The Skottowe manuscript Skottowe The
What creatures can you see around you today? today? you around see you can creatures What
black swan, pheasant coucal. pheasant swan, black
wonga pigeon, white’s thrush, lyre bird, emus, emus, bird, lyre thrush, white’s pigeon, wonga
Bird life: regent bower bird, figbird, wonga wonga figbird, bird, bower regent life: Bird
oyster, prawn, crab, lobster. crab, prawn, oyster,
Sea life: flathead, mullet, large jewfish, jewfish, large mullet, flathead, life: Sea
python, black snake. snake. black python,
swamp wallaby, brown snake, diamond diamond snake, brown wallaby, swamp
nearby port of Morpeth. of port nearby
) integrifolia
Wildlife: possum, eastern quoll, kangaroo, kangaroo, quoll, eastern possum, Wildlife:
lower Hunter, and the principal town of Maitland and its its and Maitland of town principal the and Hunter, lower Banksia Banksia (
Honeysuckle Honeysuckle Population growth, trade and wealth shifted towards the the towards shifted wealth and trade growth, Population life.
Precinct, was once abundant, teeming with with teeming abundant, once was Precinct, at Newcastle in 1821 led to a decade or two of stasis. stasis. of two or decade a to led 1821 in Newcastle at
1818
The lower Hunter, including the Coal River River Coal the including Hunter, lower The
approximately 1,200. The closure of the penal settlement settlement penal the of closure The 1,200. approximately
Chest, Chest,
and by 1820 the total resident white population was was population white resident total the 1820 by and
Lycett, Lycett, The pre-industrial environment pre-industrial The
By 1819 there were almost 700 convicts in the area, area, the in convicts 700 almost were there 1819 By Joseph Joseph
the Irish rebellion at Castle Hill. Hill. Castle at rebellion Irish the
withdrawn in 1802, but re-established in 1804 following following 1804 in re-established but 1802, in withdrawn
culture and land. and culture
hard labour for re-offending convicts. The settlement was was settlement The convicts. re-offending for labour hard
are resident in the region today, and maintain connections to their their to connections maintain and today, region the in resident are
unchecked exploitation by private traders and provide provide and traders private by exploitation unchecked by Reverend Threlkeld in 1824. The descendants of the Awabakal Awabakal the of descendants The 1824. in Threlkeld Reverend by
King first established the outpost in 1801 to control control to 1801 in outpost the established first King forced—to relocate to the mission on Lake Macquarie established established Macquarie Lake on mission the to relocate forced—to
potentially valuable resource for the new colony. Governor Governor colony. new the for resource valuable potentially land use, with many Aboriginal people choosing—or being being choosing—or people Aboriginal many with use, land
societies were overwhelmed by more widespread and intensive intensive and widespread more by overwhelmed were societies of being punishing work, while also producing a a producing also while work, punishing being of
kinship were maintained into the 1850s. Thereafter, traditional traditional Thereafter, 1850s. the into maintained were kinship Coal mining had the dual value for colonial administrators administrators colonial for value dual the had mining Coal
their gaolers. Traditional patterns of their economy, society and and society economy, their of patterns Traditional gaolers. their
breakwater construction. breakwater
with the permanent occupation of their country by convicts and and convicts by country their of occupation permanent the with
new colony, and as workers on major projects such as as such projects major on workers as and colony, new
be sporadic, but after 1804, the Awabakal people had to contend contend to had people Awabakal the 1804, after but sporadic, be
the production of coal, timber, lime and salt for the the for salt and lime timber, coal, of production the
contact between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people tended to to tended people non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal between contact
show, convicts played an important economic role in in role economic important an played convicts show,
You are standing on Awabakal country. From the late 1790s 1790s late the From country. Awabakal on standing are You
and harsher discipline. But, as sites in the precinct precinct the in sites as But, discipline. harsher and
