as 1809. The property has functioned as a continually inhabited place of residence from 1806 to the present day, serving one of the oldest established settlements of NSW. The cottage, inn and barn together provide physical evidence of successive occupancies and uses of the site initially for farming, through mid-nineteenth century more intense settlement and cultivation, commercial use as an inn and licensed premises, later a post office and general store and as private residence. The development of the site is integrally related to the development of Bells Line of Road. The siting of the buildings at the crossing of the road and creek took advantage of passing traffic for business and, in turn, served the development of the road by offering refreshment and rest on a long road journey as a wayside inn. In its operation as a licensed inn, with associated general store and Post Office, the Goldfinders Inn Group has been the centre of Kurrajong community activities, prior to a formal village being constructed. The garden plantings of camellias and magnolias are of historic interest in their own right, with the main camellia described by Professor EJ Waterhouse as the oldest in Australia. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The Goldfinders Inn Group is of state significance because the cottage on the site is an early dwelling which has the potential to yield further information on the construction of early vernacular buildings, particularly in relation to the unusual stone nog infill between wall studs. There is also some potential for the site to reveal evidence of former buildings associated with documented uses of the place. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The cottage of the Goldfinders Inn Group is of state significance as a rare pre-1840s cottage with a range of construction systems from its various stages of development, including the use of stone nog infill. The site is also rare for its early domestic plantings and as a dwelling and inn group. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. In its evolution from farm to roadside inn, to community hub with associated functions of general store and Post Office, the Goldfinders Inn Group