Fernvale

Fernvale is a town and locality in the Somerset Region, South East Queensland, Australia.

Fernvale is a town and locality in the Somerset Region, South East Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 Australian Census Fernvale recorded a population of 3,209.It is a rapidly developing rural township located within the urban footprint of the South East Queensland Regional Plan 2009–2031.

Fernvale falls within the area formerly occupied by the Indigenous Jagera people.Just upstream from Fernvale is a significant archaeological site known as Platypus Rockshelter, a double chambered weathered cavity in conglomerate cliff, now largely inundated by Wivenhoe Dam.The site was excavated as a salvage operation in the late 1970s.Excavation recovered thousands of stone artifacts, associated with large amounts of shellfish (predominantly freshwater mussel), mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian and fish bones.

Following the British Government’s establishment of a penal settlement where the city of Brisbane now stands, an embargo was placed on the occupation of land within fifty miles of the ‘closed’ penal establishment.Several officers of the colony made journeys of exploration up the Brisbane River, passing through the area which would become Fernvale. After Alan Cunningham’s discovery in 1828 of Cunninghams Gap a wave of squatters travelled from Sydney via the inland areas of New England and the Darling Downs, bringing sheep to settle on the rich pastures of the Brisbane Valley, taking up runs of tens of thousands of acres.

When the embargo was lifted in 1842, the first Europeans to select land and settle in the Fernvale area were Edmund Blucher Uhr and his brother, whose river frontage run they called Fernie Lawn. This large, unfenced holding which included the area now known as Fernvale was purchased from the Uhr brothers by the North family early in 1843.Wivenhoe, the adjoining station higher up the Brisbane River, was then taken up by Edmund Blucher Uhr and J. S. Ferriter until it too was bought by the North family in 1849.Part of this land was called North’s Pocket, now known as Wivenhoe Pocket.

The future township of Fernvale became a known stop for bullock wagons and cattle drovers, who frequently camped by the river overnight before crossing en route to the rapidly growing timber and grazing areas to the north.When New South Wales passed the Agricultural Reserves Act 1861 and a new wave of settlers moved into the area, Fernie Lawn was divided into smaller selections, with land for sale at £1 per acre and cultivation and fencing to be carried out by the purchaser.These first selectors were predominantly Scots and English, followed by the end of the 1860s by increasing numbers of German settlers.Descendants of many of these early settlers remain in the area today.Farmers engaged in mixed cropping and dairying, and cotton was widely grown in the area in response to the world shortage caused by the American Civil War.Cotton ginneries were established by Carl Sahl at Fernie Lawn and by Cribb & Foote at Stinking Gully.Fernvale at the time consisted of two areas - Harrisborough, named after Harris Brothers cotton stores, and Stinking Gully named after the water course which separated the two areas. The name Stinking Gully was officially changed to Ferny Gully in 1930.The old blacksmith, the tennis court (made by hand from termites nests and river water), the first bakery, Cribb and Foote’s store, the earliest churches, have all gone.But the butcher shop, first opened in remains unchanged, the old dance hall is now ‘Down to a Tea’ tea rooms, and the new ‘Old Fernvale Bakery’ has an interesting collection in its café of memorabilia and photos of days gone by.

In 1869, the first German Baptist church services, at first known as the Church of Christ, began in Fernvale followed by the first Methodist church in the Brisbane Valley at Fernvale in 1871. In 1886, the Church of Christ built a new church two miles away at Vernor.Catholic and Anglican services were continued for some time by itinerant priests who travelled widely through the Brisbane Valley.The first Methodist church in the Brisbane Valley was built at Fernvale in 1872, on land close to the river, donated by Emmanuel Denman.The Primitive Methodist Chapel was moved to the present site on the Brisbane Valley Highway in 1882 due to its vulnerability to floods. Another larger church was built in 1894, becoming part o the Methodist Church in the amalgamation of 1902 and then part of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977, occupying that site until December 2012. This 1894 church building and its hall were then donated by the Uniting Church to the Fernvale Lions Club, for the building of a community centre, and were moved across the road to 6 Clive Street (27.4538°S 152.6502°E? / -27.4538; 152.6502? (Fernvale Lions Centre (former Uniting Church))) as the first stage of a Lions Park.A new Uniting Church building was then built on the highway site during 2013 and was dedicated by the then Queensland Moderator of the Uniting Church, Rev Kaye Ronalds, on 26 October 2013. The 1894 church and hall were officially opened on 2 March 2019 by Shayne Neumann, Federal Member for Blair, as the Fernvale Lions Centre.Work commenced on building an Anglican church in June 1895. On Friday 7 August 1895 St Mark's Anglican Church was dedicated by Bishop William Webber. The name St Mark's had a local significance as it was the name of the church at Wivenhoe Pocket which was washed away in the 1893 Queensland flood. The church was at 2 Macauley Street (corner of Erkine Street, 27.4561°S 152.6510°E? / -27.4561; 152.6510? (St Mark's Anglican church (former site))). It closed in 1934 and in 1936 the building was sold to the Queensland Government for £50 and it was relocated to Somerset Dam, where, after renovating and re-roofing, it was dedicated once again as St Mark's Anglican Church on 30 August 1936 by Archbishop William Wand. The £50 was given to construct a new Anglican church at Hidden Vale.Fernvale Community Church holds Sunday morning services in the Fernvale Community Hall.

In 1884, the Brisbane Valley railway line opened as far as Lowood, later continuing to Esk and eventually as far as Blackbutt, allowing fast efficient transport of produce to the markets in Brisbane and Ipswich. The Brisbane Valley line survived for a century, until 1989.The line has been removed and the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail created over much of its length.

Social life and sport in Fernvale were always strong. In the last years of the nineteenth century ploughing competitions were held near the river crossing. Town sports days brought people in from outlying districts, and the Fernvale cricket, tennis and football teams were keenly followed. During and between the World Wars numerous fund-raising dances and music evenings were held in the Old Fernvale Hall.In 1947, the Fernvale Camp Draft Association was formed. Campdrafting has strengthened over the years and an annual campdraft is still held every year in March at the Fernvale Showgrounds.Since 1985 the showgrounds are also home to the Lowood-Fernvale Pony Club.The Fernvale Indoor Sports Centre, opened in 2010, incorporates a gymnasium and a four court sports stadium, offering indoor cricket, futsal, netball, indoor touch football, junior indoor sports and cheerleading. The Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, for horse-riding, cycling and walking, may be accessed at Fernvale Memorial Park.Fishing, swimming and non-motorised water sports are permitted on nearby Wivenhoe Dam.Since the 2011 floods debris remains in the river, making the formerly popular sport of canoeing temporarily hazardous.River access points close to the town may be found at Savages Crossing, Geoff Fisher Bridge and Twin Bridges.

Following World War II a shortage of men and materials led to a drift away from the area.Dairying has been replaced by beef cattle, and a small amount of mixed cropping continues in the surrounding farmlands.

The Brisbane River valley has always been troubled by alternating drought and flood, and Fernvale and Wivenhoe Pocket have several times been inundated, with many homes and buildings washed away.In the devastating flood of 1893 the flood reached a height of about {{convert|24|ft}} above the 1890 flood level and occurred so rapidly that little could be saved.In the 1980s the building of the Wivenhoe Dam brought new employment and families into the area. In 2011, the town was once again badly affected by floods, with one hundred and twelve homes inundated in Fernvale and twenty-five in Vernor. Residents also described an abundance of snakes in the floods.