Cessnock, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, about 52 km (32 mi) by road west of Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
. It is the administrative centre of the Cessnock City Council LGA and was named after an 1826 grant of land called Cessnock Estate, which was owned by John Campbell. The local area once known as "The Coalfields" is now the gateway city to the vineyards of the Hunter Valley, which includes Pokolbin
Pokolbin, New South Wales
Pokolbin is a rural locality in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia. It is part of the Singleton Shire Council Local Government Area and the city of Cessnock. The area is the centre of the Lower Hunter Valley wine region...
, Mount View
Mount View, New South Wales
Mount View, New South Wales is a rural locality located in the Hunter Region wine region in New South Wales Australia. It is located Between Cessnock and Wollombi and is a part of the City of Cessnock local government area. It has ideal climate, soil, and temperature for viticultural pursuits,...
, Broke
Broke, New South Wales
Broke is a village of approximately 540 people in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia in Singleton Shire. It is located to the north of Sydney on the original early colonial road from Sydney to Singleton .-Description:...
, Rothbury
Rothbury, New South Wales
Rothbury is a small town located in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. It is 10 km from Cessnock. At the 2006 census, Rothbury had a population of 309 people....
, and Branxton
Branxton, New South Wales
Branxton is a town in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. Branxton is north of Sydney via the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway and New England Highway.Branxton is located mostly in Cessnock City Council, but part of it is in Singleton Shire...
.
Geography
The town is located in the rich alluvial and volcanic soils of the Hunter Valley. Rich coal seams underlie much of the area. The Brokenback Range (part of the Great Dividing RangeGreat Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
) rises to the west of the city. The Hunter River flows down the Hunter Valley approximately 20 km (12 mi) to the north. Cessnock lies within the Hunter Valley Important Bird Area
Hunter Valley Important Bird Area
The Hunter Valley Important Bird Area is a 560 km2 tract of land around Cessnock in central-eastern New South Wales, Australia.-Description:...
.
History
The transition to wine service centre from a once prosperous mining town has been a long and at times difficult process.Cessnock lies between Australia’s earliest European settlements - Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, the Hawkesbury River
Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...
and Newcastle. Lying on the land route between these important settlements it provided early European contact with indigenous people
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
who have inhabited the Cessnock area for more than 3,000 years. The Darkinjung people
Darkinjung people
The Darkinjung are the in the Wyong and area and is a major landowner on the Central Coast, participating in formal joint management of some areas of state forest in the region. It represents over 450 local Aboriginal residents...
were the major inhabitants at the time of European contact, which subsequently proved to be disastrous for the Darkinjung tribe. Many were killed or died as a result of European diseases. Others were forced onto neighbouring tribal territory and killed. The city of Cessnock abounds in indigenous place names and names with indigenous association which is indicative of this settlement and include Congewai, Kurri Kurri
Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the 2006 census its population was 5,644...
, Laguna, Nulkaba
Nulkaba, New South Wales
Nulkaba is a locality in the city of Cessnock, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.-History:As early as 1829, land was set aside to build a church in school in the area now known as Nulkaba. St. Luke's Anglican Church was built in 1872, and the first school in 1877...
and Wollombi
Wollombi, New South Wales
Wollombi is a small village in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the Cessnock City Council LGA, situated southwest of Cessnock and north of Sydney...
.
Pastoralists commenced settling the land in the 1820s. Cessnock was named by Scottish settler John Campbell, after his grandfather's baronial Cessnock Castle in Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
to reflect the aristocratic heritage and ambitions for this estate. The township of Cessnock developed from 1850, as a service centre at the junction of the Great North Road from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, with branches to Maitland
Maitland, New South Wales
Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...
and Singleton
Singleton, New South Wales
-Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....
. During the 1860s, land settlement was extensive between Nulkaba and Pokolbin, with wheat, tobacco and grapes the principal crops.
The establishment of the South Maitland coalfields
South Maitland coalfields
The South Maitland coalfields was the most extensive coalfield in New South Wales until the great coal mining slump of the 1960s. It was discovered by Lieutenant-Colonel Paterson's party when they were engaged in an exploratory visit to the Hunter River Valley during July 1801.Mention has been made...
generated extensive land settlement between 1903 and 1923. The current pattern of urban development, transport routes and industrial landscape was laid at this time. The surveying of the Greta coal seam by Professor Edgeworth David
Edgeworth David
Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David KBE, DSO, FRS, was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter Valley coalfield in New South Wales and leading the first expedition to reach the...
around 1888 became the impetus for considerable social and economic change in the area with the development of the coal mining industry.
