Gilgandra is a country town in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia, and services the surrounding agricultural area where wheat is grown extensively together with other cereal crops, and sheep and beef cattle are raised.Gilgandra Shire Council website, "Community". http://www.gilgandra.nsw.gov.au/community/about-gilgandra . Retrieved 19 November 2017. The town is the administrative seat of the Gilgandra Shire.Gilgandra Shire Council website: http://www.gilgandra.nsw.gov.au/council . Retrieved 20 November 2017.
Sited at the junction of the Newell, Oxley and Castlereagh highways, Gilgandra is located in a wide bend of the Castlereagh River, downstream from its source near Coonabarabran, directly downstream from Mendooran, and upstream from Gulargambone and Coonamble.Google maps: https://www.google.com.au/maps/place/Gilgandra+NSW+2827/@-31.7160527,148.6324847,14.04z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x6b08b2057af253ad:0x40609b490437240!8m2!3d-31.6952312!4d148.6558441. Retrieved 20 November 2017. It is 432 km north-west of Sydney (about six hours' driving time), and is located approximately half way along the inland route from Melbourne to Brisbane. It is known as the town of windmills and the home of the "Coo-ees", and is a gateway to the Warrumbungles National Park.
Population
At the , the population of Gilgandra township was 2,600. In the wider Gilgandra area, the population was 4,300, with 96.4% Australian-born and 13.8% identifying as Aboriginal. The largest category of employment was Agriculture and Forestry, which involved 28.6% of the population.Australian Bureau of Statistics, Local Government Areas, Gilgandra. http://stat.abs.gov.au/itt/r.jsp?RegionSummary®ion=12950&dataset=ABS_REGIONAL_LGA2016&geoconcept=LGA_2016&maplayerid=LGA2016&measure=MEASURE&datasetASGS=ABS_REGIONAL_ASGS2016&datasetLGA=ABS_REGIONAL_LGA2016®ionLGA=LGA_2016®ionASGS=ASGS_2016 . Retrieved 19 November 2018. Published August 2016. Accessed 18 April 2018
Castlereagh Waterhole The name Gilgandra came from Aboriginal word for the area, and means "long waterhole". The water level in the Castlereagh River is variable and the wide, sandy riverbed is frequently dry, or is reduced to a small stream.https://www.water.nsw.gov.au/water-management/catchments-old/castlereagh-catchment . Accessed 18 April 2018 However, there was a large permanent waterhole in the river, long and deep, near where the township developed, and for many years subsequently.Gilgandra Weekly, 19 December 1946, "The Early Days of Gilgandra" p .7 It was the source of the town's name.
Windmills and artesian water Gilgandra is situated above the subterranean water of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) and, specifically, over the Surat Sub-basin of the GAB.'Introducing Groundwater to Your Catchment', Murray-Darling Basin Commission p.151. Online at https://www.mdba.gov.au/sites/default/files/archived/mdbc-GW-reports/2172_Introducing_GW_to_your_catchment.pdf . Accessed 19 April 2018 Artesian water occurs where porous rocks below the surface, called aquifers, store and carry water underground. When bores are sunk to reach the aquifers, windmills can draw the water to the surface to be stored in tanks.'Changing Environments' Susan Bermingham, p.62 Well over a hundred years ago, windmills were being used by townspeople to access Gilgandra's fresh, drinkable artesian water for their households, and by farmers to obtain water for their stock.It was reported in 1907 that "fresh windmills are gradually being erected in the district"; 'The Castlereagh' Friday 7 May 1907 at p.1. Retrieved 18 April 2018. Windmills were being advertised in the first Gilgandra newspapers in 1905, with several local people selling and installing them, including plumber Bill Hitchen, later famous for organising the 1915 Cooee march.'The Castlereagh' 3 March 1905, p.7 From the early twentieth century, locals and others referred to Gilgandra as a "town of windmills", and many references to that can be found.'Gilgandra Weekly', 27 July 1917, p.11; 'The Methodist', 4 December 1926, p.6; 'Warialda Standard' 30 April 1934, p.2; 'The Katoomba Daily', 23 November 1935, p.2; The Northern Champion',6 February 1946, p.1; 'The World's News', 22 February 1947, p.2.
In 1948, it was reported that there were over 300 windmills in Gilgandra.'Goulburn Evening Post' 11 May 1948, p.3 Many can still be seen dotted around the town but few are now in use. The Gilgandra Shire Council built a reticulated water supply in 1966, reducing reliance on private windmills. The council draws on artesian water, operating a network of nine bores to supply water to Gilgandra.Letter dated 21 July 2011 from Mayor Doug Batten to the Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee, House of Representatives Standing Committee on Rural Affairs, 'Submission to the Inquiry into the Impact of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in Regional Australia'. In 2016 Gilgandra had the largest single annual licensed entitlement to water from the Great Artesian Basin of any shire council in NSW, at 2,020 megalitres.'Economic Output of Groundwater Dependent Sectors in the Great Artesian Basin – A Report Commissioned by the Australian Government and Great Artesian Basin Jurisdictions Based on Advice from the Great Artesian Basin Coordinating Committee, published August 2016.'
