During colonisation, the British Crown claimed ownership of land across the region and divided it into parcels for newly arrived officers and other settlers of distinction. The land you are standing on today formed part of a 500-acre land grant to Archibald Bell, who was the first paid magistrate in NSW and the first Hawkesbury resident to serve on the Legislative Council of NSW. He built a home on a hill overlooking Redbank Creek and named it ‘Belmont’ meaning ‘beautiful hill’.