| Historical notes: | Aboriginal land
Gundungurra or Gandangarra people lived in the Southern Highlands area, which includes Mittagong, for many thousands of years. People who spoke the Gundungurra language lived in the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands and the Goulburn Plains of New South Wales. They lived in small groups of extended family members, who were attached to particular areas of country. After Anglo-European settlers caused displacement of Gundungurra people, they often worked on farms or grazing properties within and adjacent to their traditional land (Di Johnson: 2004 in SHR database 5045486). Gundungurra groups left archaeological evidence of their occupation throughout their traditional lands, including scarred trees where bark was removed for use as a boat or other object, grinding grooves on rocks where axes were ground, and occupation sites which include middens. Well-worn Gundungurra pathways on ridge tops were often the routes used as the first roads by colonists (Di Johnson 2004). Possibly this could have been the origin of the Old South Road which borders part of the Renwick site. (SHR database 5045486).
Gundungurra groups left archaeological evidence of their occupation throughout their traditional homelands, including scarred trees where bark was removed for use as a boat or other object, grinding grooves on rocks where axes were ground, and occupation sites which include middens. Well-worn Gundungurra pathways on ridge tops were often the routes used as the first roads by colonists (Di Johnson, 2004). Possibly this could have been the origin of the Old South Road where the Hassall and Jefferis Cottages are located.
The area is home to the Tharawal and Gungungurra people (Robinson, 2008).
Camden and the Cow Pastures:
The area is associated with the early history of the colony of New South Wales. Governor Hunter named it 'The Cowpastures' after cattle which had strayed from the Farm Cove settlement were discovered there in 1795 (to the south-west of Sydney). Due to the early European settlers, namely the Macarthurs, who established flourishing wool, wine and wheat industries here, the area is said to be the 'birthplace of the nation's wealth' (ibid, 2008).
Colonisation of Bowral and the Great Southern Railway:
John Oxley, Surveyor General (1783-1828) and explorer, was granted land here in 1815 for his exploration activities. The shire was named after the grant which he called 'Wingecarribee'.
1867 was a momentous year. In December, the newly completed railway line from Sydney opened and in anticipation for an influx of people, the owners of the large estates began subdividing, with the first town plots sold in 1863. By the time Moss Vale station opened, the town had a store, postal service and hotel, mainly to cater for the needs of the large number of railway workers and their families who had come to the district. Their small tent communities had sprung up all along the Great Southern Railway line as it forged south to Goulburn. Lewis Levy from Berrima opened the first store, having cannily anticipated the decline in business in Berrima once it was bypassed by the railway. Business people of Sutton Forest saw Moss Vale's potential as the future centre of the district and many of the first land buyers in Moss Vale were Sutton Forest and Berrima people (ibid, 2001, 82).
In 1867 railway line from Sydney opened through Bowral (ibid, 2001, 82). 1870 saw Bowral Station open..
The opening up of the Yarrawa Brush (rainforest area, split up and cleared for farming) in the 1860s - the Robertson, Burrawang and Wilde's Meadow area - added to the importance of the rail head at Moss Vale, which became the district centre for sending produce and other freight to the Sydney market (Emery, 2001, 82).
Quarrying on Mount Gilbraltar:
Quarrying commenced in the Mount Gibraltar area following the opening of the railway in 1867. William Chaker commenced operations at the site in 1885 at the top of Cliff Street when he opened the NSW Trachyte Stone Quarrying Company (Quarry D). The 'Gibraltar Rock Quarries' were opened by Messrs Leggat and Company in 1886. John Leggat supplied the Bowral Trachyte piers for the Hawkesbury Railway Bridge, his last major project before going broke, still the largest scale use of the stone (Robert Irving pers. comm.).
By 1888 Loveridge and Hudson, who had been quarrying poorer quality stone at Quarry A at the top of Oxley Street, took over Chaker's quarry. Notable builders of the period, they had blocks quarried for buildings such as the Equitable Life Building (George St, Sydney) the Australasia Bank (corner of Martin Place, Sydney) and the anchor blocks for the Hampden Bridge in Kangaroo Valley.
By 1890 the Pope family was quarrying blocks (Quarry C leased from John Thompson) of which the largest was 9 tons 7 hundredweight; these became part of a gate pillar for Centennial Park (Sydney). The blocks were often taken out by rail from a specially constructed siding in Bowral. The quarries also provided local building stone and several quarries provided kerb stones and tramway supports for local towns as well as Sydney.
In 1881 the Amos Brothers acquired Quarry E on the western face of Mount Gibraltar, along Soma Avenue (Amos spelt backward). By 1888 they were producing stone for railway ballast. In 1890 the government resumed part of their land and opened the Government Ballast Quarry (Quarry F). This closed after 2 years and after a court case, Alexander Amos got back the land that had been resumed.
The NSW Government quarry on the Mittagong side, supplied rock to a crusher via a double light rail system. There were a great many quarrymen and stonemasons working at the time, some living in poor circumstances in temporary dwellings on top of the mountain. There were many accidents and the men formed the "Berrima District Workmen's Accident Relief and Endowment Fund" as a result.
