Nowendoc is a parish and village on the

Northern Tablelands, New South Wales The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England regio ...

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 ...

. It is 360 km north of the state capital,

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 66 km south of Walcha in the

Walcha Shire Walcha Shire is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the New England (Australia), New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is situated adjacent to the junction of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. A sealed road,

Thunderbolts Way Thunderbolts Way (and at its northern end as Bundarra Road) is a country road located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, linking Inverell via Bundarra, Uralla and Walcha to Gloucester The road is sealed and ...

, is about three hundred metres to the south of Nowendoc and provides links to the south and north.

History

In 1836 William Telfer marked a tree line from

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

through Giro on the

Barnard River Barnard River, a perennial stream, perennial river of the Manning River catchment, is located in the Northern Tablelands and Mid North Coast districts of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Barnard River rises on the eastern slopes ...

, over Hungry Hill to Nowendoc and on to Ogunbil via Whites Sugarloaf. The

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo; ) is a public-listed Australian company that, as of 2018, owns and operates feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's land ...

(AACo) set up stations and resting places for their travelling sheep along this route to be known as the ‘Peel Line’. During the years 1840 to 1845 Nowendoc was one of the AACo outstations for their sheep.Donald, J.Kay, Exploring the North Coast and New England, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1978, In 1857 John Hall surveyed 39 allotments to define the village of Nowendoc. Thomas Laurie discovered alluvial

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

there in 1872 and by 1873 there were about 100 people camping at Township Spur. By 1945 nearly all mining has ceased. Some

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

ing was done during the earlier years of settlement. The name Nowendoc comes from a

Worimi 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 sou ...

term meaning 'rough ground'. The village has a cemetery, church, school, sports ground, store, police station, a

New South Wales Rural Fire Service The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting government agency, agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales. The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the la ...

station and community hall. The store is trading and offers coffee, food and items for travellers. There is also a small motel on the edge of the village on the Taree road. A post office operated intermittently from 1861 to 1979. The completion of the telephone line to Walcha in 1921 reduced the isolation of the area. Rural electricity was supplied during 1964-5 to those who made the contribution of £248/10/- towards the cost of connection. The local

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost a ...

was officially opened in 1976. At the 2016 census, Nowendoc and the surrounding area had a population of 146.

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...

(27 June 2017)
(State Suburb)"
''2016 Census QuickStats.'' Retrieved 29 June 2018. The main industries are beef cattle breeding and timber. Nowendoc is a centre for those keen on bushwalking, fishing and similar activities and lies near the top of the escarpment that contains the bulk of 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 ...

. Many scenic walks and drives can be easily accessed from Nowendoc with the Nowendoc National Park nearby. Tennis, football and cricket are popular sports that enjoyed by residents. An annual

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

is held on the Nowendoc sports ground.

Manhunt

In late 2011 and early 2012 Nowendoc featured heavily in the media, as it was the base for a

NSW Police The New South Wales Police Force is a law enforcement agency of the state of New South Wales, Australia, established in 1862. With more than 17,000 police officers, it is the largest police organisation in Australia, policing an area of 801,60 ...

manhunt for Malcolm Naden, who had been wanted by police for some six years. Up to 90 police were based in the village at the height of the operation. In late March 2012 Naden was captured by NSW Police about 30 km west of Gloucester.

Citations

References

*"Nowendoc - A Glimpse into History" by Jean Holstein and Suzanne Lyon {{authority control Towns in New South Wales Towns in New England (New South Wales) Mining towns in New South Wales