Byng
Quiet township near Orange.
Byng is a picturesque rural locality situated amidst pleasant green valleys, 17 km south-east of Orange and 256 km north-west of Sydney.

Byng was initially known as 'Cornish Village' due to the preponderance of Cornish settlers in the earliest days of the settlement. It was apparently they who bought with them the fruit trees which, at the 'Pendarvis' estate, proved the genesis of Orange's fruit industry.

The area's Celtic associations are also apparent in the three welcome stones on the porch of 'Springfield' homestead. Custom dictated that the host would stand on the top step, the guest on the bottom, and they would greet each other in the middle.

'Bookanon' homestead, a two-storey rubble stone house, is thought to be the oldest in the district and one of the earliest well-preserved houses west of the Blue Mountains. The main section dates back to c.1839, although the two-storey wing at the north-east corner is probably older.

Today there are a few houses along the narrow lanes which are lined with hawthorn bushes, although it could not be described as anything so coherent as a village. The small and very beautiful Methodist church dates from 1873. Over the road is an historic cemetery where wildflowers bloom in spring.

Things to see:  

Tourist Information
Orange Visitors Centre, Civic Square, Byng St, tel: (02) 6361 5226.

Methodist Church
The town's beautiful Methodist church dates back to 1873 and is still used today for weddings and other events.

Cemetery
This overgrown cemetery opposite the church contains the grave of William Tom, a Cornish man who was responsible for the first payable gold discovery in Australia. In April 1851 Tom spotted a 14-gram nugget near the intersection of the Summer Hill Creek and Lewis Ponds Creek. He, his brother James, and John Lister turned their attention to the adjacent creekbed, turning up 113 g over the next three days, including a 55-gram nugget. They immediately informed Edward Hargraves who has been falsely credited with the find which initiated the first Australian goldrush, at Ophir.