View source for Mudgee

{{for|the wine region named Mudgee|Mudgee wine region}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place 
| type          = town
| name          = Mudgee
| state         = NSW
| image         = Mudgee Roundabout.jpg
| caption       = View of the town centre, showing War Memorial Clock Tower
| coordinates   = {{Coord|-32.595174|149.587805|display=inline|format=dms}}
| pop           = 11457
| pop_year      = 2021
| pop_footnotes = <ref name=Census21/>
| est           = 
| postcode      = 2850
| elevation     = 454
| maxtemp       = 23.0
| mintemp       = 8.3
| rainfall      = 673.9
| region        = [[Central West (New South Wales)|Central West]]
| county        = [[Wellington County, New South Wales|Wellington]]
| lga           = Mid-Western Regional Council
| stategov      = [[Electoral district of Dubbo|Dubbo]]
| fedgov        = [[Division of Calare|Calare]]
| dist1         = 270 
| dir1          =  NW 
| location1     = [[Sydney]]
| dist2         = 128 
| dir2          = ESE 
| location2     = [[Dubbo]]
| dist3         = 192 
| dir3          = N  
| location3     = [[Orange, New South Wales|Orange]]
| dist4         = 201 
| dir4          = W  
| location4     = [[Muswellbrook]]
| local_map     = yes
| near-nw       = 
| near-n        = 
| near-ne       = 
| near-e        = 
| near-se       = 
| near-s        = 
| near-sw       = 
| near-w        = 
}}

'''Mudgee''' ({{IPAc-en|m|ʌ|dʒ|i}}) is a town in the [[Central West (New South Wales)|Central West]] of [[New South Wales]], Australia. It is in the broad fertile [[Cudgegong River]] valley {{convert|261|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north-west of [[Sydney]] and is the largest town in the [[Mid-Western Regional Council]] [[Local government in Australia|local government area]] as well as being the council seat. At the 2021 Census, its population was 11,457.<ref name=Census21 /> The district lies across the edge of the [[Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia|geological structure]] known as the [[Sydney Basin]].<ref>{{cite map |url=http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0007/96847/20758.gif |title=Sydney Basin |publisher=New South Wales [[Department of Primary Industries (New South Wales)|Department of Primary Industries]]}}</ref>

==History==
=== Wiradjuri people ===
The Mudgee and Dabee clans of the [[Wiradjuri]] people lived at and around the site of what is now the town of Mudgee on the [[Cudgegong River]]. Some cultural and tool-making sites of these Aboriginal people remain, including the Hands on the Rocks, The Drip and Babyfoot Cave sites.<ref name="gapps">{{cite book |last1=Gapps |first1=Stephen |title=Gudyarra, The First Wiradyuri War of Resistance. |date=2021 |publisher=NewSouth |location=Sydney}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Trethowan |first1=Melanie |title=Exploring My Backyard & Aboriginal Art – Hands on Rock, Mudgee |date=30 October 2019 |url=https://lifeonebigadventure.com/2019/10/30/exploring-my-backyard-aboriginal-art-hands-on-rock-mudgee/ |access-date=15 January 2022}}</ref>

==== Significance of local names ====
Many place-names in the region are derived from the original [[Wiradjuri language]], including Mudgee itself, which was named by the Wiradjuri clan who lived there. There are various translations as to what Mudgee means including "resting place", "contented", "nest in the hills" as well as "friend or mate" which the latter coincides with the Wiradjuri word "mudyi".<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 December 1938 |title=Aboriginal Place Names |pages=14 |work=Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/161946744?searchTerm=aboriginal%20place%20names%20mudgee# |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=Stan |title=A new Wiradjuri dictionary, compiled by Stan Grant and John Rudder |publisher=Restoration House |year=2010 |isbn=9780869421505 |location=Canberra}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-02-06 |title=Word Up: Nathan Sentance |url=https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/awaye/features/word-up/nathan-sentance/13125696 |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=ABC Radio National |language=en-AU}}</ref> The correct pronunciation has also been recorded as either ''Moudgee'', ''Moothi'' or ''Mougee''.<ref>{{NSW GNR|id=ujjLvqZTMn|title=Mudgee|access-date=30 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55185386|title=PLACE NAMES.|date=13 May 1964|newspaper=[[The Australian Women's Weekly]]|access-date=22 February 2011|publisher=National Library of Australia|page=61}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162006353 |title=Mudgee's Earliest History |newspaper=[[Mudgee Guardian and North-western Representative]] |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=27 March 1933 |accessdate=15 January 2022 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Nearby places include [[Lue, New South Wales|Lue]] (Loowee, 'a chain of waterholes'); [[Gulgong]] ('a gully'); Wollar ('a rock water hole'); Menah ('flat country'); Eurunderee ('a local tree'); Guntawang ('a peaceful place'), Cooyal ('dry country'); Wilbertree ('a long switch'); Gooree ('native chasing live animal'); Burrendong ('darker than usual'). The Aboriginal name of the [[Rylstone, New South Wales|Rylstone]] area was Combamolang.

