Metricup, Western Australia Explained

Type:town
Metricup
State:wa
Lga:City of Busselton
Local Map:yes
Zoom:11
Postcode:6280
Timezone:AWST
Utc:+8
Coordinates:-33.7667°N 123°W
Stategov:Vasse
Fedgov:Forrest
Dist1:252
Location1:Perth
Dist2:32
Location2:Busselton
Dist3:18
Location3:Margaret River
Dist4:6
Location4:Cowaramup

Metricup is a locality in the South West region of Western Australia near the town of Cowaramup on the Bussell Highway. It is in the Margaret River wine region and its local government area is the City of Busselton. At the 2021 census, it had a population of 263.

History

Established as the social centre for Group 60 of the Group Settlement Scheme in the 1920s, Metricup was known as Boyndlie Park until 1928, when it was renamed to its present name after the railway siding on the Flinders Bay Branch Railway; no variant of the name appears in any South West Aboriginal word-lists and it is believed that the name was invented by the Western Australian Government Railways department.[1] [2] [3] A school operated in the area from 1924 to 1953 and the St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, which is still operating, opened in 1935.[2] [4] [5]

Present day

Tourist accommodation, Wine-making, cattle-farming, and gourmet food production are the main industries of the area.[6] Metricup contains the Margaret River Chocolate Company, established in 1999 as the first chocolate factory in the Margaret River region,[7] [8] and the Margaret River Dairy Company, which under an earlier incarnation was the first Western Australian company to commercially produce Brie cheese in 1986.[9] [10] St Mary's Anglican Girls' School, which is based in the Perth suburb of Karrinyup, has an outdoor education centre in Metricup.[11]

Notes and References

  1. [Landgate]
  2. Web site: St. John the Baptist Anglican Church & Group 60 Memorial. Heritage Council of Western Australia. 23 August 2019.
  3. Web site: Boynlie Park [i.e. Boyndlie Park]. Group 60. Alteration of name to Metricup.]. State Records Office of Western Australia. 23 August 2019.
  4. Web site: WA Schools Gazetteer. Geoproject Solutions. 10 December 2018. 23 August 2019.
  5. Web site: Anglican Community of Metricup. Anglican Diocese of Bunbury. 23 August 2019.
  6. Web site: Other towns. Your Margaret River Region. 23 August 2019.
  7. Web site: Margaret River's chocolatiers put new spin on old favourites from parsnip to sushi flavours. ABC South West WA. Roxanne. Taylor. 21 April 2019. 23 August 2019.
  8. Web site: Margaret River. The Margaret River Chocolate Company. 23 August 2019.
  9. Web site: Local history. Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. 23 August 2019.
  10. Web site: Margaret River Dairy Company rises out of the ashes. Augusta-Margaret River Mail. 30 July 2014. Kellie. Tannock. 23 August 2019.
  11. Web site: Outdoor Education. St Mary's Anglican Girls' School. 23 August 2019.