At the point where the Hunter River is about to meet the ocean, a narrow, flat and sandy peninsula juts out to block it’s path. The river is forced to flow around it and out to the Tasman Sea between two breakwaters and passed Nobby’s Lighthouse. The eastern side of the peninsula is fringed by a spectacular beach which runs 33km north. On this small peninsula is Stockton – the only northern residential suburb of Newcastle, and one of the first settlements established after the founding of Newcastle in the last years of the 1700s. It’s known as “Stocko” by many Newcastle people – affectionately by those who live there, and sometimes a little scornfully by some who don’t.
It’s a place with a colourful and sometimes dark history that’s for sure. Two tragedies stand out in the history of this little suburb. The Stockton Colliery disaster in December 1896 claimed 11 lives (more about that below) and still rates among the worst mining disasters in the region. Almost 100 years on from that horrible event, the rape and murder of local school girl Leigh Leigh on the beach in 1989 is said to have left a psychological scar on the community that remains to this day. It’s a terrible story and harrowing to read.
Despite these tragedies, and the lasting impression of Stocko as a former industrial outpost of coal mines, shipyards, factories and workers’ cottages, it’s greatly changed and it’s no exaggeration to say this suburb is one of the Steel City’s best kept secrets.
What we loved
Stockton is just a five minute ferry ride from the heart of Newcastle and yet has the charm and laid back atmosphere of a coastal country town. It feels like you’re on holidays – and a lot of people actually are – staying in the caravan park overlooking the beach. Industrial areas have given way to well-used parkland, cycle ways and walking tracks. Beautiful or interesting views are all around whether its a sunrise from Stockton breakwater, watching endless ships and boats from the riverside parks or taking in the long expanse of Stockton Beach from the seaside reserve. Even the views back to Newcastle’s industrial areas around Walsh Point and Port Waratah coal loader hold a certain strange industrial grandeur – especially at night.
What we did
Explore the streets
We read somewhere that there are few historic buildings in Stockton – but that’s not really true. It just depends which bit of history you are interested in. There’s interesting old pubs, churches, a heritage listed former picture theatre, a grand Victorian mansion , and a range of architectural types and styles in the neatly laid out streets. True to our usual form – we set off to explore, and this is what we discovered.
The pubs
There are three pubs in Stockton which seems rather a lot for the size of the place (apparently there were even more of them when it was a thriving industrial area). The Boatrowers Hotel in Fullerton Street has operated at the site since 1887, but the current building was built by brewing company Tooths Ltd in 1927. The Bar at the Boatrowers is one of the few remaining heritage ‘oval’ bars to be found in NSW. Essentially unchanged since construction in 1929. The Gladstone in Mitchell Street built in 1936 was designed by the same local firm, Pitt and Merewether, that designed the Boatrowers. There’s also the General Washington just near the ferry wharf. Judging from a few old photos it’s also been operating from there for yonks.
The flicks
Another building that caught our eye was the Art Deco style former Savoy Picture Theatre in Mitchell Street which opened in 1937 with the Janet Gaynor, Frederic March Drama, A Star is Born. It seated 735 people and is a New South Wales heritage listed building. It closed as a cinema in February 1980 and now contains a surf shop. There’s a mural on the front wall which captures its hey day at the heart of local entertainment.
Finding religion
There’s two significant older churches in Stockton. St Pauls in Maitland Street is lovely, but not the first Anglican church on the site. The first St Paul’s Church, was a timber building opened in 1870. The small barrel organ it once contained ended up in the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. The present St Paul’s dates from 1890 and is in early pointed Gothic style, built in brick, with a tower containing a belfry and ringing chamber. There’s a large and beautiful fig tree in the grounds and the old double-storey rectory next door is charming. The WWI era Presbyterian Chapel of St Andrews across from Boatrowers Hotel in Hereford Street has an intriguing plaque on the front which reads “To the glory of God and the use of seamen. The Chapel of St Andrew is the gift of the Parnell family, 1914”. Couldn’t find out much more about this building, but it does beg the questions: Why the reference to seamen and who were the Parnells? Any further info from Stocktonians who know about such things would be interesting.
