Gravesend is a village on the North West Slopes of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. The town is located 25 km west of Warialda on the Gwydir Highway

Gwydir Highway

The Gwydir Highway is a 567 kilometre highway in northern New South Wales, Australia. It was named after the Gwydir River, which in turn was named for a locale in Wales....

 near the Gwydir River

Gwydir River

The Gwydir River is a large inland river in the northern part of the Australian state of New South Wales which is part of the Murray-Darling Basin. The river has two main tributaries—the Horton River and the Rocky River...

 and in the Gwydir Shire

Gwydir Shire

Gwydir Shire is a Local Government Area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia along the state's border with Queensland...

 Local Government Area, 615 kilometres (382 mi) north of the state capital, Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

. At the 2006 census

Census in Australia

The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...

, Gravesend and the surrounding area had a population of 276. The village is situated at an elevation of approximately 275 metres (904 feet).

History

The town grew from a fettler's camp established on Gravesend station

Station (Australian agriculture)

Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...

 with the coming of the railway around 1900. Gravesend Post Office opened on 1 February 1900. The old railway bridge across the Gwydir River was transported from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

With closer settlement a village developed and was officially named Gravesend in 1909. In the 1930s, Gravesend was the site of a research station breeding Cactoblastis

Cactoblastis cactorum

Cactoblastis cactorum, commonly known as the Cactus Moth, South American Cactus Moth, or Nopal Moth, is native to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and southern Brazil. It is one of five species in the genus Cactoblastis that lives in South America...

 moths later released to eradicate a devastating prickly pear

Opuntia

Opuntia, also known as nopales or paddle cactus , is a genus in the cactus family, Cactaceae.Currently, only prickly pears are included in this genus of about 200 species distributed throughout most of the Americas. Chollas are now separated into the genus Cylindropuntia, which some still consider...

 infestation.
The surrounding area is given to agriculture production with sheep and cattle breeding, and the local wheat crops being taken a large silo complex being based in the village.

Today, Gravesend is serviced by a public school with approximately 30 students, post office, hotel

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

, recreation and rodeo

Rodeo

Rodeo is a competitive sport which arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain, Mexico, and later the United States, Canada, South America and Australia. It was based on the skills required of the working vaqueros and later, cowboys, in what today is the western United States,...

 ground, community centre, District Nurse

District nurse

District Nurses are senior nurses who manage care within the community, leading teams of community nurses and support workers. Typically much of their work involves visiting house-bound patients to provide advice and care, for example, palliative care, wound management, catheter and continence...

, a park with play equipment and a general store. The Gwydir River provides excellent fishing, camping, picnic, swimming and recreation areas. The official opening of the Historical Society Museum was held on 16 August 2008. An annual rodeo is held on the rodeo ground. The village also has a fishing club, sewing and quilting club, garden club, Pony Club

Pony Club

Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to the educating youths about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over 30 countries worldwide...

and playgroup.