PARRAMATTA
(see
also North Parramatta, which is a separate suburb)
Parramatta
was the Colony's second major town, after Sydney town, established in the same
year, 1788.
Photos
& info: Relative to most Sydney suburbs, Parramatta is very rich in
archaeological work. The following phots and information snippets
below come from work of Jo
McDonald, Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd, and others - and full references
will be added when obtained.
Parramatta
(Rose Hill) government farm in 1791. A brick kiln chimney is seen
smoking,
right on the river's edge. Fortunately someone early annotated it
as
a kiln or else it might have been mistaken as a hut chimney or oddity.
(Source:
First Fleet Artwork Collection, Natural History Museum, London.
Looking
north down Marsden Street over Parramatta ca. 1886, painted by A.H. Fullwood. Parramatta town
was then a century
old. The Parramatta River is glimpsed to the right and continues across to
the left of
view,
but out of sight. The view is from on Ashfield Shale, the base of which is
about
where
the road crosses north over the river. The lower foothills north of the
river are
Hawesbury Sandstione with Ashfield Shale at the skyline, and rising into
Bringelly
Shale at the higher skyline to the top left (Winston Hills).
Various
map overlay, plotting position of "gravel pit" (shale quarry) in
Parramatta Park, from an 1887 map.
N
of Parkside Lane
(within Parramatta Park), shale quarry (NSW Heritage Branch database entry 4681036)
- According
to the Heritage Branch database, shale quarrying had been done since the
1880s in an area now marked by ponds
fed by storm water in Upper Domain Creek, in present day golf course
area. The land is controlled by Parramatta Park
Trust. The damming for pond formation
occurred sometime between 1947 and 1961, with further extensive
modifications in 2000. The site
is known from an 1887 map, on which it is labeled 'Gravel Pit' (Plan of
Parramatta Park, E. Ebsworth, Department of Lands). [ REF:
Varman, R.V.J. , 1997. Archaeological Zoning Plan for
Parramatta Park Trust. ]
W
of Pitt Street (within
Parramatta Park) - Records of the Park Trustees mention
that the 'Road Department' was quarrying a pit near Pitt and Western Roads
between at least 1902 and 1908. The Ebsworth 1887 map also notes
this area as gravelly. [ REF:
Varman, R.V.J. , 1997. Archaeological Zoning Plan for
Parramatta Park Trust. ]
Wilde
Street - In April 1788 Governor Phillip and an exploration party of several
boats reached the site of Parramatta. Where freshwater met the tidal
water, near what is now Wilde Avenue, the found a "flat space of large
broad stones" (?Mittagong Formation), and "Just above this flat, close
to the water-side, we disc/overed a quarry of slates". But the slates
proved on closer inspection to be crumbly and to be shale not slate (Ashfield
Shale). A Macquarie period stone quarry was developed on this site on the
southern side of the river.
Quarry.
A quarry, possibly in Hawkesbury Sandstone, is shown on the 1841 plan for
auction sale of lots in the Vineyard or Old Mill Dam Farm estate owned by James
Byrnes. The quarry is immediately on Parramatta River on its northern bank
at 'Sarah Street'. However none of the street names on the plan occur in
today's street naming. The site has not been relocated yet. It is
upstream of an "old mill" and downstream of where there is 'permanent
fresh water' and 'fine building sand' on the river.
Brickmaking
- Records indicate that by September 1790 bricks were being fired for the
construction of a government barracks and store house. The brickmaking
was likely near the river but the site has not been relocated.
Brickfield
Street - This street is north of Parramatta River and runs north to North
Parramatta. An area of former brickfield pits and processing areas
covered present day 30–38a Isabella Street, 27–31, 30–38 Brickfield
Street and 19–25 Gladstone Street. This includes Sherwin Park
playing fields and several flats and townhouse complexes along Brickfield,
Isabella and Gladstone Streets. An 1895 map shows a clay pit on the east
and west side of Brickfield Street, between Gladstone and Isabella Streets.
This complex included a number of drying sheds and excavation pits, used for
the extraction of clay for brick manufacturing. The 'brickfields' were located
on what is now residential blocks, containing houses, townhouses and flats and
extends to Sherwin Park. (REF:
Parramatta Historical Archaeological Landscape Management Study 2000).
QUATERNARY:
The alluvial flat north of the railway
line is thought to retain significant traces of Late Quaternary river
terraces. If these forms, as shown below, are really river
terraces then they strongly suggest higher sea level(s) but there is no
evidence of timing. They may be suspected to have formed after
postglacial sea levels stabilised at about present day level some 5-6000 years
ago (but note 2007 newspaper report, referred to below, which envisages that
sand hereabouts was deposited by the river when
the sea level "was higher around 120,000 years ago").
Aboriginal occupation dates back to 15-22,000 years BP at 109-113 George
Street site (Jo McDonald CHM, Excavation Report, 109 George Street, Parramatta,
for Landcom) suggest that this land surface generally predates the Holocene
maximum but the cutting of the terrace edges may have happened later as sea
level fell. These features (slope breaks suspected to be terrace edges)
occur at up to 2m elevation on both sides of the river. Subsoils vary
from yellow clay to clayey sand. Some which is almost white is believed
to have been bleached. A deeper brightly mottled layer may be
pre-Glacial. There has been no known systematic search for any traces of
similar terraces further downstream along the river.
Alluvial
flat area at Parramatta with features interpreted by Roy Lawrie, soil
scientist at the
NSW
Department of Agriculture, fide Casey & Lowe investigation of the
Children’s Court
Site
(shown in black). Note "Clay Cliff Creek" name in lower
right. Perhaps the
terrace
sands rest on clay. No particularly deep drilling records have yet
been
located or learned of, nor any index found of drilling in the area.
Considering
the amount of development, however, there likely will
be
geotechnical and drilling records somewhere.
Some Parramatta Terrace Sand
maps, obtained courtesy of Shayne W. Bray, Parramatta Heritage Centre.
Parramatta
about 1809, looking back southeasterly from the northern side of the
river. This gives
an
idea of the scale of the suspected terraces. Crossing at rear is site of
the Lennox bridge
crossing
at Church Street (with gaol on northern side), and the foreground crossing
with
no
bridge is at Smith Street. Government House is the large house in
background.
(NSW
State Library, PXD 388 vol.3 f.6, ML)
Looking
south up Church Street from near the River in 2007. Land surface is
modified
and possibly filled in where approaching Lennox Bridge, and
only
a slight rise is detectable today where terracing may
have
formerly been apparent.
Looking
west along High Street (George Street) towards Goverment House in the 1790s
(as shown below, a second storey and other additions were made to Government
House later on). The
house and huts on the right, behind the stocks, are in the area
of the Childrens Court
excavation done by Casey & Lowe.
Australia's
oldest surviving public building, commenced 1790s, Government House (2005)
Section
at a convict period storage cellar excavated by Casey & Lowe at the
Parramatta Children’s
Court
Site. The base well shows the ?Pleistocene yellow orange clayey sand of
the original land
surface
of the riverside terrace. The walls of the storage cellar are lined with
pale orange
flat
type of sandstock bricks, bound only with a mud mortar. The 1830s fill
in the cellar
is
rich in brick rubble and numerous broken roofing tiles. (Photo: Casey
and Lowe).
Lead
glazed chamber pot from the storage pit fill. The pottery recovered from
the fill was
regarded
as locally made by Casey & Lowe, confirming the early presence of a
pottery
somewhere at Parramatta. (Photo: Casey and Lowe).
Floor
of another nearby excavation at the Childrens Court site, showing mottling in
the
natural clayey sand soil.
Sandy
deposit at corner of George and Charles Streets - The 'fine building sand'
early noted on the river itself at Parramatta, in 1841, might be compared
to the alluvial sand body at George and Charles Streets (Australian Association of
Consulting Archaeologists newsletter 98, 2004), where
factories were demolished in 2002 for building the Meriton hotel and
apartment block (the "Meriton redevelopment site").
Excavation
in sandy soil at corner of George and Charles Streets, Parramatta
This
excavation's results are also discussed in an article in the Sydney Morning
Herald or 15 September 2007 (stating
"The sandy site, on the corner of George and Charles streets, may have once
been part of a crescent-shaped beach on the Parramatta River. Possibly 800
metres long and 100 metres wide, the sand body was deposited by the river when
the sea level was higher around 120,000 years ago"). The site is
located within a sandy river terrace deposit south of the river. River
terraces occur up to 2m elevation on both sides of the river. Sand at
terrace sites varies up to 2m thick and may be yellow brown and clayey, less
often more pure and almost white. At the old Children's Court, O'Connell
Street, loamy sand extends for 4m down from the surface. This slightly
high level sand forms a remnant band running along the southern side of the
river that is 100-300m wide. Pollen analysis suggests that the sandy
terrace supported woodland with a grassy rather than shrubby understorey, and it
appears to have provided favoured camping grounds for the Aboriginal people, to
judge from the large quanity of stone flakes and artefacts found.
Excavation commenced
with a major aim being to reveal more on the nature of life in the
relatively affluent Byrnes household, that was lived in by William Byrnes
and his family, and later by his two unmarried daughters. It was also
anticipated that evidence of the pre-European landscape would be revealed.
Earlier assessment
report done on the site prior to the salvage operation is: Casey &
Lowe, 2002. Archaeological Assessment & Testing Report, 180A-180 George
and 30-32 Charles Streets, Paramatta.
Convict house post
holes, 1790s, George and Charles Streets (Photo: Casey & Lowe
Pty Ltd)
This area, quite
close to the surface, proved immediately very interesting and clearly preserved
the site of the earliest convict habitation. It also eventuated that the area proved very rich in Aboriginal traces too.
There have been now archaeological excavations carried out at three close
together sites - the Meriton
redevelopment, a construction site across George Street, and the site of an old
RTA office neaby. From this area: "We found lots and lots of stone artefacts, around
20,000 of them," said Dr McDonald. "There were lots of spear points,
axes, and quite a few anvils and grinding stones" (Sydney Morning Herald, 15 Sep 2007).
According to the SMH article "The finds indicate the Aboriginal inhabitants
used some of these tools to crush water plants to make starch-based meal. There
were also stones which Aborigines placed in their beach camp fires to retain the
heat of the flames. Rounded cobbles and pebbles made of yellow volcanic
stone, not natural to the Parramatta area, were typical of tools used more than
5000 years ago". "Most likely they were carried in from the
Hawkesbury and Grose Rivers," said Dr McDonald. "People carried around
large pieces of the stone because they had good flaking properties, and they
could rely on these when they were in unfamiliar territory."
Excavation at the
Meriton redevelopment began in October 2002 and sixteen or more archaeologists
have worked on recording the site. The Byrnes period deposits (1830s-1940)
included rubbish pits and an extensive cellar.
Findings from the
upper historical layers.
The
upper historical layers relate to occupation after the late 1830s by the
brothers James and William Byrnes acquired most of the land hereabouts.
The two brothers were pioneers of steam ferry transport on the Parramatta River
and in 1840-41 established a steam flour mill near the wharf. In 1844-46 they
built a textile mill on adjoining property. The brothers also appear to have
operated a brewery on Charles Street. William Byrnes married Anne Oakes,
the daughter of a prominent local resident, and they built a fine large house of
two storeys with various outbuildings on George Street. There they resided
there for the rest of Byrnes’ life (1899). Later on his two unmarried
daughters, Emmeline and Marion Byrnes, continued to reside in the house
until their deaths in the 1920s. Living with William Byrnes in 1841 were
13 males and 8 females. This includes four domestic servants as well as his
family. Some of the land was subsequently let to Chinese tenants and Ah
Chee conducted market gardening there. In the 1960s warehouses were built
on the site and it was these that were demolished to make way for the Meriton
development.
Large sandstone
blocks from the Byrnes' cellar were recovered for facing the new building at
street level. Remains of the footings of five convict huts were exposted
which date from 1790, a 1794 gold sovereign, two horse burials, six wells, and
aboriginal stone artefacts (NSW Heritage Office Quarterly Newsletter, Autumn
2003, vol. 10, no.1). In 2003 increased public participation in such
archaeology was encouraged to celebrate heritage, and awards were commenced for
archaeological volunteer workers.
Five radiocarbon
dates obtained from charcoal samples collected in situ indicate that a
low-intensity occupation on this landscape began as early as 30,735 ± 407
BP. The oldest charcoal, possibly from ancient campfires, was about a
metre beneath the surface, and was very close to some artefacts. This is
the oldest evidence yet found of humans east of Castlereagh.
As
shown below, the distribution of lithic types and the dating results may
indicate an accumulation of evidence from multiple occupation episodes. The
assemblage reflects repeated phases of occupation over many thousands of years,
with activities including a range of tool production, use and maintenance,
storage, grinding and using heat-treated stone. Radiometric
dates indicate a transition from the preferential use of tuffaceous claystone
(pre-Bondaian) to use of silcrete at ca. 6,000-8,000 years ago.
Jo
McDonald, Cultural Heritage Management Pty Ltd, 2005 reportage to Landcom and
Meriton
Apartments Pty Ltd on archaeological salvage at Charles and George
Streets,
Parramatta, NSW.
Large
ironstone clast, interpreted as a unifacial core stone
(recovered
at 74-78 cm depth)
Parramatta
River painted in 1838 by Louise Auguste de Sainson, the artist for Dumont
D'Urville's
Astrolabe voyage. Is the depression to west of the bridge natural, or
perhaps
artifical, such as an already abandonned old sand or clay pit?
Parramatta
windmill painted in ca. 1853 by F.C. Terry. This is Howell's Mill.
The
mill
and the weir had begun to be constructed in the 1820s.
Locational
matters still unresolved - is this the "old mill" referred to above
cf. 'Sarah Street' quarry. There were a number of mills on the river at
Parramatta.
