Country Pubs
Since the early days of permanent European settlement some 170 years ago, Hunter Valley Wine Country has been dotted with country hotels. Some were established as staging posts on coach and bullock-train routes; others sprang up at river ports and adjacent to the coal fields and timber camps. As the region became more closely populated, many of these old pubs readily adapted themselves to a new and rather more respectable role as the social centre and general focal point of the small villages and settlements they served.
Mostly constructed of rough sawn slab timbers the early coaching inn and tavern buildings were vulnerable to fire, flood and termite (white ant). As a consequence, most of the orginal buildings have long since disappeared - often to be rebuilt and rebuilt again on the same site with increasingly sophisticated architectural features, wide verandahs and elaborate iron lacework facades.
While a few ‘originals’ remain - and those usually extended and renovated beyond recognition - the great Australian tradition of the country pub is alive and well in the Hunter with literally dozens of pubs scattered through the towns, villages and crossroad communities of the Valley. Although many are in a battle for survival with the licenced club movement, the majority are yet again adopting to circumstances and playing an important role in the tourist trade.
Listed below is a more or less representative sample of Wine Country’s rural pubs - several of them dating back to the heyday of Australian hotel architecture extending from the mid-Victorian era (the 1860s on) to the mid-1920s.
Country Pubs:
AUSTRALIA HOTEL: 136 Wollombi Road (Cessnock) T (02) 4990 1256
BELLBIRD HOTEL: Wollombi Rd, Bellbird (Cessnock) T (02) 4990 1094
ABERMAIN HOTEL: 27 Charles St, Abermain (Cessnock) T (02) 4930 8619
ELLALONG HOTEL: Helena St, Ellalong T (02) 4998 1217
NEATH HOTEL: Cessnock Rd, Neath T (02) 4930 4270
WOLLOMBI TAVERN: Great North Rd, Wollombi T (02) 4998 3261
CESSNOCK HOTEL: Wollombi Rd, Cessnock T (02) 4990 1002
GRAND JUNCTION HOTEL: Church St, Maitland T (02) 4933 5242
HOTEL DENMAN: Cessnock Rd, Abermain T (02) 4930 4212
IMPERIAL HOTEL: High St, Maitland T (02) 4933 6566
KEARSLEY HOTEL: Caledonia Rd, Kearsley T (02) 4990 1179
LOCHINVAR INN: New England Highway, Lochinvar T (02) 4930 7216
RIVER ROYAL INN: Swan St, Morpeth T (02) 49336202
ROYAL FEDERAL HOTEL: Maitland Rd, Branxton T (02) 4938 1335
DENMAN HOTEL: Ogilvie St, Denman T (02) 6547 2207
DENMAN ROYAL HOTEL: Ogilvie St, Denman T (02) 6547 2226
CLUB HOUSE HOTEL: John Street Singleton T (02) 6572 1274
CRITERION HOTEL: John St, Singleton T (02) 6571 2712
JERRYS PLAINS TAVERN: Golden Highway, Jerrys Plains T (02) 6576 4137
AGRICULTURAL HOTEL: Munro St, Singleton T (02) 6572 1511