Bencubbin Western Australia
Bencubbin in Western Australia is a typical rural town in the north-eastern sector of the state’s wheatbelt. It is a simple rural service centre focussed on the surrounding grain and cereal producers.
The main attractions in the area are the rocks which rise from the flat wheatfields. These rocks were vital for early water supplies and today offer panoramic views over the surrounding countryside. There is also a very unusual sheep yard made from local granite which is worth inspecting.
The history of Bencubbin
The land around Bencubbin was opened for selection in 1910. However the town was not gazetted until 1917, the same year the railway had reached the townsite. Prior to this time the Sandalwood pullers had been through the district and their tracks were later used for roads.
Those areas that had reasonably reliable water in the form of gnamma holes or soaks were also used as grazing country for flocks of sheep with shepherds in the district from the late 1890s. Once the rail line came through settlement stepped up and soon there was a Post Office and other stores to service the district. Prior to this time settlers travelled to Kellerberrin once or twice a year to purchase supplies.
At one time Bencubbin had two general stores, fuel outlets, a butcher, baker, Post Office, Hotel and so on. As the population declined it became harder to support these businesses and slowly they have been absorbed into other businesses in town. A Police service has been present since those early days. At one time there were numerous government employees housed in Bencubbin. Railway workers, agricultural personnel, and advisors all lived and worked in the town.
The social life of the community in the past centred on the Dances and Balls that the various organisations ran, the pictures shown in the Hall by Paddy Baker and the various sports. The school has been part of community life from those very early years and continues to be an important part of the community to this day.
Location of Bencubbin Western Australia
Bencubbin, a typical Western Australian wheatbelt town, is located 280 km north-east of Perth.
Origin of Name
There is some evidence that when the local Roads Board was established in 1923, Bencubbin was named as a simple version of the local Aboriginal word ‘Gnylburngobbing’ which was the local word for a large rock lying to the north of the town. This is ironic as the explorer, J. S. Roe, named the nearby hill, Mount Marshall, precisely because he despised Aboriginal names believing them to be unpronounceable.
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Bencubbin WA, Australia
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