33-595: New England Tablelands may refer to Northern Tablelands , a region in the Australian state of New South Wales New England Tablelands bioregion , a bioregion mostly in the Northern Tablelands Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title New England Tablelands . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
66-673: A fall in antimony prices from $ 8,000 to $ 5,000 a tonne. The post office and school are the only substantial buildings which remain. The school buildings (1897) are now used to house the Hillgrove Rural Life and Industry Museum. Hillgrove Goldmining Area and the Antimony Mine on Stockton Road have been placed on the Register of the National Estate . Long Point campground is 18 km south of Hillgrove in
99-731: A great diversity of plants and fauna, with many thousands of animals, birds and plants in the region. Black sallee ( Eucalyptus stellulata ), Blakely's red gum ( Eucalyptus blakelyi ), broadleaved New England stringybark ( Eucalyptus caliginosa ), wattles ( Acacias ), native apples ( Angophora floribunda ), manna gum ( Eucalyptus viminalis ), New England blackbutt ( Eucalyptus andrewsii ), New England peppermint ( Eucalyptus nova-anglica ), ribbon gum ( Eucalyptus nobilis ), silvertop stringybark ( Eucalyptus laevopinea ), snow gum ( Eucalyptus pauciflora ), river oak ( Casuarina cunninghamiana , stringybark ( Eucalyptus caliginosa ) and yellow box ( Eucalyptus melliodora ) trees are common across
132-412: A recorded production of over 15,000 kg of gold. It has also been a significant producer of antimony (14,700 tons) and tungsten (at least 2,000 tons of scheelite ). The town was first known as Eleanora Township , named after the antimony mine that for nearly a decade after 1876 was the sole reason for its existence. The name Hillgrove was given to the town in 1888. Although some alluvial gold
165-527: A school of arts, a hospital, several banks, a stock exchange, a court house, police station, a recreation ground, a technical college, debating society, a temperance league and a cordial factory. The town also printed its own local paper, the Hillgrove Guardian . In 1895 it became the first town in Australia to be supplied with power by means of hydroelectricity which operated from Gara Gorge to
198-776: A village with a population of about 95. The village lies about 30 km east of Armidale and 5 km south of the Waterfall Way , at an elevation of 1,000 m on a granite plateau above Bakers Creek, near the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park . It lies in Sandon County , part of the Armidale Regional Council local government area . Hillgrove was one of the major gold fields in New South Wales, with
231-471: Is a high rainfall region with averages ranging from 650 mm on the western slopes to over 1,200 mm on the east of the range. About 60% of this rainfall occurs during the summer months. Australian Aboriginals have lived on the tablelands for tens of thousands of years. Prior to colonisation there were several language groups in the region, included the Anaiwan language. The indigenous population of
264-826: Is restricted to Mount Barney National Park in Queensland and in NSW to the Wyong and Hillgrove areas. Bakers Creek Falls lookout is about 1.5 km from the Waterfall Way and provides views of the commencement of the Bakers Creek Gorge. Metz, which was known as West Hillgrove, is situated on the western side of the Bakers Creek gorge from Hillgrove and has a scenic viewing platform at Metz Gorge. The good panorama here makes it possible to see some relics of
297-451: Is significantly lower in elevation. These tablelands are the largest highland area in Australia, covering approximately 18,197 square kilometres. There are widespread high points over 1,000 metres including The Brothers (1,508m), Ben Lomond (1,505m), Mount Rumbee (1,503m), Point Lookout (1,564m), Campoompeta (1,510m), Mount Spirabo (1,492m), Mount Mitchell (1,475m), Chandler's Peak (1,471m), Mount Grundy (1,462m), Mount Bajimba (1,448 m) and
330-594: Is the main vegetation community in the region. The eastern escarpment of the Tableland has spectacular gorges, rainforests and waterfalls, protected in more than 25 National Parks , with three of them listed as World Heritage Areas by UNESCO and forming part of the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves (CERRA). Werrikimbe National Park and Oxley Wild Rivers National Park , one of the largest national parks in NSW are accessible from
363-821: The Gwydir , Namoi and Macintyre river systems of the Murray-Darling River Basin . The only major water storage dam on the Northern Tablelands is Copeton Dam on the Gwydir River near Inverell. The high elevation of the tablelands means cool summers (rarely over 32 °C) but winters are cold with occasional snowfalls and many frosty mornings. Winter minimums can go as low as -10 °C around Armidale , Guyra , Woolbrook and Walcha regions during frosty mornings, but this usually results in clear sunny days. The Northern Tablelands
