Bellbrook

Bellbrook is a locality in the Kempsey Shire of New South Wales, Australia along the Macleay River.

Bellbrook is a locality in the Kempsey Shire of New South Wales, Australia along the Macleay River. The mountain village is classified by the National Trust as a heritage village and is part of the Macleay Valley Coast.

Bellbrook is on the traditional lands of the Thunghutti Aboriginal people, some of whom continue to live on the local Aboriginal reserve.

It was first settled by Europeans in the mid-1830s, and there was "very active antagonism" between the Europeans and the Thunghutti, which slowed the development of the village.A 36.4-hectare (90-acre) Aboriginal reserve was established at Bellbrook in 1885. It was initially an unsupervised reserve, but was later managed by the Aboriginal Protection Board. Residents "came under intense government surveillance" from the APB and had to sign in and out. Many of the residents worked on local pastoral stations, generally poorly paid.

The Bellbrook Hotel overlooks the Macleay River. Opening in 1913, the Bellbrook Hotel is of historical significance, enjoying over one hundred years of service in addition to its notoriety as the watering hole of renowned Country Music Singer Slim Dusty. In 2018 the pub was nominated for the Best Bush Pub category in the Australian Hotels Association 2018 awards for excellence. In the same year, Bellbrook Hotel featured as one of twenty-five historic pubs in a travel book by the publisher of Australian Bush Pubs, titled, 'Historic Pubs, New South Wales'.

The Bellbrook General Store is located in Main Street, with the store and post office relocating to the Bellbrook Hotel in late 2019. It was the location of the Country Women's Association for many years in addition to catering for functions, meetings and local gatherings. The General Store is situated in the middle of the village, opposite the public school and Bellbrook Memorial Park.

The Bellbrook School of Arts was built circa 1922 and is opposite the General Store, Bellbrook Memorial Park and tennis courts.

In 2005, the town's raw water supply was contaminated by heavy metals and arsenic from former mines in the Hillgrove area. In 2008, water was reportedly having to be trucked into the town because the supply was so contaminated. A new $700,000 water treatment plant was installed in 2009 to address the issue.

In November 2019, Bellbrook locals were forced to evacuate as their community was engulfed by the Carrai East fire which resulted in the loss of some homes. The Nulla Nulla Creek home of country music legend Slim Dusty was saved. Mobile phone coverage was lost in the mountain village with locals relying upon each other and the local Rural Fire Service for updates. Fires blocked the road to and from Bellbrook. Some locals stayed to prepare for the oncoming bushfire and created containment lines around their properties while other residents were forced to shelter at the local school. Locals were later able to leave under Emergency Service escort once the road was deemed safe.In late November 2020, a travelling photograph exhibition titled, 'Black Summer and Beyond' was hosted at the Bellbrook School of Arts in commemoration of the bushfires.

Located within the same post code as Crescent Head and Port Macquarie (considered one of the most livable towns in Australia), Bellbrook enjoys a humid, sub-tropical climate with hot, humid summers and cold winters with significant rainfall. Many locals utilise fireplaces during the colder months.