===Early British colonisation (1821 to 1850)===
[[File:Mudgee Post Office (2712968826).jpg|thumb|left|Mudgee post office]]
James Blackman, leading a small expedition in the latter half of 1821, was the first British colonist to enter the Mudgee district.<ref name="adb">{{cite Australian Dictionary of Biography |last=Greaves|first=Bernard|title=Blackman, James (1792–1868)|id2=blackman-james-1790|access-date=9 December 2013}}</ref> Not long after, Lieutenant [[William Lawson (explorer)|William Lawson]] who was then commandant of [[Bathurst, New South Wales|Bathurst]], made several further expeditions to Mudgee. Both Blackman and Lawson found the site to be an Aboriginal settlement or ''bimmel'' inhabited by around 100 people who called the area ''Mudgee'' or ''Mujjee''.<ref name="gapps" /><ref>{{Citation| author1=H. Selkirk| title=The Discovery of Mudgee| journal=Journal and Proceedings| year=1920| issn=1325-9261| volume=6| location=Sydney | publisher=Royal Australian Historical Society| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-593173379| id=nla.obj-593173379| access-date=16 January 2022 | via=Trove}}</ref>

In February 1822, George and Henry Cox, sons of [[William Cox (pioneer)|William Cox]], followed the trails set up by Blackman and Lawson with 500 head of livestock, and established a grazing property at [[Menah]], {{convert|3|km|mi|abbr=on}} north of the current town. The Coxes were soon in conflict with the Mudgee clan who drove away their workers and livestock. George Cox gathered some men at Bathurst and returned to Menah where a two hour fight later ensued, resulting in six Mudgee people being killed and one of Cox's employees being speared to death.<ref name="gapps" />

The violence in the region worsened in June 1824, when Theophilus Chamberlain, who was the Coxes' superintendent of their Mudgee property holdings, led a number of punitive expeditions against the local Aboriginal people. A skirmish at Guntawang to the north of Mudgee resulted in some settlers being killed, with around 70 or more Aboriginal people dying in follow up raids. [[Martial law]] was declared by Governor [[Thomas Brisbane]] in August 1824, leading to further killings of the Wiradjuri people in the Mudgee area. Descendants and workers of the Coxes later described this period as one where "an immense number of natives, men, women and children were slaughtered" and "the bodies of the blacks were piled together and burnt...like old tar barrels". The violence forced the Coxes to abandon Guntawang, and relieving Chamberlain of his duties, they shifted their enterprise to nearby Dabee.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article264003075 |title=A Reminiscence. |newspaper=The Bligh Watchman And Coonabarabran Gazette |volume=24 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 August 1900 |accessdate=16 January 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157616186 |title=Mudgee in the Early Days. |newspaper=[[Mudgee Guardian and North-western Representative]] |volume=XIV |issue=1499 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=12 September 1907 |accessdate=16 January 2022 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nma.gov.au/engage-learn/schools/classroom-resources/multimedia/interactives/bells_falls_gorge_html/cabinet_items/transcript_declaration_of_martial_law|title=Transcript: Declaration of Martial Law|website=nma.gov.au|access-date=26 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="gapps" />

The Cox family remained prominent landholders around Mudgee for many decades, owning the Dabee, Menah and Burrundulla properties. William Lawson and his descendants also continued to be leading pastoralists in the region, holding estates such as [[Putta Bucca]] and Havilah.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157751144 |title=The late Mr. N. S. Lawson |newspaper=[[Mudgee Guardian and North-western Representative]] |volume=XLIV |issue=2026 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=12 December 1912 |accessdate=16 January 2022 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

