Woodville is a rural suburb 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 ...
of
New South Wales
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, 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 ...
that is shared between the
Port Stephens and
Maitland
Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...
local government areas
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, province, division, or territory.
The phrase i ...
(LGA).
[ Most of the suburb lies to the east of the ]Paterson River
Paterson River, a perennial river that is part of the Hunter River catchment, is located in the Hunter and Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales, Australia.
Course and features
Paterson River rises in the Barrington Tops National Park, wes ...
in the Port Stephens LGA while a small area of approximately , to the west of the Paterson, is within the boundaries of the Maitland LGA.
Land use
Woodville's primary land use is agricultural, although housing and small-acre rural residential lots are increasingly significant. Its agriculture consists mainly of broad-acre hay production, along with beef cattle grazing, turf-farming, poultry and olive production. It sits on the floodplains of the lower 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
...
and is subject to periodic flooding.
Township
The suburb's centre consists of only a few buildings: an old timber shop, a few houses of mixed age and design and the All Saints sandstone gothic style church. The church is now privately owned and although no longer used for religious services, the heritage listed chapel is non-denominational and available for weddings both civil and religious while the timber hall associated with the church is now a function centre.
History
The Woodville region was occupied originally by Aboriginals, most likely the Worimi people
The Worimi (also spelt Warrimay) people are Aboriginal Australians from the eastern Port Stephens and Great Lakes regions of coastal New South Wales, Australia. Before contact with settlers, their people extended from Port Stephens in the sout ...
. It offered abundant natural resources, with rivers, extensive wetlands, lakes, open woodland and rainforest. In the early 19th century, the first Europeans known to enter the region were timber-getters seeking to exploit the extensive red cedar trees that grew on and near the banks of the Paterson and Hunter rivers. Felled trees were floated down-river to timber mills in Newcastle.
Woodville has some significant historical buildings, such as Dunmore House, the Woodville shop/general store is Australia's oldest continually running business still carrying on the same services it was licensed for in 1844. The homestead of the historical property Stradbroke, which is listed in the Australian Heritage Database.Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
All Saints Church is heritage listed and was officially opened in 1864, it features impressive arched and leadlight windows following its restoration work in 1922, the Hall associated with the church was constructed in the 1890s and is of architectural interest. Iona School dates to 1918.
Weddings and receptions are regularly held on the site which is unique in the region.
Woodville was also the name of a suburb in Sydney, causing confusion until the name of Woodville in Sydney was transposed to the new name of Villawood.
Dunmore Bridge
The heritage-listed Dunmore Bridge over the Paterson River is a wooden Allan truss lift-span bridge that was built in 1899.
Image gallery
File:WoodvilleChurchAnd_Hall.jpg, All Saints Church and hall
File:IonaSchoolOfArts.JPG, Iona School of Arts, a community hall
File:WoodvilleHayWagon-1.jpg, Hay wagon at Woodville
File:WoodvilleAbandonedHouse.jpg, An old abandoned timber and brick house at Iona, Woodville
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Suburbs of City of Maitland
Suburbs of Maitland, New South Wales
Suburbs of Port Stephens Council