ABOUT DUNGOG

The town of Dungog, home to the oldest continuously operating cinema in Australia is now home to the biggest small town film festival that this country has ever seen: the Dungog Film Festival.

Dungog is located 220km north of Sydney, 79km north of Newcastle and 55km north of Maitland. Located in a valley nestled midst picturesque mountains, the town is an excellent base for exploring nearby nature reserves and retreats. The Dungog area has close links with its indigenous history with the original name in the Awabakal dialect being ‘Tungog’ or ‘Tunkok’, meaning ‘place of thinly wooded hills’.

Prior to European settlement in the early 1800s, Dungog was home to the Gringgai clan of the Wanaruah people. The first European settlers in the area were thought to be searching for lost stock. Timber getters soon followed, attracted by the abundance of red cedar in the region. (More recently much of the timber in the Sydney Opera House came from the Dungog area.) The village, originally known as Upper Williams, was located on the Williams River, 14 miles upstream from Clarence Town, the head of navigation for goods taken to Newcastle via the Hunter River system. In 1834, Captain Thomas Cook JP became the first magistrate for the area. One of his first acts was to suggest to the Colonial Secretary that the village be given a distinctive name, so ‘Dungog’ came into existence.

About this time, the settlers petitioned the authorities for a military post to deal with bushrangers in the area. The gangs of Ben Hall, Captain Thunderbolt and Jimmy Governor as well as the Jew Boy Gang were active in the Munni, Monkerai, Main Creek and Underbank areas.

A town plan was approved in 1838. The noted architect, Edmund Blacket had his second commission in the colony when he designed the first school in Dungog in 1843. By 1850, the town was well established but lacked most essential services such as a town water supply, street lighting, gutters and footpaths and hospitals. The local economy depended on timbercutting, a tannery, a tobacco factory and a flourmill.

The 1857 Census recorded the Dungog population as 126 people, living in 25 houses. By 1861, the population had increased to 458. From the 1880s, essential services were gradually provided. Dungog’s prosperity increased (along with its population and dairy farming) and the Dungog Co-op Dairy Company was formed in 1905. In 1909, a telephone network was established; in 1911 the main northern rail line ran through the town, and by 1917 electricity services were available. The Dungog and District Memorial Baths were opened in 1963. The now flourishing town continues to produce quality dairy and livestock products, while some former dairy farms have been converted to olive groves and vineyards.

Today, the population of Dungog is approximately 3000 people. While Dungog still pays tribute to its many historical sites, such as the Dungog Museum, the Bank Hotel and Dungog Cinema, each year the town also hosts an agricultural show, several art shows, a rodeo, the Dungog Pedalfest and, since 2007, the Dungog Film Festival.