Historic buildings in Swan Street

Morpeth
Charming and historic town on the banks of the Hunter River
Morpeth is an historic inland river port with a bucolic feel on the banks of the Hunter River 168 km north of Sydney, 37 km north-west of Newcastle and just 5 km north-east of Maitland. With its beautiful riverside setting, the genuinely historic feel which emerges from the mellowed stonework of its many old buildings, the modest and eminently walkable size of the town and the willows which line the river bank it is becoming popular with travellers. The main street, with its profusion of arts and crafts, antique and curio shops housed in historic buildings, is very much geared towards tourism.

Once covered in dense rainforest the Morpeth area was probably occupied by the Gringgai clan of the Wanaruah indigeous peoples who called it 'Illalaung'. It is known that the Wanaruah had trade and ceremonial links with the Kamilaroi people. They 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.

The first Europeans in the area were the party of Lt Col. Paterson who undertook an exploration of the Hunter River in 1801. Paterson named the locality Green Hills.

The land here was granted in 1821 to Lt Edward Close, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, as a reward for service as Engineer of Public Works at Newcastle. He built an impressive homestead, Closebourne House (still standing), around 1826 which became the residence of the various Bishops of Newcastle from 1848 to 1912.

A bridge over Wallis Creek was erected in 1827 facilitating trade with the township of Wallis Plains (now Maitland) which, although 40 km away by river, was just 5 km by road.

The old bridge across the Hunter River

The years from 1827-1830 saw Green Hills developing as a river port. However, the locality really took off after the arrival, in 1831, of the first paddlesteamer (the Sophia Jane). It was soon a regular, along with the William IV, the first Australian-made, ocean-going paddlesteamer. In 1832 the first proper wharf was erected and the first two inns were licensed. A proper road to Maitland was built by convict labour in 1833.

Close subdivided the land with the first batch of allotments sold in 1834. A private town was established which, at this time, took the name Morpeth which was originally the name of a town near Newcastle in England.

Morpeth became the major port of the Hunter Valley and surrounding districts between 1832 and 1890 with a regular steamer service operating to Maitland, up to Paterson and down to Newcastle. An important trade, cultural, commercial and religious centre, much of the Hunter Valley's produce passed through its wharves en route to Newcastle and Sydney while most persons and goods headed from those centres into the valley and beyond also set foot on its wharves.

Lt Close set up the first school in 1836, the year both Anglican and Catholic services commenced. A Catholic Church was built in 1836 and the foundation stone of St James' Church was laid in 1837. The first post office opened in 1838, a steam mill was built in 1840 and a soap works in 1844. In the 1840s Caleb Soul, of Soul-Pattison pharmaceuticals, manufactured talcum powder and William Arnott, later of Arnott's biscuits, had a bakery here. Their businesses were both located on the river side of Swan St, between Tank and Northumberland Sts. The first national school opened in 1862, the year the population peaked at 1830. There were ten hotels in the town when it became a municipality in 1866.

However, Newcastle had begun to grow, and the Great Northern Railway, which reached Maitland in 1857, initially bypassed Morpeth. Although the extension of the railway to the outskirts of town in 1864 and to the wharves in 1870 the river had begun to silt up. The completion of the rail link between Newcastle and Sydney in 1889 sealed the fate of the river trade and the fortunes of Morpeth.

Morpeth was formally amalgamated into the City of Maitland in 1969. It re-emerged in the late 1980s as a tourist attraction with the opening of the gift shops.

Things to see:  

Visitor Information and Town Tours
Morpeth is an historic town which has been classified by the National Trust. It has many historic sites and buildings of interest, particularly on Swan St (the main road) which even retains its old stone guttering. A glossy heritage walk booklet is available for $2 from the Visitors' Centre in Maitland, located in Ministers Park, cnr High St and Les Darcy Drive (the New England Hwy), tel: (02) 4933 2611. However a number of local shops also sell the booklet. Historical walks are conducted on a daily basis, if numbers are sufficient, at 2 pm from 144 Swan St, tel: (02) 4934 5660.

Fig Tree Hill
The Morpeth Road, which heads in a north-easterly direction from East Maitland to Morpeth, leads past a roadside stop to the left as you approach the town. From this vantage point, known as Fig Tree Hill, there is a good perspective northwards over the river flats adjacent the Hunter with the land rising in the distance to the residential area of Largs. Further afield, beyond the Hunter, is the Paterson River to the north with the Barrington Mountains in the distance. A number of local buildings were constructed of sandstone quarried by convicts from the land below the lookout.

