Clarence Town is both a primarily

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

locality and a township in the

Dungog Shire Dungog Shire is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is situated adjacent to the Barrington Tops and consists predominantly of very rugged to hilly country which becomes less rugged from north to ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is north of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, north-north-west of

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, and from the Pacific Highway at

Raymond Terrace Raymond Terrace is a town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road north of Newcastle on the Pacific Highway. Established in 1837 it is situated at the confluence of the Hunter and Williams rivers. The town was named ...

. The locality is bisected by the Williams River. The township sits just to the west of the river about upstream from where it flows into the

Hunter River Hunter River may refer to: *Hunter River (New South Wales), Australia *Hunter River (Western Australia) *Hunter River, New Zealand *Hunter River (Prince Edward Island), Canada **Hunter River, Prince Edward Island, community on Hunter River, Canada ...

at Raymond Terrace.

History

The area was originally inhabited by the Wanaruah Aboriginal people who called it ''Erringhi''. The first Europeans to arrive in Clarence Town was William Paterson and explorer Francis Barrellier in 1801 exploring the

. 1801 convicts were cutting timber in area. In 1826 after a number of cedar cutter moved to an area a village was created. The township is most famous for building and launching the William IV

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

in 1831, although the town was still called Erringhi at this time. It was later renamed in 1832 after the

Duke of Clarence Duke of Clarence is a substantive title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the British Royal Family. All three creations were in the Peerage of England. The title was first granted to Lionel of Antwerp, the second son ...

, who became

King William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

in 1830. In 1886 the town was described as:

''The land on the river-banks, consisting chiefly of alluvial flats, is remarkably fertile. This is largely due to the floods of past ages.
wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...
,
maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...
,
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
,
oats The oat (''Avena sativa''), sometimes called the common oat, is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name (usually in the plural, unlike other cereals and pseudocereals). While oats are suitable for human con ...
and
potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...
es are produced in abundance.
Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
is now grown and the
grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...
and
orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...
are cultivated with success''. The population is 370.

There is a hotel in the main street of Clarence Town built in 1913 called The Erringhi Hotel.

Heritage listings

Clarence Town has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 49 Grey Street:

Clarence Town Courthouse Clarence Town Courthouse is a heritage-listed former courthouse and now museum at 49 Grey Street, Clarence Town, Dungog Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1868 to 1869. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Regist ...

* 567 Main Road: Clarence Town Bridge over Williams River

Demographics

In the the locality had a population of approximately 2,100 while the township, which is the largest population centre in the area, had a population of 794.

Township

Clarence Town has its own post office (built about 1880), Medical Centre (Clarence Town Medical Centre), a Pharmacy, a supermarket (

IGA Iga may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ambush at Iga Pass, a 1958 Japanese film * Iga no Kagemaru, Japanese manga series * Iga, a set of characters from the Japanese novel '' The Kouga Ninja Scrolls'' Biology * ''Iga'' (beetle), a gen ...

), a primary school, several churches, a school of arts hall (which hosts many local events), a soccer club (home of the Clarencetown Cobras), a football field come cricket pitch, a fire station, police station, butcher shop, club, pub, hardware store and restaurant, a vet, a caravan park on the river and a swimming pool (home of the Clarencetown Comets swimming team). There are also several picnic spots and old houses and buildings to see. Just out of town a little way is the ''Good Samaritan Donkey Sanctuary'', which cares for mistreated donkeys. Visitors are welcomed; however appointments are required, except on advertised open days.

Disasters

In 2007 devastating floodwaters caused havoc in the Hunter Valley and claimed the lives of two people on a bridge into Clarence Town from

Seaham, New South Wales Seaham is a suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Williams River which flows into the Hunter River downstream from Seaham village at Raymond Terrace. It is ...

Notes

# The population statistics provided by the

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for statistical collection and analysis and for giving evidence-based advice to federal, state and territory governments ...

for the suburb/locality include persons not actually resident in Clarence Town as well as excluding some Clarence Town residents so the figure shown is an approximation only.

References

* {{authority control Suburbs of Dungog Shire Towns in the Hunter Region Towns in New South Wales