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| Patrick Plains Shire
Council Office |
Singleton (including Bulga and Warkworth)
Important service centre in the Hunter Valley
Singleton is situated on the banks of the Hunter River, 209
km north-west of Sydney via Cessnock. It has an elevation of
73 metres.
The area around Singleton was once occupied by the
Wanaruah people. Because few written records of Aboriginal
Australia were kept and because their communities and
cultural practices were so devastated by the spread of
agriculture, pastoralism and white settlement it is
difficult to make firm assertions about life in pre-colonial
Australia. However, it is known that the Wanaruah favoured
goannas as a food source, covering larger animals in hot
ashes and stuffing them with grass. They also adopted
burning off practices as the new shoots which emerged after
fire attracted kangaroos which they surrounded and killed
with clubs and spears (du-rane) barbed with sharp stones.
They also used stone axes (mogo) made of hard volcanic rock
bound to a wooden handle. As ironbark is slow to burn it was
utilised as a transportable fire-stick while stringybark was
used to make a twine employed in fishing and basket-making.
Expeditions led by William Parr in 1817, Benjamin
Singleton in 1818 and John Howe in 1819 ventured north from
Windsor to the land west of Singleton. The latter party was
searching for new grazing land. Guided by an Aboriginal
known as Myles they followed what is now known as Doyle's
Creek (see entry on
Jerry's Plains) to its junction with a river which they
briefly followed eastwards.
Howe returned in 1820 to explore this river and, again
guided by Myles, they continued east along the river to a
site just east of present-day Singleton. It being nearly St
Patrick's Day Howe named the area St Patrick's Plains and it
subsequently became known as Patrick's Plains. Only when
they reached Wallis Plains (Maitland) did they realise the
river they had been following was the Hunter.
Howe reported: "On our way down the river we came thro as
fine a country as imagination can form...fit for cultivation
and equally so for grazing". He also noted the relative ease
of passage for cattle from Windsor. He was immediately
granted land east of the present townsite.
Benjamin Singleton, a member of Howe's 1820 party, was in
occupation of land by 1821 and was appointed district
constable in 1823. He started an agistment enterprise on the
banks of the river at what became known as Singleton's Ford
(where the New England Highway now crosses the Hunter). When
he established the Barley Mow Inn on the site in 1827 a
settlement began to emerge.
The area was officially opened up for settlement in 1823
and large numbers followed by bullock power along the new
track. Large pastoral estates, aristocratic in tone, were
granted to men of substantial capital who utilised convict
labour to improve their properties. Their authority over
these men was reiterated by the fact that the most wealthy
were made the first magistrates. Indeed one, James Mudie,
acquired a reputation for his harshness (see entry on
Baroona for more information). There were few small
landowners.
Both grazing and agriculture soon commenced with wheat
and tobacco proving early staples. Benjamin Singleton
established a punt service across the river and the ford
became a favourite river crossing for those headed north. He
opened a flour mill on the riverbank in 1829 to process
their grain and a post office was established at his inn the
same year. Proper roads were in place by 1831. It was
Singleton's grant which, when subdivided in 1836, formed the
basis of the town.
The first church to be built was Presbyterian (1838) with
Anglican and Catholic establishments erected in the 1840s.
By 1841, when Singleton built the first courthouse, there
were 431 recorded residents in the township and 2659 in the
police district of Patrick's Plains.
The government attempted to make Whittingham the official
township and, though the venture failed, the local
denominational school was located there for some years.
Singleton cut a 3-km track through the bush to the school so
the children would not lose their way.
The depression of the early 1840s nearly brought the town
to a standstill but it recovered with the help of a
boiling-down works which increased the profit from sheep and
cattle. By 1853 there were ten licensed inns. When the
railway arrived in 1863 Singleton's economy boomed as it
became the base for those continuing northwards via coach or
dray. It soon became the main commercial centre, which it
remains today.
Although its status as northern railhead was short-lived
(passing on to Muswellbrook in 1869) Singleton benefited
from the boom and through-traffic by the construction of a
dual carriage railway/road traffic bridge in 1866, the year
the town became a municipality. Moreover, the fertility of
the area's soil guaranteed ongoing prosperity.
