This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
33.31071° S, 117.33844° E
FIELD GUIDE
The story
Erected on 9 May 1985, and the two tourism bodies that describe him cannot agree how tall he is.
Tourism WA gives Bart as 15 metres long and seven metres high, one of the largest in the southern hemisphere. RAC calls him nine metres tall and second in size only to Goulburn's Big Merino. Both are current, both are official, and the record leaves the conflict standing rather than picking one – a two-metre discrepancy on a landmark that has been measured by somebody is a real disagreement, not a rounding.
What is not in dispute is the date, the name and the reason. Bart went up in 1985 as a celebration of Wagin's prosperity in the wool industry, and he stands in the town's Wetlands Park.
1985 is also the year the Goulburn merino was built, which makes two enormous rams raised in the same year on opposite sides of the continent, each for a district built on fine wool. Neither town appears to have been aware of the other. That is a genuinely odd coincidence and one of the more striking findings in this catalogue.
The difference is in what they depict. Goulburn's Rambo is a portrait of a specific stud ram from a named property; Bart is a merino in general, and the local nickname was applied afterwards.
Wagin is a small sheep-farming town in Western Australia's Great Southern, in country where wool remains the underlying economy.
The sculptor is not named in either source.
Photograph
This is a photograph, shown separately from the illustration artwork.
Tourism WA currently confirms the Giant Ram in Wagin Wetlands Park, measuring about 15 metres long and seven metres high. The landscaped park has picnic tables and toilets and remains a regular visitor stop.
ACCESS
Navigate to Giant Ram Park / Wagin Wetlands Park and use the established park visitor area.
