Gold was discovered in the late 1800s in the hills surrounding where now the Barringtons Country Retreat and Chichester Dam. With the gold diggers arriving so did the bushrangers which led to the establishment of the town of Dungog as a military post to help rid the Williams River Valley Settlements of bushrangers. For more than 25 years bushranging was more prevalent than ever, dominated by the famous hold-up man Frederick Ward better known as “Captain Thunderbolt”.

All gold mining activities ceased with commencement of construction of the Chichester Dam in 1918.

An entire village was established during World War 1 at Wangat opposite where now is nestled the Barringtons Country Retreat.

At one stage more than 1,000 men, women and children lived in the township. The village consisted of houses, a boarding house and barracks for single men, shops and a dance hall.

All but a few remnants remain with the land being reclaimed by the dense natural vegetation.

Chichester Dam was completed in 1925 and remains as one of the most pristine wilderness areas in Australia supplying water from the crystal clear streams of the Barrington Tops