Hall

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Have you ever wondered whether there were any towns in Canberra before the ACT was established? Hall is one of the last few remnant towns remaining in the Australian Capital Territory before it was established. The village of 271 (2016) has a distinct identity, and resembles like any other classic rural Australian town.

Hall was proclaimed in 1882, over 30 years before Canberra was named after NSW farmer Henry Hall. Today, that number is scattered around the small village in stores, the museum, and in signs. It's nestled between the two large residential districts of Belconnen and Gungahlin with the New South Wales border to the north, making it hidden on a map, but if you're driving between Melbourne and Canberra or Adelaide and Canberra or anywhere using the Barton Highway, you'll notice brown tourism "Hall" signs, also rather hidden. Everything rather hidden is what makes Hall a rather unique and hidden gem of Canberra.

Get in

The first thing you will need to realise is that Hall is not on the beaten track, and the only way to get into the village is by car. There are no bus services to Hall, so if you don't have a car (whether it be personal or a rental car), tough luck, but that means the only other way to get into Hall is via an organised tour, which almost never happens.

There are only three roads that enter Hall, all of which are side roads off the Barton Highway (A25 / National Highway 25): Victoria Street (one northbound, and one southbound) and Gladstone Street.

See

• 1 Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre, 17-19 Palmer St, museum@hall.act.au. Th 9AM–noon, Su noon–4PM, 1st Sunday of every month: 10AM–4PM. The small district's local museum housed in the former Hall Primary School tells the history of the first teachers at bush schools in Australia, before 1940. The museum also contains some historic photos from Belconnen, Gungahlin and Hall during the settlement era. (updated Mar 2022)

Do

• 1 Hall Showground, cnr Gladstone and Hall Sts. The village's local showground where the Sunday markets and events usually occur. Apart from that, there is not much and it looks like rather any other rural Australian or NSW town's showground. (updated Jun 2022)

Buy

The Hall streetscape

• 1 Hartley Hall Markets, Hall Village Showground, ☏ +61 2 6282 4411, hallmarkets@hartley.org.au. first Sunday of every month (except January) between 10AM and 3PM. The historic village of Hall (which pre-dates Canberra's founding) hosts a monthly market that raises money for local charity Hartley Lifecare. There are hundreds of stalls selling gifts, art, craft, baked goods, plants, furniture, clothing, pottery and children’s toys. (updated Jun 2017)

Eat

• 1 1882 Hall, 13 Gladstone St, ☏ +61 2 6230 2113. W 5:30–10PM, Th F noon–10PM, Sa Su 8AM–10PM. It's the largest restaurant and the only one that is mid-sized, this restaurant has the best of all local food, beer and wine. If you've read the lede, the "1882" is symbolic for when the township was established. (updated Jun 2022)
• 2 Daughters at Hall, 5 Victoria St, ☏ +61 2 6230 2457, daughters.hall@gmail.com. M–F 6:30AM–3PM, Sa Su 8AM–3PM. A classic rural Australian cafe, best known for its Yes Mumma, that is, creamy oats with apples, cream and crumbles. Other than that, there are many vegan, vegetarian and gluten free options also available. (updated Jun 2022)
• 3 Kynefin Cafe, 2-4 Victoria St, ☏ +61 2 6230 9777, hello@kynefin.com. W–F 8:30AM–3PM, Sa Su 8AM–3PM. A small British cafe with lots of tasty British pastries! The name of the cafe, Kynefin is Welsh for "habitat", reflecting the small quaint feeling of Hall. (updated Jun 2022)
• 4 Sugar Plum Fairy Cakes, 2/8 Victoria St, ☏ +61 432 101 179. Tu 7AM–4PM, W–F 7AM–4:30PM Sa 7AM–2PM. It's not very large by all means, but there's a delicious and fancy range of cakes (particularly cupcakes) out there. However, the colourful sweet flavours do come at a cost – they're super expensive. (updated Jun 2022)

Drink

• 1 Capital Wines, 13 Gladstone St, ☏ +61 2 6230 2022. Th–M 10:30AM–5PM. Has wine tasting in some of the Australian Capital Territory's few wine regions with lots of Canberra labels on there. The wines are from the few surrounding wineries, making it a great place to go to if you'd like to try the local wine. (updated Jun 2022)

Sleep

Though Hall is the classic rural Australian town, there is no accommodation in Hall, and the closest you can find is in either Belconnen or Gungahlin.

Connect

Despite being a rural village, Telstra, Optus and even Vodafone have good 5G coverage in Hall, owing to its close proximity to Central Canberra. However, there are no CBRfree public Wi-Fi locations in Hall.