Hanging Rock, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mining village and also rock face on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales
Northern Tablelands, New South Wales
The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England region, stretching from the Moonbi Range in the south to...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. This former gold mining town is situated about 10 km south east of Nundle
Nundle, New South Wales
Nundle is a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It was formerly the centre of Nundle Shire Local Government Area, but most of this area, including the village of Nundle, was absorbed into Tamworth Regional Council in 2004. The village is 400 km north of Sydney and...
. The village is part of the Tamworth Regional Council
Tamworth Regional Council
Tamworth Regional Council is a Local Government Area in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and the Main North railway line.- Incomes :According to the during 2003-04, there:...
district and Parry County
Parry County, New South Wales
Parry County is one of the 141 Cadastral divisions of New South Wales. It is bounded by the Peel River and Cockburn River on the north, near Tamworth. The Moonbi Range is on the eastern boundary, and the Peel Range on the western boundary. The Great Dividing Range is the boundary to the south-east...
. Hanging Rock’s geographical coordinates are 31° 29' 0" South, 151° 12' 0" East and the elevation is about 1100 m. Due to the high altitude of the village, Hanging Rock and the surrounding mountains can occasionally receive a snow fall on the coldest of winter days. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Hanging Rock had a population of 195 people.
History
The Hanging Rock Run of about 15360 acres (6,216 ha), with a grazing capacity of approximately 500 head of cattle, was taken up by Nathan Burrows in 1848. Hanging Rock took its name from a huge cliff face that overlooked the valley below.In August 1851, while out riding his run, Nathan Burrows spotted a stockman panning for gold along Swamp Creek. The stockman had stumbled across his good fortune while washing his pannikin after a meal and found a few shiny specs. Burrows rode to Tamworth
Tamworth, New South Wales
Tamworth is a city in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Peel River, Tamworth, which contains an estimated population of 47,595 people, is the major regional centre for southern New England and in the local government area of Tamworth Regional Council. The city...
to inform the local storekeeper, William Cohen, who within a few days rode to Hanging Rock, along with Charles Parsons and William Blackborn, to check out Burrow's claim and they found more gold. Thus a gold rush commenced to this area. By February 1852, 27 cradles were operating with some 200 diggers searching for their fortune.
During 1853, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gold miners dug, an approximately 23 km, water race from Callaghans Swamp to underneath the Hanging Rock cliff face. Also that year California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
ns dug another water race from the swamp at the head of Dangars Gully to Nuggety Gully. In 1882, it took about twelve months to cut a 13 km water race from the Barnard River on the eastern side of the rough mountainous Great Dividing Range
Great Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
to the western side of the Range. Just south of Hanging Rock village are the Sheba Dams (with a surface area of 3.6 ha) which were erected by hand over a three-week period in 1888 to serve the sluicing needs of the miners. This construction was carried out by the Mt Sheba Company which leased the water rights for the area. Other water races were also constructed to feed various other mines around Bowling Alley Point and Hanging Rock.
Joseph Ruzicka arrived at Hanging Rock in 1879 and later went prospecting in spite of having little knowledge of this skill. He discovered one of the richest strikes of the Hanging Rock area at Harden’s Hill, across from the local cemetery. Here Joe extracted 30 ounces of gold for every 26 cm that he dug earning about £3,000 in one day. Ruzicka later found another good location where John Lord had worked 20 years earlier and had only found 30 oz of gold. Here Ruzicka found 10 to 12 pounds of gold a few inches beneath the surface. Within ten days of the discovery he was in possession of 344½ oz of gold, when he was escorted to the Tamworth bank, by the Senior Sergeant. Ruzicka was paid ₤1,300/9/9 for ten days work. He continued to make further good finds of gold plus some silver. In 1883 he sold his lease with the new owner finding 15oz of gold, but he did not make any further significant finds. The Black Snake Gold Mine on Nundle Road has been placed on the Register of the National Estate
Register of the National Estate
The Register of the National Estate is a listing of natural and cultural heritage places in Australia. The listing was initially compiled between 1976 and 2003 by the Australian Heritage Commission. The register is now maintained by the Australian Heritage Council...
.
At its peak Hanging Rock had a population of several thousand people and was made up of several small communities, some having their own churches, schools, School of Arts building, general stores and hotels. Today Hanging Rock has a community hall, Rural Fire Service station and a few homes. The main industry is agriculture and tourism. In the 2006 census there were 195 persons usually resident in Hanging Rock.
Attractions
The Lookout, about 1 km off the Nundle Road, offers a scenic vantage point with excellent views of the Nundle valley below. Sheba Dams, south of the village, is an interesting spot for an outing with picnic and barbecue facilities in a bush setting abundant with trees, birds, lizardLizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s, wallabies and pademelon
Pademelon
Pademelons are small marsupials of the genus Thylogale. They are usually found in forests. Pademelons are the smallest of the macropods...
s. There is also a 1.2 km bush walk. This is regarded as good fossicking country with zircon
Zircon
Zircon is a mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is ZrSiO4. A common empirical formula showing some of the range of substitution in zircon is 1–x4x–y...
s, sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
s and other semi-precious stones to be found.
Hanging Rock is a close community with several special events held annually. One of them is the 'Tour de Rocque', which is organized to raise money for the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and will take place on the 1st Sunday of November. The ride will start from the Peel River bridge at Bowling Alley Point, and will take the riders up to Sheba Dam, a 600 mtr elevation over a distance of 22 km. There is also the 'King of the Rock' fun-run, which starts at Nundle Recreation Ground, and will also finish at Sheba Dam.