Woodstock, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Woodstock
state = nsw

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caption = Royal Hotel, Woodstock
lga = Cowra Shire
postcode = 2793
est = 1888
pop = 249 ²⁰⁰¹
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Orange
fedgov = Calare
dist1 = 300
location1= Sydney
dist2 = 21
location2= Cowra

Woodstock is a village in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. Itcontains remains of a brief goldrush during the late 1800s which left behind a number of substantial buildings before the village relapsed into relative isolation. It includes a restored railway station, hotel, memorial hall and general store.

The railway station was opened in 1888 [cite web
publisher = www.nswrail.net
title=Grenfell Branch
url = http://www.nswrail.net/lines/show.php?name=NSW:grenfell
accessdate = 2006-12-11 ] on the Blayney - Demondrille line which connected the Main Western Line at Blayney and the Main Southern Line at Demondrille. At one time there were several sidings near the station with grain silos, stock yards, loading bank, goods shed, hay stage, and loco platform. In the 1980s services were suspended between Cowra and Blayney. The section was re-opened by the Lachlan Valley Railway which runs heritage trains from Cowra to Blayney. The railway station is now an art gallery and private residence.

Country markets are held at Woodstock Soldiers Memorial Hall on the second Sunday of each month except January. The Memorial Hall hosts a touring opera company, OperaWorks, each year. Other annual events at Woodstock include a long track motorbike championships and a ute show.

History

Gold was discovered in 1868 at Woods Flat, a few kilometres south of Woodstock. A rush of 500 diggers took up the ground there, but after a short period only a few were left as surface gold was minimal and water supplies lacking. The goldfield had a long history but today almost nothing remains of the buildings at Woods Flat. The village of Woodstock was established in response to the building of the railway line north of Woods Flat, from Blayney to Cowra in 1880s. Initially known also as Woods Flat, the name of the village was changed to Woodstock in 1886. [Kelton, 1987]

By 1900 there were many commercial businesses in the villages including butchers, bakers, hotels, saddleries, smithies, bootmakers, mercers, tailors, motor vehicle garages and billiard rooms. A post office was operating by 1897. The current Royal Hotel was rebuilt in 1911, an earlier timber building having been destroyed by fire. The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney opened a branch at Woodstock in 1907, followed by the Commonwealth Savings Bank in 1913 and the Bank of New South Wales in 1929.

The bushranger John Vane, a member of Ben Hall's gang, who died in 1906 was buried in an unmarked grave at Woodstock cemetery. A headstone was erected by local historians in 1989.

Notes

References

Kelton, J. (1987). Woods Flat Gold ISBN 0-7316-1469-0.

External links

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