Small amounts of coal were being uncovered by 1850 and
the first mine opened around 1860 at Rix Creek, 5 km north
of town along the highway. By the late 19th century there
were said to be 16 mines operating in the district.
The army camp was established in 1941 and it remains to
this day. Singleton was declared a shire in 1976.
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| Bayswater Power Station
between Singleton and Muswellbrook
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Today the local economy is diverse and healthy and
consequently the population increased from 9572 in 1981 to
about 20 500 in 1997. The principal sources of income are
dairying, beef cattle, viticulture, vegetable growing,
coalmining, power generation, tourism, commerce and the
large army base. Coal is now uppermost. There are 18
coalmining operations in the shire which employed 4000
people and produced 46 million tonnes of coal in 1996 (40
per cent of the state's output). 70 per cent is exported and
some used for local power generation. Most of the mines are
open-cut. Dairying is also significant. One-quarter of the
Hunter Valley's milk production comes from this area. The
local stock yards are the fourth-largest in cash terms in
NSW. There are also major vineyards and wineries at Broke.
Things to see:
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Tourist Information
The Singleton Visitor Information Centre is located at 39
George St, tel: (02) 6571 5888 or (1800) 449 888.
Heritage Walk
Singleton has some fine heritage buildings. In fact it has
good examples of all the main phases of Australian
architectural history. Many of the commercial and
administrative buildings date from the boom period which
ensued from the arrival of the railway in 1863.
An historic walk brochure is available from the tourist
information outlets which includes a map outlining the sites
of the relevant buildings. The following differs somewhat
from the council's production but has much in common.
Note that some of Singleton's finest buildings are
historic homesteads from the early days of settlement, many
on the outskirts of town - Bebeah, Ardesier, Townhead,
Greenwood, Hambledon Hill, Abbey Green, Flowerbank and
Crail. However, the present owners are not encouraging
visitors.
Dangar Rd and Boundary St
The most economical route entails starting on the eastern
side of town on pleasant, tree-lined Dangar Rd which
contains a number of older buildings of architectural
quality including 'Lonsdale' at the corner of Dangar Rd and
Boundary St. This impressive late Victorian residence with
its decorative verandah and fine landscaping was built in
1890 and extended in 1907.
Proceed west along Dangar Rd. At its end cross Boundary
St into Percy St. Boundary St was named as it divided the
original grants of Benjamin Singleton and John Howe as well
as, at a later date, the domains of the Patrick Plains and
Singleton councils.
Geraldine and Wade Cottages
Turn right into High St and on this block, to the right, is
'Geraldine'. This cottage was built in 1847 and once served
as the Anglican school and parsonage. Continue along High St
and take the next right into Gipp St. By the corner with
Bishopsgate St is 'Wade' Cottage, a timber building
constructed in 1860 for railway engineer William Burton
Wade. His son, Charles Wade, later the chief justice and
premier of NSW, was born here in 1863.
All Saints Anglican Church
Turn left into Bishopsgate St, At the corner of Bishopsgate
and Goulburn Sts is The Christian Israelite Church. Opposite
is a complex of Anglican buildings situated in a beautiful
churchyard ringed around with jacaranda trees. Facing on to
Goulburn St is The All Saints Sunday School (1864).
The two main buildings are the All Saints Anglican Church
and the beautiful and rather elaborate Victorian Gothic
rectory. The latter was built in 1875 and features steep
gables, chimneys, a red slate roof and, its highlight, some
beautiful gabled dormer windows.
The church was built in 1913 after the design of St
Neot's Church in Cornwall (14th century), the point of
origin of the Dangar family. Henry Dangar, a government
surveyor, was a prominent figure in the early history of the
district. His descendant, A.A. Dangar, lived at the
remarkable Rosemont and financed the family mausoleum, built
in 1862 in honour of Henry who died in 1861. It is situated
between the church and the rectory. Girded by an iron
palisade fence, a series of columns support an elaborate
architrave and pediment.
The original church on the site was the first to be
designed in Australia by noted architect Edmund Blacket.
Built in 1845 it was demolished in 1910 and some of the
stonework was used in the present church. A lovely little
lych-gate (1900) faces High St.
