Lochinvar is a village in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, eleven kilometres west of the regional centre of Maitland. Lochinvar is within the boundaries of the City of Maitland local government area and is named after Lochinvar, a loch in southern Scotland.
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A historic home and property called "Windermere"[1] (1821) is located near the town which underpins the history of Lochinvar. See Windermere House, NSW.
There are other historic houses in the Hunter region and Lochinvar being one of the oldest towns in Australia has a rich cultural and historic culture. Visit various government and tourist websites for more information[2].VisitNSW EnvironmentNSW has information about the Lochinvar Coach House[3] and other historic houses on the NSW Heritage register[4]
Tourist information discusses the Lochinvar hotel being rebuilt 1913[5]./
There is also a locally famous country department store called "Aird's of Lochinvar" on the Maitland side.
At the 2016 census, it had a population of 784 people.[6]
The town was very important for the History of agriculture in the area. It is one of the oldest towns in the Hunter Region.
The Windermere homestead (built around 1821-1823) by the Winder family (“Tom” i.e. Thomas White Melville Winder). It is the oldest homestead in the Hunter Region and likely built up by convicts and emancipated previously convict workers. See Windermere House, NSW.
The Lochinvar house was built in 1841[7] and is also recognised as an important historic building in the area. It was operating as a guest house (bed and breakfast[7] [8] as at April 2024. There is some information about convicts that are connected with this house[8] and other historic houses in the area.
Temperature and weather records were kept from early times. Some weather history is still available (see references for history between 1843[9] and 1870, also between 1864 and 1870.[10]
On the highway through the town is a large Catholic convent housing the Sisters of St Joseph (1883).[12] There is a secondary college on the grounds, St Joseph's College - a coeducational college which caters for students from Years 7–12. It was once also a boarding school for girls. It is also the site of Lochinvar Public School, as well as St Patrick's Lochinvar, the local Catholic primary school.
The town is mostly built up along the busy New England Highway between the major centres of Maitland and Singleton and is 165 kilometres north of Sydney. Most people in the area work in nearby Maitland or Singleton. Lochinvar railway station is some two kilometres south of the village.
Hunter Valley Buses operates three bus routes through the village of Lochinvar:
- 179: Stockland Greenhills to North Rothbury via East Maitland, Maitland, Rutherford, Greta, Branxton[13]
- 180: Stockland Greenhills to Singleton Heights via East Maitland, Maitland, Rutherford, Greta, Branxton and Singleton[14]
- 180X: Maitland station to Singleton station via Greta and Branxton[15]
- Thomas White Melville Winder (1787-1853), originally received the land grant and planted the first grapes in the Hunter Valley, built “Windermere” (See “Windermere House”, NSW).
- Actress sisters Abbie and Isabelle Cornish were born in the village in 1982 and 1994 respectively.[16]
Robyn Dunlop, Planted in Congenial Soil: The Diocesan Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar 1883 - 1917 (Sisters of St Joseph, Lochinvar, 2016).
32°42′S 151°27′E
