Tomerong New South Wales
Tomerong School of Arts in 2021
Tomerong
Coordinates	35°04′S150°35′E / 35.067°S 150.583°E /-35.067; 150.583
Population	1,194 (2021 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	2540
LGA(s)	City of Shoalhaven
Region	South Coast
County	St Vincent
Parish	Wandrawandian
State electorate(s)	South Coast
Federal division(s)	Gilmore
Localities around Tomerong: Yerriyong Falls Creek Huskisson Yerriyong Tomerong Worrowing Heights Bewong Basin View St Georges Basin

Tomerong is a village in theSouth Coast region ofNew South Wales, Australia.^[2][3] It is located approximately 180 kilometres by road south from the state capitalSydney and 20 kilometres south of the commercial centre of theCity of Shoalhaven,Nowra in theCounty of St Vincent. The village is eight kilometres inland of the western shores ofJervis Bay and is located at the boundary of theParish of Tomerong and theParish of Wandrawandian.^[4] Its population at the2021 census was 1,194.^[1] The traditional custodians of this country are theWandandian (wandi wandian) people ofYuin Country who spoke theDhurga language.

With a history of farming andsawmilling, the village and its environs is now primarily low to medium density residential, providing easy access to tourist areas such asHuskisson onJervis Bay and the commercial centreNowra. West and south west of the village the land is predominantlyState Forests andCrown Land adjoined by theMorton National Park.^[5]

The first recorded European exploration of the area around Tomerong probably occurred when Lieutenant James Grant of theLady Nelson ventured inland from Jervis Bay up to 13 kilometres in 1801.^[6][7] Land grants occurred around Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin in the 1830s and 1840s with the first Tomerong land sale occurring at Nowra on 8 May 1855.^[8] Settlement increased as the a bridge was constructed across Falls Creek and the development of the main south coast road provided transport and mail services. The Travellers Rest Hotel was opened in 1857 to service the travelling public and, five years later, a post office and school were established.^[9][10][11] Both celebrated their 150th (Sesquicentenary) anniversary in 2012. A church was constructed in 1877 and a general store commenced operation about 1882, but it was the development of the timber industry (from 1815 for cedar and from about 1860 for hardwood) that saw Tomerong's importance grow, just as farming had started to wane.^[12][13] For the next 100 years the industry was so important to the village that it resulted in the headquarters of the Clyde Shire being constructed in 1908.^[14] A school of arts was constructed in 1926 and remains a popular venue for entertainment, not only for the locals.^[15] The consolidation of sawmills saw local enterprises reduce in the 1960s and 1970s and the bypassing of the village in 1995 by the Princes Highway meant the village became more attractive for family living adjacent to the growth areas of St Georges Basin and Huskisson/Vincentia.^[8]

Since the last sawmill closed in the mid 1980s and the main south coast road bypassed in 1995, the village, whilst quieter, has increased in population and dwellings. Its precinct (now Hawken Road) is still dominated by theschool of arts,public school, post office, church and the volunteerRural Fire Service building. Theschool of arts has a busy patronage with private and community events. A new Rural Fire Service building was opened in 1991 opposite the Union Church that, whilst undergoing major repairs in 2000s, has seen little use since 1993. The public school was the subject of a major building program in 1995 and remains the major employer in the village. Volunteer organisations are an important part of village life with members active in P&C, Rural Fire Service, theForum (a Community Consultative Body active with the localCouncil) and the school of arts. Other bodies have been organised as required; such as theFriends of Tomerong Union Church, that organised the church's restoration; theShoalhaven Unwanted Tip Campaign (ShUT), that successfully lobbied to prevent a local shale quarry from being used as a non-putrescible waste dump; and the Sesquicentenary Committee that organised the primary school's 150th celebrations in 2012.

The village is 48 metres above sea level and is overlooked to the north by Tomerong Hill at 111 metres. The settlement is concentrated on a north to south spur of this hill which runs two kilometres down to Tomerong Creek 20 metres above sea level. A ridgeline, of about 100 metres above sea level, located two kilometres west of the village runs generally north to south. Creeks north east of the village generally drain to Currambene Creek andJervis Bay, whilst those to the south generally run toSt Georges Basin. The village lies near the southern extremity of theSydney Basin with the higher areas to the north and west comprising NowraSandstone that thins to the south and east to reveal WandrawandianSiltstone. Average minimum and maximum temperatures in degrees Celsius and average rainfall in millimetres are shown in the following table.^[16]

• More information on Tomerong's history

• Tomerong Public School
• Tomerong Union Church

• Towns in New South Wales
• Towns in the South Coast (New South Wales)
• City of Shoalhaven

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Australian Statistical Geography Standard 2021 ID same as Wikidata
• Geographic Names Register of NSW not in Wikidata
• CS1 errors: missing title
• CS1: long volume value
• Use Australian English from August 2019
• All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
• Use dmy dates from August 2019
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata