Scone, New South Wales

Scone(/skoʊn/)is a town in theUpper Hunter Shirein theHunter RegionofNew South Wales,Australia. At the2021 census, Scone had a population of 5,013 people.It is on theNew England Highwaynorth ofMuswellbrookabout 270 kilometres (167.77 miles) north ofSydney, and is part of theNew England(federal) andUpper Hunter(state) electorates.Scone is in a farming area and is also noted for breedingThoroughbredracehorses. It is known as the "Horse capital of Australia".
Allan Cunningham was the first recorded European person to travel into the Scone area, reaching the Upper Dartbrook and Murrurundi areas in 1823.SurveyorHenry Dangartravelled through the area, prior to passing over theLiverpool Rangeabove Murrurundi in 1824. The first properties in the area were Invermein and Segenhoe in 1825. The town initially started as the village of Redbank in 1826 and in 1831 Hugh Cameron, a Scottish descendant put forward the name of Scone to Thomas Mitchell.It was gazetted as Scone in 1837 and during the early days was renowned for its large pastoral properties including Belltrees and Segenhoe.Early buildings were St Luke's Church, Scone Post Office, the Old Court Theatre (that is now a hall for musicals and plays), and the St Aubins' Inn.
Scone Shirewas merged into theUpper Hunter Shirein 2004, integrating parts of the formerMurrurundiandMerriwashires.
The annualScone Horse Festivalis a celebration of Scone's cultural links to equines. It is celebrated during May and includes all manner of activities, including wine tours, Open Days across the numerous horse studs in the area, the Scone rodeo, the Scone School Horse Sports competition, the Black Tie Ball, and a parade in Kelly Street.
The main event is ahorse racingcarnival featuring the prestigious Scone Cup, one of the richest country racing days inNew South WalesandAustralia. Small celebrations are also a key part of the festival and include schools, businesses, public events and sports centres. The Horse Festival is also traditionally linked with such events as the Belltrees poetry competition, the yarns night and many other small annual fundraisers and events. Scone also hosts the Inglis Guineas Day, a major race meet, in the middle of May.
The town is also home to some of the very old pony clubs and is known for a happening polo club. Besides these, the region is well known for its dairies and wineries.
Located on Gundy Road and is heritage listed.The property is 23,000  acrefarm.In 1830 Hamilton Sempill was granted the land and called Belltree after an estate of anancestor.After Sempill returned to England, it was owned by  explorerW C Wentworth.In 1853, Wentworth sold the estate to the sons of John White.Designed J W Pender forHenry Luke Whitein 1906.In 1912 it was 160,000 enclosed with 3,200 km fencing and 64 buildings.
Currently on the property there is a homestead built in 1908, St James chapel (1887), the original homestead which is now amuseum, a trading store (1837) turned into anoffice, ashearing shed(1880) and aprimary school.Patrick Whiteused the property as inspiration for his novelThe Eye of the Storm(1973).In 1994 the property became the set for the filmA Matter of Honour.
In  1836ThomasandHenry Dangarleased 6 acres of property at St Aubin's Village fromCaptain William Dumaresq.It was built in 1837 and is apublocated on 245 Kelly Street.The first name was "The Bird in Hand' and the first owner was James Briggs until 1838.There was seven rooms with attachedattics, and a smallpaddockand stockyard.In 1838 the pub was owned by George Chivers.In 1840 the pub was robbed by the Jewboy gang.In 1842, John P Wilkie brought the property and renamed it the White Swan Inn.In 1888 the house was built on the property.In 1917 it was put on market but did not sell due toWorld War I.In 1938 the house was purchased.The property sits on 4 acres of land.It is abrickbuilding with high ceilings, wideverandahs,cedarjoineryand an underground cellar.In the 1960s an additional wing was added.The property now has fivebedrooms, alibrary, lounge and dining areas.
William Dangar purchased 800 acres and was given permission to  purchase the 1800  acres adjacent to the property.It was well known  forhorse-breeding– producing racehorses and remounts for the Indian Army and attracted clientele from around the world.Built in the early 1870s with 12 rooms and offices.In 1888,  atelephone linewas installed to connect Turanville to Scone; it was the first connection to Scone from a property.In 1854, Thomas  Cook started to work on the property.In 1889, Thomas Cook  inherited  the property from his uncle William Dangar.After Cook inherited the property, it reached around 10,000 acres; he also built a homestead and gardens.During the 1900s, a newroofmade outironwith a frontporchwas added to replace the shingled one.In 1912, the property was sold to Hugh Corbett Taylor, whose great grandson still lives on the property.In 1938, Helen Ethel Moore and Douglas Hamilton Robertson took over the property.In 1946, arenovationoccurred which included demolishing the separate kitchen block and adding a southern wing to the house.In 1963, Jock Douglas Robertson and his Elizabeth took over running the property.Since 2003, Douglas Hugh Robertson and his wife Nicola now run the property.
Scone has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
One of the first educational groups to be established in New South Wales was a reading society, The Scone Book Society, formed in 1841. This later became theScone School of Arts, aMechanics' Instituteand library, which occupied buildings in Kingdon Street (1873–1917)and Kelly Street (1924–1954).
Present-day schools include:
There is also a campus ofTAFE NSW.
Scone lies on theMain North railway line, and is served by a passenger train service made up of a dailyNSW TrainLinktrain toSydneyand two or threeNSW TrainLinkservices toNewcastle.
The town is connected to nearbyGloucesterviaScone Road, which traverses the Barrington Tops.
Scone Airport(ICAO code YSCO, IATA code NSO) is located 3.5 kilometers Northwest of the town center. The airport has a 1404 meter asphalt runway. It hosts an aeroclub, a flight school, a warbird collection (Hunter Warbirds) but does not currently have any scheduled airline service.
Osborn’s Buses runs a bus service between Scone and Muswellbrook. There are approximately 20 services per week in each direction.
Scone possesses ahumid subtropical climate(Köppen:Cfa), with hot, relatively wet summers and mild, relatively dry winters with cool nights. Average maxima vary from 31.8 °C (89.2 °F) in January to 16.7 °C (62.1 °F) in July, while average minima fluctuate between 17.2 °C (63.0 °F) in January and 3.4 °C (38.1 °F) in July. Annualprecipitationis moderately low (averaging 612.0 mm (24.09 in)), and is spread across 75.9 precipitation days (over 1.0 mm (0.039 in)). Rainfall is less common in winter than in summer due to thefoehn effect, as the town lies on theleewardside of theGreat Dividing Range.The town experiences 105.3 clear days and 57.1 cloudy days per annum.Extreme temperatures have ranged from 46.5 °C (115.7 °F) on 12 February 2017 to −5.5 °C (22.1 °F) on 20 July 2023.
Scone Polo Club was established in 1891.
Sconetravel guide from Wikivoyage