Brandy Hill, New South Wales

Brandy Hill is a suburb of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.[2][3] It was originally farmland but was subdivided in the 1980s and now supports a population of almost 700 people living on large, primarily residential, blocks.[1] It overlooks working farmland and offers superb views of the greater Morpeth area, with visibility extending to Maitland.

Brandy Hill New South Wales
Grazing land in Brandy Hill, looking towards Osterley
Brandy Hill
Coordinates	32°41′40.3″S 151°41′35.5″E
Population	673 (2011 census)[1]
• Density	103.5/km^2 (268/sq mi)
Established	1986
Postcode(s)	2324
Area	6.5 km^2 (2.5 sq mi)[Note 1]
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Location	175 km (109 mi) N of Sydney 36 km (22 mi) NNW of Newcastle 10.7 km (7 mi) NW of Raymond Terrace 20 km (12 mi) NW of Maitland
LGA(s)	Port Stephens Council[2]
Region	Hunter[2]
County	Durham[3]
Parish	Seaham[3]
State electorate(s)	Port Stephens[4]
Federal Division(s)	Paterson[5]
Mean max temp[6] Mean min temp[6] Annual rainfall[6] 29.6 °C ^85 °F 6.1 °C ^43 °F 925.2 mm ^36.4 in
Suburbs around Brandy Hill: Seaham Seaham Seaham Seaham Brandy Hill Seaham Wallalong, Nelsons Plains Nelsons Plains Nelsons Plains

Geography

Brandy Hill is primarily an elevated suburb, with the residential area approximately 20–40 m (66–131 ft) above sea level.[Note 2] To the north and east the suburb is bordered by Seaham, while to the south and west the suburb is surrounded by the Hunter River floodplains in Nelsons Plains, Wallalong and Seaham.

Views towards Hinton from Brandy Hill across the Hunter River floodplains. The left image was taken shortly after the June 2007 Hunter Region and Central Coast storms, while the right image is of the same area after the floodwaters had subsided.

History

Like neighbouring Seaham, the area now known as Brandy Hill was once inhabited by the Garewagal clan of the Worimi people.[7] During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Brandy Hill was part of the "Eskdale" estate and was then part of Seaham. The foundations of colonial homes have been unearthed around Neika Close, suggesting Europeans have been living in the Brandy Hill area since at least the late-nineteenth century. Before the construction of the Maitland Junction to Dungog branch of the North Coast Line, a railway through Morpeth and Seaham was proposed. Although the line would have posed fewer engineering obstacles than the two alternatives, there were concerns that a bridge at Morpeth would hinder shipping and that a railway through Brandy Hill was superfluous on account of it servicing only "wallabies and bandicoots [living on] land [that is] unfit for the support of any other kind of population".[8]

Just north of Brandy Hill is the Brandy Hill quarry, which is named after the nearby hill that is approximately 180 metres (591 ft) high.[9] Travelling between the quarry and Raymond Terrace meant travelling a circuitous route through the Seaham township so Brandy Hill Drive was constructed to provide a shorter and more direct route.

Subdivision and suburb

In the 1980s the land around Brandy Hill Drive was subdivided and renamed "Brandy Hill", after the hill, which is more than 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the northern extremity of the suburb and still in Seaham, and the quarry.[3][10] Brandy Hill Drive continues to be used as an access route to the quarry, which is now operated by Hanson plc.

On 16 April 1993 the boundaries of Brandy Hill were gazetted and on 7 April 2000 the subdivision was formerly approved as a locality and became a suburb in its own right.[3] The suburb is almost surrounded by Seaham.[10]

Architecture

Development in Brandy Hill coincided with the return to the use of decorative architectural features, which characterise the building boom of the 1980s. As a result, Brandy Hill offers many examples of Postmodern architecture. Common are allusions to Federation architecture, the use of latticework, glass brick, columns and bullnose verandahs. Unlike the "mega-villa" homes of the period, which sought to occupy as much of the site as possible, homes in Brandy Hill are set on acreages, allowing for additional features such as gardens.

• 
  Post-Modern house with stylised columns, Federation style gable ends and a symmetrical composition.
• 
  Post-Modern house with Colonial Regency influence.
• 
  Example of New Wave architecture, with curved steel roofing.
• 
  Post-Modern style cottage with Colorbond roofing.

Notes

1. Area calculation is based on 1:100000 map 9232 Newcastle.
2. Elevations are based on 1:100000 map 9232 Newcastle.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Brandy Hill (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
2. "Suburb Search – Local Council Boundaries – Hunter (HT) – Port Stephens". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Archived from the original on 21 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2008.
3. "Brandy Hill (locality)". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 May 2008.
4. "Port Stephens". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
5. "Paterson". Australian Electoral Commission. 19 October 2007. Archived from the original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
6. "Paterson (Tocal AWS)". Climate statistics for Australian locations. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 6 June 2008.
7. "The History of the Worimi People". Tobwabba Art. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
8. "The North Coast Railway". National Library of Australia. Maitland Mercury. 12 October 1882. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
9. "Brandy Hill (hill)". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 May 2008. ; 1:100000 map 9232 Newcastle
10. "Brandy Hill". Land and Property Management Authority - Spatial Information eXchange. New South Wales Land and Property Information. Retrieved 23 May 2008.