The site of the Mudgee township was surveyed in 1837 and the first land sales occurred in August 1838. It has been incorrectly claimed that [[Robert Hoddle]] designed the village. Although Hoddle was the first surveyor in the region, marking out the boundaries of Putta Bucca and Bombira, by the time the village was gazetted, he had already left the district to become leader of the Port Phillip Survey.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/story/2219836/streets-of-mudgee-robert-hoddle-and-mick-lahy-credit-where-credit-is-due|title=Mudgee Guardian|date=15 April 2014|access-date=11 June 2017}}</ref> John Blackman built a slab hut, the first dwelling in Mudgee and its general store.<ref>{{cite web|last=Yap|first=Brian|title=John Blackman|url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~yewenyi/426.htm|work=Freepages|publisher=Ancestry.com|access-date=9 December 2013}}</ref>

By 1841 there were 36 dwellings, three hotels, a hospital, a post office, two stores and an Anglican church. St John's Church of England was consecrated on 6 May 1841.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162113751 |title=ST. JOHN'S, MUDGEE |newspaper=[[Mudgee Guardian and North-western Representative]] |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=4 June 1936 |access-date=31 October 2017 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The police station moved from Menah in the mid-1840s and an Anglican school was established in that decade.

===1850 to present===
[[File:Mudgee Railway Station 001.JPG|thumb|[[Mudgee railway station|Mudgee Railway Station]] (1884)]]
[[File:CountryTown0008.jpg|thumb|Lovejoy House]]
[[File:Mudgee market st.jpg|thumb|View of Market Street, looking towards the centre of the town]]

In 1851 the population of Mudgee was 200. This skyrocketed with the discovery of gold by [[Edward Hargraves]] in nearby [[Hargraves, New South Wales|Hargraves]], leading to a [[gold rush]]. While no gold was found in Mudgee itself, the town is central to the goldfields of [[Gulgong, New South Wales|Gulgong]], [[Hill End, New South Wales|Hill End]] and [[Windeyer County, New South Wales|Windeyer]], and grew rapidly as a result.

Mudgee was declared as a municipality in 1860 making it the second oldest municipality west of the [[Great Dividing Range]] with a population of 1500 in 1861. A public school was built in the 1850s together with the present Anglican, Catholic Methodist and Presbyterian churches. A new police station, courthouse, [[Mechanics' Institute]] and a town hall were built in the 1860s. There were four coach factories operating in Mudgee to cater for the demand of the nearby goldfields. The [[National Trust of Australia]] has a number of these buildings registered including the Mudgee Museum (formerly the Colonial Inn),<ref name="ColMuseum">{{cite web|title=Colonial Inn Museum|url=http://www.mudgeemuseum.com/|publisher=Mudgee Historical Society Inc|access-date=15 November 2011}}</ref> the Catholic presbytery, the court house, the police station and the Anglican Church. On 1 June 1861 the [[Electric Telegraph]] system arrived and was opened for messages to be transmitted and received at the Telegraph office.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/AUS-NSW/2002-09/1032849563|title=Western Post June 1861|access-date=14 March 2011|author=Annette Piper|date=1 June 1861|work=Western Post}}</ref>

One gold miner attracted to the Mudgee district was Niels Peter Larsen, who married Louisa Albury in Mudgee in 1866. They were the parents of leading Australian poet [[Henry Lawson]], born in [[Grenfell, New South Wales|Grenfell]] in 1867, and changed their names to Peter and [[Louisa Lawson]]. By the birth of their third child, they moved to a selection at Pipeclay (now [[Eurunderee]]) {{convert|8|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} north of Mudgee.  The site is now a rest stop with a plaque.

Louisa Lawson's vigorous lobbying led to the establishment of the [[slab-and-bark]] Eurunderee Public School in 1876 with Henry Lawson first attending aged nine. He would later write about the school in his poem, ''The Old Bark School''. Lawson later attended [[St. Matthews Central School, Mudgee]] before progressively worsening deafness led to him leaving school at 14. He lived in the region until age 15 and many of his stories were written about the district.