At his death in 1915, Alexander Amos owned most of the northern and western sides of the mountain. The administrators of his estate sold the summit site to Joshua Stokes, on behalf of the Bowral Municipal Council, for a future reserve while the lower portions were subdivided for housing.
As early as 1894 the Government geologist, E. F. Pittman urged the use of Bowral Trachyte 'for any important building in which permanence might be desired. The "trachyte" may, for all practical purposes, be regarded as indestructible' (Dept Mines Annual Report, 1894, p.104). When Edwards Raht chose the Bowral material for 350 George Street (Equitable Building) he compared it to Cologne Cathedral saying it would last for not a hundred years but a thousand (Robert Irving pers. comm.).
The trachyte was described in 1915 as being "very solid. Its weight-carrying capacity is equal to most of the known granites". The use of Bowral Trachyte by Sydney City's engineers as a hard rock to replace crumbling sandstone kerbs and gutters was thought to be the catalyst which if not initiated, certainly spurred the The Gib's development; the use as a building material came later. Perhaps without the quarry's' successes in developing and serving a market for hard rock, the stone's potential as a superb building material might never have been realised (Ron Powell, pers. comm.).
It was thus used extensively in late 19th century Sydney for facades but also for foundations, flagging and for bridge piers, notably in the Hawkesbury (Brooklyn) Bridge. In 1914 trachyte was sent to London and Scotland. The stone was used locally for monuments, public works and private buildings.
The columns of the Queen Victoria Building are made from Bowral Trachyte and were turned on the Abernethy and Co. Stonemason's Lathe, also listed on the SHR. At least 16 structures constructed using Bowral Trachyte are listed on the SHR.
During the depression the Minister for Local Government, Eric Spooner, visited Mount Gibraltar announcing that 60,000 pounds would be made available for relief work. By 1936 the new road and lookouts on Mount Gibraltar were completed. The following year Spooner had plans prepared for the development of parking and picnicking areas on the site. As in earlier periods these workers camped onsite, creating another depression 'Struggletown'.
The purchase of land for a Reserve by Joshua Stokes led to him losing public office for a perceived waste of public money. It was not until after World War II that the local Council implemented a programme of expanding Stokes' original 59 acre purchase. Stokes' forethought was not honoured until 1950 by the construction of the John Stokes Memorial on Mount Gibraltar.
By 1973 only Quarry C was active and changes in building methods and materials had reduced the demand for Bowral Trachyte. There were also strong community concerns over the impacts that quarrying was having on the beauty of the site. Additionally, quality of life near to the quarry was an emerging concern with the regular blasting and expulsion of 'Pope's Dust' into the air. Negotiations with F.J. Pope and Sons saw the quarry close down. Ten years later an application was made to quarry stone for the extension of the National Library in Canberra. In the face of community opposition a deal was struck allowing a small amount of stone to be quarried, but with the remaining active quarry being sold to Council at its completion. The remaining quarrying sites were incorporated into the reserve in 1986.
In 2003 the Department of Public Works removed some loose blocks to repair the steps of the NSW State Library.
The land was neglected until 1995 when a volunteer management committee was formed under the auspices of Wingecarribee Shire Council to 'care control and manage the reserve'. Weed containment activities have been carried out, subsequently revealing some of the former quarry structures.
The Mount Gibraltar Landcare and Bushcare Group ahs been involved with structural projects at the site since its inception in 1995, the following projects have been undertaken by the group:
1995: Inner Bowl Carpark.
1996: Bowral Lookout: Steps to Plinth and Paving and Concrete Path to Gents Toilet and Rim Track.
1996: Jellore Lookout: Steps and platform.
1999: Jellore Lookout: Concrete path to Lookout
2000: Jellore Lookout: Entrance wall.
2001: Bowral Lookout: Wheelchair Access track.
2001: Removed damaged Lions Shelter Shed.
2002: Mittagong Lookout: Walls and Path.
2003: Bowral Lookout: Walls.
2005: Inner Bowl restoration, roof and table.
2010: Bowral Lookout: Landscaping.
2011: Heritage Quarries Circuit Track.
The quarrying was a integral part of the lives of those living in Bowral with the 4pm event, a huge, dull thud shaking windows and vases. The following description is from a resident at the time:
We have lived at the very top of Cliff Street in Bowral for forty-six years, in a house built of trachyte for a quarry worker in the 1880s. When we first arrived some blasting in the quarry nearest was still taking place. It seemed quite random, and the explosions came at any time, with no warning. We were finding freshly chipped trachyte rocks in our garden, then one day the explosion was followed by a stone crashing on our roof, and another narrowly missing the pram in which our baby daughter slept. At this my husband rushed up into the quarry to complain, as there were no warning, notices, nets, or anything else being used. He was slightly reassured that they were nearly finished, and I think there was only one more blast before it stopped for good! Following this activity, a large number of huge blocks of trachyte were extracted, but the diamond drill and expansion method were employed, and apart from the noise of the drilling, it didn't worry us at all (Elizabeth Smith pers. comm.) |