Worsley, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place
type = town
name = Worsley
state = wa


caption =
lga = Shire of Collie
postcode = 6225
est = 1909
pop =
elevation= 194
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Collie-Preston
fedgov = Forrest
dist1 = 189
dir1 = SSE
location1= Perth
dist2 = 13
dir2 = NW
location2= Colliecoord|-33.307|116.007|type:city(100)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title Worsley is a town in Western Australia located in the South West region near the town of Collie.The town is part of the Collie Shire

The towns name comes from th Worsley river, a tributary of the Brunswick river, that is located nearby. The origin of the name is though to be from the Worsley side of the Clifton family. The name was first recorded in surveys performed in the area in 1845.

In the 1890s a railway siding was contructed in the area to service the timber industry, and later in 1906 the state government decided to create a town-site in the area. Lots were surveyed in 1907 and the town was gazetted in 1909. [LandInfo WA|w|W|2007-06-08] The town peaked in 1902 when its population was in excess of 1500 people but it began to decline in the 1920s and saw the town all but disappear by the 1950s.In 1984 contruction of the Worsley Alumina refinery began and the area experienced an unexpected revival. [cite web|url=http://www.collierivervalley.org.au/about.htm|title=Collie River Valley - About Collie|year=2006|accessdate=2008-09-12]

The name Worsley is also used for the Bauxite refinery facility operated by BHP Billiton that is close to the town. One of its most interesting features is a fifty two km conveyor belt that carries the bauxite from its mine, north of the refinery, to it. It is believed to be one of the longest conveyor belts in the world.

References