Tiny diamonds were sometimes found and discarded by [[gold panning|gold panners]] when "washing off", but sometime before June 1869 a larger specimen was found on the banks of the [[Cudgegong River]] about {{convert|25|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} from Mudgee and appraised by the jeweller George Crisp, of Queen Street, Melbourne, at 22.2 carat.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article75458117 |title=Intercolonial  |newspaper=[[The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser]] |volume=XII |issue=868 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=7 July 1869 |accessdate=19 June 2022 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Dubbed the "Mudgee diamond", it was the largest found to that date in Australia,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8859856 |title=Victoria |newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)]] |volume=XIV |issue=2649 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=29 June 1869 |access-date=19 June 2022 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> however commercial quantities were not found<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article162658548 |title=The Bingera Diamond Field |newspaper=[[The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser]] |volume=XVI |issue=694 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=18 October 1873 |access-date=19 June 2022 |page=496 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and companies founded to exploit the discoveries were wound up a few years later.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60870884 |title=Melbourne |newspaper=[[Empire (newspaper)|Empire]] |issue=6026 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=7 April 1871 |access-date=19 June 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

As the gold petered out in the latter half of the 19th century, Mudgee was sustained by both its wool industry and a nascent wine industry founded by a German immigrant, Adam Roth, in the 1850s. The opening of the [[Gwabegar railway line|railway extension]] from [[Rylstone, New South Wales|Rylstone]] to Mudgee occurred on 10 September 1884.<ref name="SMHrailMudgee">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28368162|title=Extension of the Railway to Mudgee |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=9 September 1884|access-date=15 November 2011|page=5|publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="NSWrail">{{cite web|last=Bozier|first=Rolfe|title=Gwabegar Line|url=http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:gwabegar|work=NSWrail.net|access-date=15 November 2011}}</ref>

The railway boosted the town's agriculture. The extension between Rylstone and Mudgee closed on 2 March 1992.<ref name="NSWrail" /> This same section re-opened eight years later, on 2 September 2000<ref name="NSWrail" /> and closed again in 2007.  The Wallaby Track Drive Tour visits various sites associated with Lawson including the old Eurundee Public School, the Henry Lawson memorial, the Budgee Budgee Inn, Sapling Gully, Golden Gully and the Albury Pub which was owned by Lawson's grandfather.

In 1890 a local newspaper was founded with the title the ''Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative''.<ref>[https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/title/648 Mudgee Guardian and North-Western Representative], trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 23 November 2019.</ref> Its title changed in 1963 to the ''[[Mudgee Guardian and Gulgong Advertiser]]'' and is currently published twice a week.

Mudgee's [[Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium]] hosted the 2012 [[City vs Country Origin]] rugby league match with an attendance of 8,621, and the 2017 match with an attendance of 8,322.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chammas|first=Michael|title=Classy Carney closes on Origin spot with sizzling show|url=http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/rugby-league/league-match-report/classy-carney-closes-on-origin-spot-with-sizzling-show-20120422-1xers.html|access-date=29 April 2012|newspaper=[[Brisbane Times]]|date=23 April 2012}}</ref> The [[St. George Dragons]] regularly host home matches there.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/10/19/dragons-announce-mudgee-fixtures-for-2019/|title = Dragons announce Mudgee fixtures for 2019|date = 19 October 2018}}</ref>

Additionally, in the [[A-League]], the [[Western Sydney]] based [[Western Sydney Wanderers]] have chosen to take their Community Round match to Mudgee's Glen Willow Regional Sports Stadium, as part of their new Regional Strategy,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wswanderersfc.com.au/news/wanderers-take-community-round-match-mudgee-part-new-regional-strategy|title=Wanderers to take Community match to Mudgee as part of new Regional Strategy|date=11 July 2018}}</ref>

In 2014, the local council found itself involved in a statewide [[corruption]] investigation when officers of the [[Independent Commission Against Corruption (New South Wales)]] raided the local council's offices.<ref>{{Cite news|title=ICAC searches Mid-Western Regional Council offices in Mudgee|url = http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-15/mudgeee-icac/5454644|website = ABC News|date = 15 May 2014|access-date=13 November 2015|last1 = Sa|first1 = 7pm TV News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Mid-Western Council abandons extraordinary meeting over ICAC inquiry|url=http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/story/2298441/mid-western-council-abandons-extraordinary-meeting-over-icac-inquiry|website=MudgeeGuardian.com|date=21 May 2014|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref>

==Economy==
{{further|Mudgee wine region}}
Mudgee has developed as a [[wine]] producing region, it has manufacturing and repair industries. It is also heavily dependent on several major mines in the surrounding area<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/country-nsw/mudgee-area/mudgee|title=Mudgee|publisher=Visit NSW|access-date=18 May 2013}}</ref> and fly-in fly-out (FIFO) miners who live in the town but work elsewhere.