Archaeology
at Parramatta. A dog burial at Hunter Street. Note the different
colour of the
grave
infill contrasted with the surrounding soil. (Photo: Malcolm
Hutchinson)
PEATS
RIDGE
The first pioneers
settled in the Popran Creek valley by 1818. The first telephone link to
the area started in 1915. There was a need to set up a receiving point
for mail. This was after George Peat who operated the ferry across the
Hawkesbury River. The first polling booth was established on the front
veranda of a local home in 1917 and there then was a total of 14 registered
voters in the area. When the Pacific Highway was built through
Peats Ridge in the 1930s this resulted in more families settling in the
area. Peats Ridge Road in the 1960s was upgraded to replace part of the
Pacific Highway, as the Calga Expressway on the main route north from
Sydney. An "Oak Milk Bar" at Peats Ridge then became a
favourite spot to break the journey. Later on the F3 Expressway
was opened, in 1988-90, which by-passed Peats Ridge. Basalt quarrying
and spring water bottling developed as local industries alongside farming.
Basalt
quarrying: Boral Quarries. Spectacular examples of prismatic
jointing in the basalt.
Peats
Ridge basalt columns used for wall building at Mt Tomah botanical gardens.
(
Photos: Christine McMillan )
The
interest in the basalt at Peats Ridge (Mt Bushell) arose in the relative
construction boom after WWI. Those prospecting the area appear to have
been associated with similar interest in construction sand and aggregate
production elsewhere, especially from the Nepean River. In the early
1920s The Blue Metal and Timber Co. was attempted to be floated to exploit timber and blue metal from
the Popran Creek area (focussed upon the Mt Bushell columnar basalt deposit).
The prospectus proposed that products of the area would be taken by water to Brooklyn, to
there put on trains. The abridged prospectus advertisement in a newspaper was headed "Rock of Ages -! Blue Metal is the rock that has come to us down the ages. A million years ago Mt. Bushell was formed by volcanic eruption. The ice age which followed was probably responsible for intense contraction, which shattered the whole mountain into the natural spawls of blue metal, as we see it to-day". The development planned
by this company never eventuated as planned. However, what is now called Peats Ridge
quarry was started in 1964 by a company named Quarries Pty Ltd. It was
being operated by B.M.G. in 1983. It had passed to Boral by 2001 (Boral
Resources [NSW] Pty Ltd - Lots 2, 3, 4, 49, 105, 143 & 159 of DP755253, on
Bushells Road).
The
quarry was visited by Geological Survey geologist L.M. Barron in 2000 (GS2001/221):
From ABSTRACT - The Boral quarry at Peats Ridge was visited and a brief
examination was undertaken of drill core, quarry faces, float within the
quarry, and outcrop on Popran Creek downhill of the quarry. A quenched
submicrolitic mafic alkali basalt is the dominant rock type in the fresher
parts of the quarry, with about 40-55% mafic minerals, and mildly porphyritic
in calcic plagioclase, olivine and minor salite clinopyroxene. This rock is
similar to rocks collected at the site in 1972. Another variety
consists of miarolitic Ti-augite 1mm ophitic 0.25mm microbladed alkali
dolerite (about 35% mafic minerals), with grain size and textures more likely
to be due to a thick lava flow or a thick lava lake or comparable
intrusion. This rock type was seen as xenoliths in drill core PR9, and
apparently also occupies the lower portion of the projected mined volume of
the deposit. A basaltic breccia was also intersected in drillhole
PR9. The only xenoliths found are leucocratic granulites with quartz and
alkali feldspar, and traces of opaques, zircon and possible sapphirine.
The enclosing basaltic magma has severely heated these xenoliths, converting
the alkali feldspar to a trachytic melt which has not destroyed the quartz
network in the xenolith. The xenoliths may be converted from arkoses and
leucocratic granitoids to granulite, through the mechanism of crustal doubling
associated with continent/continent collision and termination of subduction
('Carboniferous or 'Triassic). The Tertiary basalt intersected these
horizons at depth and carried xenoliths to the surface.
For
the intitial development attempt by the Blue Metal and Timber Co., a 'government geologist' report on the basalt was given in the prospectus, and a report on the timber assets
was given by a "Timber Expert", Mr F. Beggs of "Jane-street, Penrith".
Further Nepean area connection is via the Nepean Sand & Gravel Company
Limited, which was formed about the same time to work a holding at Yarramundi.
For the Nepean Sand and Gravel Co. Ltd the General Manager was John T. McKern
and he was also a proposed director of the Blue Metal and Timber Co. Two major share holders in
the Nepean Sand & Gravel Company Limited were James Hardie Ltd and Concrete Constructions
Ltd (ca. 1924). Another proposed director for the Mt Bushell proposal was Charles Allen Lewis (Managing Director of Concrete Constructions).
[From prospectus information obtained per Gosford local studies library.]
Groundwater extraction:
Roadside
bottling plant. ( Photo: Trish FirzSimons, 2006 published)
In
mid 2003 Coca Cola Amatil (CCA) purchased the ‘Peats Ridge Springs’ and
‘Neverfail’ brands and bottling plants, along with many of the other small
local commercial water extraction licenses. These brands added to its overall
water market share, along with the ‘Mt Franklin’ brand that it had
previously purchased, which is the largest brand of bottled water in Australia
(FitzSimons, 2006).
According
to
Scott Rochfort
in 2003, the chance of Coca-Cola Amatil "sweetening its hostile $280
million bid for Neverfail Springwater" appeared to dim after Coca Cola
purchased Peats Ridge Springs for an undisclosed sum. Describing
the family-owned Peats Ridge as a "small bolt-on", this was CCA's is
Amatil's first foray into the the bulk packaged water market in New South
Wales (or Australia?), of which the family-owned Peats Ridge Springs company
was at that time controlling 20% of the market. Amatil's managing
director, Terry Davis, told the stock exchange that the acquisition would
boost Amatil's water-bottling capacity by 50%. The purchase of
Peats Ridge Springs diluted the perceived rationale for Amatil's bid for
Neverfail, specifically, that it would increase capacity. Mr Davis made no
mention of Neverfail in his statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
At that time "bulk water" ( meaning marketing containers over three
litres) made up 14% of the Australian bottled water market (SMH
newspaper article "Amatil buys Peats Ridge Springs, stays silent on
Neverfail" by By Scott Rochfort
,
June 3 2003
- http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/06/02/1054406133871.html
).
In
October 2005 CCA was granted license to extract 66 megalitres. In 2006
CCA applied for the right to triple the amount of water that it extracts from
Peats Ridge Springs. This has been part of a global increase in
bottled water popularity. During the growth of the bottled water
industry successful moves were made to remove 'Mines Department' licencing and
any associated regulation over groundwater.
Through
the local papers Coca Cola assured the Peats Ridge local community that as
their business depends upon functioning aquifers, they would do all that is
required to maintain the 'health of the underlying hydrology'.
Similarly on a website "In every country in which we operate,
particularly in Australia, our biggest market and the world’s driest
inhabited continent, we are committed to developing better systems to manage
our water resources ... Since purchasing the Peats Ridge Springs water
business in 2003, CCA has worked hard to ensure it is one of the best managed
and monitored water sources in Australia. We have invested around $5 million
in the site on hydrogeological surveys and technology and equipment to
enable us to measure and monitor water levels around the clock. We use this
information to manage our resources and ensure that the production of our
water is sustainable" (citizenship.ccamatil.com.au/pdfs/CCA_CSR_water_stewardship.pdf ).
