The Barrington Tops National Park is a protected national park located in the Hunter Valley, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia.
The Barrington Tops National Park is a protected national park located in the Hunter Valley, approximately 200 kilometres (120 mi) north of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. Gazetted in 1969, the 76,512-hectare (189,070-acre) park is situated between Scone, Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and East Gresford.
The park is part of the Barrington Tops group World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007.It is also part of the Barrington Tops and Gloucester Tops Important Bird Area.
History
The traditional owners of the area are Aboriginal Australian peoples, including the Gringai people (southern valleys), the Wonnarua people (western country), and the Worimi and Birpai people (the eastern side).
National Park and World Heritage Area
In 1969 the area between Mount Barrington, Mount Royal and the Gloucester Tops was declared the Barrington Tops National Park. In 1986 it was listed as a World Heritage Area and subsequently a Wilderness Area. Some of the rivers flowing through the Barrington range have been classed as wild rivers meaning they are exceptionally pure and unpolluted. The highest peak is Brumlow Top which rises to a height of 1,586 metres (5,203 ft).
Aircraft crashes
A number of aircraft have crashed in and around the Barrington Tops, Aeroplane Hill being named after one of the crashes. The altitude, frequent fog & cloud, storms and cold weather (causing icing) make this area potentially hazardous to aircraft. One article refers to the "Devil's Triangle".
16 April 1945 – De Havilland Mosquito A52-70. Wreckage found January 1946 in the national park.The propeller, ailerons and machine gun were on display at the Barrington Tops Guest House.
2 September 1948 – Australian National Airlines Douglas DC-3 VH-ANK. 13 killed.
25 September 1967 – RAAF Mirage III-O A3-52. Pilot ejected safely. The ejection seat was later recovered and is on display at Fighter World aviation heritage centre.
14 September 1969 – Lockheed Hudson VH-SML crashed in the foothills. 3 killed.
9 August 1981 – Cessna 210 VH-MDX. 5 killed, multiple searches have not found wreckage or bodies.
3 August 1987 – Aermacchi MB-326H A7-079 (built as CA30-79). Crew ejected. Wreckage located by bushwalkers 28 April 1995.Photo of crew being rescued from a tree.
Barrington Guest House
The Barrington Guest House was built from 1925 on the upper Williams River near Barrington Tops by Norman T. McLeod, licensee of the Royal Hotel in Dungog, using timber cut and milled from the property. It stood on land consisting of 10.5 hectares (26 acres) of forest surrounded by National and State Parks and was officially opened in 1930 by Dr Sir Earle Page MHR, then Leader of the Country Party and former Treasurer of Australia and later Prime Minister of Australia. During the opening there was some 200 guests that attended.The guest house was a popular venue for people to stay in the park, until it burned down in a fire at 11pm on 24 September 2006 due to an electrical fault. The fire was not regarded as suspicious. It was undergoing modernisation under new ownership at the time of the fire. There are plans to rebuild, but no significant process has been made, and only part of the old chimney remains on the site.The guest house has undergone many different owners in its history; Mattara Investments that traded as Barrington Guest House and bought the premises in 1976. Due to business troubles however, it was then placed into voluntary administration in 2000, after which the business was than taken over by David and Susan Eissa in February 2002. Only one more owner has been known since (according to the now defunct website); Purchased in January 2004 by Natalie Day and Tony Horley.
Weather
Things to do