Bundawarrah Centre CULTURAL PRECINCT
The Bundawarrah Centre Cultural Precinct is home to many of Temora's attractions and modern facilities, including the Temora Rural Museum and Ambulance Museum. There is a constant stream of activities, events and exhibitions, visiting exhibitions such as the Bald Archies, the Temora Local and Family History Research Centre, Temora Shed 4 Men, TEMFM, Mother Shipton's function centre with state-of-the-art kitchen facilities and the Visitor Information Centre.
The “Bundawarrah Centre” was established in 2011 to reflect the growing diversity of the Temora Rural Museum site. While the Rural Museum remains the principal attraction of the complex, its street frontage has been remodelled to provide a modern and welcoming introduction to the Temora community through the Temora Visitor Information Centre.
Opening Hours and Admission Prices
Open weekdays: 9:30AM - 5:00PM
Open weekends and public holidays: 9.30AM - 4.00PM
Closed: Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Good Friday, opening after midday on Anzac Day
Current Rural Museum Fees & Charges
Annual Membership
Single Adult $12.00,
Adult Couple $20.00,
Single Adult (Concession) $10.00
Adult Couple (Concession) $15.00
Student $10.00
Daily Admission
Adult $10.00
Adult (Concession) $8.00
Group booked Adult $8.00
Child [school age] $4.00
Joint museum ticket Adult $27.00
Joint museum ticket Adult (Concession) $21.00
Child [school age] $12.00
Contact the Temora Rural Museum:
Temora Rural Museum ph: (02) 6977 5923
Temora Visitor Centre ph: (02) 6977 5921
fax (02) 6977 2414
29 Junee Rd, Temora NSW, 2666
Temora Rural Museum
The Temora Rural Museum is one of the principal heritage exhibitions at the Bundawarrah Centre, showcasing not only the history of the Temora district but also the development of the mixed farming industry in southern NSW over more than a century.
An outstanding collection by any measure, the museum provides insights into the lives of pioneering families involved in many aspects of the evolving rural Australian experience - social, commercial, industrial and domestic.
A major project of the Temora Historical Society Inc., the museum is managed by local volunteers in partnership with a Section 355 Committee of Temora Shire Council. Regular working bees by museum volunteers over the past 50 years have added many features to the display. They include the cottage of hardwood slabs that was Sir Donald Bradman’s first home, a one-room public school, a small bush church, country hall, printing works and replica flour mill.
The memorabilia of noted showman and boxing promoter, Jimmy Sharman and a fully furnished 1920s cottage complement a working display of sound technology. Building upon this concept that, where possible, the exhibits should work, museum volunteers have dedicated decades of effort to collecting and restoring a truly impressive array of tractors, stationary engines and agricultural machinery for their displays.
Each year, on the second Saturday in March, the museum celebrates its anniversary with a live exhibition. A packed program of demonstrations features cottage crafts, bush trades, music and working machinery culminating in a series of grand parades presenting vehicles and machinery from all of the heritage collections the Historical Society has developed.
Set in well maintained park-like grounds, visitors are invited to explore the Society’s heritage collections at their leisure or take advantage of the extensive knowledge of volunteers on-site as they work on their ongoing projects.
Permanent Exhibits
Lifestyle and Fashion
These extensive collections preserve numerous items popular in late Victorian households right through to quite recent decades. The textile collection is of particular importance, carefully conserving an extensive range of beautiful clothing and needlework associated with every aspect of rural society from infants wear and intimate apparel to beautifully crafted wedding gowns and evening wear.
Bradman’s Cottage
While the Boxing Tent memorabilia from the Jimmy Sharman Troupe is arguably the most State Significant display in the museum, the Bradman Cottage stands out as the premier exhibit of National importance accessible on the site. Built from hardwood slabs on a farm at Yeo Yeo, near Stockinbingal, in the late nineteenth century, it was to this family home that Sir Donald Bradman’s parents brought their infant son after his birth at nearby Cootamundra in 1908.
Relocated to the museum in the early 1980s, the cottage has been preserved and faithfully restored to reflect the home that first welcomed Australia’s foremost cricket player.
Tractors and Engines
Two feature collections of the Rural Museum are its tractor and stationary engine displays. Both comprise large and diverse ranges of machinery, mostly in working order. The Jelbart tractor, Ronaldson-Tippett and Charles Wheeler’s “Star” oil engines, all made in Ballarat, Victoria, early in the twentieth century, are of particular interest.
The Story of Wheat
The Temora Agricultural Research Station, established as the Temora Demonstration Farm in 1912, played a pivotal role in developing commercial wheat varieties under the supervision of Ron Martin. This story, and that of local flour millers, Pardey & Co., are recounted in the replica Flour Mill building that now stands on the site.
The Telephone Exchange
Housed within this relocated building is an extensive range of working coil spring and valve operated wireless, telephone, gramophone, television and cinema equipment, each marking a milestone in the march toward the digital age.
Other Exhibits
Rock and Mineral Museum
The lifelong interest and enduring legacy of Athol Stean, the Temora Rock & Mineral Museum comprises a vast collection of specimens, all meticulously identified. From Temora’s unique “greenstone” and the gold that established the community, to impressive examples of meteorites and fossils, the museum provides a comprehensive window on the geological world.
NSW RFS Community Engagement Centre
A major contributor to the Bundawarrah Centre’s strong focus upon the heritage of the Emergency Services, the Bland/Temora NSW RFS Community Engagement Centre preserves the story of Bushfire Brigades across the State. The successive modifications they made to their ex-army Blitz truck, eloquently illustrate the lessons learned at the fire front by members of the Quandary/Pucawan Brigade.
NSW Fire & Rescue Exhibition
The development of urban fire- fighting technology in regional NSW is the theme of an extensive display maintained at the Bundawarrah Centre by the local brigade. A vivid red 1923 Garford pumper recalls Temora’s first embrace of a motorised response to the urgent alarms that so often reminded the community of the hazards associated with its dependence upon the naked flame for heat and light.
Willo's Wiradjuri Keeping Place
Respectfully acknowledging the lifeways of the region’s first community, Willo’s Wiradjuri Keeping Place presents a thought provoking appreciation of the great southern Wiradjuri clans for whom the Temora district is “Country”.
Temora Local and Family History Research Centre
Temora’s Local and Family History Research Centre is located within the Bundawarrah Centre complex. Conducted by volunteer staff, the centre assists with enquiries from the public for help tracing families, family memorials, local homes, business interests and properties.
Temora Community Archive
Established in 1991 in purpose-built underground storage, this archive includes Local Government, Family and Community records charting the development of the Temora Shire Community. It also holds historical records on behalf of the NSW Ambulance Service.
Temora Ambulance Museum
In partnership with the New South Wales and ACT Ambulance Services, The Temora Historical Society Inc. has established the State Ambulance Museum on the Bundawarrah Centre site.
Comprising the heritage collections of both Services under the Curatorship of Eddie Sams, and with the assistance of both serving and retired ambulance officers, this all-inclusive exhibition seeks to preserve and present a comprehensive record of the development and achievements of the Ambulance Service within the community.
Open every day, the collection includes Australia’s first dedicated Ambulance Rescue vehicle, the “Q Van”, and the iconic Holden FJ Ambulance that provided the inspiration for the creation of the museum.