Closebourne House
Opposite is the driveway to Closebourne Conference Centre which leads past Closebourne House. There is a good view of its facade and the front garden. This is private property so visitors are asked to respect the privacy of guests.

This huge and enormously impressive sandstone colonial Georgian mansion was built in 1826, the second residence of town founder Lt Close. Both house and landscape have recently been restored. It features flagged verandahs on three sides, a fanlight over the front door and cedar joinery. It is one of the oldest surviving buildings in Australia and is particularly valuable for its quality and the retention of its original structure and setting. Close sold it to Bishop Tyrrell, the Anglican Bishop of Newcastle, in 1848 whence it served as an episcopal residence known as Bishopscourt until 1912. It subsequently became a boys' home and grammar school.

Morpeth House
Close built another mansion (completed 1852) known as Morpeth House which is behind Closebourne and slightly back in the direction of East Maitland. Also of sandstone and well-preserved, it is not quite so grandiose. A symmetrical design with opposing wings it has a hipped roof, shuttered windows and timber verandah posts.

Queens Wharf and Tank Street
Tank Street heads up the hill to the right of the main street and Queens Wharf Road on the left leads down to the original wharf area where passengers and goods (including coal) boarded steamers bound for Paterson, Maitland, Newcastle and Sydney. A punt service once operated across the river to Phoenix Park. Tank Street was named after the Bishop's tank which was used to water the gardens of Closebourne House.

Campbells Store and the Surgeons Cottage
Start at the corner of Tank St and Swan St. The large symmetrical gabled building on the corner, to the right, is the old Campbells Store, built of locally-quarried sandstone and brick (c.1850) with flagged sandstone paving and timber posts supporting an awning. Once noted for its haberdashery it drew clientele from far afield. Like many of the old buildings in Swan St it now sells gifts and curios.

There are large blow-ups of interesting historic photographs with explanatory text adorning the walls. Some of the photographs reveal features of the town no longer in existence, such as Anlaby's Inn, one of the original hotels, which once stood opposite. Its bricks were used for restoration work on Morpeth House.

Next door to the store is the Surgeons Cottage, a smaller sandstone building with hipped roof, decorative cast-iron columns and a sandstone verandah built for a Dr Bennett in 1846 or 1858 depending on which source you credit.

Slab Cottage
Just around the corner in Green Street is an old slab cottage dating back to the 1820s which has been restored and relocated to this site. Now housing Morpeth Pottery it was built by Pierce Cantwell who initially carted the sandstone from Fig Tree Hill into town. He later owned the Royal Hotel which is still standing.

Terrace Houses
Returning to the excursion down Swan St there are a series of terrace houses on the right (153-163) built c.1850. Number 155 now houses 'Timpotoo' which sells pottery, woodwork, leatherwork, toys and other gifts. At 157 is Melange of Morpeth.

CBC Bank
Just beyond the terraces is the rather elaborate CBC Bank building (1889). Designed by the Mansfield brothers it has a particularly impressive interior, featuring Italian fireplaces, porcelain servants' bells, red cedar woodwork, a fine staircase, quality panelling and original bank fittings including a huge cedar counter, ledger desk and cupboard. Other elements are the old vault, an underground well, a roof tank installed to improve water pressure and, at the rear of the building, the sandstock coach house, stables and loft. The exterior has a grandiose arched entranceway and arched windows. It is currently undergoing painstaking restoration and will reopen as a guesthouse.

Bronte House and Gift Shops
Just beyond it, at 147 Swan Street, is Bronte House, dating from 1860, now available as self-contained accommodation, tel: (02) 4930 5114. At no.139 is House on Hunter, an antiques and art shop which was originally the Central Inn (c.1850).

Other local gift shops on Swan St which haven't been mentioned are Carole's Crystal Cave (175), Grandma's Featherbed and Teddy Bears Downstairs (162), Fleurs (131), Hocus Pocus (129) and Port of Morpeth Nautical Gifts (119). Days and hours of opening vary.

Historic Arnott Bakehouse
The Historic Arnott Bakehouse is located at 148 Swan Street, Morpeth and is owned by the original Arnott family who have restored the old Bakehouse and are now operating their bakery making authentic & traditional sourdough bread.The owner is the great-great-great grandson of William Arnott and is not connected with the new owner¹s of Arnott¹s Biscuits which is the Campbell Soup Co.(USA).

