Victoria Street, the main street of Millthorpe

 

Millthorpe (including Forest Reefs)
Fascinating historic town with an outstanding main street
Millthorpe is a picturesque, compact and historic village set amidst gently rolling hills. Classified by the National Trust, it has a number of fine historic buildings, as well as cobbled, bluestone-bordered streets, an art gallery, gift shops, a museum, two hotels and a bowling club. Two of the main streets, Victoria (which runs east-west) and Park (north-south), follow the contours of the local topography with a more regularised grid system extending outwards from them. Millthorpe is located 246 km north-west of Sydney and 22 km south of Orange.

European settlement of the area began when a government stock station was established in 1823. The town is based upon a land grant originally known as 'Grove Farm' which was made out to convict overseer Charles Booth in 1834. Noted explorer Thomas Mitchell twice stayed there during inland expeditions.

The area developed as a farming centre from 1840 to 1880 with orchards established in the 1860s. Local agriculture received a considerable boost from the arrival of the railway in the 1870s. A large flour mill was established in 1882. Consequently, in 1884 the town's name was changed from 'Spring Grove' to Millthorpe. Today it is still essentially a service centre to the rich farmlands which surround it.

Things to see:  

Tourist Information and Pym St Shops and Historic Buildings
Millthorpe's commercial area was extended after the depression of the 1890s and many of its largely brick buildings date from that period. The town's decline after World War I means that it was spared redevelopment and so many of its buildings have survived with very little alteration.

Local tourist information can be garnered from the Old Mill Cafe which is located in one of the town's original bakeries at 12 Pym Street, tel: (02) 6366 3188. Alternatively you can try John Sloane at the post office, tel: (02) 6366 3113.

Opposite the cafe are Denise's, Nice 'n Natural and Millthorpe Boutik, located in the town's old general store. They sell local giftware. Nearby are Olde Tyme Delights, an olden-style lolly shop, and Pin Oak Studio Gallery which sells quality craft-made leadlighting, glass fused and slumped gifts, tel: (02) 6366 3611. It is open Thurdays to Mondays.

 

Millthorpe Railway Station

 

Beyond that are the Railway Hotel (established 1884) and the railway station (1870s) which occupies the highest point on the railway line between the Blue Mountains and the Indian Ocean.

 

Grand Western
Return to the Old Mill Cafe and continue on to the intersection with Victoria St where you will see the former Grand Western Lodge Hotel (1901), an imposing two-storey face brick structure with two-storey verandah, cast-iron balustrades, an enormous stuccoed central parapet, pictorial leadlight glazing and keyhole windows. It is now an hostel for the mentally disabled.

 

Cobbler's Gallery
A left turn will take you down to Cobbler's Garden Coffee House and Gallery which is located in an old and nicely restored terrace house. The gallery displays work by regional artists and is set in attractive gardens. It is open Fridays and weekends.

 

 

Rosebank Guest House, the old Bank of NSW building

 

Victoria St East - Historic Buildings
Return to the Pym St intersection and continue up the hill, along Victoria St. Millthorpe Motors was originally a funeral parlour and coach builder's workshop. There is a display of historical petrol pumps in the window.

At the corner of Victoria and Park Sts is one of the town's finest buildings, the former Bank of NSW and manager's residence with original bank vault and banking counter. It was built of stuccoed brick in a Late Victorian Free Classical style, c.1895 and is now Rosebank Guesthouse (tel: 02 6366 3191). Opposite is the Commercial Hotel (1877) and nearby is Ada's Place, a studio and gallery housed in a fine old bluestone stable. It is open Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays, tel: (02) 6366 3108.

 

Museum
Turn into Park St. On the right is Millthorpe Public School. The school residence adjacent dates from 1876. On the other side of the road is the Golden Memories Museum which has 10 000 items dating back to 1880, including a colonial kitchen, pioneers' gallery, rural technology display, and antiquated rural farm equipment.

 

Golden Memories Museum

 

There is also a craft cottage on the site. The complex is open weekends from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. (4.00 p.m. in winter) and from 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. (1.30 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. in winter) on school and public holidays, tel: (02) 6366 5009.

 

Churches and Cemetery
Further along Park St are Redmond Oval, where there are barbecue facilities, and St Mark's Anglican Church. Behind it is the original St Mark's (1878).

In the Anglican section of Millthorpe Cemetery is John Lister who, in the company of Edward Hargraves, turned up a pan of gold-bearing gravel at the future site of Ophir in February 1851. Although this find was of little value, Lister, together with William Tom and James Tom, spotted gold glimmering in a rock crevice in April. They dug it out with a knife and then sifted the ground thereabouts, turning up 113 grams in all. The first payable gold discovery in the country, it triggered the first goldrush in Australia, thereby initiating a major transformation of Australia's society, demographics and economy. Just past the cemetery is St Canice's Catholic Church.

 

Braeside
Return to Victoria St and continue up the hill. To the right is the old school of arts (1876), now a community hall and, at the corner of Victoria and William Sts, is Braeside Manor, built c. 1880 as a doctor's surgery and residence. Nicely restored and tastefully decorated, it is now a bed-and-breakfast (tel: 02 6366 3266).

 

Lookout
Turn up William St and make your way to the top, passing Bent Bar Originals, which manufactures old-style wrought-iron furniture. From the crest of the hill there are fine views of Millthorpe and the local area with Mt Canobolas (pronounced 'Ka-nob-lis') in the distance.

 

Forest Reefs
The rural hamlet of Forest Reefs, 10 km west of town, is a former goldmining village which once sported six hotels. It retains an historic centre with some old churches and other buildings, including the Forest Reefs Tavern.

 

 

 

 

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Millthorpe