European–Aboriginal contact European–Aboriginal of punishment with reduced rations, tighter control control tighter rations, reduced with punishment of
had re-offended. Being sent to Newcastle was a form form a was Newcastle to sent Being re-offended. had
settlements were designed to receive convicts who who convicts receive to designed were settlements
Aboriginal tools: detail from the Skottowe manuscript Skottowe the from detail tools: Aboriginal in 1804. Such Such 1804. in
and there are regular smaller rock falls from the cliffs of Nobbys. of cliffs the from falls rock smaller regular are there and
punishment punishment
The Dreaming reveals a long history of earthquakes in the Hunter, Hunter, the in earthquakes of history long a reveals Dreaming The
place of secondary secondary of place
the land to tremble and rocks to fall. fall. to rocks and tremble to land the established as a a as established
though, and every now and then he shakes his giant tail causing causing tail giant his shakes he then and now every and though,
was permanently permanently was
Kangaroo had drowned and returned home. He is still there, there, still is He home. returned and drowned had Kangaroo
Sydney basin and and basin Sydney
The Wallabies, seeing no trace of him, assumed the Giant Giant the assumed him, of trace no seeing Wallabies, The
outside of the the of outside
swam out to Wybaygamba (Nobbys) to shut himself away. away. himself shut to (Nobbys) Wybaygamba to out swam New South Wales Wales South New
mist sprang up concealing his presence and, under its cover, he he cover, its under and, presence his concealing up sprang mist occupation in in occupation
all the way to Mulubinda (Newcastle). When he neared the sea a a sea the neared he When (Newcastle). Mulubinda to way the all first area of white white of area first
was known he was pursued by angry Wallabies who chased him him chased who Wallabies angry by pursued was he known was
Newcastle was the the was Newcastle
Long ago, a Giant Kangaroo attacked a Wallaby. When the deed deed the When Wallaby. a attacked Kangaroo Giant a ago, Long
Convicts Awabakal Dreaming Awabakal
Changing landscape The Coal River Precinct, in Newcastle, When Captain Cook NSW, includes outstanding heritage sites sighted what is now known within a distinctive landscape. It is a place of as Nobbys Head on his living history marking a series of important voyage along the east coast of the continent in 1770, transitions in Australia’s journey to nationhood; Nobbys was an island in from government industry to private the river mouth twice the enterprise, from convict to free labour, from height it is today. The river punishment to profit, and from a natural to a flowed unrestrained into William Keene: Stratigraphical sketch human-fashioned landscape. the sea with the high water mark at the base of what is now Fort Scratchley. Nobbys On this walk you will encounter sites which beach, the lighthouse, the breakwater and the open space that Coal River illuminate these transitions, telling the lies in a triangle between the river and the ocean represent the physical transformation of landscape by industry and commerce Aboriginal and European stories of Newcastle that dates from the convict period. through changing landforms shaped by Resources such as coal, timber and fish initially attracted industry, through archeological remains, and Precinct Europeans to this area in the late 1790s. The first Europeans here through the inescapable presence of a bustling were fisherman and private traders who eyed the exposed coal working harbour. seams and made a number of unofficial visits taking coal back to Sydney. Lieutenant Shortland named and charted the river, and confirmed the presence of coal in 1797. The convicts sent Walk to Coal River in 1804 were Irish rebels who participated in the This brochure is based on a nomination for Castle Hill insurrection. A number of convicts were removed National Heritage listing produced by to a new penal station at Port Macquarie in 1823; however, The Coal River Working Party convicts remained in the town, as assigned servants, as labourers The University of Newcastle on the town gang, and—after 1831—as miners working for www.newcastle.edu.au/coalriver the Australian Agricultural Company. If the first European occupation of the 1800s was largely about coal, subsequent In conjunction with free settlers of the early 1820s were attracted by land. It was New South Wales Heritage Office Experience living history the availability of fertile land with rich alluvial soils adjacent to www.heritage.nsw.gov.au the Hunter, Williams