Other rural produce includes [[cattle]], [[sheep]], [[wheat]], [[alfalfa]], [[olive]]s, fruit, [[tomato]]es, [[maize|sweetcorn]], [[honey]], alpacas and [[dairy product]]s. These, however, do not play as large a role as mining.

The Ulan coal mines are in the district and it also produces [[marble]], pottery clays, [[shale]] and [[Dolomite (mineral)|dolomite]]. These mines have further potential to expand in the region, however they attract environmental protests.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bze.org.au/media/newswire/peoples-rally-protests-mudgee-conference-120319|title=People's rally protests Mudgee conference {{!}} Beyond Zero Emissions|website=bze.org.au|access-date=13 November 2015}}</ref>

Tourism is also a growing industry based mostly on the wineries and, as of 2020, escaping the restrictive life in Sydney.  Property prices have surged due to the local airport and the fact that it's only a one hour flight to Sydney.

A laboratory was established in 1987 to test meat for pesticide residues.

Local real estate, petrol and living costs skyrocketed since 2010 when the [[mining]] boom began to peak.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mudgeeguardian.com.au/story/2796468/petrol-prices-down-but-mudgee-still-among-most-expensive-towns-to-fill-up/|title=Petrol prices down but Mudgee still among most expensive towns to fill up|website=Mudgee Guardian|date=5 January 2015|access-date=14 November 2015}}</ref> This has rolled onto the local population, who have since had increased difficulty in living in the town.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-18/kohler-if-everything-thinks-its-a-bubble,-it-probably-isnt/5750264|title=If everyone thinks it's a bubble, it probably isn't|website=ABC News|date=17 September 2014|language=en-AU|access-date=14 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/australia-has-to-face-up-to-the-facts-on-coal/story-fnp85ntp-1227274040428|title=Australia has to face up to the facts on coal|website=[[The Australian]]}}</ref>

A new hospital was completed in 2020.

==Media==
===Radio===
Radio stations that broadcast to Mudgee are [[ABC Central West]], [[2BS 95.1 FM|2BS]], [[B-Rock 99.3FM|2BXS]], and Real FM, a community based station which broadcast from the town. <ref>{{Cite web |url=https://realfm.com.au/ |title=Real FM|access-date=28 May 2025}}</ref>
===Television===
Mudgee receives the following free-to-air television stations:
* [[Seven Network|Seven]], [[7two]], [[7mate]], [[7flix]], [[7Bravo]] – [[Seven Network]] owned channels.
* [[10 (Southern Cross Austereo)|Southern Cross 10]], [[10 Bold Drama]], [[10 Peach Comedy]], [[Nickelodeon (Australian TV channel)|Nickelodeon]], [[Sky News Australia|Sky News Regional]] – [[Network Ten]] affiliated channels.
* [[WIN Television]], [[9Go!]], [[9Gem]], [[9Life]] – [[Nine Network]] affiliated channels.
* [[Special Broadcasting Service]], [[SBS (Australian TV channel)|SBS]], [[SBS Viceland]], [[SBS Food]], [[SBS WorldWatch]], [[SBS World Movies]], [[National Indigenous Television|NITV]]
* [[ABC Television (Australian TV network)|ABC Television]], [[ABC TV (Australian TV channel)|ABC]], [[ABC Family (Australian TV channel)|ABC Family]], [[ABC Kids (Australia)|ABC Kids]], [[ABC Entertains]], [[ABC News (TV channel)|ABC News]].
===Newspapers===
The ''[[Mudgee Guardian and Gulgong Advertiser|Mudgee Guardian]]'' is local newspaper which is available on print and online.

== Demographics ==
According to the [[2021 Australian census|2021 Census]]:

* Mudgee had a population of 11,457, consisting of 5,538 males (48.8%) and 5,868 females (51.2%) and the median age was 36.<ref name=Census21>{{Census 2021 AUS|id=SAL12823 |name=Mudgee|accessdate=1 November 2023|quick=on}}</ref>
* 864 (7.5%) stated that they were [[Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander|Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander]], 9,996 (87.2%) stated they were non-Indigenous. 
* 9,586 (86%) stated they were born in Australia. The other top responses were England (2.1%), New Zealand (0.9%), Philippines (0.5%), India (0.4%) and Nepal (0.4%). 
* 56.5% are Christian, with [[Catholic Church in Australia|Catholic]] (24%) and [[Anglican Church of Australia|Anglican]] (18.9%) being the two largest denominations. People with no religion accounted for 37.8%. 
* English is the primary language used at home with 89.7% stating that they only used it. Languages other than English accounted for 6.4% with the top languages being, Nepali (0.4%), Punjabi (0.4%), Tagalog (0.3%), Spanish (0.3%) and Mandarin (0.3%). 
* The weekly median household income was $1,678.