Victorian grandeur
Easily the suburb’s most wow factor building is Victorian heritage mansion The Laurels on the corner of Fullerton and King Streets. Built around 1897 these days it is fully renovated inside and contains six-bedrooms and four-bathrooms. This beautiful building very nearly disappeared in the 1990s when it was earmarked for either subdivision or demolition. Thankfully, it was snapped up by heritage conservationist Mike Boulter and his wife who restored it sympathetically. Phew! What a loss it would have been to Stockton. The manor was designed by Newcastle architects George Sanders and Son for William and Clara Quigley – who were part of the prominent Mitchell family. The Mitchells had numerous business interests in Stockton in the early years of Newcastle’s development. This family were not short of a dollar and Dr James Mitchell established a salt works and a tweed factory in Stockton and encouraged the expansion of industries through his business ventures and local investments. The Laurels was used to house US army personnel during World War II. Between the 1950s and 1980s, the house served as a convent.
Check out the beach
This natural feature might well be the jewel in Stocko’s crown – stretching 33km north all the way to Anna Bay. It’s been the site of numerous shipwrecks and even aircraft crashes. In World War II it was fortified against Japanese attack – crisscrossed by tank traps (some of which were lined up on the beach front on the day of our visit while the council decides what to do with them). It was used as a bombing and gunnery range and a dumping area for unused bombs by aircraft returning from training runs. Its frequently used by 4WD enthusiasts (you need a permit) sandboarders, camel and horse riders at the northern end. It has long associations with traditional Aboriginal people and there are many middens and significant sites in its dunes and along its shores. On this occasion we explored the Stockton end of the beach where there is a Surf Lifesaving Club and patrolled beach which has been keeping swimmers safe since the 1930s. There’s always people fishing, walking, surfing or swimming – at least in the warmer months.
A sad story
The Stockton Mining Disaster of 1896 may have faded from modern memories, but a reminder of it can still be seen on the corner of Mitchell and Clyde Street at the entrance to Lynn Oval. The tragedy started when two men were found dead on the mine site – overcome by poison gas. No sooner had a funeral been held for them, than an party of 12 went back into the mine to investigate the gas problem. Four of them were fatally overcome by fumes while the others managed to escape. Then during an attempt to rescue the four men who had been overcome, another five men died of gas inhalation. The incredible bravery of the rescuers on one hand and the awful consequences of their attempt on the other just add to the horror.
At Lynn Oval, memorial gate posts were erected by public subscription in memory of the miners who perished trying to rescue their companions. The memorial was unveiled in 1897 by the Minister for Mines. The tablets on the posts contain a brief description of the tragedy together with the names of those who died. In the aftermath of the disaster, a poignant photograph was taken of the survivors of the disaster and this image has been recreated in a large public mural on the side of a building at the corner of Mitchell and Queen Streets.
Tall ships, pirates and shipwrecks
Stockton has always been a maritime suburb and it still is. Coal ships, tugboats, ferries and speedy watercraft navigate the Hunter River up and down night and day. This maritime history is a whole other story of pirates, shipwrecks and fascinating nautical happenings You can read about that here.
Where we ate
Now I don’t think anyone would be too shocked if we mentioned that Stockton isn’t exactly bristling with funky little dining options. We enjoyed a nice lunch at Lexie’s on the Beach which was doing a roaring trade. There was some construction work happening around there on the day of our visit, but under normal circumstances Lexie’s has the pick of the positions overlooking Stockton Beach next door to the surf club. The food was good and the service was friendly.
We got chatting to a local bloke as we watched the surf rolling in and he reckoned that the Chinese restaurant at Stockton Bowling club was very good – although we did not get to test is advice. Back in the main street we noted a couple of takeaways, a bakery and a pizza place. Otherwise it’s back on the ferry for a five minute ride which puts you in Newcastle’s trendy Honeysuckle precinct and that has numerous trendy eateries to choose. The ferry goes back and forth every half hour from early in the morning to late at night.
