East Gresford is a village in the

Hunter Region The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, Newcastle Region, or simply Hunter, spans the region in northern New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River (New Sout ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 t ...

. The village is located north of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and the nearest major centres are

Singleton Singleton may refer to: Sciences, technology Mathematics * Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element * Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing * Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...

some southwest and Maitland to the south. In the , it had a population of 289.

History

The

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the area are the

Gringai Gringai otherwise known as ''Guringay'', is the name for one of the Australian Aboriginal people who were recorded as inhabiting an area of the Hunter Valley in eastern New South Wales, north of Sydney. They were united by a common language, stro ...

clan of the Wonnarua people, a group of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

. The town is probably named for

Gresford Gresford (; ) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. According to the 2001 Census, the population of the community, which also includes the village of Marford, was 5,334, reducing to 5,010 at the 2011 census. The Grad ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Transport

Hunter Valley Buses operates one bus route through East Gresford: * 185: Maitland to Gresford via Bolwarra, Paterson, Vacy and Torryburn

Location

There are actually two small villages with the name 'Gresford'. There is Gresford (or West Gresford) on the Singleton side and East Gresford on the Maitland side. It appears that Gresford is the original township, as it is older and the location of the school and local Anglican church. But East Gresford is much larger and has the main shopping area. It is also home to the Gresford Scorpions Soccer Club. The Gresford & District Community Group publishes the Gresford News, a monthly four-colour production which reports on activities in the district. It has a circulation of 800. The Community Group is also responsible for the creation of an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

featuring endangered and local native trees. Now in its third year of development there is increasing interest by groups to visit and learn about these important shrubs and trees. East Gresford is close to the

Barrington Tops National Park The Barrington Tops National Park is a state park, protected national park in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. Government gazette, Gazetted in 1969, the park is situated between Scone, New South Wales, Scone, Singleton, New South ...

, which includes the highest peak in the Hunter Valley and is a

World Heritage site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

. It also snows in the area each winter. Billy carts on starting ramp

Park Street in East Gresford is the location for the popular Gresford Billy Cart Derby, the race is typically run annually on Easter Saturday, starting from a ramp beside The Beatty Hotel and finishing at the bottom of the hill beside the East Gresford Showground. The event was temporarily put on hiatus during the

Covid-19 Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak and has since returned. In 2020 the annual Gresford Show was held in March. The showground is used as a camping site as it is located beside the

Allyn River Allyn River, a perennial stream of the Hunter River catchment, is located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. Course Allyn River rises on Allyn Range, on the slopes of the Gondwana Rainforests Barrington Tops, west of Careys Pe ...

. More information and updates on activities can also be obtained from the monthly publication of the Gresford News which is also available online.

Climate

The areas surrounding East Gresford have a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') with hot summers and cool drier winters, similar to the

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

region.

References

External links

SMH - Gresford - Culture and History

Town website
{{authority control Suburbs of Dungog Shire Towns in the Hunter Region