Ewbank
The rectory is on the corner of High St and Market St. Turn
left from High into Market St and follow it to a short
distance to the highway (George St). On the corner is
Ewbank, built in 1884 as the Bank of NSW and residence. It
is quite a large and beautiful building. The entranceway is
adorned with arch and columns and the upstairs verandah has
a proliferation of cast-iron lacework.
Burdekin Park and Historical Museum
On the other side of the road is Burdekin Park, a
particularly pleasant, well-maintained and shady spot in the
heart of Singleton. The land was donated to the town by
Benjamin Singleton in 1837 for usage as a market place and
named in 1878 after a town benefactor.
There is an historical museum, open Tuesdays from 10.00
a.m. - 1.00 p.m., as well as weekends and public holidays
from 12.00 - 4.00 p.m., tel: (02) 6577 8536. The building
was established by Benjamin Singleton as a courthouse and
gaol in 1841. It served that function until the new
courthouse was erected in 1868. The portico was added in
1899 when the building became the Singleton Municipal
Council Chambers (1899-1941). The fountain in the park, a
donation from Alexander Munro, the first mayor of Singleton,
was made in Glasgow in 1887.
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| Hotel Percy
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George St
Head northwards along George St. On the right-hand side of
the road is the Royal Hotel (1859) and a shop dating back to
the 1860s.
Over the road is the Hotel Percy. The current building
dates from 1892, though the Horse and Jockey Inn was built
on this site as far back as 1839.
At 74 George St is the old mechanics institute, designed
by John Pender and built in 1866. It was rented by the
Singleton Municipal Council from 1869 to 1874 and served as
their council chambers from 1941 to 1975. It is now a
community activities centre.
Over the road are the premises which served as the
chambers of the Patrick Plains Shire Council from 1911 to
1975. They are currently unoccupied. A telltale sign is the
leadlight window over the doorway which says 'Patrick Plains
Shire Council Chambers, 1911'. The two councils were
amalgamated in 1975.
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| Patrick Plains Shire
Council Office |
Cross Kent St. On the corner of George and Cambridge Sts,
is the Caledonian Hotel, built by Alexander Munro in 1851. A
pleasant and well-kept building with iron posts it was the
venue of the first municipal council meeting in 1866. It was
here that the body of Aboriginal bushranger and multiple
murderer, Joe Governor, was laid out in 1900 after he was
killed by two farmers north of town. Governor was trying to
get to an Aboriginal mission at St Clair when he was split
up from his brother Jimmy after an ambush.
Turn into Cambridge St. The first three houses, at 4, 6
and 8, all date from the 1860s.
Return to George St. On the left is the old post office
(1878). Designed by James Barnet it is a large building with
an arched colonnade at the front and an upstairs balcony
added at a later date.
Directly opposite is a single-storey weatherboard cottage
which was the residence of the town's first policeman in the
1840s.
A little laneway runs down on the left-hand side of the
bridge. The white, two-storey building with iron columns,
supporting an upstairs verandah with fine lacework, is Bon
Accorde, a former chemist's shop and dwelling from the
1870s.
Where the new concrete bridge now crosses the Hunter is
the site of the original river crossing where Benjamin
Singleton kickstarted the settlement by establishing a punt
service, the Barley Mow Inn and a flour mill in the 1820s.
John Street
At the end of the laneway turn left into John Street which
was, for many years, a mere track. However, when the railway
arrived in 1863, it joined the ford to South Singleton
Station and soon became the main commercial centre, which it
remains today.
One of the commercial buildings which sprang up with the
arrival of the railway is the white house on the corner
which was built in the 1860s as Glass's General Store. Next
door is 'Merah'. Erected as a private residence in 1862 it
later served as the premises of the Joint Stock Bank.
Opposite Campbell St is the Dunolly Ford Bridge, built in
1905. Along the next block, to the left, is the old Masonic
hall, with the title still emblazoned on the awnings. On the
corner with Macquarie St are a pair of stone and timber
buildings (c.1900) which were common at that time.
