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| Rowing on the Nepean
River at Emu Plains |
Emu Plains
Historic town on the banks of the Nepean River
Located 55 km from Sydney and 30 metres above sea level, on
the edge of the Blue Mountains, Emu Plains was named after
the large numbers of emus which once roamed these flat lands
to the immediate east of the Blue Mountains. Today it is
fast becoming just another outer western suburb. This is a
sad development as it was the location where, in 1819,
Governor Lachlan Macquarie established a farm and it was the
setting for one of Sydney's most infamous penal stations.
In the convict ballad 'Moreton Bay' it gets a harsh
mention:
I've been a prisoner at Port Macquarie,
At Norfolk Island and Emu Plains,
At Castle Hill and at cursed Toongabbie,
At all those settlements I've worked in chains.
It would seem that the first European to site the modern
location of Emu Plains was Watkin Tench, a Marine Captain,
who explored and discovered the Nepean River in June 1789.
It was on the basis of this expedition that convicts were
sent to the area.
But apart from its convict connections Emu Plains was the
last place on the Sydney basin before Blaxland, Wentworth
and Lawson crossed the Nepean River to climb and cross the
Blue Mountains.
In Blood on the Wattle I described the early attempts to
cross the Blue Mountains in the following terms: 'For a
quarter of a century the whites had been battering their
heads against sheer walls. Everybody in the Sydney colony,
from the lowliest convict who longed to put as much distance
as possible between himself and the overseer's lash to the
quixotic adventurers who had drifted into the tiny outpost
of European civilisation, looked west.
'On a clear winter's day it was easy to see the mountains
touched with that distinctive smoky blue which rises,
shimmering, from the dense monotony of the eucalypts. They
called them the Blue Mountains although they were really a
monocline and a series of box canyons. They thought the old
exploration techniques would work. Follow a river to its
source, climb the valley, cross over the mountains. Each
time they followed a river upstream they came not to an
ever-steepening valley or gorge but to a waterfall which
fell hundreds of metres over a sheer, unclimbable cliff.
They'd clamber up the scree slopes, gaze hopelessly at the
wall above them, and mooch on back to Parramatta and Sydney
Town chastened by the folly of their expedition and cursing
nature's indifference to their ambitions.
'It wasn't until 1813 that Blaxland, Wentworth and
Lawson, with help from the local Aborigines who'd been
wandering backwards and forwards across the mountains for
thousands of years, finally managed to traverse a ridge and
gaze across the rich, undulating slopes which tumbled away
to the west. They liked what they saw - good rivers, rich
soils, quality grazing land.'
On 11 May 1813 Gregory Blaxland recorded that the
expedition trying to cross the Blue Mountains had 'crossed
the Nepean River at the ford on to Emu Island at four
o'clock in the afternoon and proceeded by their calculations
two miles through forest land and good grass'. Over the
years floods have washed away Emu Island although you can
get a fair idea of where the crossing was. It was just to
the the northern side of Victoria Bridge on the Great
Western Highway (not the Motorway), at the outskirts of
Penrith.
A few months later, on 17 July 1814 William Cox with a
gang of thirty convicts started to build the road across the
Blue Mountains. The crossing over the river was completed on
25 July. As the road officially started at Emu Plains it is
hardly surprising that a town developed very quickly to
serve travellers. It is sad that the remnants of the old
road can now no longer be seen.
Today Emu Plains is nothing more than part of Sydney's
suburban sprawl. Still, it is a vital part of Australia's
early history.
Things to see:
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| St Pauls Anglican Church
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St Pauls Anglican Church
Built in 1848 to a design by the noted colonial architect
Edmund Blacket (he was responsible for the Quadrangle at
Sydney University). It was originally used as both a church
and a school. While it is still a charming Early Victorian
sandstone church it is worth noting that the interior was
completely redesigned when the school was removed from the
building in 1872. Consequently Blacket's original west
window was totally removed. The early church records were
destroyed by a bushfire in 1929. To reach it turn north off
the old Great Western Highway at Pyramid Street, just west
of Emu Park, and then turn into Nixon Street. It is located
in Nixon Street.
Uniting Church
The present-day Uniting Church in Emerald St is a simple
stone structure which was originally the local Methodist
Church. It was constructed in 1862 with the builders using
local sandstone.
O'Donaghue's Irish House
Built by William George Clark in 1886 and named The Orient
until 1939. It has been refurbished as an Irish Pub which
offers good bistro food and entertainment. It is one of the
thirteen historic inns listed on the excellent History
Highway Inns website. Check it out at
History Highway Inns which offers detailed information
about the historic inns in the Blue Mountains.
Arms of Australia Inn
Located on the old Great Western Highway this inn is thought
to have been built as early as 1833 although it might have
been built as early as 1826. Not surprisingly it was a
popular stopover place for travellers before they began to
climb into the Blue Mountains. Consequently it became an
important Cobb & Co destination and was used extensively
whenever the Nepean River was in flood. It is now a Museum
which is open on Sundays from 1.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. It is
notable for the large fence around the perimeter and is
located at the corner of the Great Western Highway and
Gardenia Ave, tel: (02) 4735 4394.
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| Arms of Australia Inn
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Emu Plains Railway Station
Although built in 1884, with the station master's residence
located upstairs, this is one of the oldest railway stations
in Australia. The original station building was constructed
in 1869 when the train reached Emu Plains. It is located in
Station St, just off the highway.
Green Gables Cottage
Visitors interested in exploring the early history of the
area can also visit the ruins of Green Gables Cottage which
was built at the foot of the hill where the 1867 railway
line crossed the main road up the mountains. That main road
became the Great Western Highway but, when drivers were
steered along Russell St to the Great Western Motorway, the
portion of the Highway which contains the Cottage was
bypassed. However, that portion of the road on the western
side of Russell St is still known as the Great Western
Highway and the cottage can still be found where it
intersects with the railway line.
Lennox Bridge
Just beyond the railway line is the start of Mitchell's Pass
(the main route up the mountains from 1834). It is possible
to walk up this hill to Lennox Bridge, although, the road
being one way, car access is only possible from
Glenbrook. Lennox Bridge is listed by the National
Trust. Built by David Lennox (1788-1873), a Scottish master
mason who had worked with the great British bridge builder,
Thomas Telford, before emigrating to Australia, the bridge
is the second oldest stone arch bridge in Australia. There
is an older one in Tasmania.
The bridge was Lennox's first job after his appointment
as Superintendent of Bridges. He began work, assisted by
twenty convicts, in November 1832 and the bridge was
completed in July 1833. The bridge is held up on a 3 metre
radius stone arch and is about 10 metres above the gully
floor. On the keystones were carved 'David Lennox' (now
difficult to see) and 'A.D. 1833'. It remained in continuous
use from 1833 until 1926 (and remained open until 1964) and
is a monument to Lennox's extraordinary building abilities.
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Emu Plains