and Paterson rivers which was especially Cover images Aborigines (top to bottom): JosephRiver (National Hunter Lycett, restingthe byof fire near a camp the mouth Library Papers, Nobbys of Australia); Island of Newcastle, from University Cottage, c1830s (John Mullumbimba courtesy Turner of Newcastle Regional Art Gallery); Coal Newcastle loading at wharf (J&A Brown Collection, of Newcastle). University appealing. The Hunter Valley was opened to free settlement in 1823, and extensive numbers of settlers, sheep and cattle entered the valley in the next five years. The Awabakal and Worimi people were fully aware of the region’s resources. They lived in this area enjoying its rich PUBLISHING SERVICESPAPER DESIGNED BY BRUDERLIN MACLEAN / PRINTED ON RECYCLED and varied environment. Despite extensive changes, evidence of Aboriginal occupation can still be found in the Coal River Precinct. There is a strong theme of Aboriginal economy, with sites including shell middens, grinding areas, clay digs and stone tools. It is very rare for such material to be found so close to a large regional city. As Indigenous historian John Maynard notes: ‘The area today known as Newcastle was an industrial and trading centre long before white intrusion.’
The Skottowe manuscript Skottowe The
What creatures can you see around you today? today? you around see you can creatures What
black swan, pheasant coucal. pheasant swan, black
wonga pigeon, white’s thrush, lyre bird, emus, emus, bird, lyre thrush, white’s pigeon, wonga
Bird life: regent bower bird, figbird, wonga wonga figbird, bird, bower regent life: Bird
oyster, prawn, crab, lobster. crab, prawn, oyster,
Sea life: flathead, mullet, large jewfish, jewfish, large mullet, flathead, life: Sea
python, black snake. snake. black python,
swamp wallaby, brown snake, diamond diamond snake, brown wallaby, swamp
nearby port of Morpeth. of port nearby
) integrifolia
Wildlife: possum, eastern quoll, kangaroo, kangaroo, quoll, eastern possum, Wildlife:
lower Hunter, and the principal town of Maitland and its its and Maitland of town principal the and Hunter, lower Banksia Banksia (
Honeysuckle Honeysuckle Population growth, trade and wealth shifted towards the the towards shifted wealth and trade growth, Population life.
Precinct, was once abundant, teeming with with teeming abundant, once was Precinct, at Newcastle in 1821 led to a decade or two of stasis. stasis. of two or decade a to led 1821 in Newcastle at
1818
The lower Hunter, including the Coal River River Coal the including Hunter, lower The
approximately 1,200. The closure of the penal settlement settlement penal the of closure The 1,200. approximately
Chest, Chest,
and by 1820 the total resident white population was was population white resident total the 1820 by and
Lycett, Lycett, The pre-industrial environment pre-industrial The
By 1819 there were almost 700 convicts in the area, area, the in convicts 700 almost were there 1819 By Joseph Joseph
the Irish rebellion at Castle Hill. Hill. Castle at rebellion Irish the
withdrawn in 1802, but re-established in 1804 following following 1804 in re-established but 1802, in withdrawn
culture and land. and culture
hard labour for re-offending convicts. The settlement was was settlement The convicts. re-offending for labour hard
are resident in the region today, and maintain connections to their their to connections maintain and today, region the in resident are
unchecked exploitation by private traders and provide provide and traders private by exploitation unchecked by Reverend Threlkeld in 1824. The descendants of the Awabakal Awabakal the of descendants The 1824. in Threlkeld Reverend by
King first established the outpost in 1801 to control control to 1801 in outpost the established first King forced—to relocate to the mission on Lake Macquarie established established Macquarie Lake on mission the to relocate forced—to
potentially valuable resource for the new colony. Governor Governor colony. new the for resource valuable potentially land use, with many Aboriginal people choosing—or being being choosing—or people Aboriginal many with use, land
societies were overwhelmed by more widespread and intensive intensive and widespread more by overwhelmed were societies of being punishing work, while also producing a a producing also while work, punishing being of
kinship were maintained into the 1850s. Thereafter, traditional traditional Thereafter, 1850s. the into maintained were kinship Coal mining had the dual value for colonial administrators administrators colonial for value dual the had mining Coal
