Newsletter No - Blue Mountains Association of Cultural Heritage ...

The Cox’s Road - Context of representative
portions
THE COX’S Road Steering Committee was formed in July 2006 to look at long
term objectives and mechanisms to preserve the 1814 Cox’s Road alignment
between Emu Plains and the Blue Mountains and Bathurst. The committee was
formed with delegates from the Lithgow, Blue Mountains and Bathurst branches
of the National Trust of Australia (NSW), and operates under the auspices of the
Trust as an informal committee.
In April 2011 the NSW Heritage Office concluded it will list representative portions
of Cox’s Road as part of the 1813 bicentennial celebrations of the crossing of the
Blue Mountains in recognition of the importance of the road in the history of
opening up western NSW.
Cox’s Road Project Committee (CRPC) convenor, and an individual member of BMACHO, Patsy Moppett
pictured, has produced a series of articles for HERITAGE to provide some of the detail for each precinct of
the road, this being the introduction to the series as well as the Emu Ford and Woodford precincts.
By Patsy Moppett
AS A follow up to a previous article
on the Cox’s Road in September
2011, it is timely that further
information be shared in regard to
the original road across the Blue
Mountains that opened up the
western region for the wider
settlement of the New South Wales
colony.
This monument erected by the RAHS marks the
location where Macquarie declared the site for
Bathurst
It is common knowledge that the
Cox’s Road was followed up in
subsequent years by various other
crossing routes and deviations,
resulting in the Great Western
Highway as we see it today. With
increasing interest in the western
crossings in general, the
significance of the original crossing
should be acknowledged.
The Cox’s Road
Project Committee
(National Trust)
(CRPC) made a
submission for
nomination of
Cox’s Road for
listing on the SHR
under the Heritage
Act 1977 in 2010,
to record and
register the
significance of the
road.
The State Heritage
Register
Committee of the
Heritage Council
of NSW
considered its
options for listing
all or part of the
Cox’s Road.
The SHR
committee was
very enthusiastic
about the proposal
and considered
the route a
significant part of
NSW history and
heritage.
After considering its options, the
SHR committee concluded that
listing of representative portions of
Cox’s Road would be undertaken as
part of the 1813 bicentennial
commemorations of the crossing of
the Blue Mountains in recognition of
the importance of the road in the
history of opening up of western
NSW.
It was understood that this would
require extensive consultation with
owners and other relevant
stakeholders.
The significance of the road relates
to its place within early colonial
history and society.
Sophisticated technology had little
part to play in the construction of
the modest structures that enabled
the opening up of western NSW,
and the standards and practice of
road engineering of the colonial
period stand out.
The route traversed a rugged and
inhospitable landscape, with
minimal loss of life, with efficient
and effective management of labour
and equipment, demonstrating
basic work patterns and skills.
The road construction was also
associated with notable public
figures of the time including Cox,
Macquarie, Evans and Blaxland.
A report presented by Grace
Karskens in 1988, Cox’s Way, was
carried out as a historical and
archaeological study of William
Cox’s Road, which also touched on
other early crossings of the Blue
Mountains. Continued page 17
HERITAGE 16
November - December 2012