==Climate==
Mudgee has a [[humid subtropical climate]] (''Cfa''), with [[semi-arid climate|semi-arid]] (''Bsk'') characteristics. Summers are hot with many severe thunderstorms. Winters are relatively cold, with frosty mornings and mostly sunny days, interspersed with periods of rain and, rarely, snow; Mudgee's heaviest snowfall on record was {{convert|1|ft|10|in|cm|abbr=on}} on 5 July 1900.<ref>{{ cite web | url=http://www.australianweathernews.com/snow/Russell_RainEtc_NSW_1900.pdf | title=5 July 1900 Snowstorm}}</ref> Rainfall is moderate and falls fairly evenly all year round, with a slight peak in summer. Extreme temperatures have ranged from {{convert|-8.3|°C|°F|abbr=on}} up to {{convert|43.9|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. The highest monthly rainfall ever recorded was {{convert|303.2|mm|in|abbr=on}} in March 1926. Mudgee gets 113 clear days, annually.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{BoM Aust stats|site_ref=cw_062021_All|site_name=MUDGEE (GEORGE STREET)|access-date=27 April 2013|date=April 2013}}</ref>
{{Weather box
|location = Mudgee (George Street, 1907–1995, rainfall 1870–2022); 454 m AMSL; 32.60° S, 149.60° E
|metric first = Yes
|single line = Yes
|Jan record high C = 42.5
|Feb record high C = 43.9
|Mar record high C = 37.2
|Apr record high C = 34.5
|May record high C = 26.1
|Jun record high C = 22.8
|Jul record high C = 22.2
|Aug record high C = 26.8
|Sep record high C = 32.2
|Oct record high C = 38.2
|Nov record high C = 40.2
|Dec record high C = 40.6
|year record high C = 43.9
|Jan high C = 31.0
|Feb high C = 30.2
|Mar high C = 27.8
|Apr high C = 23.3
|May high C = 18.8
|Jun high C = 15.2
|Jul high C = 14.4
|Aug high C = 16.0
|Sep high C = 19.6
|Oct high C = 23.4
|Nov high C = 26.9
|Dec high C = 29.8
|year high C = 23.0
|Jan low C = 15.5
|Feb low C = 15.4
|Mar low C = 13.0
|Apr low C = 8.5
|May low C = 5.0
|Jun low C = 2.6
|Jul low C = 1.3
|Aug low C = 2.3
|Sep low C = 4.4
|Oct low C = 7.6
|Nov low C = 10.8
|Dec low C = 13.7
|year low C = 8.3
|Jan record low C = 3.4
|Feb record low C = 4.0
|Mar record low C = 2.0
|Apr record low C = -2.7
|May record low C = -5.6
|Jun record low C = -7.5
|Jul record low C = -8.3
|Aug record low C = -5.7
|Sep record low C = -3.2
|Oct record low C = -2.3
|Nov record low C = 0.5
|Dec record low C = 2.0
|year record low C = -8.3
|Jan rain mm = 67.7
|Feb rain mm = 63.9
|Mar rain mm = 51.1
|Apr rain mm = 44.2
|May rain mm = 49.4
|Jun rain mm = 54.5
|Jul rain mm = 52.9
|Aug rain mm = 53.1
|Sep rain mm = 52.0
|Oct rain mm = 60.0
|Nov rain mm = 62.1
|Dec rain mm = 65.3
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain days = 6.1
|Feb rain days = 5.9
|Mar rain days = 5.3
|Apr rain days = 4.7
|May rain days = 6.3
|Jun rain days = 8.0
|Jul rain days = 8.3
|Aug rain days = 7.8
|Sep rain days = 7.2
|Oct rain days = 7.4
|Nov rain days = 6.8
|Dec rain days = 6.5
|unit rain days = 0.2mm
|humidity colour=green
|Jan afthumidity = 40
|Feb afthumidity = 47
|Mar afthumidity = 46
|Apr afthumidity = 50
|May afthumidity = 56
|Jun afthumidity = 58
|Jul afthumidity = 57
|Aug afthumidity = 52
|Sep afthumidity = 47
|Oct afthumidity = 45
|Nov afthumidity = 41
|Dec afthumidity = 40
|year afthumidity = 48
|source 1 = [[Bureau of Meteorology (Australia)|Bureau of Meteorology]]<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
|date=April 2013}}

