Murrumbateman is a small village in the Southern Tablelands

Southern Tablelands

The Southern Tablelands is a geographic area of the State of New South Wales, Australia. This area is located west of the Great Dividing Range.The area is characterised by flat country which has generally been extensively cleared and used for grazing purposes...

 of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. It is on the Barton Highway

Barton Highway

The Barton Highway is a short highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.The Barton Highway connects Canberra to the Hume Highway at Yass, and it is part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra....

, approximately 30 kilometres north-west of Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

, and is part of the Yass Valley Shire

Yass Valley, New South Wales

Yass Valley Council is a local government area in the Australian State of New South Wales. It is located in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales on the Hume and Barton Highways and the Main Southern railway line....

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Murrumbateman had a population of 1,758 people.

Some of the surrounding rural properties have been developed as grape growing areas or as boutique wineries. In recent years much of the land has been subdivided into small hobby farm

Hobby farm

A hobby farm is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are merely to provide some recreational land, and perhaps a few horses for the family's children...

 blocks ranging from 2 to 40 acre (0.809372 to 16.2 ). Similar subdivisions have occurred in other regions around Canberra including Bungendore

Bungendore, New South Wales

Bungendore is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, in Palerang Council. It is on the Kings Highway near Lake George, the Molonglo River Valley and the Australian Capital Territory border. It has become a major tourist centre in recent years, popular with visitors from...

, Sutton

Sutton, New South Wales

Sutton, meaning 'South Settlement' in Saxon, is a small village in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. It is situated on the west bank of the Yass River, about 17 kilometres as the crow flies south of Gundaroo, near the Federal Highway, not far from Canberra...

, Gundaroo

Gundaroo, New South Wales

Gundaroo is a small village in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia and in Yass Valley Council. It is situated to the east of the Yass River, about north of Sutton, about west of the Lake George range. At the 2006 census, Gundaroo had a population of 331.The explorers Charles...

 and Burra

Burra, New South Wales

Burra is an Australian district and parish of rural smallholdings lying 20 kilometres to the south of Queanbeyan, New South Wales in Palerang Council, postcode 2620. In 2006, Burra had a population of 480 people...

. Residents tend to commute to Canberra for work rather than make a living off the small parcels of land. Other nearby towns are Yass

Yass, New South Wales

Yass is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Yass Valley Shire. The name appears to have been derived from an Aboriginal word, "Yarrh" , said to mean 'running water'....

, Gunning

Gunning, New South Wales

Gunning is a town on the Old Hume Highway, between Goulburn and Yass in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, about 260 km south-west of Sydney and 75 km north of the national capital, Canberra. On Census night 2006, Gunning had a population of 487 people...

 and Dalton

Dalton, New South Wales

Dalton is a small inland country town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Upper Lachlan Shire. Its claim to fame is that it is reputed to have the nation's highest rate of earthquakes and tremors....

.

The Murrumbateman village has a pub and a handful of retail outlets. The Murrumbateman Field Day

Field day

Field days in Australia usually take place as part of an agricultural show, though field days focus on agricultural industry and equipment rather than livestock....

 is held in October each year and draws large crowds from Canberra

Canberra

Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...

and Yass.

Public Facilities

Murrumbateman has the following public facilities:

• Park
• Public toilets
• Takeaway store
• Hair & beauty salon
• Petrol station/general Store
• Pre-school
• Butcher
• Rural supplies store
• Garage
• Veterinary clinic
• Library
• 2 Churches