744-411: The high-yielding alluvial aquifers that exist from the Liverpool Plains to west of Narrabri. The bulk of this water is used for irrigation, with only small percentages used for town water supply and mining and an even smaller volume used for stock and domestic purposes. Somerton is surrounded by good cropping and pastoral land, and as a convict settlement in the 1800s, was also home to a large orchard on
775-476: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Somerton&oldid=1240566812 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Place name disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Somerton, New South Wales Somerton
806-511: The northern New South Wales wheat belt. The Gunnedah area is noted for its abundance of native wildlife, including kangaroos , echidnas and koalas . Koalas can often be found in trees within the town, as well as in the surrounding countryside with the help of signs placed by the local tourist centre. The koala population is considered to be the largest koala colony in the state, west of the Great Dividing Range. Gunnedah has
837-522: The river flats with the final tree from the original orchard falling in the 1910 flood. In about 1910 the district around Somerton had 7,854 hectares (19,408 acres) of wheat which produced 273,906 bushel of wheat, with reports suggesting incredible growth and diversification was happening at the time. Somerton's location at the gateway to the very highly productive Liverpool Plains places it among some of Australia's finest broadacre rural lands. Gunnedah Gunnedah ( / ˈ ɡ ʌ n ə d ɑː / )
868-557: The surrounding areas were originally inhabited by Aboriginal Australians speaking the Kamilaroi ( Gamilaraay ) language. The name of the town in Kamilaroi means "Place of White Stones". In 1818, English surveyor general John Oxley traversed the district, for which a monument pays tribute to him at the base of Mullaley Mountain. The area now occupied by the town was settled by European sheep farmers in 1833 or 1834. With settlement in
899-457: The village of Somerton was officially divided into streets and town allotments in 1858. In the early 1900s, Somerton had two general stores, one operating as a general store and post office, and the other - on Bloomfield Street - operating as David Heugh General Stores. David Heugh, born 21 May 1890, was an ambitious and optimistic young man, with consistent marketing of his wares published in local newspapers. On 31 December 1912, Heugh suffered
930-399: The west of the station there are extensive sidings serving grain silos and loop sidings serving coal loading facilities. For a brief three-year period after the railway arrived in Gunnedah it was the railhead until construction was completed to Boggabri and then to Narrabri South Junction in 1882. Currently a single daily Xplorer diesel railmotor operating between Sydney and Moree serves
961-543: Was 48.7 °C (119.7 °F), on 24 January 1882; the lowest daily maximum temperature recorded was 4.4 °C (39.9 °F), on 4 August 1921. Snow is very rare, with the most recent occurrence in 1984. Gunnedah has three secondary schools: Gunnedah High School, Carinya Christian school and St Mary's College. There are three government (Gunnedah Public School, Gunnedah South Public School, and G.S. Kidd Memorial School) and two non-government (St Xavier's Catholic School and Carinya Christian School) primary schools. A campus of