In
October 2007, CCA lodged a Section 96AA Application with Gosford City Council
to make permanent the development consent issued by the NSW Land and
Environment Court for 66Ml per annum extraction. The Department of
Water and Energy considered that there was sufficient evidence to indicate
that extraction of up to 66 Ml of groundwater from the site should not
adversely affect the aquifer in the long term. However, in February
2008, the Application was rejected by Gosford City Council. CCA
lodged an appeal with the Land and Environment Court of NSW, which upheld the
appeal. The company was appealing a ruling by Gosford City Council that
it had not met the earlier trial requirements set by the court in 2005.
Nonetheless, the Court modified CCA’s development consent to permit
extraction of water at the rate of 35 Ml after 2011. This case was
conducted by a CCA consultant (David Kettle Consulting) on CCA's behalf (David
Kettle Consulting v Gosford City Council; No. 10429 of 2005, NSW Land &
Environment Court).
REFS:
Clarke, T., 2005. Inside
the Bottle: An Expose of the Bottled Water Industry. Ottawa: The Polaris
Institute.
Trish
FitzSimons, 2006. PEATS RIDGE: a sandy track, citrus farms, springs,
valleys, dams and the politics of ground water. Transforming
Cultures eJournal, Vol.
1 No. 2, June 2006 - http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/TfC
[ From her Doctorate of Creative Arts entitled “Braided Channels:
Reflections on the 'Voice of Documentary' from a cross media and inter
disciplinary perspective.” ]
Murray, J.,
Spratt, K., Lewis. P. & Reimer, B. (2001) A study of groundwater quality
in rural areas on the NSW Central Coast, Central Coast Public Health Unit.
PENRITH
[See
also the notes under adjoining areas - esp. Castlereagh, Emu Plains,
Glenbrook]
Penrith lies at the junction of the Cumberland Plain/s and the eastern face or escarpment of the Blue Mountains plateau.
The Nepean River flows along this junction too - whence Penrith is often referred to as the place, for Sydneysiders, where river, plains, and mountains meet.
It would naturally be assumed that the river deposits underlie at least part of Penrith but it is not currently known if any geological mapping has ever been compiled for the whole of Penrith city area. So far gathered for these webpages (geo-sites) is just the result of earthworks at one site - the government offices building. The ground works record for this site states that the the ca. 2,500 square metres site of relatively level land was formerly in use by Penrith Council as a car parking area that had been Constructed by council over the demolished footings of various earlier shops and workshops. After removal of the existing carpark it was found that the site was generally overlain by sandy fill including building rubble that extended down to 1 m depth. From there the new excavation proceeded a futher distance down, to a depth of ca. 11m below the existing ground level, in alluvium. This excavated material consisted predominately of sand and gravel. The river pebbles and cobbles in it ranged from ca. 10 to 60 cm in diameter. The alluvium overlay fresh ("high strength") shale near the base of the excavation. The total material excavated and removed from this site was around 21,000 cubic metres. Apart from the waste layer at the top, most of it (ca. 17,000 cubic metres was reused, predominantly locally, as fill for a contemporaneous development project. (Source: NSW Department of Commerce, courtesy project manager Mr Julian Burgess).
This situation under Penrith, that the river alluvium overlies FRESH shale, is the same as has been observed in the quarries at Upper Castlereagh a little to the north of Penrith and also in excavations near Penrith dam on the Nepean River which is just north of where the railway line and former main western highway bridges cross the river. This shows that over much, or likely all, of this area the river must have eroded down through, and removed, all of the weathered shale and possibly much of the fresh shale as well. The shale is Ashfield Shale. The next underlying formation, the Mittagong Formation, begins to be very well exposed in the cuttings as one travels westwards on the newest highway up the eastern face of the mountains, west of the Nepean River.
What caused the river to once erode down into fresh shale, then deposit fill over this area and today be flowing in its own alluvium at a level just slightly above the eroded shale top (which is quite planar wherever exposed in the quarries north of Penrith)? MIght sea level changes be one factor involved? Geologists' ideas on the age of the river's relatively recent (post-Tertiary) alluvium have varied - but generally over time the favoured age of the 'recent' gravels has been pushed backwards - forty , sixty, even eighty thousand years.
Catholic priest and keen archaeologist, Fr. Eugene Stockton (further mentioned herein), once found part broken pebbles of the gravels which he thought had been broken by human hand or purpose (although similar things are argued to occur naturally and are then called 'geofacts' instead of 'artefacts'. If Eugene was right about his finds, which was debated, then he had found near Penrith the then-oldest traces of humans on the continent. Since that time quite ancient traces of human presence have been found elsewhere in Australia.
The
Nepean and its quarrying:
No
full history of extraction of sand and gravel along the Nepean River ever
seems to have been compiled, although there is some evidence that it has been
contemplated from time to time. Persistent enquiries made at Penrith over a
number of decades could never locate anyone interested in such history.
However there had once been somebody at the Penrith Library as the local
studies collection there contains an undated (but not terribly old, pre-1980s
probably) document which notes that a number of companies operated in the
past, and that" Nearly all have disappeared leaving few traces
behind". This document, author unknown, states as follows:
"""""
Companies
known, although there are likely to be others, are:
Penrith
Gravel Coy Ltd
Castlereagh
Gravel & Metal Co. Ltd.
Lapstone
Nepean Gravel Co. Ltd
Blue
Mountains Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd
River
Sand (Nepean) Ltd
Farley
& Lewers Ltd - Penrith
Nepean
Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd - Castlereagh
Any
persons with any knowledge of these companies or of the operations at Emu
Plains quarry is requested to leave their name at the Reference Desk so
that a full history of quarry operations on the Nepean can be recorded.
"""""
The
above shows that a history-gathering project was once started. However,
nothing is further known of what became of the project.
In
addition to the above list the company name "Gravel and Sand
Suppliers" has also been found since as an operator at Bird's Eye Corner
(see below). And there was also the original Emu quarry company of Emu Plains
(EMU AND PROSPECT GRAVEL & ROAD METAL CO., ASX reference E9, delisted
08/12/66).
In
the early 1883 a gravel pit opened which
was situated on the bend of the Nepean River half a mile north of the railway
bridge. The quarry was operated by Mr. Sperring and Partnet. It was soon
taken over by the Emu Boulder Company, which later became the Emu Gravel and
Road Metal Company.
The
NSW Legislative Assembly, Votes & Proceedings 1885 (2nd Session) Vol. 3 -
Appendix 2, p. 439, records that the Emu Gravel & Road Metal Co. had 46
acres of land and 21 horses.
In 1884 a spur line run off the main western line just
west of Emu Plains railway station. It was later relocated to east of
the station. Originally the rail went right down onto the river flats
and sand and gravel was screened by hand before loading into rail cars.