their gaolers. Traditional patterns of their economy, society and and society economy, their of patterns Traditional gaolers. their
breakwater construction. breakwater
with the permanent occupation of their country by convicts and and convicts by country their of occupation permanent the with
new colony, and as workers on major projects such as as such projects major on workers as and colony, new
be sporadic, but after 1804, the Awabakal people had to contend contend to had people Awabakal the 1804, after but sporadic, be
the production of coal, timber, lime and salt for the the for salt and lime timber, coal, of production the
contact between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people tended to to tended people non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal between contact
show, convicts played an important economic role in in role economic important an played convicts show,
You are standing on Awabakal country. From the late 1790s 1790s late the From country. Awabakal on standing are You
and harsher discipline. But, as sites in the precinct precinct the in sites as But, discipline. harsher and
European–Aboriginal contact European–Aboriginal of punishment with reduced rations, tighter control control tighter rations, reduced with punishment of
had re-offended. Being sent to Newcastle was a form form a was Newcastle to sent Being re-offended. had
settlements were designed to receive convicts who who convicts receive to designed were settlements
Aboriginal tools: detail from the Skottowe manuscript Skottowe the from detail tools: Aboriginal in 1804. Such Such 1804. in
and there are regular smaller rock falls from the cliffs of Nobbys. of cliffs the from falls rock smaller regular are there and
punishment punishment
The Dreaming reveals a long history of earthquakes in the Hunter, Hunter, the in earthquakes of history long a reveals Dreaming The
place of secondary secondary of place
the land to tremble and rocks to fall. fall. to rocks and tremble to land the established as a a as established
though, and every now and then he shakes his giant tail causing causing tail giant his shakes he then and now every and though,
was permanently permanently was
Kangaroo had drowned and returned home. He is still there, there, still is He home. returned and drowned had Kangaroo
Sydney basin and and basin Sydney
The Wallabies, seeing no trace of him, assumed the Giant Giant the assumed him, of trace no seeing Wallabies, The
outside of the the of outside
swam out to Wybaygamba (Nobbys) to shut himself away. away. himself shut to (Nobbys) Wybaygamba to out swam New South Wales Wales South New
mist sprang up concealing his presence and, under its cover, he he cover, its under and, presence his concealing up sprang mist occupation in in occupation
all the way to Mulubinda (Newcastle). When he neared the sea a a sea the neared he When (Newcastle). Mulubinda to way the all first area of white white of area first
was known he was pursued by angry Wallabies who chased him him chased who Wallabies angry by pursued was he known was
Newcastle was the the was Newcastle
Long ago, a Giant Kangaroo attacked a Wallaby. When the deed deed the When Wallaby. a attacked Kangaroo Giant a ago, Long
Convicts Awabakal Dreaming Awabakal
Changing landscape The Coal River Precinct, in Newcastle, When Captain Cook NSW, includes outstanding heritage sites sighted what is now known within a distinctive landscape. It is a place of as Nobbys Head on his living history marking a series of important voyage along the east coast of the continent in 1770, transitions in Australia’s journey to nationhood; Nobbys was an island in from government industry to private the river mouth twice the enterprise, from convict to free labour, from height it is today. The river punishment to profit, and from a natural to a flowed unrestrained into William Keene: Stratigraphical sketch human-fashioned landscape. the sea with the high water mark at the base of what is now Fort Scratchley. Nobbys On this walk you will encounter sites which beach, the lighthouse, the breakwater and the open space that Coal River illuminate these transitions, telling the lies in a triangle between the river and the ocean represent the physical transformation of landscape by industry and commerce Aboriginal and European stories of Newcastle that dates from the convict period. through changing landforms shaped by Resources such as coal, timber and fish initially attracted industry, through archeological