On the other side of the next crossroad (Elizabeth St) is
the Imperial Hotel, built of rendered brick in 1881. Further
down John St, between William and Pitt Sts, is the Club
House Hotel, built c.1879 as McPhee's Hotel. It has some
fine cast-iron lacework on the verandah and balcony, which
were added in 1918. Nearby is the Jack Daniel's Tavern,
formerly the Criterion Hotel (c.1863).
Elizabeth Street
Return to and turn into Elizabeth St. The first house on the
left, as the words on the wall suggest, is the old Methodist
Sunday School. Built in 1856 it served as the first
Methodist Church. When the main church was built over the
road in 1880 the stained-glass windows were transferred
across the road from the old church which became the Sunday
School Hall, now a private residence.
Next door is Bel Glen, the former Methodist Parsonage
(1869), also a private residence. Over the road is the 1880
Methodist Church, now a Presbyterian Church. It is a
sandstone building with lancet arched windows and door,
leadlight windows and turrets. Next to it is the Methodist
Kindergarten Hall (1918).
Further down the street is Singleton Public School,
established in 1852 with the brick classrooms facing Hunter
St dating back to the 1870s and 1880s.
On the right is the courthouse, designed by James Barnet
in 1868 to replace the building in Burdekin Park. It is a
symmetrical design with bays on either side of the main
block, large columns, three round-headed windows, timber
tracery, a clock in the gable with a tower on top and
pilasters around the central windows.
Next door are Bundarra and the Sacred Heart Church of the
Society of St Pius X, after which Elizabeth St returns you
to Burdekin Park.
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| St Patricks Catholic
Church, Queen Street, Singleton |
The Catholic Complex
Slightly outside the scope of this walk is one of the most
impressive groups of buildings in Singleton, the Catholic
complex in Queen St. The oldest building is the
octagonally-shaped, Georgian-style cottage between the
church and the college. It began its life as a presbytery in
the 1840s and became a convent when the first Sisters of
Mercy arrived from Ireland in 1875. A rendered sandstock
brick building it consists of two hexagonal rooms and some
fine joinery with a flagged verandah. It is now a museum. St
Patrick's Roman Catholic Church was consecrated in 1860. The
towers were added in 1920. The original church on the site
was a slab building erected in 1845.
The Chancel, intended as a small chapel for the sisters,
was designed by Maitland architect Jonathan Pender and built
in 1881. It was extended in 1894 with an organ gallery built
under the direction of Frederick Menkens and a mosaic
walkway connecting the chancel to the verandah of the new
convent, which was then under construction.
Menkens' main contribution was the beautiful new convent,
built between 1893 and 1909. The brick arches replaced
superior cast-iron lacework in the 1940s. There is an
elegant campanile and a statue of the Virgin Mary above the
front door. Inside are ornamental steel ceilings, leadlight
windows and doors and the whole is surrounded by fine
gardens. It is still occupied by resident and visiting
sisters.
St Catherine's College was designed by Menkens' partner
F.G. Castleden and completed in 1911. It features brick
buttresses and colonnades and a castellated parapet around
the roofline. It blends well with the chancel on the other
side of the garden.
The Italian Renaissance-style chapel is a building of
some pulchritude. Within the spacious interior are a
decorative vaulted ceiling, stained-glass windows, and large
Roman arches over the chancel and transepts. The floor of
the nave is a tile mosaic, the choir stalls are maple, the
altar is marble, there are three Italian murals at the rear
of the chancel and a mid-19th century pipe organ. It was
opened in 1925, while the novitiate was built in 1933.
Tours of the museum and other buildings are available to
groups and by appointment only, tel: (02) 4965 4031.
The Catholic Cemetery is historic and the current
presbytery in Patrick St (near the corner with Market St)
dates from 1890.
Sundial
At the southern end of John St turn into Gowrie St. At the
end of Gowrie Street is Rose Point Park where you will find
one of the largest sundials in the southern hemisphere.
Lake St Clair
Follow the highway across the Hunter River to the
north-western end of Singleton. The first right over the
bridge is Bridgman Rd, signposted for Lake St Clair which is
situated behind the walls of Glennies Creek Dam, named after
James Glennie, a former naval captain granted land at the
junction of the creek and the Hunter River in 1824.
The lake, covering 1540 ha, is named after St Clair
homestead, now buried beneath the lake. The dam, completed
in 1983, has a storage capacity of 283 000 million litres
(half the volume of Sydney Harbour).
