Police Investigate Singleton House Fire

BY IAN CROUCH

Hunter Valley police are investigating the cause of a fire which severely damaged a home at Singleton.

Four fire trucks from Singleton, Branxton and a Support Vehicle from Newcastle were called to the single storey timber and iron home in Bourke Street just before 12.30am on Tuesday to find the house well alight and flames through the roof.

Two occupants managed to self-evacuate without injury.

It's taken more than an hour to bring the blaze under control, with crews mopping up hot spots until just before 3.00am.

Two historic Newcastle buildings given heritage status

BY JESSICA ROUSE

There's yet another state heritage listing for Newcastle with the Hydraulic Engine House and crane bases in Carrington now added to the list.

Built in the 1870s, the engine house on Bourke Street Carrington used hydraulic cranes to lift coal onto ships.

Hydraulic Engine House Image Newcastle City Council

The northern coal fields, of which Newcastle was the port, accounted for around 70 per cent of the state's coal production between 1880 and 1930.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter Scot MacDonald says it represents the most complete example of a coal loading system, predating conveyor belts, still in existence in Australia today.

"The Hydraulic Engine House was an Australian first and industrial wonder for its time," said Scot MacDonald.

The listing comes after a historic house in Hamilton with links to the early days of mining was given state heritage status by the state government.

The Australian Agricultural Company Mine Manager's House on Denison Street was built in 1849 and was formally responsible for the colony's most technologically advanced coal mine.

"The Australian Agricultural Company House is significant not just to the people of Newcastle but to NSW as a representation of the social and economic development of its era," said Scot MacDonald.

Australian Agricultural Company Mine Manager's House
Image Newcastle City Council