Tatura

Tatura
Service centre to surrounding irrigation district
As you drive into Tatura you are very likely to see a Dethridge water-wheel by the roadside, regulating the flow of water along irrigation channels in adjoining fields. It is an apt symbol of the district which has became rich and fertile with the introduction of an extensive irrigation project. The intensive agricultural orientation of the area is also evident in the form of the Institute of Sustainable Irrigated Agriculture which is the state's major centre for research into irrigation management related issues. Tatura is located 167 km north of Melbourne via Murchison. The main local industries are cereal crops, fruit and vegetable cultivation, dairying, fat sheep and cattle. Not surprisingly, the town has a tomato-processing factory, a milk products plant and an abattoir. It is also the seat of Goulburn-Murray Water - the regional water management authority.

A less predictable element of the surrounding landscape is the German War Cemetery which reflects the fact that, during both World Wars, German prisoners-of-war and internees were imprisoned at camps in the area. Some Italians and Japanese were also held in the Second World War. The German officers were detained at 'Dhurrungile' (1871), one of the largest station homesteads ever built in Australia.

The Dhurrungile run was established in 1836 and subdivided in 1870 for closer settlement. The village which had developed around the local watering hole, known as the Whim, was proclaimed in 1874. The Tatura Wheat Export Movement was formed in 1906 and a butter factory was built the following year. It also produced electricity for the town from 1911. When dairy farmers from the Gippsland moved into the area after World War I, a larger factory was established. A cannery was built in 1919 but it was moved to Mooroopna in 1922 owing to complaints about the smell.

Italian settlers moved into the area from the early 1930s and many more after World War II. The irrigation research farm was established in 1937 and a Rosella cannery in 1949. The tomato concentrate plant opened in 1981.

Prior to European settlement the area is thought to have been inhabited by the Yorta Yorta people and the town's name is thought to be taken from their language. It is said to mean 'small lagoon with rushes'.

The Tatura Show is held in March and International Dairy Week in January. The Taste of Tatura Food and Wine Festival is held on the first weekend in March.

Things to see:

Tatura Irrigation and Wartime Camps Museum
The Tatura Irrigation and Wartime Camps Museum, at the corner of Hogan and Ross Sts, has a title which provides a fair indication of the themes which govern its displays. It is situated in the original Rodney Irrigation office, built in 1888 for Walter Scott Murray, the engineer responsible for the first local irrigation trust. The building has a hipped verandah roof dressed with a lovely cast-iron valance. It is open 1.00 p.m. to 3.00 p.m. every weekday and on weekends from 2.00 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. Ring (03) 5824 2111 for details. The email address is: info@taturamuseum.org.au

Catholic Complex and Other Historic Buildings
If, from the museum, you turn into Hogan St (the main road through town) then you will see, to your immediate left, the dark red brickwork and cream-coloured mouldings of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church (1912). On one side is the presbytery and on the other is the Sacred Heart School. Over the road are the convent (1940) and, perhaps the finest of all, the school hall, fronted by a large palm tree. The hall is an elegant two-storey red-brick structure built in 1901 as a boarding house for school children. It features some finely detailed cast-iron lacework, and highly ornamental decorative mouldings on the facade.