Loaded cars were hauled up to the top of the terrace before connection to
government locomotive. In 1924 the company obtained its own locomotive
which did away with the need to use horses for haulage. The spur
became the only gravel line ever in New South Wales to have its own
engines. Following the opening of a further dolerite quarry at
Prospect, there was in 1903 a merger with the prospect company, yielding the
Emu and Prospect Gravel and Road Metal Company. A connection between the
first quarrying at Emu Plains by Sperring and Prospect Hill is seen from the
fact that a Sperring, likely the same person, was earlier operating at
Prospect. The first major
exploitation of the fresh rock at Prospect Hill was in the 1880s when
"blue metal" blocks were quarried to armour the dam side of Prospect
Reservoir’s earthen wall. This operation was by Sperring and
Partner at what was named Reservoir Quarry. In 1901 men, named Louis
Litton and Archibald Turnbull, apparently first obtained the crushing plant at
Emu Plains and then also bought Sperring and his partner out at Prospect, so
as to float a larger combined public company, called The Emu and
Prospect Gravel and Road Metal Company Ltd. In 1901 a lease for
land at Prospect Hill was made to the "Emu Gravel and Road Metal Company"
for the period of 30 years, or other references say a new quarry was opened by
the "Emu Gravel Company" on the northern side of Prospect Hill,
probably prior to the formation of the public company. This company was taken over in 1967 by Blue Metal and Gravel Pty Ltd. There was also
further merger to Blue Metal Industries. The Emu Plains quarrying was
operated by BMI until 1982 when it was acquired by Boral Limited. The
BMG name was retained by Boral till 1987, and thereafter the operations were
changed to Boral Quarries.
The
interests of the Nepean Sand and Gravel Company at Castlereagh have not
clearly been identified, however it's activities further downstream are known
of. It operated a branch line from a junction a mile and a quarter
beyond Richmond station, on the eastern side of the river. That line ran as
far as the junction of the Nepean and Grose Rivers, at "Yarramundi
Falls". The company commenced operations there as early as April
1925. The initial large sand order for the company was for the
construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The company initially
contemplated using an aerial ropeway but shortly after commencing work it
instead constructed the railway as an alternative, as it seemed the aerial
ropeway would be inefficient. The rail line opened on 8 Nov 1926, and it
ceased operating sometime in the mid 1940's, probably 1945 (with the line
finally decommissioned in 1952). The Nepean Sand and Gravel
Company was delisted on 1/2/1949 after takeover by Blue Metal Quarries
Limited.
Photographic
glass plate negative held by the Powerhouse Museum (Plates 1652 and 1654)
The
above two views are from photographic glass plate negative taken of a sand and
gravel plant fitted with Clyde Dillon Screens, at the Nepean Sand and gravel
Co., Castlereagh. A.A. Stewart was a managing director of this company.
The photos are dated 10/4/1941 and were taken for the Clyde Engineering
Pty Ltd which made the screens. The paper sleeve containing the
glass negatives has hand written black ink text which states it is "NEPEAN
SAND & GRAVEL Co. - CASTLEREAGH" (initias, of ?photographer = 'KW').
Another old plant (unless it were the same one at a later date?) just north of
Birds Eye Bend, Castlereagh, is shown below.
BMI plant
(photo: Stedinger Associates)
The BMI plant remains - An
archival recording of the remnants of the BMI plant besides the Nepean River
has been carried out by Stedinger Associates.
The building of Warragamba Dam
was a former major use of sand and gravel from Castlereagh. The
first concrete at the dam was poured in June 1953 and pouring then
continued for 24 hours a day until the project was completed in 1960. More
than 2,550,00 tonnes of sand and gravel were needed for this. All was
obtained from the Nepean River near Penrith and delivered to the dam site by a
continuous ropeway with 600 buckets. The aerial ropeway ran for 19 kms,
between the dam and McCanns Island on the Nepean River where the sand and
gravel was loaded. Each bucket held 1,250kg and a bucket delivered its
contents every 30 seconds when the ropeway was running. The ropeway was
also known in Penrith as the "flying fox".
None
of the companies in the above list at Penrith Library appear to be well known
any longer, except for
Farley and Lewers which remains a well known name to local
residents. The Nepean Sand & Gravel Co. Ltd. is also known in
ASX records (NEPEAN SAND AND
GRAVEL COMPANY LIMITED, ASX reference N2) but it does not yet have any
creation or delisting dates found for it.
Farley
and Lewers company was delisted as late as 1981 [FARLEY AND LEWERS LIMITED,
ASX reference F39, delisted 10/11/81] following
a takeover ("Scheme of Arrangement") by CSR Limited.
Farley and Lewers was fully acquired
by CSR by 1982. Prior to that Farley & Lewers Ltd (ACN
000 046 891) had changed to a proprietary company limited by shares, Farley
& Lewers Pty Ltd, after which CSR became majority shareholder.
Subsequently the operating entity became CSR-Readymix. Professor Neil
Leiper (nleiper@scu.edu.au
; neil.leiper@gmail.com)
now semi-retired since 2006 and living at Ballina was the 1969-72 Management
Accountant and Corporate Planner for Farley & Lewers Ltd. He has has
wide interests and might be knowledgeable in the history of operations along
the river. Also "semi-retired" is Mr Keith Barton who worked
in the business development section of Farley and Lewers in 1979-1981,
thence CSR (1981-1993) where he became Executive Director. Mr
G. McLellan was the Farley and Lewers geologist, continuing with
CSR. Others who may have worked as employees or consultants or
otherwise be knowledgeable of the indusutry include Mr R.A. Beattie (consultant
mining engineer), Mr P. Clarke (technical manager for quarry materials),
Mr F.R. Gordon (consultant engineering geologist), Mr D.K. Reed (in 1984-1985
Pioneer's manager of metropolitan quarries in NSW), Mr P.H.
Stitt ( mining and geological consultant), Mr T.E. Oakes-Ash (General
Manager and Director of Boral Resources 1984-1994) and Mr E.J. Minty (engineering
geologist).
The
Farley & Lewers partnership goes back a long way. It in 1937 built
the Port Pirie-Port Augusta railway line in South Australia and by 1942 (or
earlier) was operating a sizeable quarry at Castlereagh. Mr Mervyn
Farley began his construction and quarry business mainly based on building
roads and installing sewerage works. Mr Gerald Lewers (an engineer and
Mervyn's brother in law) was manager of the Castlereagh quarry and had a house
at Emu Plains he stayed in. During the 1940s he lived at Emu Plains on
weekdays and returned to his family in Sydney most weekends.. Gerald
Lewers was a partner in the business. In 1950 Gerald retired from
Farley & Lewers and took up sculpting. The whole family moved in
1951 to a ca. 1900 10 acre farm purchased on the Nepean River where he and his
wife Margo made an elaborated garden using river boulders. The Lewers
garden had sculptures, copper fountains and large stones with aboriginal
carvings positioned throughout. Gerald helped to establish the Society
of Sculptors and Associates in 1951. He received over fifteen major
commissions (these included 'Relaxation', a reclining 'sandstone figure of
heroic size' at University House in Canberra; a sandstone relief on the York
Street front of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney; a garden of
pebbles, cacti and sandstone shapes for the MLC Building at North
Sydney). Their Emu Plains property and collection of artworks was
bequeathed to Penrith City in 1979, as a cultural facility.
The State government also donated money to a project for "a fitting
memorial to Gerald and Margo Lewers and an outstanding contribution to the
artistic life of this State and the nation”, such that in 1981 the "Lewers
Bequest and Penrith Regional Art Gallery" was opened on the site.
