Singleton lies in the prosperous Hunter Valley which extends inland for about 250km from Newcastle on the Pacific Ocean.
Industries around Singleton include:-
* Wine-making with extensive new plantings taking place every year. Prominent varieties are Shiraz and Chardonnay but many other varieties, including hybrids, are being grown.
* Tourism - as the area is only some 200 to 300 kilometres from the northern suburbs of Sydney a large volume of tourists visit the area to taste our wines and eat in some of the fabulous restaurants in the vineyards. Other tourism includes farm stay holidays and walking holidays in our extensive national parks.
* Beef Cattle. Singleton is a centre of a large beef cattle range area.
* Dairy Cattle. Extensive irrigated river flats along the banks of the Hunter River provide ideal conditions for dairying.
* Olives. The temperate sub tropical climate is ideal for olive groves.
* Coal production. The area contains some of the best deposits of black anthracite coal in the world. There is a huge coal mining industry which exports some 100 million tonnes annually.
* Power generation. Due to the presence of coal two large and modern coal fired power stations are located about thirty kilometres north of the town.
* Defence. There is a large army field firing range about 10 kilometres from the town. The Australian Army's Infantry Centre is located there. Following the Kosovo crisis some 800 Kosovar refugees made the army camp their temporary home for over three months.

About 12,500 people live in the town itself and a further 8,000 live in the smaller villages and on farms.

Heritage

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Aboriginal tribes and family clans occupied the Hunter Valley. Their heritage is preserved today with the Wonnaruha descendants conducting tours at some extremely interesting rock paintings. These paintings are of the Aboriginal spirit and creator , "Biame" standing with his arms outstretched - guarding the valley. European settlement commenced in the 1820's when singleton became settled as the first place where you had to cross the river if you were herding to the North West and West. A small group of buildings grew up near to the crossing. The current bridge carrying the New England Highway over the Hunter River is still in the vicinity of the original Dunnolly Ford.
The town grew in the 1860's when the railway came to town. A dramatic new burst of growth occurred in the 1970's and 1980's when coal expansion became the driving factor in economic development.

All Saints Church

A note in the 1866 diary of an early rector gives the mood of early Anglican life in the parish - "Next morning I rode seven miles to one of my churches (St. Clement's, Falbrook) for Morning Service then ten to a private house (at Bridgmen) where in the wool-shed I found a congregation of about 60 gathered in the midst of the wild and lonely bush for Evensong. After services I had another confirmation class."
Church and school grants were made at Whittingham (s small hamlet a few kilometres south of Singleton) in 1825 and the Chaplain from Newcastle began visiting the area in 1826. The first known baptism is recorded in the Chaplains register on 1st March 1826.