Ilfracombe, Queensland


Ilfracombe is a small town and locality in the Longreach Region in Central West Queensland, Australia. Ilfracombe calls itself The Hub of the West. The main industry is sheep rearing, mainly for wool. Ilfracombe is situated on the Landsborough Highway, about east of Longreach, 214 metres above sea level. In the, Ilfracombe had a population of 259 people.

History

Sheep stations were established in the area from 1864. The townsites of Ilfracombe and Longreach were amongst resumed portions of Wellshot Station. In 1892, Wellshot was known as the biggest sheep station in the world, not because of the area it occupied but because of the number of sheep it ran; 460,000. So important was the property that Ilfracombe was known as Wellshot until 1890. 40,000 two-year-old wethers were sold off from the property later the same year.
The Central Western railway line reached Ilfracombe in 1891 and the Post Office opened on 7 December 1891.
In April 1910, Isisford became the first town in Australia to be serviced by a motorised mail delivery from Ilfracombe.
The town was named after the coastal town of Ilfracombe in North Devon, England.
In the 2016 Census, there were 259 people in Ilfracombe. 84.3% of people were born in Australia and 89.3% of people spoke only English at home. The most common response for religion was Anglican at 39.5%.
The town was much larger in the past. It once had three hotels instead of the single hotel now and two general stores.

Heritage listings

Ilfracombe has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Ilfracombe is home to a collection of antique agricultural machinery at the Ilfracombe Machinery and Heritage Museum. Other attractions and facilities in the town include a public library, swimming pool, a 14-hole golf course, racecourse and caravan park. The Longreach Regional Council operates a public library at 20 Main Avenue. The library offers publicly accessible Wi-Fi.

Education

The Ilfacrombe State School opened on 3 May 1893. It is situated 27 km east of Longreach and 673 km west of Rockhampton on the Landsborough Highway, Queensland. It is a co-educational school, from Prep to Year 6 and is organised into multi-age Units.

Notable people

Notable people from the area include: