Corduroy Road Historic Site

Item details


Name of item:	Corduroy Road Historic Site
Other name/s:	East Coonamble Road
Type of item:	Archaeological-Terrestrial
Group/Collection:	Transport - Land
Category:	Road
Location:	Lat: S31° 26.825’ Long: E148° 32.223’
Primary address:	East Coonamble Road, Armatree, NSW 2828
Local govt. area:	Gilgandra

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
East Coonamble Road	Armatree	Gilgandra			Primary Address

Statement of significance:


	The Corduroy Road Historic Site is an intact remnant of the early days of road transport in the Castlereagh region. It is also a rare survivor of the era of horse drawn coach transport that ended with the construction of the Dubbo to Coonamble branch line railway. The road has the potential to provide information on the construction of corduroy roads to cross swampy or boggy ground in the 19th century. It is an extremely rare surviving example of an intact 19th century corduroy road and is representative of the extensive coaching routes that crossed New South Wales until well into the 20th century. The site has state historical and technical/research significance, rarity and representativeness. It also has a high degree of integrity.
	Date significance updated: 04 Sep 08
	Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description


Designer/Maker:	Unknown
Builder/Maker:	Charles Law
Construction years:	1880-
Physical description:	The Corduroy Road Historic Site comprises approximately 200 metres of cypress logs laid across the direction of travel of the road. The northern end of the section of road is marked by the remains of a former gateway of hardwood posts. A hardwood milepost is located on the eastern side of the road towards the gateway.
Physical condition and/or Archaeological potential:	The remnant road is generally in sound condition. Heavy grass growth is a potential threat to the site. The site is considered to have high archaeological potential.
	Date condition updated:04 Sep 08
Further information:	List on State Heritage Register. The ongoing management of the site should focus on maintenance of the existing fabric and management of its environment to prevent deterioration.


Current use:	Archaelogical Site
Former use:	Coaching Road

History

Historical notes:

As Cobb & Co expanded their coaching routes across New South Wales the company obtained a growing number of mail contracts. Between 1874 and 1880 they established twice-weekly mail services linking Gilgandra to Dubbo and a service from Gulgong to Gilgandra via Cobbora and Mendooran then on to Curban, Gulargambone and Coonamble. (Page & Nicholls 2.4) The Coonamble service was later increased to three days per week. Coach drivers included James Brown, Paddy Murray and William Walden. (Back to Gilgandra Committee 1937:15)

A changing station was established on the eastern side of Terrabile Creek at Curban. From there the route followed the course of the present Back Coonamble Road to Armatree and Gulargambone. At changing stations ‘located about every 20 kilometres along the coach routes’ fresh horses replaced tired ones and, depending on the time of day, coach passengers were given food and possibly a bed for the night. Horses on a through coach service could be changed within two minutes. (Page & Nicholls 2.4)

On the black soil plains coaching roads became almost impassable in wet weather. In some places sections of corduroy road were laid to provide an all-weather surface. Corduroy involved the placement of small cut logs or saplings side-by-side across the direction of travel to provide a relatively stable, if rather bumpy, surface for the mail coaches. A section of corduroy road with an associated milepost and gateway survives on the East Coonamble Road between Curban and Gulargambone. This was evidently built by Charles Law, owner of the nearby Wattle Park selection from 1895 (Gulargambone Historical Society Book Committee 1992:87).

Corduroy roads are known to have been constructed as far back as 4,000BC with examples being documented at Glastonbury in England. They have typically been used to provide a stable road surface over muddy or swampy ground. (Lay 1992:43)

During the 1960s much of the corduroy road was lifted and trucked to Dubbo to provide fuel for brick kilns.

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	(none)-

Assessment of significance


SHR Criteria a) [Historical significance]	The Corduroy Road Historic Site is an intact remnant of the early days of road transport in the Castlereagh region. It is also a rare survivor of the era of horse drawn coach transport that ended with the construction of the Dubbo to Coonamble branch line railway. The road has state historical significance.
SHR Criteria e) [Research potential]	The Corduroy Road Historic Site has the potential to provide information on the construction of corduroy roads to cross swampy or boggy ground in the 19th century. It has state technical/research significance.
SHR Criteria f) [Rarity]	The Corduroy Road Historic Site is an extremely rare surviving example of an intact 19th century corduroy road and has state significance in this regard.
SHR Criteria g) [Representativeness]	The Corduroy Road Historic Site is representative of the extensive coaching routes that crossed New South Wales until well into the 20th century.
Integrity/Intactness:	The road has a high degree of integrity.
Assessment criteria:	Items are assessed against the State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Title	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Local Environmental Plan	Gilgandra Local Environmental Plan 2011	A95	09 Dec 11
Heritage study

Study details

Title	Year	Number	Author	Inspected by	Guidelines used
Gilgandra Shire Community Based Heritage Study	2008		Ray Christison	Ray Christison	Yes

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title
Written	Back to Gilgandra Committee	1937	Back to Guarlgambone Souvenir Booklet
Written	Gulargambone Historical Society Book Committee	1992	Gulargambone Homes and Gardens
Written	Lay, M	1992	A History of the World's Roads and the Vehicles thatg Used Them
Written	Page, J. & Nicholls, H.		The Cobb & Co Story Eduction Resource Kit

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

(Click on thumbnail for full size image and image details)

Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Local Government
Database number:	1590032

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