Great North Road (New South Wales)
Introduction
The Great North Road is a historic road that extends north from Sydney, New South Wales Australia. It was the first road to link Sydney with the fertile Hunter Valley. Constructed with convict labour between 1825 and 1836, it extends for over 260 kilometres, traversing the rugged terrain that hindered early agricultural expansion. The road was an engineering triumph, with some sections constructed to a notably high standard. Unfortunately, it was not an unqualified success in practical terms. Apart from the steep grades, there was a lack of water and horse feed along the route. For these reasons it quickly fell into disuse with the development of alternative means of getting to the Hunter Valley, such as steamships, or easier roads. Much of it fell into total disuse while other parts were absorbed into the urban and rural road network.
The route
The Great North Road commences at Parramatta Road, at what is now the Sydney suburb of Five Dock. It passes through Ryde and Dural before reaching the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry, 100km to the north. It then climbs and winds through isolated and often rugged bushland in the Dharug National Park, continuing through Bucketty until forking at Wollombi. From there one branch continues to Singleton via Broke and the other goes to Cessnock, Maitland and on to Newcastle.
The Great North Road today
The Great North Road survives to this day, but different parts of it are preserved in very different ways. Much of it is under bitumen and concrete, either as suburban street or rural backroad, while some is preserved in national parks and protected from vehicular traffic.
Some evidence of its past, such as bypassed bridgeworks or even convict gang rock carvings, survives within Sydney, while north of the Hawkesbury large stretches of the road remain in original condition. The first few kilometres, from Five Dock to the Parramatta River at Abbotsford, retains the original name, the only reason the observer would think twice about this unremarkable piece of suburban road.
Preservation
In 1990, the local communities of Bucketty and Wollombi established the 'Convict Trail Project', aiming to restore, maintain and promote the road as a museum of convict engineering. Original sections of the road which are on view have provided valuable insight into early road construction techniques in the colony of New South Wales, and how English road-building technology of the time was imported and adapted.
External links
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