remains, and Precinct Europeans to this area in the late 1790s. The first Europeans here through the inescapable presence of a bustling were fisherman and private traders who eyed the exposed coal working harbour. seams and made a number of unofficial visits taking coal back to Sydney. Lieutenant Shortland named and charted the river, and confirmed the presence of coal in 1797. The convicts sent Walk to Coal River in 1804 were Irish rebels who participated in the This brochure is based on a nomination for Castle Hill insurrection. A number of convicts were removed National Heritage listing produced by to a new penal station at Port Macquarie in 1823; however, The Coal River Working Party convicts remained in the town, as assigned servants, as labourers The University of Newcastle on the town gang, and—after 1831—as miners working for www.newcastle.edu.au/coalriver the Australian Agricultural Company. If the first European occupation of the 1800s was largely about coal, subsequent In conjunction with free settlers of the early 1820s were attracted by land. It was New South Wales Heritage Office Experience living history the availability of fertile land with rich alluvial soils adjacent to www.heritage.nsw.gov.au the Hunter, Williams and Paterson rivers which was especially Cover images Aborigines (top to bottom): JosephRiver (National Hunter Lycett, restingthe byof fire near a camp the mouth Library Papers, Nobbys of Australia); Island of Newcastle, from University Cottage, c1830s (John Mullumbimba courtesy Turner of Newcastle Regional Art Gallery); Coal Newcastle loading at wharf (J&A Brown Collection, of Newcastle). University appealing. The Hunter Valley was opened to free settlement in 1823, and extensive numbers of settlers, sheep and cattle entered the valley in the next five years. The Awabakal and Worimi people were fully aware of the region’s resources. They lived in this area enjoying its rich PUBLISHING SERVICESPAPER DESIGNED BY BRUDERLIN MACLEAN / PRINTED ON RECYCLED and varied environment. Despite extensive changes, evidence of Aboriginal occupation can still be found in the Coal River Precinct. There is a strong theme of Aboriginal economy, with sites including shell middens, grinding areas, clay digs and stone tools. It is very rare for such material to be found so close to a large regional city. As Indigenous historian John Maynard notes: ‘The area today known as Newcastle was an industrial and trading centre long before white intrusion.’ Tahlbihn / Signal Hill Convict coal mines Soldiers Baths 1 now known as Fort Scratchley 2 3 This headland overlooks the Pacific Beneath the Built in 1882, these baths were Ocean to the north and south-east. concrete also called the ‘Fortification From this vantage point you can see ramparts of Fort Baths’. The width of the baths was the Coal River Precinct spread out Scratchley other some 160 metres, with a depth of before you. less obvious 2.7 metres at the middle. histories are This pivotal position means that Looking seaward from Fort Drive, at low present. The tide, you can make out the Soldiers Baths. the promontory has been used as a concrete is lookout, warning shipping as well as testament to the a site for military defence. In 1813 a ambivalent place coal-fired beacon and flagstaff were convicts held erected to warn passing ships of the dangers of what became a in national and local histories, when a convict ancestor was an Nobbys Beach notorious part of the NSW coast. embarrassment. 4 By 1819 there was a small stone The beach, with its reefs and surf, highlight the importance of John Platt, a convict miner, began mining here in 1801 and then tower with a lighthouse. This beach and surf culture to Newcastle, and shows how people retuned in 1804. Platt used the ‘bord and pillar’ system of mining was to be replaced by an eight- modify the landscape, often unintentionally. The beach area from which, in its day, was a cutting edge mining method. Convicts lamp lighthouse built in 1836. A Signal Hill to the base of Nobbys lighthouse gradually developed worked this area until 1817, battling cramped conditions, rising pagoda-style house was added after convicts built the original water levels and poor tools. in 1836 for the signalmen and core of the breakwater. stokers. This light operated The coal-mine sites, covered during the construction of Fort The Surf Club, an excellent until it was superseded in 1858 Scratchley in the 1880s, were pinpointed in 2005 and are now example of its kind and largely by the lighthouse you now see marked