Metricup combines local history with hands-on culinary experiences. Highlights range from St. John the Baptist Anglican Church, a landmark of the area’s settlement history, to chocolate, wine, cheese and a brewery with a farm and restaurant. When choosing what to explore, consider what kind of experience you are looking for: architecture and history, tastings, products, dining or a brewery tour. These highlights give the town several distinct sides.
Church and settlement history
St. John the Baptist Anglican Church is the only surviving physical evidence of the small town of Metricup, founded during the Group Settlement scheme. It was built for the small community of Boyndlie Park, later known as Metricup. This community was the social centre for the settlers of Group Settlement Group 60.
The church is built in the Federation Carpenter Gothic style. It brings together two aspects in one building: the history of the settlers’ community and a clear architectural style. For travellers interested in local history or church architecture, it is a tangible highlight; it links the history of Boyndlie Park with the later place name Metricup.
Chocolate in Metricup
The original Margaret River Chocolate Company factory opened in Metricup in 1999. Visitors can enjoy free tastings. At the Metricup Chocolate Factory & Cafe, visitors can try or choose from new award-winning chocolate creations, hot chocolate, a chocolate chip cookie, chocolate-inspired gelato and coffee.
The tastings and product selection offer different ways to enjoy the experience: you can focus on sampling or choose from chocolate creations, drinks, baked goods and gelato. The chocolate theme therefore extends beyond a single type of product to include a range of sweet treats as well as coffee.
Wine and artisan products
Ad Hoc offers a casual tasting of its more approachable wine ranges. There is also a farm shop with a selection of artisan-made products. The wine tasting and farm shop offer distinct experiences: one is about sampling, the other about choosing products. Ad Hoc is closed during winter. Check its current opening status before travelling.
Cheese and brewing culture
The Margaret River Dairy Company makes soft-ripened white cheese and handmade farmhouse cheese. Its factory shop is currently closed. Cheese in Metricup is therefore represented by the production of these two distinct varieties, not by a factory shop that is currently open.
Beerfarm Metricup is an operating brewery and farm housed in a converted 1940s dairy. Its former use as a dairy and its current use as a brewery and farm are a clear example of how the operation has changed over time. Beerfarm offers brewery tours, and its restaurant serves paddock-to-plate dishes.
The options vary according to the focus of your visit: the church is about settlement and architectural history, the Chocolate Company offers tastings and sweet products, Ad Hoc focuses on wine and artisan goods, and Beerfarm offers brewery tours and dining. At the Margaret River Dairy Company, the cheeses are the product focus, while the factory shop is currently closed.
Discover more destinations: Forest Grove, Meadow Springs, Carbunup River, Eagle Bay, Green Head, Murdoch, Capel, Mount Barker
For the broader travel overview: Western Australia.
