In 2013 Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia celebrated 200 years from its naming as a town in 1813. Over the 200 years significant milestones have occurred in the town and regions infrastructure development to support growth of the region. The development of Australia progressed with a few frontier towns built in extreme isolation like Bathurst. Sydney was founded in 1788 and 25 years later in 1813 only a few other coastal towns had been established. The desire to explore the unknown areas led the Colonial Government to sponsor expeditions to the interior of the vast country. A large mountain range running parallel to the Sydney coast blocked access to the west and rugged mountains and a river blocked access to the north. Before the exploration of the inland started they had no idea what they would find but what they did discover was fertile and well watered land ideal for grazing of animals and producing agricultural products. To grow from a village to a town to a city requires major infrastructure construction. This normally occurs in phases, as the technology develops, as the funds allow, and the needs become pressing. The key infrastructure developments that allowed Bathurst to grow were the road system, gas supply, telegraph network, railways, telephone, electricity, and water systems. Each one of these created an improvement in living conditions and productivity for the residents and the economy as a whole. First a road was required and once built settlers moved west, over time the other infrastructure requirements followed as the town grew in importance to the Colony.
Summary timeline of major infrastructure improvements
1814 – Roads Immediately a need arose for a road to gain access to the vast lands of the interior, but it was no ordinary track that needed to be constructed, this road had to cross a formidable mountain range and abruptly descend into a valley criss-crossed by rivers and streams. To develop, a town needs access from the adjacent populated centres. In 1813, the Bathurst district was discovered by an exploration party from Sydney that crossed the wild mountain range known as 'The Blue Mountains'. From that point the region was identified as ideal farming land and the Governor ordered a road to be built across the mountain range to the new settlement of Bathurst. This set the scene for population growth and development of the entire western region of the colony of New South Wales. Three significant changes to the Sydney to Bathurst road route occurred throughout the nearly 200 years of history of the road.
Cox's Road (Eastern Road)
In 1814 the Governor Lachlan Macquarie of the colony of NSW approved the construction of a 163 kilometre long road from the existing limit of habitation of Sydney (near Penrith) to the newly discovered locality of Bathurst. The road was built by William Cox and completed on 14 January 1815. The instructions to William Cox on building the road were as follows...
First the road is to commence at the ford (already determined) on the Nepean River to Emu Plains, and from there across the Blue Mountains to the Macquarie River and the centrical part of the Bathurst Plains.Second the road thus made must be at least twelve feet wide, so as to permit two carts or other wheel carts to pass each other with ease, the timber in the forest ground to be cut down and cleared away 20 feet wide, grubbing up the stumps and filling the holes, so that a four wheel carriage or cart may pass without difficulty of danger.Third, in brush ground it is to be cut twenty feet wide and grubbed up to twelve feet wide. I conceive this to be sufficient width for the proposed road at the present, but where it can with ease and convenience be done, I would prefer the road to be made sixteen feet wideFourth, the road for the present is to terminate about the center of Bathurst Plains on the bank of Macquarie River, carrying the road as near to the banks of that river as practicable. William was instructed to make use of depots and ask for any provisions that were required for the workers' comfort. So as not to disrupt the working party, orders were given to the public and posted in conspicuous places, against visiting or crossing the Nepean without a pass signed by the Governor. The road commenced at Emu Ford and proceeded to Wentworth Falls, here he had built a hut to house supplies, the road proceeded generally along the existing highway route following the top of the mountain ridges, a second provision hut was built at a site later known as Weatherboard Inn, now Wentworth Falls. The road continued through present-day towns such as Leura, Katoomba, and Blackheath. At the present town of Mount Victoria the original road proceeded north west diverging from the existing westerly route. Cox's original route winds its way down an extremely difficult descent known as Mount York, Governor Macquarie later named the passage down Mount York as Cox's Pass in honour of William Cox the builder. For 15 years Mount York was a serious impediment to traffic on the western road. It was so steep that passengers often had to disembark from their carriages, walk down the descent and wait for their horse-drawn carriage at the bottom. Bullock teams hauling goods had to tie large logs to the back of their wagons to retard the speed of descent. The Government regularly sent work crews to burn the large accumulation of logs at the bottom of Mount York. From the bottom of Mount York the original road continues its entirely different course from that of the later routes. The old road travels roughly due west passing through the village of Hartley, O'Connell, and then turning north crossing the Macquarie River then through the locality of The Lagoon and north into Bathurst. This route is so different from the subsequent routes that it is difficult to plot on a map. The old road ran parallel and approximately 30 kilometres south of the present road. In various sections the road no longer exists and other sections are now only sections of minor gravel roads. For approximately half of the entire western road the route now is entirely different from the first road to Bathurst. The party consisted of 28 convict men and 6 soldiers and this team built the road and bridges in a six-month period. This new road immediately became known as the Western Road.
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