by representations of the mine entrances painted on to intact, was completed in 1934. on Nobbys. the concrete retaining walls. The PVC piping indicates where the Coal River Working Party used targeted video cameras to The site was occupied inspect the workings. by volunteer and regular soldiers from the 1850s, and Coal also features in the economic and cultural life of local construction of a permanent fortification Indigenous people. The Awabakal are the only recorded Macquarie Pier began in 1881. The fort received and returned fire in World War Aboriginal group to utilise coal for fuel, and their language— 5 II. The guns not only had a military use but also carried out a comprehensively recorded by Reverend Threlkeld and the This ambitious project, initiated in policing role, being fired to enforce the laws of the sea. A shot Aboriginal leader Birabahn—notes the only known Aboriginal 1818 by Governor Macquarie, joined across the bow ensured compliance with maritime laws. word for coal: nikkin. Nobbys to the mainland in order The Aboriginal name for this site is Tahlbihn. European names William Keene: Stratigraphical sketch, 1854 to make the entrance to Newcastle for this site include Colliers Point, Fiddlesticks, harbour safer. Work was suspended Flagstaff Hill and in 1823 by Governor Brisbane when Allans Hill. It is he cut expenditure on public works. In the 1830s large numbers now known as Fort of convicts were again sent to Newcastle and a new gang was Scratchley. put to work, finishing the pier by 1846. The breakwater was strengthened and widened after heavy seas breached the wall. Convicts worked You can see grey sandstone beneath Signal from Waratah, a suburb of Hill digging for Newcastle, along the railing coal. The red paint and on the right as you walk represents a mine along. The obelisk marks the entrance. centre of the Pier.
N Wybaygamba / Nobbys PORT HUNTER 6 Approximate scale This is an ancient place. 0 125 250 375 500 metres Rising sea levels after Newcastle the last ice age turned Railway Station WHARF RO Pilot Station HUNTER STREE AD Horseshoe Beach this hill into an island. Convict P 7 P BOND ST KING STREE P It would be many, many Lumber Yard Nobbys Breakwater T years before people 8 5 MMacquarie Pier Nobbys 6 T SC Foreshore Park Head T STE STREE OT P again walked between TT ALFREDT STRE OBBYS RD Gun emplacement WA T STREE VENSON PL N T Paci c Nobbys and Signal Hill, CIFIC STREE NOBBYS RD 4 NNobbys Beach PA Park T Fortt 2 ELFORD STREE or Wybaygamba and T T Scratchley 1 E T Tahlbihn. F ZAARA STREE O 2 RT Newcastle Beach VE ARNELL PL DRI 3 SSoldiers Baths Walking route P E Look carefully and you will see signs of the many different AD ESPLAN Road
ways that this area has been used. There is a gun emplacement D Convict coal mines N LA Shoreline c. 1800 RT and observation post on the north side of Nobbys. Two HO S The Cowrie Hole 3-pound guns were installed here during World War II. The 4 Point of interest Newcastle Baths square wooden mould you can see was used to manufacture PACIFIC OCEAN P Parking concrete blocks for the maintenance of the breakwall. As you walk along the breakwater you will see cracks in the road base Bus terminal and the still visible rail track. The rail line lies mostly intact beneath the surface directly beneath the light poles. It was used to transport the concrete blocks to extend and maintain the breakwall. In the early 1850s there was a plan to blow the island up as it Pilot Station / Cornish Docks Convict Lumber Yard was considered a risk to shipping. The plans were abandoned 7 8 after a petition from local residents. Tunnels drilled in Peering through the A ‘lumber yard’ was a generic term for any industrial work place, anticipation were never used. Nobbys Lighthouse, built with window of the boundary and was involved in repairing tools and storing supplies. It free labour, commenced operation in 1858. It was automated fence intensifies the became a stockade when the breakwater gang came to Newcastle in 1935, and is still in use, the need for sea warnings as feeling that one is looking in the 1830s, with convicts being locked up at night after a hard relevant as ever. It is the earliest surviving lighthouse in NSW back on history yet this day’s work. Along with the convict coal mines, it is one of the and the first built according to recognised international dock, enclosed as it is, few surviving convict industrial workplaces in NSW. standards. sits alongside others that From here you can see the time ball atop Customs House that continue to be used today. allowed mariners to accurately set their chronometers, and was In fact, the dock itself was the signal for the fort to fire its gun. Along with the clock face used until 1949. This area on the tower, the time ball symbolises the passage of time and was central to the effective industrialising of the landscape around you. By the 1880s the and safe operation of the area where you are now standing was harbour. The four slips have at the centre of a major industrial and original winches and the commercial area. remains of two steam-crane bases can still be seen.
