Bookham

Bookham is situated 29 km west of Yass on the Hume Highway.  A quiet village set among well established grazing properties, it is the site of a pleasant rest area for travellers on the Hume highway between Sydney and Melbourne. 

The grazing lands around the village of Bookham were originally called Bogolong and were much sought after by the early pioneers.  Childhood memories of the races at the old Bogalong Racetrack inspired Banjo Paterson to write his poem Old Pardon the Son of Reprieve.  

The name change occurred around the time that Lady Jane Franklin, wife of the Governor of Van Diemens Land Sir John Franklin, visited the area when travelling overland from Melbourne to Sydney in 1839.  Lady Franklin stayed at an inn long since demolished and her diaries, now held in the National Library of Australia, provide a personal record of the area and its people.

Bookham is the site of two very fine churches constructed from locally quarried granite: the Uniting Church (c1926) and the Catholic Church, St Columbas (c1910). It also features an old-fashioned cricket field, resplendent with a white picket fence, the site of many a bush bash. 

Bookham Village remains a vital meeting centre for the surrounding properties and is home to Barney's of Bookham which is a fabulous retro style cafe,  a large New and Used Farm Machinery business as well as a Worm Farm.