Woodville, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Woodville is a very small township in the Hunter Region of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 that is shared between the Port Stephens and Maitland Local Government Areas (LGA). Most of the town lies to the east of the Paterson River
Paterson River
The Paterson River, a tributary of the Hunter River, is a significant river in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Its headwaters are in the Barrington Tops National Park and it flows to join the Hunter River between Hinton and Morpeth...

 in the Port Stephens LGA while a small area of approximately 1.3 square kilometre (0.501932806170296 sq mi), 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 and is subject to periodic flooding.

Township

The town's centre consists of only a few buildings: an old timber shop,a few houses of mixed age and design, All Saints sandstone gothic style church - it is now privately owned and although no longer used for religious services, this heritage listed chapel is non-denominational and available for weddings both civil and religious, the timber hall associated with the church is now a function centre.

History

The Woodville region was occupied originally by Aboriginals
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

, most likely the Worimi people
Worimi people
Worimi people are Indigenous 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 south to Forster/Tuncurry in the north and as far west as Gloucester...

. 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 historical buildings, such as Dunmore House, the Woodville shop/general store is Australias oldest continually running business still carrying on the same services it was Licenced for in 1844. The homestead of the historical property Stradbroke, which is listed in the Australian Heritage Database. Increasingly, traditional farms are being subdivided for semi-rural small holdings.

The Woodville School of Arts dates to 1877. The Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

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 1890's and is of architectural interest. Iona School dates to 1918.
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