Coal loading near the Pilot Station. Tahlbihn / Signal Hill Convict coal mines Soldiers Baths 1 now known as Fort Scratchley 2 3 This headland overlooks the Pacific Beneath the Built in 1882, these baths were Ocean to the north and south-east. concrete also called the ‘Fortification From this vantage point you can see ramparts of Fort Baths’. The width of the baths was the Coal River Precinct spread out Scratchley other some 160 metres, with a depth of before you. less obvious 2.7 metres at the middle. histories are This pivotal position means that Looking seaward from Fort Drive, at low present. The tide, you can make out the Soldiers Baths. the promontory has been used as a concrete is lookout, warning shipping as well as testament to the a site for military defence. In 1813 a ambivalent place coal-fired beacon and flagstaff were convicts held erected to warn passing ships of the dangers of what became a in national and local histories, when a convict ancestor was an Nobbys Beach notorious part of the NSW coast. embarrassment. 4 By 1819 there was a small stone The beach, with its reefs and surf, highlight the importance of John Platt, a convict miner, began mining here in 1801 and then tower with a lighthouse. This beach and surf culture to Newcastle, and shows how people retuned in 1804. Platt used the ‘bord and pillar’ system of mining was to be replaced by an eight- modify the landscape, often unintentionally. The beach area from which, in its day, was a cutting edge mining method. Convicts lamp lighthouse built in 1836. A Signal Hill to the base of Nobbys lighthouse gradually developed worked this area until 1817, battling cramped conditions, rising pagoda-style house was added after convicts built the original water levels and poor tools. in 1836 for the signalmen and core of the breakwater. stokers. This light operated The coal-mine sites, covered during the construction of Fort The Surf Club, an excellent until it was superseded in 1858 Scratchley in the 1880s, were pinpointed in 2005 and are now example of its kind and largely by the lighthouse you now see marked by representations of the mine entrances painted on to intact, was completed in 1934. on Nobbys. the concrete retaining walls. The PVC piping indicates where the Coal River Working Party used targeted video cameras to The site was occupied inspect the workings. by volunteer and regular soldiers from the 1850s, and Coal also features in the economic and cultural life of local construction of a permanent fortification Indigenous people. The Awabakal are the only recorded Macquarie Pier began in 1881. The fort received and returned fire in World War Aboriginal group to utilise coal for fuel, and their language— 5 II. The guns not only had a military use but also carried out a comprehensively recorded by Reverend Threlkeld and the This ambitious project, initiated in policing role, being fired to enforce the laws of the sea. A shot Aboriginal leader Birabahn—notes the only known Aboriginal 1818 by Governor Macquarie, joined across the bow ensured compliance with maritime laws. word for coal: nikkin. Nobbys to the mainland in order The Aboriginal name for this site is Tahlbihn. European names William Keene: Stratigraphical sketch, 1854 to make the entrance to Newcastle for this site include Colliers Point, Fiddlesticks, harbour safer. Work was suspended Flagstaff Hill and in 1823 by Governor Brisbane when Allans Hill. It is he cut expenditure on public works. In the 1830s large numbers now known as Fort of convicts were again sent to Newcastle and a new gang was Scratchley. put to work, finishing the pier by 1846. The breakwater was strengthened and widened after heavy seas breached the wall. Convicts worked You can see grey sandstone beneath Signal from Waratah, a suburb of Hill digging for Newcastle, along the railing coal. The red paint and on the right as you walk represents a mine along. The obelisk marks the entrance. centre of the Pier.