After 21 km the road starts to climb with the lake and
dam wall fully in view after 25.5 km. From here the drive is
quite scenic as the somewhat dry, straw-brown colour of the
surrounding countryside gives way to verdant and less
sparsely covered hills. A turnoff to the left at around 27
km will take you to the dam wall, 67 m high and 535 m long.
Or just pull over to the left at the hilltop for a fine
view.
It is 32.6 km from the highway to the recreation area.
There are camping and visiting fees, powered sites, boating,
carparks, picnic-barbecue areas and a boat ramp.
Waterskiing, swimming, fishing and boating are popular
pursuits.The lake has been stocked with bass, perch and
catfish. For further information tel: (02) 6571 5888.
Beyond lies Mt Royal State Forest, it has visitor
facilities and is accessible only by 4WD.
Apex Lookout
Just beyond Bridgman Rd, Maison Dieu Rd heads left off the
highway at the north-western end of town and passes through
the industrial area. Turn left into Hambledon Hill Rd (watch
for the little blue lookout sign), then turn again after 600
m into Lookout Rd (signposted to the right). There are good
views over the Hunter River flood plain.
Whittingham
Just south of Singleton, via the highway, is Whittingham
which the government tried to establish as the official
township in the late 1820s. Cemetery Lane runs off to the
right. At its end, beyond the level crossing, is an Anglican
cemetery. A plaque set into a one-metre high boulder marks
the site of Joe Governor's grave. He and his brother, Jimmy
Governor, were greatly feared in the district at the end of
the 19th century. The book and film, The Chant of Jimmy
Blacksmith, are based on their activities. Shot and killed
at St Clair, north of Singleton, in 1900, his corpse was not
permitted within the bounds of the graveyard.
A little further south, on the highway, to the left, is
Whittinghan Public School, a quaint old building (1871).
Almost directly over the road is a large building, the
former Lairmont Hotel, built in 1862 for David Faulkner. It
is currently Polaroid Marketing Signs.
Howe Memorial
After another 1.8 km there is an intersection at which Range
Rd runs off to the right and Racecourse Lane to the left. On
the roadside, beside Range Rd, is an ill-maintained memorial
reserve. Although there is a World War I cairn its principal
function is to commemorate the arrival in the vicinity, on
the 15th March, 1820, of John Howe's exploring party from
Windsor, led by Aboriginal guides.
Army Museum
A signpost also indicates that Range Rd is one route to the
Singleton Army Barracks (the main training facility for the
Royal Australian Infantry Corps) and the Royal Australian
Infantry Corps Museum. The museum has an historically
inclined collection of infantry equipment, weapons and
memorabilia dating back to Australia's first overseas
military excursion to the Sudan in 1885. There is a
picnic-barbecue area with light refreshments on offer and
souvenirs for sale. They are open 9.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m.
Wednesday to Sunday but closed Christmas, Boxing Day, Good
Friday and Anzac Day, tel: (02) 6570 3257. Guided tours for
groups are available.
Neotsfield
Racecourse Rd departs from the highway directly opposite
Range Rd. It leads, after 700 m, to Neotsfield Lane, where
you will find Neotsfield homestead, named after St Neots,
Cornwall, the birthplace of Henry Dangar who received this
land in 1821 and built the house around 1828. John Singleton
initially ran his cattle on this land until his own grant
was confirmed.
Dangar, the assistant surveyor in the colony from 1821 to
1828, surveyed much of the Hunter Valley as it was opened
for settlement. After being dismissed on charges of using
his position for personal gain, he worked for the Australian
Agricultural Company, finding a route over the Liverpool
Range to the Liverpool Plains, where he selected a huge
swathe of land for the company. He then retired to
Neotsfield.
This impressive mansion has been substantially altered
over the years and is difficult to see from the roadside,
owing to trees. Although it has, in the past, been open for
inspection it has recently changed hands and its current
status is in limbo.
Baroona
Just beyond this point, if you look to the right, you will
see, on the hilltop, not far from the road, the amazing
sight of Baroona (formerly Rosemont) on land granted to
James Mudie in 1823. Rosemount was built in 1829 by John
Lanarch, his overseer and, later, his son-in-law and
business partner. Mudie's own property, situated on the
opposite side of the present highway, was known as Castle
Forbes.
