Bruce Rock is a town located in the Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, approximately 243 kilometres (151 mi) east of Perth and 48 kilometres (30 mi) southwest of Merredin

Merredin, Western Australia

-Economy:The agricultural land around Merredin produces 40% of Western Australia’s wheat quota. As a focal point for the region, Merredin’s local bulk handling co-operative receives and processes in excess of a million tonnes of grain every year...

. It is the main town in the Shire of Bruce Rock

Shire of Bruce Rock

The Shire of Bruce Rock is a Local Government Area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about south of Merredin and about east of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of , and its seat of government is the town of Bruce Rock.-History:...

.

Originally known as Nunagin or Noonegin the name of the town lead to confusion between other towns such as Narrogin

Narrogin, Western Australia

Narrogin is a large town in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, southeast of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Pingelly and Wagin...

 and Nungarin

Nungarin, Western Australia

Nungarin is a town located in the North Eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately east of Perth and north of Merredin. It is the main town in the Shire of Nungarin. At the 2006 census, Nungarin had a population of 142.-History:...

. The name was changed to Bruce Rock after the large granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

 feature located close to the town. The townsite was gazetted in 1913.

The rock was named after sandalwood

Sandalwood

Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood in-situ, essential oils are also extracted...

 cutter, John Rufus Bruce, who worked in the area in 1879.

The heritage

Heritage Council of Western Australia

The Heritage Council of Western Australia is the Government of Western Australia agency created to identify, conserve and promote places of cultural heritage significance in the state.It was created under the Heritage of Western Australia Act...

 listed shire office building was opened in January 1929.

Economically the area depends on cropping of cereal

Cereal

Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

s, primarily wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, but also barley

Barley

Barley is a major cereal grain, a member of the grass family. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base malt for beer and certain distilled beverages, and as a component of various health foods...

, lupin

Lupin

Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins or lupines , is a genus in the legume family . The genus comprises about 280 species , with major centers of diversity in South and western North America , and the Andes and secondary centers in the Mediterranean region and Africa Lupinus, commonly known as Lupins...

s and pea

Pea

A pea is most commonly the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Peapods are botanically a fruit, since they contain seeds developed from the ovary of a flower. However, peas are considered to be a vegetable in cooking...

s. Livestock such as sheep, goat

Goat

The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...

s and pig

Pig

A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...

s are also raised in the area. The town is a receival site for Cooperative Bulk Handling.