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#1732793280400396-849: 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 the Queensland border in the north. The region corresponds generally to the Bureau of Meteorology forecast area for the Northern Tablelands which in this case includes Inverell although it
429-555: The Oxley Highway east of Walcha. The Oxley Wild Rivers National Park is also accessible via Waterfall Way east of Armidale and south of Hillgrove . Access to the World Heritage listed New England National Park is also from Waterfall Way. The coastal flowing Clarence , Macleay and Manning , rivers have their headwaters on eastern escarpment of the Tableland. The inland flowing rivers have their confluence with
462-400: The 1880s and 1890s due to the expanding production of the mining companies. Hillgrove Post Office opened on 1 June 1884 and closed in 1979. A Hillgrove West Post Office opened in 1890, was renamed Metz in 1896 and closed in 1922. At its peak in about 1898, the town's population was close to 3,000, similar to that of Armidale. Hillgrove then had four churches, six hotels, two schools,
495-413: The Northern Tablelands include the brush-tailed rock-wallaby ( Petrogale penicillata ) which lives in isolated sections of the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park . The Bundarra-Barraba Important Bird Area is one of only three breeding areas in New South Wales for the endangered regent honeyeater . Hillgrove, New South Wales Hillgrove is a Northern Tablelands historic goldmining town, now
528-697: The Northern Tablelands which has a total of about 792,000 beef cattle. The region has approximately 3.1 million sheep. Areas around Armidale , Uralla and Walcha are noted for their superfine wool production. The Northern Tablelands has been declared an Ovine Johne's disease (OJD) Exclusion Area (EA), under the Stock Diseases Act 1923. Walcha is the site of a large modern dairy farm. Guyra produces prime lambs, potatoes , tulips and glasshouse tomatoes . Apples, pears and other stone fruit are grown at Kentucky and Arding. Pigs, bees, and more recently vineyards also contribute to agricultural production on
561-625: The Northern Tablelands. Bolivia Hill and the adjacent nature reserve are the only recorded locations of the endangered Bolivia Hill boronia ( Boronia boliviensis ) and the shrub Pimelea venosa. Some rare Hillgrove gum trees ( Eucalyptus michaeliana ) may be seen growing along the Long Point Road and the Big Lease, Oxley Wild Rivers National Park . These trees have a distinctive, mottled, greenish trunk with peeling yellow-brown bark. Weeds are an increasing problem across much of
594-725: The area from Newcastle to the Queensland border. Thunderbolt was shot dead by Constable Walker in May 1870 in Kentucky Creek after a long chase on horseback. His grave is in the town of Uralla, NSW. The Northern Tablelands includes the towns and Local Government Areas of Armidale , Glen Innes , Guyra , Tenterfield , Walcha , the south-eastern portion of the Inverell Shire and a small part of Tamworth Regional Council area. The University of New England at Armidale
627-637: The gold mining here after 1900. Captain Thunderbolt the famous bushranger (Frederick Wordsworth Ward, 1836–1870) who escaped from Cockatoo Island came to the Northern Tablelands, where he robbed properties, mail coaches and hotels in the region. In 1866 the Colonial Secretary's Office posted a reward of £100 for his capture, which was raised to £200 by mid-1867 and £400 in December 1869. Many stories have been told his bushranging deeds in
660-529: The highest point at Round Mountain is 1,584 metres above sea level. The now closed railway station at Ben Lomond , was the highest railway station in Australia. The formation of the Great Dividing Range has resulted in a wide variety of soil types being located on the Northern Tablelands. Here soils are mostly derived from basaltic rocks, granite rocks, trap rock or alluvials along creeks and rivers. The New England Peppermint Grassy Woodland
693-424: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_England_Tablelands&oldid=1090202697 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Northern Tablelands The Northern Tablelands , also known as
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#1732793280400726-637: The region. Foxes and rabbits are the most significant vertebrae pests of the tablelands. Eighteen endangered fauna species, found on the Northern Tableland, have been listed in the schedules of the Threatened Species Conservation Act. The endangered Hastings River mouse ( Pseudomys oralis ) is restricted in distribution to the upland open forests and woodlands around Werrikimbe National Park and south-east Queensland. Other endangered species that may be seen on
