CASSILIS

Location

1/2km  off the  Golden Highway

A picturesque, historic, heritage listed, rural village at the NW edge of the Hunter Valley

 (See below for history and details of heritage listing and other historic structures)

Sited on the Munmurra River, the scenery within and surrounding Cassilis is stunning throughout the day with changing colours and moods  

Climate

Spring and Autumn are pleasant sunny days and cool nights

Winter is brisk and invigorating with frosty mornings

Summer  - hot days with long pleasant evenings once the sun goes down

Facilities

Events - Things to Do - Places to See

             in and around Cassilis

Cassilis Rodeo

Buckjumping

Camp Draft

Calf Roping

Bull Riding

When - Early February each year

Where - Cassilis Memorial Oval

Hot food and drinks available

Pony Club President's Cup

Usual Pony club events

Dressage

Pony Club Mount

When - Easter each year

Where - Cassilis Memorial Oval

Hot meals available from the canteen and adjoining bowling club

When - 25th April

Where - War Memorial Gates

Cassilis Garden Show

The surrounding pastoral stations open their gardens to the public

When - October each year (drought, fire & flood permitting)

Where - $20 to view as many gardens as they can within a 40 km radius of Cassilis

Open to visitors for a small donation towards its upkeep

History -

 the district

Allan Cunningham explored the district in 1823 and settlement was established through the 1820’s by the predominance of wealthy landholders with the properties (called stations) ranging from five to twenty thousand acres, their pursuits being mainly pastoral. Cassilis is surrounded by the same historic properties today, although some have increased acreage up to 40,000 acres. 

 Fronting the Golden Highway from the south is

Along the north of the Golden Highway,

Cassilis Village as seen from the Golden highway

History 

-

the Village

Alexander Busby had selected his property east of the Munmurra to grow tobacco. He was the son of John Busby who established Sydney’s water supply, and brother to James who established the first viticulture in Australia in the Hunter valley and George who was the medical officer in the Bathurst district.

Alexander did not have a great deal of rural experience but he was living on the site, his family was well known among the officials of the colony, his letters to Government was constant and from the outset he held a position of importance. He was appointed Magistrate on 11 October 1832. He was 21 years of age. 

 His 960 acres on the east bank of the Munmurra became the focal point for administration of justice in the district.

The tracks from outlying properties on the Talbragar River and Turee Creek, from the south around the headwaters of the Goulburn River and from the stations to the east on the Krui River and beyond to Bow and Gammon Plains, led into the Busby property on the Munmurra River. 

 The property on the east bank of the Munmurra was called Cassilis by Alexander Busby to commemorate the noble Scottish lineage of his mother Sarah who was the daughter of Robert Kennedy, son of the youngest brother of David, 10^th Earl of Cassillis (the second “l” being dropped later).

The homestead was build by convicts from local sandstone and is a far cry from Culzean Castle of Scottish Cassilis but it had been erected to reflect the grandeur of his mother’s home.

In 1832 a Constable and Scourger were employed by Busby to protect the locals from bushrangers.

By 1835 he had completed a slabbed timber lockup, courthouse and watch. The mail service was established on 1 February 1836 on Busby’s property.

During the 1830’s various sites for a surveyed area for a registered village were proposed. At the time Busby employed more than 68 people but there were no stores and liquor shops.

However there were buildings erected on the west side of the Munmurra on Dalkeith property in the mid 1830’s to early 1840’s where the present village of Cassilis stands and in 1839 John McKinley opened a store in the vicinity of the current Post office and was appointed Post master in November 1839.

In 1843 the village area had been surveyed and lots sold.

 In 1882 a sandstone post office was built on McKinley’s site and more shops and trade stores followed in the next fifty years, including several hotels.

The village remains unchanged to this day.

Cassilis - Early Morning

The entire village is heritage listed and many of the structures are classified as “significant”, such as the

Cassilis District

Others listed as a heritage item include

Historic Structures

Roman Cathloc Church

Not listed, but a heritage structure is the wooden Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph’s on the corner of Scott and Buccleugh Streets.

Built in 1894 the tombstones date from 1876 and both have been always well looked after. The structure has recently been repainted and the grounds maintained. A new fence is being erected.  http://cemindex.arkangles.com/cemetery.php?id=12

Doctor's House

The house of the Doctor is also more than 100 years old.

Recently repainted and the fence refurbished the structure was built last century and is seen in an old 1900 photograph of Buccleugh. Situated on the east end of Buccleugh Street on the north side, it is a lovely example of a Victorian dwelling with high gables over the windows.

At the turn of the century there was also a hospital and this still exists in Ancrum Street. It is a white structure with English Lions at the steps. The building is privately owned now. 

The Parsonage

The original sandstone homestead of Alexander Busby was completed in 1839 by convicts on the bank of the Munmurra where the river curves in a half circle. It consisted then and remains today with three sandstone structures. The main house has living accommodation, bedrooms and large living room surrounded by broad verandahs, with two “strangers” bedrooms beneath the ten foot wide verandahs, providing accommodation to travellers (strangers) who were passing by. The cooking cottage and the storeroom were both separate from the main house. It has a large cellar beneath the front door.

In 1863 Alexander Busby agreed to allot to The Right Reverend William Tyrell, Lord Bishop of Newcastle “land measured by thirty-three acres more or less, commencing at the left bank of the Munmurra Brook together with the buildings, erections, right of way, numbered privileges and appointments.”

Busby made his will 14^th February 1868 and failed to mention the allotment. On his death the property went to his widow Caroline (in London) and his brother John (in Bathurst). In the Supreme Court of NSW Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction 24^th September 1873 the parcel of land and all the structures thereon was sold to the church for ten shillings.

The parcel of land consisted of the two acres with the house and other sandstone structures, the thirty acres of low land adjacent to the river, and the one acre on the higher ground in the north where the gravesite had been established about 1864 and where the weatherboard school-cum-church was erected in 1867. This structure was replaced in 1899 by the sandstone church of St Columba and consecrated in 1900.

 The church held the various pieces of the property for 91 years and still retains the 30 acres of low land and the land of the cemetery and the church. 

The remaining two acres with buildings and erections passed to Ian Thompson of Ballantyne in 1964 and then progressively to Peter Crase (wood carver), Barbara Vernon (script writer who wrote Blue Hills for radio), David Boyd (renowned artist), his daughter Cassandra (less renowned artist), John Barrass (store keeper) and finally in 2002 to the current owners.

 Recently the cooking cottage, known as the bakery for it cooked the local bread for decades, was converted into a self-contained cottage with lounge, kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.

 All structures have remained intact as they were originally presented other than the corrugated iron roof on each. However, this material has been placed over the original shingles and can be readily seen above the verandahs.

These Cassilis businesses are partners in promoting the Golden Highway  

  ...............a part of Your Inland Adventure Trail