==Heritage buildings==
Mudgee has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
*5–7 Church Street: Regent Theatre<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=2070002|title="Regent Theatre" {{!}} NSW Environment, Energy and Science|website=www.environment.nsw.gov.au|access-date=2020-03-21}}</ref>
* 13 Church Street: [[St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Mudgee|St Mary's Roman Catholic Church]]<ref name="nswshr-685">{{cite NSW SHR|5045728|St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Presbytery, Convent & Hall|hr=00685|fn=S90/02023/2|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* 64 Market Street: [[Mudgee Town Hall]]<ref name="nswshr-464">{{cite NSW SHR|5045732|Mudgee Town Hall|hr=00464|fn=S90/05803 & HC 32498|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* 80 Market Street: [[Mudgee Post Office]]<ref name="nswshr-1314">{{cite NSW SHR|5045269|Mudgee Post Office & Quarters|hr=01314|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* 111 Lester's Lane: [[Binnawee Homestead]]<ref name="nswshr-1780">{{cite NSW SHR|5053370|Binnawee Homestead and Outbuildings|hr=01780|fn=H02/00158|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>
* Wallerawang-Gwabegar railway: [[Mudgee railway station]]<ref name="nswshr-1204">{{cite NSW SHR|5012115|Mudgee Railway Station, yard and locomotive yard|hr=01204|fn=S90/02845/004|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>

==Churches==
* St John's Anglican Church<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mudgeehistory.com.au/churches/churches1.html|title=St John's Anglican Church Mudgee P.1|date=9 July 2012|publisher=Mudgeehistory.com.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* St Mary's Catholic Church<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mudgee.catholic.org.au/|title=Mudgee Catholic Church :: Home|publisher=Mudgee.catholic.org.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* St Paul's Presbyterian Church<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findapresbyterianchurch.com/church/nsw-mudgee-st-pauls-presbyterian-church|title=Mudgee, St Paul's Presbyterian Church – Find a Presbyterian Church|publisher=Findapresbyterianchurch.com|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* Mudgee Uniting Church<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mudgee.unitingchurch.org.au|title=Uniting Church Mudgee and Rylstone}}</ref>
* Frontline Assemblies of God<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.frontline.org.au/contact_us.html|title=Contact Us|publisher=Frontline.org.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* Mudgee Baptist Church<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://maps.google.com.au/maps?oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Mudgee+Baptist+Church&fb=1&gl=au&hq=Baptist+Church&hnear=0x6b0e896323923b2d:0x40609b490436870,Mudgee+NSW&sa=X&ei=5JGIUeibCYLeiger9oDABw&ved=0CH4QtgM|title=Google Maps|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=7 May 2013}}</ref>
* Salvation Army<ref>{{cite web|url=http://my.salvos.org.au/about-us/contact-us/find-the-salvos-near-you/place/hmuc/|title=Mudgee Corps ť|last=Jones|first=Andrew|date=16 October 2012|publisher=My.salvos.org.au|access-date=25 December 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121127154303/http://my.salvos.org.au/about-us/contact-us/find-the-salvos-near-you/place/hmuc/|archive-date=27 November 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Seventh Day Adventist Church<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mudgee.adventist.org.au/|title=Mudgee Seventh-day Adventist Church – Home|publisher=Mudgee.adventist.org.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* One Life Church Mudgee

==Schools and colleges==
* Cudgegong Valley Public School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cudgegongv-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/|title=Home|author=Cudgegong Valley Public School in All Our Best|publisher=Cudgegongv-p.schools.nsw.edu.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* [[Mudgee High School]]
* Mudgee Public School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mudgeepublic.com.au/|title=Mudgee Public School|publisher=Mudgeepublic.com.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* St Matthews Catholic School<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stmattsmudgee.nsw.edu.au/|title=St Matthews Central School Mudgee NSW Australia|date=30 March 2012|publisher=Stmattsmudgee.nsw.edu.au|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424213323/http://www.stmattsmudgee.nsw.edu.au/|archive-date=24 April 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref>
* Mudgee College<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wit.tafensw.edu.au/colleges/mudgee|title=Mudgee College : TAFE Western|publisher=Wit.tafensw.edu.au|access-date=25 December 2012}}</ref> (TAFE)

