THEMATIC HISTORY OF NUNDLE, MANILLA AND BARRABA TAMWORTH REGIONAL COUNCIL COMMUNITY BASED HERITAGE STUDY FEBRUARY 2007 Joanna Boileau Cover photo: View from Hanging Rock, 2006. Courtesy EJE Group. Joanna Boileau 90 Farrants Hill Rd Condong NSW 2484 Tel: (02) 66777551 [email protected] CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 2 1. LANDSCAPES OF THE TAMWORTH REGION 3 2. GAMILAROI LANDS 7 2.1 PRE-EUROPEAN GAMILAROI SOCIETY 7 2.2 AFTER THE INVASION 10 3. EXPLORERS 17 4. TRAVELLING ACROSS THE LAND: 21 TRANSPORTAND COMMUNICATIONS 4.1 FROM BUSH TRACKS TO HIGHWAYS 21 4.2 THE COMING OF THE RAILWAY 27 5. THE GROWTH OF NUNDLE 32 5.1 SETTLERS AND SURVEYORS 32 5.2 HARVESTING THE LAND: 34 PASTORALISM AND AGRICULTURE 5.3 MINING 41 5.4 SERVICING COMMUNITIES 47 Schools 47 Religious services 49 Hotels 52 Law and order 53 Health services 55 Post and telecommunications 57 Government services 59 Commercial services 63 Banks 64 Community services 65 5.5 EVOLVING COMMUNITIES 66 War memorials 66 Entertainment 67 Sport 70 Arts and Culture 71 Tourism 72 6. THE GROWTH OF MANILLA 79 6.1 SETTLERS AND SURVEYORS 79 6.2 HARVESTING THE LAND: PASTORALISM AND 83 AGRICULTURE 6.3 MINING 89 6.4 SERVICING COMMUNITIES 90 Schools 90 Religious services 93 Hotels 96 Law and order 98 Health services 99 Post and telecommunications 100 Government services 102 Commercial services 106 Banks 109 Community services 110 6.5 EVOLVING COMMUNITIES 112 War memorials 112 Entertainment 112 Sport 114 Arts and Culture 117 Tourism 119 7. THE GROWTH OF BARRABA 123 7.1 SETTLERS AND SURVEYORS 123 7.2 HARVESTING THE LAND: PASTORALISM AND 125 AGRICULTURE 7.3 MINING 127 7.4 SERVICING COMMUNITIES 132 Schools 132 Religious services 135 Hotels 139 Law and order 140 Health services 141 Post and telecommunications 144 Government services 147 Commercial services 149 Banks 151 Community services 154 7.5 EVOLVING COMMUNITIES 154 War memorials 154 Entertainment 156 Sport 158 Arts and Culture 159 Tourism 161 REFERENCES 167 APPENDIX 1: National and State Historic Themes 172 APPENDIX 2: Nundle: Preliminary list of heritage items 173 identified from the thematic history APPENDIX 3: Manilla: Preliminary list of heritage items 175 identified from the thematic history APPENDIX 4: Barraba: Preliminary list of heritage items 177 identified from the thematic history INTRODUCTION On 14 March 2004 a proclamation was published in the NSW Government Gazette dissolving the former councils of Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and Parry Shires and Tamworth City. In their place a new local government area and new local government entity, now known as Tamworth Regional Council, was created. The creation of the Regional Council brings together five council areas that each have distinctive environments, histories and attractions but which also have close community ties and historical associations. The expanded local government area provides all the facilities of a rural city surrounded by some of the richest agricultural country in the state, producing beef, sheep, poultry, fish, cotton, dairy products, eggs, fruit and vegetables and wine. The region also encompasses productive native and planted forests and remnants of native vegetation preserved as national parks or nature reserves.1 A Heritage Study of the former Tamworth City Council area was completed in 1988 and a Community Based Heritage Study was completed for Parry Shire Council by the EJE Group in 2002. A draft Heritage Development Control Plan (DCP) was also prepared for the former Parry Shire Council area. In late 2005 Tamworth Regional Council commenced a Community Based Heritage study of the former local government areas of Nundle, Manilla and parts of Barraba. This study involves the communities in Barraba, Manilla and Nundle in the identification and assessment of significant European heritage places within their regions. Given that assessments have already been undertaken for the Tamworth and Parry regions, this study focuses on those areas where there have been no previous heritage assessments undertaken and where there are many unlisted items. Ultimately the study will result in a series of inventory listings and information sheets for each item which identify its history and significance and a series of management recommendations for each region. As the first stage in the project, Tamworth Regional Council commissioned a thematic history of the Nundle, Manilla and Barraba regions, to underpin the identification and assessment of heritage sites in the study areas. This thematic history is based on the methodology recommended by the NSW Heritage Office, and as such it is not intended to be a comprehensive study of all aspects of the history of these regions. Rather the history is framed in terms of major themes or dynamic forces that have shaped the people and landscapes of the Nundle, Manilla and Barraba regions as we know them today. These historical themes, at national, state and local level, provide a useful framework and hierarchy for researching history in a systematic way. The themes also provide a context for evaluating