Murringo
Murringo is a tiny historic village located 25 km east of Young and 137 km from Canberra (via Boorowa). It is one of those Australian villages where time has stood still. Driving through it today it is hard to imagine that in the 1860s, when the whole area was awash with bushrangers and gold prospectors, a newspaper described the town as ‘a public thoroughfare and rendezvous for horse stealers and bushrangers, being in the very heart of the lawless district’.
Today
Located midway between Young and Boorowa, Murringo is one of the earliest settlements west of the Great Dividing Range and has a rich past. Historic buildings remain including the former blacksmith’s shop opened in 1879 and the public school built in 1870, which remains the hub of village life today.
Murringo Village Markets are held quarterly. A visit to the bushman museum and tribute centre at the Taubman and Webb Trading Post (which also doubles as a wine tasting venue for nearby Trandari Wines) is a must!
The Museum and Tribute Centre to the late Bushman & whip maker, Syd Bayliss, and to Richard Taubman who has kept his trades and stories alive for over 30 years. On display are many leather products, artifacts, tools and items used by Syd and Richard. On sale are numerous plaited leather products, hats, boots and much more. The Centre also acts as a Cellar Door for nearby Trandari Wines. Murringo is part of the Hilltops Wine Region which surrounds Young.
Richard has been a whip maker for 40 years and has always promoted his mentor, Syd Bayliss. The Taubman & Webb Trading Post is the culmination of himself and his wife Leah’s effort to ensure such valuable Australian heritage is preserved.
Yesterday
Not surprisingly there has been controversy over the town’s name. When the surveyors laid out the town in 1849 the local landowner, John Scarr, was calling his property Marengo, probably after the Italian town where Napoleon had defeated the Austrian Army in 1800. The surveyors ignored this spelling and marked Murringo on their plans. Then, over the years, a whole variety of names gained currency. At various times the village was called Meringo, Marringa, Muringo, Murringo, Maringo, Maringa and Marengo.
The Marengo run was originally taken up along Willawong Creek in 1827 by the partnership of Hazelton and Magee. Up to 1,400 cattle and 2,000 sheep were run on the unfenced property. Shepherds were employed to care for the flocks of sheep and protect them from marauding dingoes. A survey map of 1849 shows a dairy, house, woolshed and blacksmith’s shop. Marengo functioned as a way station and coaching stop in the late 19th century. Chinese gardeners also tended large market gardens along the creek.
The village was first surveyed in February 1849 and proclaimed in 1850. It became a flour milling centre and resting place for teamsters. A post office was established at Marengo on 1 January 1857. Marengo served as the commercial and population hub and saw increased development in the 1860s as it benefited from increased traffic generated by the gold rushes at Lambing Flat and the Lachlan in the early 1860s.
The village was never large. In 1861 there were 128 residents; in 1871 this had dropped to 119. Still this did not deter the local residents. In 1865 a tea meeting was held and £200 was raised to build Christ Church Anglican Church. It was designed by Reverend Soares and completed in 1866. It still stands. A few years later in 1871 a collection was taken up at Michael O’Connor’s hotel and in 1874 the foundation stone of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church was laid.
It wasn’t until 1926, when the local post office’s name was changed, that the official name became Murringo.
The development of Murringo had been largely stifled by the rapid growth of Young following the gold rushes. It was planned as a substantial centre and the survey included a market place, a large cemetery and an extensive recreation area. The construction of the Murrumburrah-Blayney Railway (via Young) in the 1880s, and subsequent road construction and upgrading further reinforced Young’s pre-eminence. As a consequence Murringo was reduced to the role of being a service centre for the farms and stations in its surrounds.
Image Gallery
Key Highlights
- Taubman & Webb Trading Post
- Murringo Village Market
- Historic Buildings
- Trandari Wine Tastings
Other Shire Towns to Explore