Porphyry Vineyard

(Private Property NO PUBLIC ACCESS)

Established by schoolmaster and educational theorist, Reverend Henry Carmichael who came to Seaham in 1839 and purchased land including the portion which still bears the name ‘Porphyry’to this day.

Porphyry was built in 1839 from sandstone which is believed to have come from the Muree Quarry in Raymond Terrace and the Glen Oak Quarry. Carmichael hired European vineyard workers and commenced the production of wine in 1847. His sons Gavin and Jeremy carried on the vineyard after his death in 1862 and won international reputation for the vineyard at Seaham. The wines were awarded medals in the Bordeaux Wine Show. In January 1939 uncontrollable bushfires ravaged the Seaham area. Almost all the buildings in the Seaham village were destroyed. At Porphyry, only a small stone building used as a distillery in the wine making days remained.