759-486: The southern half of the Tablelands between the 1830s and 1860s. In 1852 gold was discovered at Rocky River and by 1856 there were 5,000 miners operating there. Gold was discovered at Bakers Creek, Hillgrove in 1857 but it was not until the late 1880s that the recorded population rose to 2,274 and later to almost 3,000 in about 1898. The difficulties and expense of the deep underground mine workings eventually reduced
792-498: The tablelands has been estimated to be 1,100 to 1,200 at the time of colonisation, but was reduced to perhaps 400 by the 1890s. Walcha was explored in 1818 by John Oxley who ascended the range near Limbri . In 1832 Hamilton Collins Semphill, a settler from Belltrees on the Hunter River , formed a station in the upper Apsley River valley and named it Wolka (Walcha) from the local Aboriginal language. Edward Gostwych Cory, who
825-424: The tablelands. During 2008 nine local government areas in the Northern Tablelands recorded a 12 to 35 per cent growth in property values over the last 12 months and a 13 to 22 per cent rise over the last five years according to a report from Australian Property Monitors. Gold and antimony are mined at Hillgrove . Lockheed Martin operates a satellite tracking dish near Uralla . The Northern Tablelands has
858-475: The town's buildings were dismantled and relocated to Armidale and other centres. By 1933 there were just 241 residents left. Goldmining briefly resumed between 1937 and 1940. However, it was the Damned If I Know Mine, a small operation which extracted tungsten ore between the late 1930s and the late 1950s, which turned a large profit, particularly during World War II when tungsten's steel-strengthening capacity
891-458: The west. Hillgrove began to decline after 1900. The difficulties and expense of its deep underground workings led investors and miners to seek more profitable ventures elsewhere. Gold finds were exhausted and antimony prices declined by the 1920s, leading to mining companies shutting down. In all, the Eleanora and Bakers Creek Mines had produced 15,600 kg of gold. Shortly afterwards, most of
924-555: The wilderness of Oxley Wild Rivers National Park. There are two posted walking tracks through dry rainforest and around the rim of the gorge offering good views over the Chandler and Macleay River systems. The overnight Chandler River Walk to Wollomombi starts here. Some rare Eucalyptus michaeliana (Hillgrove Gum) trees may be seen growing along the Long Point Road. These trees have a distinctive, mottled, greenish trunk with peeling yellow-brown bark (like jigsaw puzzle pieces). Its range
957-426: Was discovered in Bakers Creek gorge as early as 1857, it was not until antimony was discovered that important mining was undertaken in the late 1870s. The main shaft in Bakers Creek was sunk 610 metres below the surface. Tramways operated by a steam-powered winding engine pulled the trams up and down the precipitous incline to the Bakers Creek mines. The town of Hillgrove was established in 1884 and grew rapidly during
990-715: Was displaced from his runs by the Australian Agricultural Company , came over the Moonbi Range and settled at Gostwyck, near Uralla. Soon others followed, seeking new lands away from the influence of the Australian Agricultural Company, which dominated resources in the Hunter valley, and settled around the present Armidale district. In 1844 there were 454,193 sheep and 43,377 cattle grazing the tablelands region. Armidale
1023-673: Was founded in 1938, becoming the first Australian university established outside a capital city. This public university, with approximately 18,000 higher education students, is one of Australia's major providers of awards to off-campus students. The Northern Tablelands cover an area of approximately 3.12 million hectares including 2.11 million hectares occupied by some 2,300 agricultural establishments producing agricultural commodities valued at more than $ 320 million. Livestock production contributes approximately 90% of this annual income which comes from beef cattle, sheep and wool. Many beef cattle studs and commercial cattle breeders are located across
New England Tablelands - Misplaced Pages Continue
1056-509: Was in great demand. Antimony mining came into its own in 1969 and was mined along with gold, thus sustaining the village. In March 2004, the Hillgrove Gold Project near Armidale was purchased by Straits Resources, who made development plans for the area. The mine closed for months in 2009, due to global price fluctuations. It was later owned by Meridian Capital of Hong Kong, but in December 2015 it closed again, largely due to
1089-413: Was then gazetted as a town in 1849. Squatters soon settled the tablelands with their large sheep runs before Glen Innes and Tenterfield were surveyed in 1851. Armidale is the only city on the Tablelands and is the administrative centre for the Northern Tablelands region. Colonisation was often violently opposed by the indigenous peoples of New England. There were more than forty documented conflicts in
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