Mr
John P. Melocco has recorded happenings at Shaw's Island on the Nepean in some
detail in a
1994
history of the Melocco Bros & Yarramundi Properties Pty Ltd at Yarramundi
( http://www.virtualtour.com.au/melocco/john_melocco_history-ch3.htm
): "During
the worst years of the Depression the large number of companies producing
coarse aggregate or blue metal for concrete, were cutting prices to dangerous
levels to obtain the limited resources of work. A Mr Harold
Robinson negotiated with these companies to form a consortium public company
to be known as Blue Metal Industries or “B. M. I”. Three
companies remained outside the consortium, they were: Emu & Prospect;
Farley & Lewis and Styles Blue Metal. They had however limited
resources and were happy to remain ‘under the umbrella’ of B.M.I.".
Certified Concrete, a subsidiary of Melocco Bros and Ready Mixed Concrete,
were the largest customers of B.M. I. until the early fifties when Pioneer
Concrete became a significant consumer. John the son of Peter Melocco
joined the company in 1947. As a school boy John had worked at Melocco Bros
during school holidays in various capacities and had acquired a knowledge and
enthusiasm for the company and its people. He studied the magazines and
literature that periodically came from America and could see great
possibilities in ready mixed concrete and blue metal and sand production.
In spite of assurances that no deposits remained unclaimed by
B.M.I., John undertook a systematic research of possible aggregate deposits
within the Sydney area.
The South Coast had possibilities but transport would have to be done by ship
which involved huge capital outlay. Large deposits of gravel occurred
underground at Castlereagh near Penrith, but clay impurities were difficult if
not impossible to remove A very large deposit at Castlereagh on the river
itself known as Shaw’s Island was investigated with remarkable results.
Shaw’s Island, approximately 80 acres, adjoined the west bank of the
river for approximately ¾ of a mile. Two freehold properties fronted onto the
island, the largest was occupied by a small timber house occupied by Mr
Perkins. John and his Father Peter, called on Mr Perkins who told the
following story. 'The property was now owned jointly by Mr Stewart and
Mr Ferguson, both of whom were Directors of B.M.I. Also a long standing
dispute with the state government for the ownership of shaw's s Island was
unresolved and subject to litigation'. Although the position appeared
impossible Peter asked Mr Perkins to pass on our interest in the property to
the owners.
This is when one of the strangest coincidences occurred. The following week at
a general meeting of B.M.I. a very bitter disagreement took place between both
Mr Stewart and Mr Ferguson and the rest of the Board members of B.M.I.
including Mr Robinson. Stewart and Ferguson resigned on the spot and severed
all connection with B .M. I., which left Shaw’ s Island free for the taking.
Mr Douglas Stewart was Chairman of Sydney Steel and was well known to Peter
Melocco. Agreement was reached and the property sold for $30,000 to Melocco
Bros. $4,000 deposit and the balance on settlement with the dispute with the
State Government. This was in 1951, settlement did not occur until 1958.
Shortly after the adjoining property was purchased by the newly formed
Yarramundi Properties Pty Ltd for $9,000 which gave a complete frontage to
Shaw’s Island.
The State government was keen to help Meloccos establish a sand and gravel
crushing plant in competition with what they knew was a virtual monopoly,
however they would not concede ownership of Shaw’ s Island by our company
The original survey was drawn up by a French surveyor around 1830, whose
description of the boundaries of the property were very vague. Any litigation
could have cost more than the properties were worth.
Finally John suggested a compromise, that if Meloccos granted a large area
of the 'Perkins' property up to Yarramundi Road as a Public Reserve and
Meloccos be granted a permissive occupancy to extract gravel and sand from
Shaw’s Island, we would concede rights of ownership over Shaw’s Island.
This was agreed in 1958.
The Commomwealth Bank granted a loan of $100,000 to build a crushing and
screening plant, build a bridge over the river and acquire a further property
on the east bank leading to Smith Road and the highway to Sydney. A contract
was let to Humphrey’s and Glasgow to build a plant designed by Mr Max
Lawrence of Darling Point. Sub-contracts were let to excavate the raw material
and to transport the finished product to Sydney.
When the construction of the plant was 50% completed, legal action was taken
by Farley & Lewis against the government, who disputed their right or
power to grant 'Permissive Occupancies' throughout the state. Parliament
immediately forced legislation through the house to rectify the position and
we were able to proceed with construction of the crushing plant which was
completed in May 1959.
Although Meloccos operated the crushing plant for only ten months a gross
operating profit was made to pay off the whole of the cost of the loan. An
average of one thousand five hundred tons ware produced on a six hour day.
Yarramundi Properties Pty Ltd was valued at 1,OOO,OOO pounds by B.M.I. during
take-over calculations in 1961. B.M.I. operated the plant for a
very short time and the plant was finally dismantled. Most of Shaw’s Island
remains in a similar state to when John first found it. Only the bridge
remains to this day".
At
Agnes Bank area - Described curiously as "Londonderry site", in
the case CSR
Ltd v. Chief Executive Officer of Customs (4 JUNE 1997 AAT) it is stated
that sand had been extracted there since shortly after World War II. The
deposit is at the junction of the Nepean and Grose Rivers and is approximately
4.5 km long x 1.5 km wide. Parties extracting sand were three, including
CSR and the Penrith City Council.
At
Birdseye Corner - SW of the corner of Castlereagh Road at the
junction with Sheens Lane, Castlereagh.
Gregory's
Street Directory of Sydney & Suburbs, Sydney, 1955. A better
copy is needed but this can
be
deciphered if used in conjunction with a modern Gregory's or similar
directory. South of the
E-W
river section is shown "Emu Plain Prison Farm" (now called Emu
Plains Correctional
Centre).
Along the river there, east of the Sheens Lane crossing was "Jacksons
Falls" is
shown
(also shown on latest street directory). East of the prison farm land is
shown
the
"Emu Gravel and Road Metal Co." land.
According
to CSR Readymix, operations commenced on this site in 1927 and have three
company phases, named:
• Farley
and Lewers – P1 plant;
• Gravel
and Sand Suppliers – P2 plant; and
• The
Readymix Group – P3 Plant.
It is stated that three separate operations or
holdings existed here, all crushing gravel independently, until their
acquisition by CSR. Following that, only plants P1 and P3 remained
operational.
As at 2000 the expected remaining life of the
CSR Readymix Penrith operation was approximately 7 years, i.e. that it would
cease ca. 2007. A closure plan was apparently prepared and submitted to
Council but enquiries have not yet located it.
Site Layout at
Birds Eye Bend (ca. 2000)
Site features at Bird's Eye Corner in 2000
included P3 plant (raw feed dumping area, crushing and screening houses, sand
plant, blending plant.and dust control equipment), P1 plant (which
reprocesses material as required), a nearby concrete batching plant (perhaps a
separate operation?), extensive stockpile areas, a Raw Materials Laboratory,
Weighbridge, workshops, offices and other amenities. As at 2000 there
were still two processing plants operating, P1 and P3. Raw
material extracted from the PLDC quarry areas is transported to the plants by
85 tonne dump trucks. These plants crush, screen and wash the raw material to
produce a range of sand and aggregate products. Later on crushing would
cease here and gravel be transported across the river to the Emu Plains
crushing plant.