Mudie's story is quite interesting. Appointed a
magistrate in 1830, he soon gained a reputation for the
excessive use of corporal punishment. When Governor Bourke
curtailed the capacity of magistrates to inflict summary
punishments Mudie helped circulate a petition against Bourke
for what he regarded as dangerous leniency.
Five of Mudie's convicts were executed after they
mutinied, tried to shoot Lanarch and fled. An investigation
into charges that Mudie and Lanarch degraded their servants
cleared them of ill treatment but found them wanting in
relation to the issuance of rations. Angered by the report,
Mudie came under fire and counter-attacked by subverting
Bourke's appointment of one of Mudie's critics. This appears
to have played a role in Bourke's resignation of the
governorship.
Subsequently Mudie was not reappointed to the magistracy.
In 1837 he sold Castle Forbes and returned to England
whereupon he published a distorted and vitriolic attack on
perceived enemies, particularly within the magistracy. Upon
his return to Sydney in 1840 he found his actions had
alienated old friends. He was publicly horsewhipped by John
Kinchela, the son of one of the judges he had decried. When
Kinchela was found guilty of assault the 50-pound fine was
paid by subscription. Mudie returned to England in 1842.
Albert Dangar, son of surveyor Henry Dangar, acquired
Rosemont in 1869 and had Benjamin Backhouse design Baroona
using the walls of Rosemont as the basic building block. J.
Horbury Hunt designed the stables in 1887 and Frederick
Menkens designed the tower and spiral staircase in 1893. The
exterior is sandstone and stucco, the joinery of cedar and
the fireplaces of marble. The cellar is convict-built.
Two-time Melbourne Cup winner, Peter Pan, was foaled and
died at Baroona.
Minimbah
Slightly further south, set back a little further from the
highway but also to the right is Minimbah, a huge,
distinctively white, 45-room mansion designed by Benjamin
Backhouse and built in 1875-77 for Duncan Forbes Mackay on
land issued in 1823 to John Cobb.
The walls are of cement-rendered sandstone and sandstock
brick. There are verandahs on both stories with intricate
wrought-iron lacework, a slate roof within which is a
3000-gallon water tank. The entrance hall has a tessellated
floor and beaten copper panelling with a staircase of
Australian cedar and rosewood carved in Germany that leads
to a landing characterised by columns and arches. The
joinery is of local cedar and the baths and fireplaces of
marble.
Warkworth
Head south out of town on the Glenridding Rd, an extension
of John St. At 6 km is the Maitland turnoff and at 7 km the
Broke turnoff (along Wollombi Rd). Another 2.2 km brings you
to an intersection. On the left is the turnoff to the Mt
Thorley Industrial Area, the base for much of the local mine
servicing industry. On the right is the road to Denman via
Warkworth. If you take the latter a few hundred metres will
bring you to a view of the Warkworth Open-Cut Mine.
It is 9.5 km to Warkworth itself. Now a coalmining area
the land, first granted in 1824, was formerly given over to
agricultural and pastoral activities.
As you come over and down hill into Warkworth, on the
right-hand side of the road, is Jim Johnstone Park, named
after the founder of a nearby colliery. The machine in the
grounds is a Lee-Norse Continuous Coalmining Machine (1959).
Take the immediate right into High St which runs along
the perimeter of the park - north, then west, then south
back to the main road. 100 m down this road, to the right,
is a strip of grass leading to St Phillip's Anglican Church
and cemetery. Work commenced on the building in 1840 though
it was not completed until 1853. Edmund Blacket was employed
to finish the design in 1851 adding side porches, the
circular window in the gable, the bell-cote and cross, and
possibly the roof. However, it is an extremely modest
affair.
Continue on from the church. Follow the tarmac as it
veers westwards. At the end of this part of the street,
before the road turns south back to the main road, is a
picnic area by the bridge on Wollombi Creek. John Howe named
this part of the creek 'Cockfighter Creek' after a horse of
his that became ineluctably mired during the 1817 trek.