Old Morpeth Courthouse Museum

Corner of Swan St and Northumberland St
The CBC Bank initially set up shop in Taylor's Bonded Stores, built in 1850. This particularly impressive sandstone building is situated opposite the Classical Revival courthouse which was completed in 1862. The latter features round-headed windows, channelled stone, pilasters, architrave and pediment. It now serves as a local history museum, open Tuesday to Friday from 10.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m. and Sundays from 1.00 p.m. - 4.00 p.m., tel: (02) 4934 4301.

Adjacent Taylor's is the bridge over the Hunter which was completed in 1898. Illalong Park is an attractive little garden area nearby on Swan St with seats overlooking the river.

Swan Street East - The Railway Station
Further down Swan St, just past the post office (1861-66), to the right, is The Royal Hotel. Although not an especially attractive building, the hitching posts out the front, to which owners tied their waiting horses, are a reminder that this is one of the town's earliest inns.

On the other side of the road is the old railway station, built in 1889. It is a symmetrical design with, on either side, a room projecting from the main body, ending in a bay window beneath a gable topped by a finial. These two wings are linked by a verandah with columns.

The line from East Maitland opened in 1864, when the terminus was under Fig Tree Hill. It was gradually extended to the various wharves along the river. The line closed in 1953 after flood damage although the postwar development of the road system had rendered it largely obsolete.

J.G. White Joinery
Duck up Robert Street. A few doors along to the right is the Morpeth Trading Post, an enormous odds-and-sods warehouse ideal for casual browsing. The building was originally the J.G. White Joinery which operated continuously from 1838-1968, making it the oldest surviving joinery works building and the longest-running family business in Australia.

A notice within claims that the well inside the building bores through solid rock to a depth of 23 m where it taps into a natural spring which is, miraculously, still running. It is asserted that it was the town's first water supply, being dug around 1818, presumably by one of the earliest farmers who were in the district by 1814. It served the joinery for many years and was rediscovered during restoration in the 1980s.

Marlborough House
Returning to Swan St. To the right, at number 75, is Marlborough House which was built by James Taylor of the aforementioned Bonded Stores in 1846. Classical columns rest on a flagged stone verandah. The house is somewhat obscured by the iron and brick fencing and the lush, well-established garden which also contains one of the town's old street lamps, made in the United States.

Police Station
Turn right up George St and continue on to the intersection with High St. To the right is Morpeth Police Station (1879), a symmetrical and finely detailed brick building designed by James Barnet with arcaded verandahs, quoins, hipped roof, and arched windows with timber tracery.

Kia-Ora and Morpeth Common
Turn left down High St to the T-intersection with Edward St. The impressive house on the large corner block with picket fencing is Kia-Ora Villa, built for Mayor Hobden in 1879 and later owned by Joe White of J.G. White Joinery. The governor of the colony and other VIPs are known to have stayed here whilst in Morpeth. The gardens are beautiful. The twin gables at the front are stylishly rendered with finely carved timber bargeboards and a graceful finial. The bullnose verandah sports decorative iron columns and ornate cast-iron lacework. The pressed metal ceilings were apparently an early trial model by Wunderlich.

Turn right into Edward St and to the left is Morpeth Common and Wildfowl Reserve, granted to the village by Lt Close in the manner of the English village common. It is now a picnic area with childrens' play facilities, sheltered tables and barbecues.

Catholic Group
Continue along Edward St then turn right up James St. When you come to Duke St turn right and to your immediate left is St Bede's, built in 1870 to replace the original wooden church (1836). St Bede's became the parish school when the next church opened and it is now the Catholic Hall.

Continue along James St. To the immediate left is the residence known as 'Rosemor' built in 1885 as the Catholic presbytery. At the corner of James and George Sts is one of the town's most impressive buildings - the large and complex design of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, built in 1897 with an arched lancet motif. The old building between the two churches was formerly a convent with the old cells still intact upstairs and the section facing the new church serving as the convent's chapel.

High Street (and Princess Street)
Turn into George St and follow it for two blocks turning left into High St. On the right-hand side is Morpeth Public School, built in 1868. The original brick building is still in use. It is painted a light green with multipaned windows.

Opposite is the two-storey Methodist parsonage which dates from the 1840s with intricate cast-iron lacework, hipped roof, arched doorway and shuttered, multipaned windows.

Continue along High St and turn left into Robert St and then right into Princess St where a number of the cottages date back to the mid-19th century (note those at numbers 60, 75, 89 and 99).

