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Warwick is a town and locality in southeast Queensland, Australia, lying 130 kilometres (81 mi) south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Region local government area. The surrounding Darling Downs have fostered a strong agricultural industry for which Warwick, together with the larger city of Toowoomba, serve as convenient service centres.
Southern Cross are proud to have been installing windmills Warwick can trust since 1903.
With over 100 years of experience designing and manufacturing windmills, Warwick residents can be confident knowing they have the support of Australia’s oldest windmill manufacturer.
People all across Queensland are well aware of the importance of a sound water supply, and due to this, a number of these people continue to turn to a Southern Cross Windmill.
Southern Cross offers a range of sizes in both windwheels, and windmill towers, and can consult with you to find the right windmill for you.
Our ‘IZ’ Double Geared Windmills range from a 6′ windwheel to a 14′ windwheel, and we offer tower heights from 20′ up to 60′. The best windmill tower for you will be determined by your geographical location, and the size of your chosen windwheel.
The Southern Cross “FA” Series Windmill Towers are available in the following heights:
The minimum recommended tower height for each windwheel size, is as follows:
Wind power is the original renewable energy source. It has been employed to power our boats, mill our grain and pump our water for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Windmills have been a part of rural living in Australia for more than a century, and is a great renewable energy source, in addition to being an Australian icon. Australian towns like Warwick have been using windmills to help them meet their water harvesting needs for over 100 years now, stretching over all parts of the continent.
Windmills can be constructed anywhere there is access to water, whether it be a bore, a well, a river or dam, the windmill remains one of the most effective and greenest water harvesting solutions.
More than 80% of Australians live within a mere 50km of the coast – a testament to how dry and harsh the Australian conditions can be – and access to reliable water has always been a challenge for rural Australians.
Before the introduction of the modern windmill to rural Australia, many pastoralists and graziers were restricted by water supply, but when these windmills were introduced, they had the capacity to set up large stations and pastoral runs well inland.
Despite being mostly used to pump water from deep bores or wells linked to underground aquifers, windmills can also be used to pump from any body of water, such as dams or rivers.
The solar water pump has recently presented itself as the latest challenger to the windmill, as water harvesting technology looks to modernise.
Windmills are proven to have a lasting success that remains to be seen with the more modern solar pumps, with plenty of properties across Australia boasting wind pumps that are more than fifty years old and still functioning perfectly.
While many solar systems may be marketed as a safer option, windmill accidents make up less than 1% of all accidents on rural properties, while many electric pumps contain a dangerous or lethal current.
Southern Cross has been providing windmills that Australian families can rely on for over a century, and all of our windmills have a 30+ year design life.
Since 1903, over 250 000 iconic Southern Cross Windmills have been built. All windmills produced by Southern Cross are hot dip galvanised, and supported by over 100 years of winning windmill design.
Every Southern Cross Windmill includes our 3 year windmill warranty.
Southern Cross specialise in the design, manufacture, installation and service of windmills across Australia. We pride ourselves in the design and integrity of every Windmill we produce.
We design and engineer all of our windmills in house, and they are designed to be hardy enough to survive in even the harshest of Australian climates.
Genuine Southern Cross parts for all current range windmills are available for repairs or maintenance. If you are looking for parts for any past windmill, tower, pump or trough models, contact us to see if they are still available to order.
From the very first Southern Cross windmill rolling off the Toowoomba Foundry line in 1903, nobody has experience like we do of dealing with Warwick and Australia’s unique water harvesting needs.
The first windmill built by the Griffiths family was produced in 1876, based on blueprints by Daniel Halladay, which were improved upon for Australian conditions.
These first windmills allowed rural Australians to move into more arid areas of the country for grazing sheep and cattle, and inland towns and pastoral runs began to spring up across the nation.
Much like another Toowoomba icon – the lamington – Southern Cross windmills have become an Australian classic. However unlike the lamington, the Southern Cross Windmill originating in Toowoomba is not up for debate.
Operating out of Queensland to this day – in our Withcott factory – Southern Cross is an Australian owned and operated brand, servicing Australians from all across the country, from irrigators and graziers to rural families and households.
This 7.3 m Southern Cross windwheel, now contentedly housed at the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society was originally constructed by Southern Cross Windmills all the way back in 1924.
The stunning windmill is now used solely for display purposes, but it pumped water reliable for 73 years before it was donated to the Gilgandra Museum and Historical Society by the Payne family.
This timeless windmill is now closing in on 100 years old, and provides a testament to the durability and dependability of a Southern Cross windmill. At its last service, all that was required was an oil top up to keep it running smoothly.
Not only was Queensland’s first ever female premier, Anna Bligh, born in Warwick, two other former premiers; Arthur Morgan and Thomas Joseph Byrnes – the 16th and 12th premiers respectively – were also Members of the Legislative Assembly for Warwick.
That means that Warwick has a connection to almost 8% of Queensland’s Premiers, despite boasting less than 1% of its population.
If you find yourself visiting Warwick, make sure to grab a tea or coffee and take a walk through Queen’s Park, or – if water levels are high enough – head out to Leslie Dam to enjoy the facilities.
If you or any of your party are locomotion enthusiasts, take a ride on the Downs Explorer.