History Before the European squatters took up pastoral runs in the 1830s,Rolls, E.C, 1982. A Million Wild Acres. 200 years of man and an Australian forest p.83 the Gilgandra region was home to three Aboriginal language groups: the Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri and Wayilwan.Somerville, M. et al, 1994. The Sun Dancin’, People and Place in Coonabarabran. pp.46–47 According to archaeological evidence cited in the Warrumbungle National Park guidebook, indigenous groups are believed to have lived to the east of Gilgandra for at least 25,000 years, and in the Warrumbungle Ranges, 70 kilometres to the north, for about 17,000 years.Fox, P., 1996. Warrumbungle National Park. p.52
Gilgandra was proclaimed as a town in 1888, and the first town blocks were sold in 1889. While that was an impetus to growth, the area had been settled by a Europeans for many years before that. Gilgandra's Post Office was formally established in 1867, a local school had opened in 1881, and the first hearings were held in the Gilgandra court house in 1884. The Gilgandra Shire was constituted in 1906.
On 20 July 1900, an indigenous man, Jimmy Governor, murdered four members of the Mawbey family, and the children's governess, at their farming property just east of Gilgandra, in the area of Breelong. He was working as a fencing contractor for Mr Mawbey. The story of the murders received great publicity at the time.The Sydney Morning Herald, 23 July 1900, 'Tragedy Near Gilgandra' p.7-8The Sydney Morning Herald,4 August 1900, 'The Murders by Blacks' p.10 It was revived 1972 as the basis of a fictional work by Thomas Keneally, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith.Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/governor-jimmy-6439/text11017 , published first in hardcopy 1983, accessed online 10 September 2025.
During World War I, a recruitment march to Sydney began in Gilgandra, known as the Coo-ee March. The men who enlisted on the way became known locally as "Coo-ees". The march was given its name because the marchers shouted the old bush call of "cooee" at each town along their journey to attract recruits. Twenty-six men left Gilgandra on 10 October 1915. At each town on the route, the marchers were feted and a recruitment meeting was held. By the time they reached Sydney, just over one month later on Friday 12 November 1915, the number of recruits had swelled to 263. They were welcomed on arrival in Sydney with huge crowds lining George Street near the Town Hall to welcome them and an official address given to them by the Minister for Works representing the Premier of New South Wales.'te Daily Telegraph', Saturday 13 November 1915, p.15
in 1919, as a peace thanksgiving, parishioners of St Ambrose Church in Bournemouth, England, grateful for the assistance England had received from the Dominions in defending the British Empire, decided to gift £1,200 to the town in the Empire with a good church and wartime service record. Gilgandra was chosen and the money funded the construction of St Ambrose Church, Gilgandra, which commenced in 1920.
Climate Gilgandra experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa), with hot summers and cool winters. Rainfall is low throughout the year, with a slight peak in summer from thunderstorm activity.
Heritage listings Gilgandra has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Myrtle Street: St Ambrose Church
Attractions Sport and recreation Gilgandra has many sporting facilities. Local clubs support participation and arrange training and competitions.
The most popular sport in Gilgandra is rugby league. The Gilgandra Panthers rugby league team play in the Castlereagh Cup and have won the competition on six occasions, with the most recent being in 2018. They also won five premierships in the Group 14 competition which ran from 1949 until 2000, and won a Group 11 title in 1989 during their short stint in that competition.
Gilgandra's public swimming pool is located next to the town's main park and is open across the warmer months from October to end March. Learn-to-swim and exercise classes are held here. Set in lovely grassed grounds, the tiled pool was opened in October 1939 and is 33m long. There is also a children's play pool with good sun protection over.Gilgandra Weekly, 9 November 1939, p.4 Grassed tennis courts are located on a corner opposite the swimming pool (corner Castlereagh and Willie Sts).
A 9-hole public golf course, with grass greens and a licensed club-house, is located on Racecourse Rd over the bridge from the main part of the town. Golf competitions are held regularly. The golf course is situated entirely within the town's horse racing track.
The town has a race course for horse racing, situated on Racecourse Road, where the Gilgandra Jockey Club arranges race meetings during the year, including the Gilgandra Cup held each January. The race course is picturesque with the town's golf fairways and greens inside the boundary of the track.
There is a youth club, which has squash courts, basketball courts, and an indoor area. A fitness centre operates out of the facility.
There are two main grassed recreation grounds where many different team and club sports are played (cricket, rugby league, football, Little Athletics). The town's original oval is located in Eiraben St and the Ernie Knight Oval is on Warren Rd.
Gilgandra Speedway is a popular track in the district where regular motor (car) racing events are held in many divisions. It is run by Gilgandra District Speedway Club which has hosted both state and national titles here at different times. The track is well fenced and is lit for night racing. It is located on the Newell Highway 4 km south of the township (direction of Dubbo).
Tourist attractions The tourist information centre is located in the Cooee Heritage and Visitor Information Centre, at the south end of the town, on the Newell Highway. Coming from the direction of Dubbo, it is on the right-hand-side just after the grain silos and railway track crossing. Coming from Coonabarabran, Coonamble or Mendooran directions, it is along the river bank on the left-hand-side.