Murrurundi is a small rural town near the head of the Hunter Valley, set in the foothills of the Liverpool Ranges.

Where is it?: Murrurundi is located by the Pages River, 327 km north of Sydney; 44 km north of Scone; 91 km south of Tamworth.

Places of Interest: Timor Caves; 'Eye of the Needle' gap; Nowlands Gap; Wallabadah Rock (the plug of an extinct volcano, 959 m above sea-level; it is located on private property); Gem Fossicking (agate, naturalite and zeolite crystal, calcite crystals, quartz, petrified wood and limestone fossils); Burning Mountain, Wingen.

former Haydonton Inn. Murrurundi was originally called Haydonton, after Thomas Haydon who subdivided a large block of land in 1840 which became the townsite.

Heritage buildings: former Haydonton Inn (1852); White Hart Hotel (from 1842); 'Rosebank' (1889); St Joseph's Catholic Church (1855-60); Murrurundi House (1880, built as a convent for the Sisters of Mercy); Railway Station (1872); Heritage Cottage; Manchester Unity Hall (1897); Presbyterian Church (1886-98); Murrurundi Museum (Literary Institute, 1913); old Methodist (now Uniting) Church (1890); St Paul's Anglican Church (1872-74); Old Gaol and Lockup Keeper's Residence (1860-1861); Sergeant's Residence (1890s); 'Elouera' (1854); former Joint Stock Bank (1865); old Royal Hotel (1863); old stables (1860); former Old Telegraph Office (1861); Bobadil House (1843), old shale works and manager's residence (1912, on private property); 'Rosedale' (1848-52); Glenalvon labourer's cottage and stables (1874); Timor timber church (1883); Ardglen railway tunnel (1877); Blandford St Luke's Anglican Church, 1879-80.


Ardglen Tunnel (1877): a summit tunnel on the Main North railway between Newcastle and Werris Creek. It crosses under the Liverpool Range near its east end below Nowlands Gap, the crossing used by the New England Highway. It is approximately 500 metres long, and is approached on either side by 10-kilometre climbs at the ruling grade of 1 in 40 (2.5%). The tunnel is single tracked, which combined with the steep grades make this section a bottleneck.

Work on the tunnel commenced after 1872 and took several years to complete. Additional steam engines were required to haul the steam trains from Murrurundi to Kankool through the tunnel. Several accidents occurred at the end of the tunnel on the Ardglen side as the smoky soot from several engines affected the crew. In 1909 a fireman on one of the trains was scalded to death.


Nowlands Gap: just north of Murrurundi the road rises up into and over the Liverpool Range via the Murrurundi Gap, otherwise known as Nowlands Gap recalling William Nowland, a farmer from Singleton who discovered this route across the mountains in the late 1820s. Today there are truck stops at Nowlands Gap which provide excellent views south over Murrurundi and the upper Hunter Valley. Nowlands Gap marks the boundary between the Northern Tablelands and Hunter regions.


Burning Mountain (23 km south): For as long as anyone can remember Mt. Wingen has been burning, with an acrid smell of sulphur in the fumes issuing from cracks along its summit. Burning Mountain is not a volcano - Australia being fortunate in not having any volcanoes still active today. Instead, within Mt. Wingen is a layer of coal that is burning, having been set alight by natural means centuries ago.
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About Murrurundi: Except for shale mining in the early 20th century there has been an absence of heavy industry in the locality and consequently change has been gradual. Murrurundi and its rural heritage have been preserved. The main street has been declared an urban conservation area. Murrurundi is today sustained by quality sheep, beef and horse studs and by both crop and meat production. The sheepdog trials are held in April and the Bushman's Carnival and Rodeo in October.