Morpeth

Postcode: 2321

Morpeth (which takes it's name from Morpeth, near Newcastle, in England) is a small historical township in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated in the City of Maitland, on the Hunter River, 37 km north-west of Newcastle and just 5 km north-east of Maitland. The town was a major river boat transportation hub in the 19th century before declining in the 20th century after the North Coast Railway Line between Sydney and Brisbane bypassed it. The town today is a popular tourist destination due to its many historical buildings and river bank setting.

Morpeth is an historic inland river port with a bucolic feel on the banks of the Hunter River 168 km north of Sydney, 37 km north-west of Newcastle and just 5 km north-east of Maitland. With its beautiful riverside setting, the genuinely historic feel which emerges from the mellowed stonework of its many old buildings, the modest and eminently walkable size of the town and the willows which line the river bank it is becoming popular with travellers. The main street, with its profusion of arts and crafts, antique and curio shops housed in historic buildings, is very much geared towards tourism.

Once covered in dense rainforest the Morpeth area was probably occupied by the Gringgai clan of the Wanaruah indigeous peoples who called it 'Illalaung'. It is known that the Wanaruah had trade and ceremonial links with the Kamilaroi people. They favoured goannas as a food source, covering larger animals in hot ashes and stuffing them with grass. They also adopted burning off practices as the new shoots which emerged after fire attracted kangaroos which they surrounded and killed with clubs and spears (du-rane) barbed with sharp stones.

The first Europeans in the area were the party of Lt Col. Paterson who undertook an exploration of the Hunter River in 1801. Paterson named the locality Green Hills.

The land here was granted in 1821 to Lt Edward Close, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, as a reward for service as Engineer of Public Works at Newcastle. He built an impressive homestead, Closebourne House (still standing), around 1826 which became the residence of the various Bishops of Newcastle from 1848 to 1912.

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