The Broke Fordwich Region
Tucked away in the ‘Tranquil Corner’ of the Hunter Valley is the beautiful sub-region of Broke Fordwich. At its centre, is the rural village of Broke. Situated in a wide valley, the surrounding hills frame some of the best scenery in the area with the striking Brokenback mountain range and iconic Yellow Rock providing an impressive backdrop.
Broke has a rich past as a bustling village on the historic Convict Trail. Before that, the Wanaruah aboriginal tribe inhabited the valley and significant aboriginal paintings can be viewed in the caves in the area. In addition, the region was also a well-established dairy township boasting 65 working dairies.
In recent times the region has quietly developed into a boutique tourism destination boasting luxury accommodation, quality vineyards and cellar doors, cafes and restaurants, olive groves and orchards as well as other points of interest. Visitors can relax in comfort and experience the rural charm of this largely undiscovered region.
The Broke Fordwich region is a comfortable two-hour drive from Sydney and just over an hour from the Central Coast and Newcastle. The area is a popular weekend destination for both domestic and international visitors who want a quality tourism experience.
The Hunter Valley is Australia’s oldest wine growing region and home to some of Australia’s most distinctive and outstanding wines. The Broke Fordwich area can lay claim to producing around 20% of the total Hunter wine production including many medal and trophy winning wines.
Broke also has some of the oldest and largest olive groves in the area. In recent years local producers have bottled and marketed their own quality olive oil and related products. Several of these have won awards at a national level.
The increasing number of visitors to the area, do so to experience the vineyards, the wine and the food. Recent surveys have revealed the consumer chooses Broke Fordwich because of the tranquil rural charm and proximity to event centres
The village of Broke stands at the base of the Brokenback and Hunter Ranges on the Wollombi Brook with the massive Yellow Rock escarpment standing guard above. The Ranges shelter Broke Fordwich from much of the rainfall that surrounding districts receive producing a stable climate. The area has a sandy loam with river flat alluvial soil, volcanic soil and pockets of red basalt giving wine producers a variety of soil types known as terra rossa.
While, historically, it is one of the oldest wine growing areas in Australia, it is only in the last 30 years that Broke Fordwich has started to become an important player in the Australian industry. In 1994 it was the first area formally recognised as a separate viticulture area.
Importantly, Broke Fordwich retains its integrity as a rural community remaining free of large scale development yet offering first class B&B and self catering accommodation, restaurants and activities.
Visitors to the area are surprised by the amount of wildlife they see. It's rare to visit the area without seeing kangaroos, wombats and a large variety of birds.
NSW State Heritage Inventory - includes these items
- Bulga Bridge over Wollombi Brook, Bulga
- Blaxland House Fordwich Road (The house no longer stands but there are photographs. Stones from this house can be found in Blaxlands Restaurant Pokolbin)
- Cemetery Broke
- War Memorial Broke
- Cemetery Bulga
- War Memorial Gates Inlet Road Bulga
- Mana Immaculate Roman Catholic Church Broke
- St. Andrew’s Anglican Church Wollombi St. Broke
- Mount Leonard Putty Road Bulga
- Mount Leonard Public School (now the Scout Hall) Putty Road Bulga
The Broke Village Store is the focal point of the Broke community and surrounding area and serves many needs: cafe, grocery store, newsagent, take away-coffee shop, delicatessen, post office, bottle shop, petrol station