Berambing, New South Wales

It is known for its lush apple, nuts and stone fruit orchards. The natural environment of the area attracts visitors, and the village is in close proximity to the Mount Tomah Botanic Garden and the Wollemi and Blue Mountains national parks.

The area was first visited by Europeans in November 1804 when George Caley, the explorer and botanist, camped nearby during his unsuccessful attempt to cross the Blue Mountains. The area has had European settlement since at least 1832 when the property 'Bulgamatta' was established; now the location of the Chapel Hill Retreat.

During the mid-nineteenth century Bells Line of Road was a busy thoroughfare for herds of sheep and cattle being driven to the Sydney markets. The following description of Berambing, by an anonymous correspondent, was published in January 1861:

Berambing is between two and three miles from the summit of Mount Tomah, which is concealed by the intervening forest; but its elevation is considerable, and the climate is cool, bracing, and agreeable, and to those who can really appreciate nature there is a rich fund of enjoyment, and a field of research rendered doubly interesting from having been the scene of some of Allan Cunningham's botanical wanderings... Immediately bordering on Berambing the forest consists of peppermint, stringybark, grey gum, and mahogany. Recent rains had rendered the road muddy, and rather impeded our progress.[3]

Children's author, Hesba Fay Brinsmead, was born in Berambing in 1922 and her upbringing in the area inspired much of the background for her books. Her "Longtime" trilogy was set in the area and based on her experiences as a child/teenager.[4]