Walpole | |||||||||||||
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  Walpole | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Walpole | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:34°59′S116°42′E / 34.98°S 116.7°E /-34.98; 116.7 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Western Australia | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location | |||||||||||||
| Established | 1933 | ||||||||||||
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| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 56.3 km2 (21.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 336 (UCL2021)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 6398 | ||||||||||||
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Walpole is a town in thesouth-western region ofWestern Australia, located approximately 430 km (270 mi) south southeast ofPerth, and 66 km (41 mi) west ofDenmark.
Walpole lies very close to the northern point of the 100 ha (250-acre)Walpole Inlet, from which it takes its name.
The inlet in turn is named for theWalpole River, discovered in 1831 by CaptainThomas Bannister, and named byGovernor Stirling for Captain W. Walpole, with whom he had served aboardHMS Warspite in 1808.[3]
The first Europeansettlers to arrive in the area were Pierre Bellanger and his family in 1909. They travelled aboard theGrace Darling fromAlbany to take up 4,000 acres (16 km2) of land.[4]
Land in the Walpole area was reserved for a national park in 1910, and the area subsequently became a popular holiday destination. Major development began to occur in the 1930s as part of the land settlement scheme. The railway reachedNornalup in 1929, and the Walpole town site was gazetted in 1933.The local electricity grid is remote and fragile, and a 1.5 MW / 30 MWh (15 hours)pumped-storage hydroelectricity facility is being built to stabilize power for Walpole.[5]
Walpole was always the preferred name, but it was believed this was already in use inTasmania. So the newly gazetted township was officially named Nornalup, but this caused confusion with the railway terminus 13 km (8 mi) east. Eventually the Post Office advised that there was no Walpole in Tasmania, and in 1934 the town reverted to its original name of Walpole.
Walpole is one of the few towns through which theBibbulmun Track passes.[6]
The area is famous for the gianttingle andkarri trees ofold growth forest. Another attraction is the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk in theWalpole-Nornalup National Park.
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