Torryburn is steeped in colonial history and is the setting for the inspiration behind one of Australia’s most evocative poems: ‘My Country’ by Dorothea Mackellar.

Nestled in gently rolling hills near Gresford, in the beautiful Paterson Valley, Torryburn was first settled in 1821 by John McIntyre.

Torryburn has enjoyed a variety of owners including the Mackellar family, who took possession 1898. The family purchased the property as one of the worst droughts in the history of white settlement hit the area. One evening in 1904, after some good rains, Dorothea sat on the homestead’s front verandah writing a letter to a friend in England. Each time she looked up, a green veil thickened across the paddock in front of her. This moment inspired part of her classic My Country (many readers will know this poem as “I Love a Sunburnt Country”).

In 1989 Torryburn was purchased by Rob and Jenny Ferguson who carried out extensive renovations as well as improving and extending the formal and informal gardens and parklands. It was during the Ferguson’s tenure that Torryburn became a working thoroughbred stud and they enjoyed much success including their filly ‘Ha Ha’ winning the 2001 Golden Slipper.

A Junction Inn at “Gresford Road, Paterson” was first licensed in late 1865 or early 1866 to John Carroll, then to Joseph Carroll in 1867 and 68 at which point the licence ceased. Four years later, in March 1872, a Junction Inn on Allyn and Paterson Roads at Gresford was licensed to John Beatty. John then held the licence continuously into the early 1900s and the licence remained under the Beatty name until the death of Mrs MC Beatty in November 1935.

The Junction Inn may have originally been built by Charles Boydell, with Beatty as licensee and publican. It was a rambling wooden building that included a saddlery, pharmacy and joinery.

In 1900 James Boydell decided to build a two-storey brick hotel adjacent to the Junction Inn. On 20 April 1901 the Maitland Mercury reported that John Beatty had transferred from his “old rambling wooden premises” into the new building named the Victoria Hotel. Beatty leased the building until he purchased the land from the future Camyr Allyn subdivision. In 1937 the name was changed from the Victoria Hotel to the Beatty Hotel and it still operates under that name today.

The present St Anne’s Church was consecrated in November 1898, but the history of the parish extends back to the 1840s.

The new building is a neat brick structure in the early Gothic style.

The church was built upon the site, on which the original wooden church had stood for 49 years, and stands in the centre of the picturesque little cemetery, in which rest the remains of many of the pioneers of the district. Charles Boydell and Dr Lindeman are buried in the little graveyard.

Ard-Na-Hane (Scottish for ‘on the side of a hill’) is a private residence, and is situated across the Paterson River from St. Anne’s Anglican Church.

It is thought that it could have been one of George Townsend’s houses. It was convict built not long after the first settlers arrived in the 1840’s. Part of it had been destroyed by fire, and structural alterations had been carried out. Captain Allison is thought to have added the balcony over 120 years ago.

Mr. Fry who ran Fry & Co’s Coaches, mail and passenger coaches in the area, lived here. Ard-Nah-Hane was used for many years as a hotel and a coach stop for overnight stays between Singleton and Dungog. It had also served successfully as a wine shop, a workshop and a residence during its time.