Kitchener is a small town in the
City of Cessnock
City of Cessnock is a local government area in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. The area under administration is located to the west of Newcastle. The largest population centre and council seat is the city of Cessnock.
The M ...
, 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 ...
in the state of
New South Wales
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, 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. Kitchener is located 5 kilometres south of the town of
Cessnock, NSW and is adjacent to
Werakata National Park and the
Aberdare State Forest.
The town is named after
Lord Kitchener Lord Kitchener may refer to:
* Earl Kitchener, for the title
* Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener
Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, (; 24 June 1850 – 5 June 1916) was a senior British Army officer and colonial administrator. ...
, British secretary for War from July 1914.
Mining history
Kitchener was the location of the
Aberdare Central Colliery which was developed by
Caledonian Collieries Ltd during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The historic mine site has been preserved as a Heritage Park (including the poppet head structure). A number of the dwellings where originally occupied by mine management.
In 1914, the mine employed 93 people; four years later it employed 287.
In July 1943, a large fire caused the mine to close for 12 months.
The mine was closed in November 1961. The coal holding lease is still retained by
Coal & Allied.
In 2009, a Chinese owned mining company, Austar, was granted approval to construct a surface infrastructure site just south of Kitchener. This facility was built to service the company's Longwall Top Coal Caving mining of the Greta Coal Seam (in the mine previously known as the Southland Coal Mine) south of Kitchener.
[.]
See also
*
South Maitland coalfields The South Maitland coalfields was the most extensive coalfield in New South Wales until the great coal mining slump of the 1960s. It was discovered by Lieutenant-Colonel William Paterson's party when they were engaged in an exploratory visit to the ...
*
Coal in Australia
Coal is mined in every state of Australia. The largest black coal resources occur in Queensland and New South Wales. About 70% of coal mined in Australia is exported, mostly to eastern Asia, and of the balance most is used in electricity gener ...
References
External links
Aberdare Central Colliery Summary (Newcastle Regional Museum)* Cessnock City Council area profil
"Rural East Precinct"* Photo of mine in 196
"from Flickr"
{{Suburbs of City of Cessnock
Suburbs of City of Cessnock
Towns in the Hunter Region