N Wybaygamba / Nobbys PORT HUNTER 6 Approximate scale This is an ancient place. 0 125 250 375 500 metres Rising sea levels after Newcastle the last ice age turned Railway Station WHARF RO Pilot Station HUNTER STREE AD Horseshoe Beach this hill into an island. Convict P 7 P BOND ST KING STREE P It would be many, many Lumber Yard Nobbys Breakwater T years before people 8 5 MMacquarie Pier Nobbys 6 T SC Foreshore Park Head T STE STREE OT P again walked between TT ALFREDT STRE OBBYS RD Gun emplacement WA T STREE VENSON PL N T Paci c Nobbys and Signal Hill, CIFIC STREE NOBBYS RD 4 NNobbys Beach PA Park T Fortt 2 ELFORD STREE or Wybaygamba and T T Scratchley 1 E T Tahlbihn. F ZAARA STREE O 2 RT Newcastle Beach VE ARNELL PL DRI 3 SSoldiers Baths Walking route P E Look carefully and you will see signs of the many different AD ESPLAN Road
ways that this area has been used. There is a gun emplacement D Convict coal mines N LA Shoreline c. 1800 RT and observation post on the north side of Nobbys. Two HO S The Cowrie Hole 3-pound guns were installed here during World War II. The 4 Point of interest Newcastle Baths square wooden mould you can see was used to manufacture PACIFIC OCEAN P Parking concrete blocks for the maintenance of the breakwall. As you walk along the breakwater you will see cracks in the road base Bus terminal and the still visible rail track. The rail line lies mostly intact beneath the surface directly beneath the light poles. It was used to transport the concrete blocks to extend and maintain the breakwall. In the early 1850s there was a plan to blow the island up as it Pilot Station / Cornish Docks Convict Lumber Yard was considered a risk to shipping. The plans were abandoned 7 8 after a petition from local residents. Tunnels drilled in Peering through the A ‘lumber yard’ was a generic term for any industrial work place, anticipation were never used. Nobbys Lighthouse, built with window of the boundary and was involved in repairing tools and storing supplies. It free labour, commenced operation in 1858. It was automated fence intensifies the became a stockade when the breakwater gang came to Newcastle in 1935, and is still in use, the need for sea warnings as feeling that one is looking in the 1830s, with convicts being locked up at night after a hard relevant as ever. It is the earliest surviving lighthouse in NSW back on history yet this day’s work. Along with the convict coal mines, it is one of the and the first built according to recognised international dock, enclosed as it is, few surviving convict industrial workplaces in NSW. standards. sits alongside others that From here you can see the time ball atop Customs House that continue to be used today. allowed mariners to accurately set their chronometers, and was In fact, the dock itself was the signal for the fort to fire its gun. Along with the clock face used until 1949. This area on the tower, the time ball symbolises the passage of time and was central to the effective industrialising of the landscape around you. By the 1880s the and safe operation of the area where you are now standing was harbour. The four slips have at the centre of a major industrial and original winches and the commercial area. remains of two steam-crane bases can still be seen.
Coal loading near the Pilot Station.