Whilst mining was the principal industrial base and source of employment in the Cessnock area for the first half of the 20th century, a slump which commenced about 1960 forced the closure of many mines. Subsequent changes to the mining industry, including automation and the introduction of sophisticated computerised equipment, led to the closure of the vast majority of the remaining mines in the area. This has resulted in a decline in population in many villages and townships over the last twenty years which has led to the closure of some schools, shops and community meeting places. Consequently, many areas have undergone a change in character, with rural residential housing developments becoming popular, as well as small cottages and farms used principally as weekend retreats.
Economy
The decline of mining on the South Maitland Coalfields has been paralleled by growth in the wine industry and better access to other employment centres.The Hunter Valley wine-growing area near Cessnock is Australia's oldest wine region and one of the most famous, with around 1800 hectares (4,448 acre) under vine. The vineyards of Pokolbin, Mount View and Allandale, with their rich volcanic soils tended by entrepreneurial vignerons, are also the focus of a thriving and growing tourism industry. The extension and eventual completion of the F3 Freeway, created a property and tourism boom during the 1990s.
Cessnock has begun to develop other tourist ventures beyond the wine industry such as championship golf courses, hot air ballooning, sky-diving, and guest house accommodation.
The city council has actively pursued a policy of urban renewal in the city centre since 2001. The local council was one of the first to introduce a recycling program for waste disposal in the state.
Most employment comes from the local port city of Newcastle, the nearby major centres of Maitland and Singleton and in service industries in the local council area, which comprises many small towns, such as Kurri Kurri, Weston, Neath, Abernethy
Abernethy, New South Wales
Abernethy is a small town in the City of Cessnock, in the Hunter Region in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Abernethy is located 8 kilometres south-east of the town of Cessnock, NSW and is adjacent to Werakata National Park and the Aberdare State Forest...
, Kearsley and Pokolbin.
Education
Primary schools- Cessnock Public School
- Nulkaba Public School
- Cessnock East Public School
- Bellbird Public School
- Cessnock West Public School
- Kearsley Public School
- St Patricks Primary
High schools
- Cessnock High School
- Mount View High SchoolMount View High School (Cessnock)Mount View High School is a co-educational government school in the West-Cessnock area of Australia.The school enrollment was 1055 students as of 2010 for students in years 7 to 12. It provides the school certificate in year 10 and the Higher School Certificate in year 12...
- St Phillips Christian College
Cessnock also has a TAFE institution for further education.
Sport
The city has many sporting facilities. The city competes in several regional sporting competitions, particularly the Newcastle-based leagues of various sports. Some very successful sporting players can trace their roots to the local district, including Australian Rugby LeagueAustralian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in Australia. It is made up of state bodies, including the New South Wales Rugby League and the Queensland Rugby League...
representative players and brothers Andrew
Andrew Johns
Andrew Gary "Joey" Johns is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time. He was heralded as the world's best halfback for a number of years...
and Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former professional player...
. World-renowned golfer and TV commentator Jack Newton
Jack Newton
Jack Newton OAM is a former Australian professional golfer.-Golf career:Newton was born in Cessnock, New South Wales. He was one of Australia's most successful golfers in the 1970s and early 1980s. He turned professional in 1971 and won his first professional tournament – the Dutch Open...
is also from Cessnock. His annual Sub-Juniors Golf Tournament has unearthed some talented young golfers and is held on the local championship courses of Pokolbin.
Transport
For a century Cessnock was served by a very extensive railway network, originally constructed for the coal industry, but which, at one time, had considerable passenger services, including a direct train to Sydney. Whilst the railway remains open for coal trains from the last coal mine, the passenger services were ceased in 1972.The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
Sydney-Newcastle Freeway
The Sydney-Newcastle Freeway is a stretch of motorway linking Sydney to the Central Coast, Newcastle and Hunter regions of New South Wales. It is part of the AusLink road corridor between Sydney and Brisbane, carrying the route designation....
