Murrurundi

Murrurundi (/mʌruːrʌndaɪ/ MURR-oo-RUN-dye) is a rural town located in the Upper Hunter Shire, in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.

Murrurundi is situated 193 kilometres (120 mi) northwest by road from Newcastle and 309 kilometres (192 mi) north of Sydney. At the 2021 census, the town had a population of 822. The town is almost surrounded by mountains of the Liverpool Range, and is located on the Pages River, a tributary of the Hunter River.

Before European settlement, the Murrurundi district was home to the Wanaruah and possibly the Kamilaroi Aboriginal people. The name "Murrurundi" is often erroneously thought to come from an Aboriginal word meaning "nestling in the valley". It does in fact mean "five fingers", a representation of the rock formation visible at the northern end of the township.

European settlement of the area began in the 1820s, and the town itself was established by the New South Wales government in 1840. In the same year, a local landholder, Thomas Haydon, established an adjacent private township called Haydonton. In the 1846 census, Murrurundi had a population of 52, while Haydonton had a total of 117. In 1913, the two neighbouring settlements were merged to create the modern-day town of Murrurundi.

Benjamin Hall, father of bushranger Ben Hall had a small farm in a valley near Murrurundi in 1839. He opened a butcher's shop at Haydonton in 1842. Ben Hall lived at Murrurundi with his family until the age of 13.

Oil shale (kerosene shale) was mined at Mount Temi, some 11.25 kilometres (6.99 mi) to the north of Murrurundi from 1886, but lay dormant for many years. The mine was revived in 1910, by British Australian Oil Company, and a railway was constructed from Temple Court, 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) west of Murrurundi, to the terminal of an aerial ropeway bringing shale from the mine. Operations ceased during the First World War.

In July 1910, a lion, two lionesses and two Russian wolves escaped from Wirth's Circus.

Murrurundi is the nearest major town to the site of the Murulla rail accident, which occurred on 13 September 1926. 27 people were killed when runaway wagons smashed into a mail train.