==Gallery==

<gallery>
Image:AMudgeeShot0003.jpg|Commercial building in town
Image:Mudgee Pub 2009.jpg|Lawson Park Hotel
Image:AMudgeeChurch1.JPG|Presbyterian Church at night
Image:AMudgeeShot0008.jpg|Cudgegong River where it passes close to the town
</gallery>

{{Historical populations
|type= Australia
|1921|3170
|1933|3993
|1947|4178
|1954|5294
|1961|5312
|1966|5372
|1971|5598
|1976|5724
|1981|6015
|1986|6576
|1991|7447
|1996|8195
|2001|8603
|2006|8249
|2011|9830
|2016|10966
|2021|11563
|source=[[Australian Bureau of Statistics]] data.<ref name="ABS Census data">{{cite web |title=Statistics by Catalogue Number |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/ViewContent?readform&view=ProductsbyCatalogue&Action=Expand&Num=2.2 |access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref><ref name="ABS Census data recent">{{cite web |title=Search Census data |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/search-by-area |access-date=15 May 2024}}</ref>
}}

==Notable people==
* [[Natarsha Belling]] – national newsreader for Channel 10
* [[Felicity Brown (milliner)|Felicity Brown]] &ndash; milliner
* [[Kathleen Mary Burrow]] – physiotherapist, businesswoman and Catholic lay leader
* [[Ivan Dougherty]] – Australian army officer, who attended [[Mudgee High School]] in his youth
* [[Jamie Fitzgerald (rugby league)|Jamie Fitzgerald]] – former professional [[rugby league]] footballer who played 71 First Grade NRL games
* [[John Floreani]] – Lead singer of rock band [[Trophy Eyes]] and solo singer-songwriter
* [[Kevin Golsby]] – actor, radio and television host 
* [[Darrell Hair]] – international cricket umpire
* [[Lisa Keightley]] – cricketer, first woman to score a century at Lord's in England
* [[Henry Lawson]] – one of Australia's most recognised poets and short story writers. Lived in Mudgee for 16 years during childhood after his birth in [[Grenfell, New South Wales|Grenfell]].
* [[Louisa Lawson]] – mother of Henry Lawson and prolific activist
* [[David Lowe (winemaker)|David Lowe]] – Winemaker and owner Lowe Wines, President NSW Wine Industry Association, Vice President Australian Winemakers Federation
* [[Joseph Massey sen.|The Massey family of organists]] — born in the town and returned frequently
* [[Scott McGregor (television presenter)|Scott McGregor]] – Australian actor, TV presenter and railway historian
* [[Ted Noffs]] – Methodist minister and founder of the [[Wayside Chapel]] in Kings Cross 1964
* [[James Stanton (water polo)|James Stanton]] – Olympic water polo player for Australia.
* [[Ken Sutcliffe]] – television personality, sports reader for Channel Nine
* [[Dennis Talbot]] – professional boxer who represented Australia in the 1972 Olympics in Munich
* [[Gil Wahlquist]] – pioneer organic winemaker and owner of [[Botobolar Vineyard]]
* [[YNG Martyr]] – rapper and singer/songwriter, also runs a music marketing company

;Groups
* [[Brothers3]] – ''X-Factor'' contestants, 2014

==See also==
* [[Mudgee Airport]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* John Broadley, ''Historic Houses of Mudgee '', Mudgee: J. Broadley, 2011.
* ''Memories of Mudgee: A Photographic Glimpse of Bygone Days'', Mudgee, N.S.W.: Mudgee Historical Society, Mudgee, 2018.
* ''Mudgee: A Nest in the Hills'', Mudgee, N.S.W.: Mudgee Historical Society, Mudgee, 1981. Foreword by [[Gil Wahlquist]].

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Mudgee}}
{{Commons category}}
* {{Cite web| url=http://www.mudgeebusiness.com.au/| title=Mudgee Chamber of Commerce}}
* {{Cite web| url=http://www.mudgeehistory.com.au/| title=Mudgee District Local History}}
* {{Cite web| url=http://www.visitnsw.com/destinations/country-nsw/mudgee-area/mudgee/| title=Mudgee| website=visitnsw.com}}
* {{Cite web| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKEwBR64ukU| title=Mudgee from the air (video)| website=[[YouTube]]}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Towns in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Towns in the Central West (New South Wales)]]
[[Category:Central Tablelands]]
[[Category:Mudgee|*]]