Liverpool Plains

The Liverpool Plains are an extensive pastoral area covering approximately 1.2 million hectares of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia.

These plains are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the south by the Liverpool Range and on the west by the Warrumbungle Range. The area is drained by the Namoi River and its tributaries, and by the Mooki River. There are many depressions, across the plains, which remain as lakes for long periods after heavy rain. These plains are unusual in that many steep hills arise suddenly from the plains.

History

The Liverpool Plains were initially inhabited by Aborigines. John Oxley was the first European to visit the area while exploring the Macquarie River area in 1818. The Plains were subsequently named after the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the Earl of Liverpool. [The Australian Encyclopedia Vol. V, Halstead Press, Sydney] Agricultural settlement of the Liverpool Plains started in the late 1820s when passes were found through the Liverpool Range and since then it has been one of the prime agricultural regions of New South Wales.

During the 1860s Captain Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) and two accomplices robbed inns and mail-coaches in the Liverpool Plains district. [Victor Crittenden, 'Ward, Frederick (Captain Thunderbolt) (1835 - 1870)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6]

This area is typical of temperate woodland regions in south-east Australia. The major land uses of the Liverpool Plains are cropping and grazing. The main crops include barley, chickpeas, faba beans, sorghum, sunflowers, soybeans, maize, wheat and cotton while grazing comprises beef cattle and sheep mainly for prime lambs. The more fertile alluvial soils (native grassland and poplar box country) have been cleared, while larger areas of remnant vegetation (ironbark and Callitris pine) remain on poorer sandy and ridge top soils.

Towns in the Liverpool Plains include Gunnedah, Narrabri, Quirindi, Werris Creek and Tamworth.

Most of the region nowadays comes under the jurisdiction of Liverpool Plains Shire Council. However substantial parts of the region also form part of the Gunnedah and Tamworth local government areas.

References

External links

* [http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/cma_subregion_list.aspx?id=871 68 Threatened Species found in the Liverpool Plains]