's Cessnock exit at Freemans Waterhole provides one of the main road connections from Sydney to Cessnock via "The Gap", a pass through the Wattagan mountain range just north of Mt Heaton.
A new freeway linking the New England Highway
New England Highway
The New England Highway is a highway in Australia running from Hexham near Newcastle at its southern end to Yarraman near Toowoomba at its northern end. At its southern end it connects to the Pacific Highway and at its northern end it connects to the D'Aguilar Highway. It traverses the Hunter...
at Branxton and the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway at West Wallsend
West Wallsend, New South Wales
West Wallsend is a suburb and small town in the City of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales, Australia. It is located near the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, not far from the western suburbs of Newcastle.-Coal & railways:...
is planned to be built in the near future, which will bypass Cessnock. Less traffic will take pressure off the local roads and provide easier access to Pokolbin from Sydney and Newcastle.
The local airport is placed just to the north of the city, at the entrance to the Vineyard District. It has a small public passenger terminal and also serves as the base for aviation training organisations such as Avondale College
Avondale College
Avondale College of Higher Education is an Australian tertiary education provider affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Avondale College has two campuses, Lake Macquarie being the primary campus situated in Cooranbong, New South Wales...
's school of Aviation and Hunter Valley Aviation. The airport is not served by RPT flights. Access by air to the region is by Newcastle Airport
Newcastle Airport (Williamtown)
Newcastle Airport is north of Newcastle, New South Wales in Port Stephens. It is the 12th busiest airport in Australia, handling almost 1.2 million passengers in the year ending 30 June 2009, which is 107,000 more than in 2007-08.-Overview:...
at Williamtown
Williamtown, New South Wales
Williamtown is a rural suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the main road between Newcastle and Nelson Bay.-Geography:...
, 53 km (33 mi) away.
The local bus service is run by Rover Motors which provide services to Maitland, Newcastle and Sydney as well as local school bus services.
Notable people from Cessnock
- AndrewAndrew JohnsAndrew Gary "Joey" Johns is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 1990s and 2000s who is considered by many to be the greatest player of all time. He was heralded as the world's best halfback for a number of years...
and Matthew JohnsMatthew JohnsMatthew Johns is an Australian rugby league football commentator and former professional player...
—Rugby League players - Joel EdwardsJoel Edwards (rugby league)Joel Edwards is a rugby league footballer for the Newcastle Knights of the National Rugby League. He primarily plays at lock.-Playing career:...
, Newcastle KnightsNewcastle KnightsThe Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...
player - Douglas N. Daft—businessman; CEO of Coca-ColaCoca-ColaCoca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
(2000–04), Corporate Director of Wal-MartWal-MartWal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000... - Kenneth NeateKenneth NeateKenneth Neate was a renowned Australian operatic and concert tenor, opera producer and singing teacher. He was a regular artist in Wagnerian opera at Bayreuth, and he was noted as a dramatic tenor in German, French, and Italian repertoire in opera houses in England, France, Italy, Austria,...
, opera singer - Gavin KingGavin KingGavin King was a newspaper chief of staff and opinion columnist for News Limited. As Editor at Large for the The Cairns Post he regularly attacked Federal Labor, State and local governments...
, journalist; newspaper columnist - Simon WhitlockSimon WhitlockSimon Whitlock is an Australian professional darts player who plays in Professional Darts Corporation tournaments, although he did have a spell playing in the rival organisation, the British Darts Organisation. He uses the nickname The Wizard for his matches...
, Professional Darts Player
National Estate
Greater Cessnock contains a number of buildings and sites that are on the Register of the National EstateRegister of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
.
- Court House, Branxton
- Police Station and Residence, Branxton
- Former Court House, Greta
- Kurri Kurri Hotel, Lang and Hampden Streets, Kurri Kurri
- Richmond Main Colliery, Mulbring Rd, Pelaw Main
- Laguna House, Laguna
- Post Office, Wollombi
- Endeavour Museum (former Court House), Wollombi
- Public School, Wollombi
- St Michael's Catholic Church, Wollombi
- St John the Evangelist Anglican Church, Wollombi
- Stanford Main No.2 Colliery Pit Head Building, Brick Cottages
- Aboriginal Rock Carvings Site, popularly known as Baiame Cave, Milbrodale Area