The
Penrith Heritage Study (1986) states in regard to sand and gravel industry:
"The underlying geological formation of the Nepean River landscape
has given rise to the establishment and expansion of the extractive industry
in the Penrith municipality, an industry that serves the metropolitan area of
Sydney with its clays, sand and gravels. The gravels, in particular, being
formed of much harder material than the Hawkesbury Sandstone, are considered
eminently suitable for the making of concrete. It is the vast scale of
this extractive industry in the era of large earth-moving equipment that is
having such an impact upon the Penrith topography, with enormous open-cut pits
being dug, and millions of tonnes of material being displaced and
removed."
The
people doing the Penrith Heritage Study however were not geolists but
architects and mostly interested in old buildings. Hence besides noting
that the industry was of "vast scale" and had "enormous impact
on the shape and quality of the landscape" via enormous open-cut pits
(and "The industry is rapidly reaching such a huge scale that it is
changing the face of the landscape"), very little useful history of the
industry may have been gathered during the study (unless there are more
materials gathered than appear in the published volumes?).
The Heritage Study information gatherers noted that the first gravel company
appears to have been the Emu Gravel Company which operating opposite Birds Eye
Corner at Emu Plains as early as the 1880s ("Much of the material for the
building of the great dam wall at Warragamba in the 1940s and 50s was quarried
at Emu Plains, and transported by a cable line to the dam site" - 1986
Heritage Study)..
The
Nepean River painted at Penrith by F.B. Schell in ca. 1886, looking upstream.
Nepean
River at Victoria Bridge, looking SW upstream along the river to
where
it meets the front of the Blue Mountains.
Google
Earth view (2008) and photo views looking in reverse direction to the previous
image - northwards to motorway bridge from the Mt Portal lookout. Note the
120m
deep gorge of Glenbrook Creek and the delta formed in the
Nepean
River at the mouth of it. [Sources: Ron Brewster, Dave
Robertson,
Glenbrook-Brooklands Chamber of Commerce ]
Closer
view of the delta at Glenbrook Creek mouth.
Location
of the Mt Portal lookout = "18"
Glenbrook
Gorge - Mt Portal (Photos:
Tom Brennan, http://ozultimate.com )
The Victoria bridge is where the main road from
Parramatta, the Great Western Highway, proceeding through High Street of
Penrith, heads west to cross the Blue Mountains. The bridge was
completed in 1867 and stone for its piers was quarried from near the mouth of
Glenbrook Creek by John Tyler, and transported by barge to the construction
site.
Now the river at Penrith is
deep water. This may be largely due to the effect of Penrith Weir which is
just downstream of the Victoria bridge. However the water here in the past also
may have been deeper than downstream where the river has an E-W gravelly
stretch. The earliest known written mention of "Penrith" is in
1819, in the trip notes of a party of French visitors, Messieurs Quay,
Gaudichaud and Pelion, members of De Freycinet's expedition. They
recorded that they crossed the Nepean River in a boat at Penrith while the
horses and luggage were taken via a ford which was situated a mile further
downstream. Also, the first person to discover the Nepean at
Penrith was Captain Trench in 1789 who noted that an hour after daylight the
west-moving party found itself on the banks of a river "nearly as broad
as the Thames at Putney [in England], and apparently of great depth, the
current running very slowly in a northerly direction." He
described the soil as loamy, and that 'traces of the natives appeared at every
spot'. Vast flocks of wild ducks were on the river, he
recorded.
Stone artefacts
Penrith
area artefacts. The source and current whereabouts of these is currently
being sough
(Penrith
Municipal photo collection - No. LCPH 1222, Penrith Library)
The
Penrith Heritage Study (1986) states: "The Aborigines, though
basically hunter -gatherers, have left evidence of making axes and spear heads
in the grinding grooves in the Hawkesbury sandstone along the river, and their
axe heads are still being ploughed up, rising to the surface in the alluvial
soils".
PENRITH,
near
The Basin. A dyke, and presumed
diatreme.
PICTON
Old
quarry - Stonequarry Creek. In Tony Dawson's book "James Meehan: a most excellent surveyor"
it is noted that Stone Quarry Creek at Picton was so named before Meehan visited the area in 1815.
Macquarie's account of the same 1815 visit is reproduced on http://www.lib.mq.edu.au/all/journeys/1815/1815b.html
. Macquarie's account mentions the "Stone Quarry Creek" and
that they proceeded south of it to the tract of country called "Great
Bargo". The name may have been there by 1805.
Fossil
Fish
As
at 2008 two fossil fish from Picton were noted at internet sale sites.
One 5.1 cm one was described as "Dictopyge illustrans #AI446.
Incomplete but Very Rare, Old Collection" ( http://www.henskensfossils.nl/fish/AI446a.jpg
).
The
second one, 5 cm long, Actinopterygii indet.,
was sold by Ed Cope Enterprises, viz. http://www.fossilmall.com/EDCOPE_Enterprises/fish/fishfossil44/fossilfish-44.htm
Fossil
fish from Picton sold via Edscope Enterprises (John Adamek) in 2008
Mr Rodney Berrell
( http://www.uq.edu.au/dinosaurs/index.html?page=71185&pid=31446
) (pers. comm.) owns more than one fossil fish from
the Picton area.
Hydrocarbons
DM
Picton DDH 1 encounted both oil and gas bearing intervals. It was sunk
as a coal borehole. Chromatography results and vitrinite reflectance
work was done in connection with the origin of the hydrocarbons.
The chemical data indicated that the organic matter contained in this
reservoir rock is a light oil which is possibly derived from a non-marine
source.
Light
honey-yellow oil containing gas bubbles seeped from a 10m thick coarse
sandstone at the base of the Narrabeen Group. It was thought to have
been derived from the underlying Illawarra Coal Measures. Similar
oil
had also
been recorded 12 Km SE of DM Picton DDH1 at Tahmoor Colliery, where in the
colliery drift and shafts oil was observed dripping from sandstone above the
Bulli seam.
That
the oil was from the Permian was supported by results from the subsequent
nearby DM Picton DDH3. In this hole three separate oil shows were
observed: one in the Early Triassic Colo Vale Sandstone, one in a tuff within
the Late Permian marine Bargo Claystone, and one in the Late Permian nearshore
marine, basal Erins Vale
REFS:
Mullard,
B.W. , Baker, C.J. , Bowman, H.N., 1983. Well Completion Report,
DM Picton DDH 1, Picton, Sydney Basin,
WCR254
(NSW Department of Mineral Resources).
Mullard,
B.W. , Baker, C.J. , Bowman, H.N., 1983. Interesting hydrocarbon
occurrences in a coal borehole in the Picton
area, southern Sydney Basin. Geological Survey of New South Wales. Quarterly
Notes 51, pp17-26
The
Australian Gas Light Co Ltd, and Department of Mineral Resources,
1987. Well completion report, DM Picton DDH 3, Sydney Basin.
WCR228 (NSW Department of Mineral Resources).