The bridge was originally a timber truss structure
erected in 1871. Warkworth Public School, on High St, was
established in 1859. The Hunter Valley Gliding Club is also
located at Warkworth, tel: (02) 4988 6120 or, on weekends,
(02) 6574 4556.
Bulga and Hillsdale Orchard
If, instead of turning off to Warkworth, you continue
southwards along the Putty Rd then you will pass by huge
open-cut mining operations on both sides of the road. 9 km
will bring you to a bridge, beyond which is the tiny village
of Bulga where there is little more than a store - service
station. It was from Bulga that drover Peter Clarke set off
in 1863 on a trip which saw him fatally shot by bushranger
Henry Wilson (see entry on
Murrurundi).
Exactly 4 km south of the store Thompson Rd heads off to
the right. It is signposted 'Oranges For Sale - Pick Your
Own'. Another 4 km will bring you to the rather beautiful
Hillsdale Orchard where there are 5000 orange trees. The
business is well-organised and caters for coach groups with
morning or afternoon tea and a guided tour through the
property, which takes in a display of Aboriginal artefacts
found on the property over the years and a large and very
pleasant semi-tropical fernery which the owners have created
on a hillside. There are 6 km of walking trails along
Milbrodale Creek, and bed-and-breakfast farmstay
accommodation in the old farmhouse. Visitors can pick and
eat their own oranges, tel: (02) 6574 5173.
Just south of Thompson Rd is a recreation ground and rest
area. St Mark's Anglican Church, over the road, was
dedicated in 1888.
Camberwell
13 km north of Singleton along the highway is the tiny
village of Camberwell where St Clement's Anglican Church was
built between 1844 and 1855. The Singleton to Newcastle
section of the New England Highway closely follows a track
that was already in existence by 1832.
Ravensworth
19 km north of the Singleton post office is another tiny
settlement known as Ravensworth where there is a huge
open-cut coal mine (on the roadside to the right) which
exclusively supplies coal for domestic power generation. If
you take a right turn into the Hebden Rd, near the school,
you will see Ravensworth House to the right 3.5 km along the
road. It was built in 1840 and possibly designed by John
Verge.
Ravensworth was one of the first grants in the district,
being made out to James Bowman in the early 1820s. He
established a farm which was then the most northerly on the
Hunter and, in 1832, married one of John Macarthur's
daughters. Being the most northerly property at the time,
the party of surveyor Henry Dangar retreated gratefully to
this point after being attacked by Aborigines in the area
west of present-day Murrurundi in 1824.
Lemington Road
4.6 km from Hebden Rd, Lemington Rd heads off to the left
past the Hunter Valley Mine, the scene of major industrial
disputes between Rio Tinto and its employees, to the
Singleton-Denman Rd (17 km). Glimpses of the mine and the
surrounding pasturage are available from the roadside en
route. Looking southwards there are some fine views of the
mountains' rocky cliff face in the near distance. At the
southern end of the road is Moses Crossing over the Hunter
River where the adjacent land is quite lush - a nice spot
for a picnic.
Further north along the highway are Bayswater Power
Station and Lake Liddell (see entry on
Muswellbrook)
Broadwalk
Business Brokers
Broadwalk Business
Brokers specialise in General Businesses for Sale, Caravan Parks for
Sale, Motels for Sale, Management Rights & Resorts for Sale, Farms for
Sale, Hotels for sale,Commercial & Industrial Properties for Sale.
Phone:
1300 136 559
Email:
enquiries@broadwalkbusinessbrokers.com.au
AUSTRALIAN BUSINESSES FOR SALE
COFFS HARBOUR BUSINESS BROKERS
BROADWALK BUSINESS BROKERS
GOLD COAST BUSINESSES FOR SALE
BRISBANE BUSINESSES FOR SALE
SYDNEY BUSINESSES FOR SALE
CARAVAN PARKS FOR SALE
BUSINESSES FOR SALE
MOTELS
FOR SALE
HOTELS
FOR SALE
Disclaimer
We advise prospective purchasers that we take no
responsibility for the accuracy of any information in the business
provided by vendors or their professional advisers and that they should
make their own enquiries as to the accuracy of this information,
including obtaining independent legal and/or accounting advice
Singleton
