Our heritage - a short history of the Wollombi Valley

Aboriginal History

The area now occupied by Wollombi village was a significant meeting point on the north-south trade and travel route for coastal Aboriginal peoples; their occupation of the region dates back some 12,000 years. The word Wollombi means “meeting of the waters” in the local Aboriginal dialect. Mt Yengo, to the west, is believed to be where Baiaime rose into the sky after his creation tasks were complete. Many traces of the original inhabitants survive throughout the valley.

Particularly on higher and less accessible ground, evidence of Aboriginal habitation can be seen including campsites, middens and rock art. These are thought to often refer to the Baiaime story. The people of the Wollombi Valley were part of the Darkinjung and their numbers were devastated by European diseases at the time of first contact.

European Settlement

In 1803 Newcastle (at the head of the Hunter River) was established as place of secondary punishment, and the Hunter Valley was accessible only by water until 1819. White settlers were attracted by the pleasant climate and fertile valley and European cattle were grazing the alluvial flats by 1822. As the often influential early settlers slowly spread north from the Hunter River and the Hawkesbury, they requested a secure overland route to Sydney suitable for wheeled vehicles. Built over ten years by convict labour, the Convict Trail or Great North Road was an extraordinary feat of engineering and many remnant still remain, forming an important part of Wollombi's heritage.

The arrival of steam ships in 1832 on the Sydney Newcastle – Morpeth run meant the Great North Road never was the great highway it was built to be.

Wollombi, at the intersection of the two branches of Wollombi Brook and  the intersection of the two branches of the Great North Road, was established as the administrative centre of the district. By 1840 Wollombi had a tavern, shop and courthouse and by 1848 the village contained 17 houses with a population of 76 persons. Most of these buildings are still in good condition and can be visited today. Wollombi's population peaked around 1860 with more than 100 pupils in the village school.

Decline began when the railway line drew the population eastward and wheat rust destroyed the grain trade including the mills in Wollombi and Millfield. Later, the Pacific Highway, to the east, made the Great North Road the delightful, scenic back road it is today.