PITT
TOWN
A
2.5 square kilometre area of Quaternary sand, up to 9m thick overlies the
Tertiary terrace near Pitt Town, the Pitt Town Sand, which might might assist in
understanding the origin of the enigmatic Agnes Bank Sand. The Pitt Town
Sand deposit was formerly worked by Farley and Lewers Ltd. It had been
intended to extract 6-8 Mt of sand for the Sydney market from this deposit but
the quarrying venture met with great local opposition and did not proceed, as
sand trucks could not avoid travelling through the village centre. As at
Agnes Banks Sand, the Pitt Town Sand deposit has the top metre or so turned to
grey (like white like at Anges Banks) but the underlying sand is yellow-brown or
orange.
The
Pitt Town Sand, although comparable to the Agnes Bank Sand is not so high level
and disparate from earlier river deposits, and it might be of somewhat younger
age, dating from some time after sealevel began declining from it peak high
level. Like the Agnes Bank Sand the Pitt Town Sand might also have been
scuptured later by westerly winds, but the ground forms suggestive of this are
less distinct than at Agnes Banks and their internal structure has not been
examined to investigate if they are dune forms or not.
PROSPECT
Prospect
Hill intrusion - A major horizontal, laccolithic, intrusion of dolerite,
picrite, and minor dunite cumulate base. Long quarried as blue metal
source for Sydney roads. A source of many zeolites, prehnite and other
minerals popular with collectors. Two major quarries on the hill,
last owned by CSR and Boral.
Brickworks
and quarry in Bringelly Shale. Boral Bricks. A reserve of 5.5
Mt in 1991 but by then becoming inactive.
PUNCHBOWL
Bonds
Road - Former large brickpit quarry in Ashfield Shale.
PYMBLE
A pelecypod
('Unio') found in Ashfield Shale. Mentioned in the 1902 guidebook to the
Geological & Mining Museum.
Near
DeBurghs Bridge - Lane Cove
River, columnar sandstone.
Prismatised
sandstone near De Burgs Bridge over the Lane Cove River, Pymble (Photo:
Ku-ring-gai Council)
Photographed
by G.W. Card, probably pre 1902 as site is mentioned in his 1902 Museum
guidebook
(reproduced
in Morrison, 1904). This
site is subsequently known as "Grants Castle".
This
occurrence is mentioned in the 1902 guidebook to the Geological & Mining Museum
(p. 186), and elsewhere. It is early recorded in the records of
the Geological Survey (M. Morrison - Notes on some of the dykes and volcanic
necks of the Sydney district, with some observations on the columnar sandstone
- Part 4 of Volume VII of Records of the
Geological Survey of NSW, 1900-1904, article
XXIX, pp. 241-280).
The treatment of prismatisation is on pages 264- in this
article. It is clear from the article that Morrison had not
visited the site, but Mr George Card had done so (without finding any igneous
rock associated).
The
earlier museum guidebook mention stated that "no igneous rock can be found" and
"The true explanation has yet to be found" - however one informant
has noted that basalt occurs somewhere near here on a sharp bend of a track
down to the river (this was checked with park guides but they could not
confirm knowing of this basalt outcrop). Basalt very likely is
present though. When the Lofberg Road quarry (further north) was opened up it was exposed that a sill was
underlying the prismatised sandstone there. The sill presumably
extends between both places. The museum had a photograph of the
Lane Cove River (Pymble) columnar sandstone on display. Fide
Ku-ring-gai Council, the site is known locally as "Grant's Castle"
(who Grant was, or why it has been called that has not yet been learned
of). The columnar-jointed sandstone is seen about 200 m WNW of the
bridge, on the the tight, incised river meander there. There is a
walking trail which passes nearby (park on western side of Ryde Road just
north of the bridge and opposite Lady Game Drive junction with Ryde
Road). The outcrop may be hard to find, being quite small and inconspicuous.
The rubble strewn hillslope there, without definite sandstone outcrop may be
where the sill subcrops(?). Council's bushland expertise judges
that because of young blue gums and isolate rough-barked apple trees (Angophora
floribunda), species which favour 'better' soils, there might be
considerable igneous rock concealed in the vicinity - the weathering of which may
have enriched the soil.
The
Grants Castle prismatic sandstone outcrop is atop of a small mound or
hillock. The lack of any observed igneous rock may be because this
is outcrop of contact metamorphosed sandstone beneath the sill, which at this
point is completely removed by erosion.
Lofberg
Road quarry, now Bicentennial Park
Dyke
seen in the face of the largely infilled Lofberg Road quarry.
More
distant view - dyke channel at left, old concrete equipment base at centre;
and abnormal (local)
dip
of sandstone, which is presumably sill-induced, is seen at the right.
The sill and
prismatised
sandstone adjacent to it (known from records) is below the current
fill level and has been obscure. Some vague vertical joints
at
left of the
concrete base are faint thermal effects.
(Predates picnic shelter).
Close-up
of the old concrete structure (crusher base?) and the faint undulose-vertical joints
to the left of it
which
are not well formed sandstone prisms yet are undoubtedly faint contact thermal
effects extending
up
from below - where records indicate there was a zone of well formed
prismatised sanstone
overlying
a sill. According to local advice, photos of this probably exist in old
records and
should
be locatable in the Gordon library collection and/or via the local historical
society.
Lofberg
quarry just south of above views. Joint surfaces trend northerly similar
as the dyke, but differ in being steeply
dipping
to the west, wheras the dyke is vertical.
The
trend of the dyke, extrapolated here as a dashed line; is northnortheasterly
REFS:
There is information on the Lofberg family in "The
Historian" (Ku-ring-gai HIstorical Society). The
Historian, which began publication in 1972, contains articles that are a
valuable resource for anyone interested in Ku-ring-gai history, and these
publications have been fully indexed up to 2005 - Index
to The Historian The Lofbergs occur in the journal as
follows:
| LOFBERG |
32.1 p 49 |
| LOFBERG FAMILY, Lane Cove River/West Pymble |
9.2 p 12; 14.1 p 3; 14.4 p 2; 17.4 p 6; Adeline ~ 14.4 p 2.; Andrew
(orchardist & garbage contractor) ~ 7.4 p 13; 13.1 p 4; 14.4 p 3;
Jonas (orchardist) ~ 13.2 p 4; 14.1 p 3; 14.4 pp 2-3; 17.3 p 13 |
| LOFBERG ROAD QUARRY, West Pymble |
7.4 p 4; 22.4 p 6 |
| LOFBERG'S PRODUCE STORE, Gordon |
6.4 p 6; 12.1 p 12; 18.2 p 1 |
| LOFBERG'S WHARF, Lane Cove River |
13.2 pp 3-6; 14.4 pp 2-3 |
(The
Ku-ring-gai Historical Society collection is at the discontinued Gordon Public
School adjacent to the Gordon Library, Pacific Highway, Gordon. The
collection includes over 10,000 local
photos, maps, databases and much vertical
file material. Reading room is open
Mons, Tues, Thus, Fris and some Sats between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.).
PYRMONT
Quarries.
Hawkesbury Sandstone quarry faces are between Jones Street and Saunders
Street.
Ripple
marks - Ripple marks are generally uncommon in the Hawkesbury
Sandstone. However, the Geological & Mining Museum in Sydney had on
display a large slab showing ripple marks and labelled as being from "Pyrmont
quarries".
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