Turn right at Northumberland St then right, back into High St. Almost immediately to the left, at no. 110 is the old School of Arts building with typically massive pillars supporting the architrave and pediment . It dates from 1862 with a library, reading room, and a hall and stage for cultural activities. The Morpeth council, formed in 1865, met here for the first time the following year. It is now the venue of the Morpeth mini-market held on the first Sunday of each month.

St James Anglican Church (1840)

Anglican Group
At the top of High St is the Tank St T-intersection. To the right is St James Parish Hall, built in 1845 and once used as a schoolhouse. To the left is St James Anglican Church. The rectory dates from 1843.

The church is said to represent the fulfilment of a vow made by Edward Close at the Battle of Albuera in 1811, during the Peninsular War, that he would build a house of worship if his life were spared. The foundation stone was laid in 1837 and the initial design was presumably Close's. It was consecrated in 1840. Only the tower remains of the original building. There is a memorial window to Close in the eastern wing, commissioned and funded in 1872 by the community in recognition of his services and largesse.

Noted architect Edmund Blacket was employed in 1862 to extend the east end by the addition of a chancel and sanctuary. He inserted new cedar pews which still remain and he designed both a distinguished font and a stone pulpit. The latter, beautifully carved by D. Yeates of Maitland, is an exact replica of a pulpit built in 1280 for a Cistercian Abbey which had since become Beaulieu Parish Church where Bishop Tyrrell, who funded the extensions, had been rector.

In 1874 J. Horbury Hunt, colonial Australia's most original and interesting architect, was commissioned to rebuild the nave after a fire. Under instructions to alter the character of the building as little as possible he subordinated his personal creativity. His major contribution is a fine and beautifully crafted hammerbeam roof. Thus the tower was designed by Close, the chancel by Blacket and the nave by Hunt. And yet the building has a unifed feel. The organ inside was built in 1877.

Edward Close and John Howe, the leader of the first overland expedition into the Hunter (from Windsor to the Singleton area), are buried in the cemetery.

Standing outside the entryway of the church looking across Tank St a series of brush box trees planted in two rows in the early 1890s form a walkway which connects the church to Closebourne House , then the episcopal residence.

Berry Park House and Berry House
Berry Park House lies 3.4 km along Duckenfield Rd. It is a gracious homestead built in 1837 with a hipped roof and shady verandah erected by tradesmen from England who were recommended by the family.

John Eales obtained a grant of 2100 acres in this area in 1823. He successfully grew wheat and built some of the colony's first silos for storage. He raised sheep, bred racehorses (his son developed a prosperous stud), organised the first race meeting in the Hunter Valley in 1833, owned some of the colony's finest racehorses and built a private racecourse. Another 900 m (the second house on the left after the Duckenfield Rd sign) brings you to Berry House, a Georgian mansion built by Eales in 1857 with servants' quarters and a stone rubble barn. It is now open as a bed-and-breakfast, tel: (02) 4930 5144.

Tours and Explorations
There are numerous tour operators who offer trips to various types of attractions in various different areas aboard various modes of transport.

Hunter Action Tours offer outdoor camping and walking tours, contact (02) 4976 1416 or (019) 459 473. Hunter Valley Day Tours offer a range of guided 4WD tours of the Hunter Valley complete with commentary. They pick up clients from anywhere. Bookings are necessary, contact (02) 4938 5031. Walking tours of the Hunter are conducted by Federation Track Walkers, contact (02) 9484 9701. Ron's Outback Safaris have a mini-coach service, tel: (02) 4933 2611 or, after hours, (02) 4933 2538. Jump Up Creek Vineyard Tours offer daily mini coach tours of lower Hunter vineyards They will pick you up and return you to your accommodation in Singleton, Maitland, Morpeth, Cessnock, Pokolbin and Wollombi, tel: (02) 6574 7252 or 019 453 674.

	Hotels
	Commercial Hotel Swan St Morpeth NSW 2321 Telephone: (02) 4934 5316
	River Royal Inn 97 Swan St Morpeth NSW 2321 Telephone: (02) 4933 6202
	Bed & Breakfast/Guesthouses
	Bronte Guesthouse 147 Swan St Morpeth NSW 2321 Telephone: (02) 4934 6080, 0412 995 630 Facsimile: (02) 4933 6076 Rating: ****
	Pelicans Nest Bio Dynamic Farm Bed & Breakfast 298 Phoenix Park Rd Phoenix Park Morpeth NSW 2321 Telephone: (02) 4930 0053
	Cafés
	Morpeth Sourdough 148 Swan St Morpeth NSW 2321 Telephone: (02) 4934 4148 Facsimile: (02) 4934 4348 Email: service@morpethsourdough.com.au