and comparing the heritage significance of the items that have been identified for potential listing on the heritage inventory maintained by Tamworth Regional Council and the State Heritage Inventory and State Heritage Register maintained by the NSW Heritage Office. A table outlining the National and State themes developed by the Heritage Council of NSW is included as Appendix 1 to this study. The introductory chapters of this study cover the major underlying themes that have shaped the history of the Tamworth region: the environment; Aboriginal prehistory and post-contact history; European exploration; and transport and communications. These are followed by regional histories of the Nundle, Manilla and Barraba districts. These histories cover similar themes, including European settlement, agriculture and industry, government and community services and arts, sport, entertainment and tourism. To ensure they are readable, I have not attempted to break these regional histories down into further subthemes. Preliminary lists of heritage items in each district identified from the thematic history are provided in Appendices 2 – 4. 1 Barraba Shire Council 2004, Barraba Shire Council State of the Environment Report 2003 - 2004, p. 5. 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go to the staff of Tamworth Regional Council for their consistent support for this project. Donna Ausling, Senior Strategic Planner, kept the whole project on track and Kate Newlan, Planning Support Officer, Kate Agnew, Strategic Planner, Genevieve Harrison, Planning Policy Manager, and Clare James, Heritage Advisor to Tamworth Regional Council, all provided invaluable advice and support. Staff of the Tamworth Regional Council offices in Manilla, Barraba and Nundle provided logistical support and information on my visits to the Tamworth area. Staff of the EJE Group, including Douglas Kieltyka, Barney Collins and Jody Blake, also provided great support. My particular thanks go to Jody Blake for her assistance in providing illustrations for this report. I could not have completed this thematic history without the advice and assistance of the members of the Nandewar Historical Society, the Manilla Heritage Museum and the Nundle District Lions Club, and other members of the communities of Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and Hanging Rock. These groups provided ready access to their archives and were unfailingly helpful in responding to my numerous queries. The valuable primary and secondary historical sources they hold provided a wealth of research material, and their photographic resources have added significantly to this publication. I benefited greatly from the extensive local knowledge of all the community members I met in Barraba, Manilla, Nundle and Hanging Rock. My particular thanks go to Ian Bignall of the Manilla Heritage Museum, Margaret Currell of the Nandewar Historical Society, Harvey Warden of Nundle Lions Club and the Reverend Geoff Cummins of Nundle. They all devoted much time and energy to the project, and provided invaluable information and detailed comments on the draft manuscript. Diana Wallis of the Manilla Heritage Museum was most helpful in providing copies of historic photos held by the Museum. Margaret Swinebourne, Principal Librarian of the NSW Department of Education, was most helpful in providing information about local schools. Many other people provided valuable information and comments in the course of preparing this history. My thanks go to: Marcia Ajani, Hanging Rock; Pam Brown, Nundle; Jenny Farrer, Barraba; Peter Heyward, Barraba; Cheryl Kitchener, The Junction; Sue Pickrell, Nundle; Lucy Potter, Barraba; Maurie Potter, Barraba; Clare Raiser, Woolomin; Shirley Ryan, Nundle; Doris Wheeler, Manilla; and Andy Wright, Barraba. Joanna Boileau, January 2007 2 1. LANDSCAPES OF THE TAMWORTH REGION The area of Tamworth Regional Council is centred on the rich agricultural land surrounding the city of Tamworth in northern New South Wales. To the east it extends to the rugged Moonbi Ranges, a spur of the Great Dividing Range. At the core of the region are the valleys of the Peel River and its major tributaries the Cockburn River, Dungowan Creek and Goonoo Goonoo Creek. The deep alluvial soils of the floodplains of these rivers support rich grasslands ideal for grazing sheep and cattle. The Peel River is in turn a tributary of the Namoi River, flowing west to join the Namoi north of Tamworth. The Peel and Cockburn Rivers rise in the rugged Moonbi Ranges, flowing through narrow gorges. Just to the north-east of Tamworth the Moonbi Pass provides access to the New England Tableland. At the top of the range and within the Shire boundaries are the small highland villages of Niangala, Weabonga and Woolbrook. On the western side of the Peel Valley there is a range of lower hills, forming a spur of the Liverpool Range. This was named the Melville Range by the explorer John Oxley in honour of Lord Melville, Lord of the Admiralty. South of Tamworth the Liverpool Range forms the divide between the watersheds of the Hunter and Peel Rivers.