Nowendoc, New South Wales

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nowendoc New South Wales
Nowendoc Police Station and Rural Fire Service building on the right
Population:	157 ^[1]
Established:	1857
Postcode:	2354
Location:	341 km (212 mi) N of Sydney 109 km (68 mi) SE of Tamworth 71 km (44 mi) S of Walcha
LGA:	Walcha Shire Council
State District:	Northern Tablelands
Federal Division:	New England

Nowendoc Public School

Nowendoc is a parish and village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located 350 km north of of the state capital, Sydney, 66 km south of Walcha and is in the Walcha Shire Local Government Area. The village is in the cadastral division of Hawes County. A sealed road, Thunderbolts Way, is about three hundred metres to the south of Nowendoc and provides links to the south and north.

In 1836 William Telfer marked a tree line from Port Stephens through Barrington, Nowendoc and on to Ogunbil. The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) set up stations and resting places for their travelling sheep along this route to be known as the ‘Peel Line’. During the years 1840 to 1845 Nowendoc was one of the AACo outstations for their sheep. In 1857 John Hall surveyed 39 allotments to define the village of Nowendoc. Thomas Laurie discovered alluvial gold there in 1872 and by 1873 there were about 100 people camping at Township Spur. By 1945 nearly all mining has ceased. Some dairying was done during the earlier years of settlement.

The village has a cemetery, church, school, sports ground, store, police station, Rural Fire Service and community hall. A post office has operated intermittently from 1861 to 1979. The completion of the telephone line to Walcha in 1921 reduced the isolation of the area. Rural electricity was supplied during 1964-5 to those who made the contribution of £248/10/- towards the cost of connection. The local Uniting Church was officially opened in 1976.

At the 2006 census, Nowendoc and the surrounding area had a population of 157.^[1] The main industries nowadays are beef cattle breeding and timber.

Nowendoc is a centre for those keen on bushwalking, fishing and similar activities and lies near the top of the escarpment that contains the bulk of the Barrington Tops National Park. Many scenic walks and drives can be easily accessed from Nowendoc with the Nowendoc National Park nearby. Tennis, football and cricket are popular sports that enjoyed by residents. An annual rodeo is held on the Nowendoc sports ground.