Mount Wilson, New South Wales

Mount Wilson New South Wales
Mount Wilson in Autumn
Population:	218 (2006 Census) [1]
Established:	1880
Postcode:	2786
Coordinates:	33°30′S 150°23′E / 33.5°S 150.383°E / -33.5; 150.383Coordinates: 33°30′S 150°23′E / 33.5°S 150.383°E / -33.5; 150.383
Elevation:	1,100 m (3,609 ft)
Location:	100 km (62 mi) west of Sydney
LGA:	City of Blue Mountains
State District:	Blue Mountains
Federal Division:	Macquarie

Mount Wilson is a village in the state of New South Wales and in the Blue Mountains. It is approximately fourteen kilometres east of the township of Bell, and approximately one hundred kilometres west of Sydney. At the 2006 census, Mount Wilson had a population of 218 people.^[1]

Description

Mount Wilson is a long, low mountain formation that sprawls for five kilometres in the northern Blue Mountains area. It is completely surrounded by the Blue Mountains National Park, a World Heritage Area. It has been partly developed as a residential area, with elaborate gardens that have become a tourist attraction. The area is particularly popular in the autumn, when the red and orange leaves give it extra colour. According to some, the "well organised locals have managed to resist the tidal wave of development which swept through the other mountain towns."^[2]

History

The Mount Wilson area was surveyed in 1868 by Edward Wyndham. It was subsequently named after John Bowie Wilson, the then member of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales and the Secretary for Lands.^[3] The new township became popular as a summer retreat for the wealthy in the latter part of the 19th century. Extensive gardens were planted around the houses there, taking advantage of the rich basalt soil. Historical features that can still be seen include St George's Church, which was built by the children of Henry Marcus Clark and consecrated in 1916; and the house Withycombe, in The Avenue, which was built by George Henry Cox, a grandson of William Cox, who built the first road over the Blue Mountains.^[4]

The novelist Patrick White spent some of his youth there, writing about the place in his 1981 memoir Flaws in the Glass; his parents had lived in Mount Wilson between 1912 and 1937. In Flaws in the Glass, he referred to "one of those tedious Australian, would-be tourists attractions called Chinaman's Hat," a reference to a local rock formation.^[5]

Activities

Apart from visiting the gardens for which the area is famous, it is also possible to do a number of walks in places like Waterfall Reserve, the rainforest pocket in Davies Lane, the Cathderal of Ferns, Pheasants Cave, Chinamans Hat and, for more experienced walkers, the track to the Wollangambe River.^[6] There are also lookouts, eg Wynnes Rocks Lookout and Du Faurs Rocks Lookout. There are no authorised camping areas, but it is possible to camp in the Waterfall Reserve picnic area. The area offers plenty of scope for photography.

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  Withycombe, built by George Henry Cox

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  Cathedral of Ferns

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  Tributary to Waterfall Creek, Waterfall Reserve

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  St George's Church

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Mount Wilson (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=SSC18215&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401. Retrieved 2 November 2009. 
2. ^ How to See The Blue Mountains, Jim Smith (Second Back Row Press) 1986, p.31
3. ^ "Mount Wilson". Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search/extract?id=anwGZxxOJP. Retrieved 2 November 2009. 
4. ^ Exploring the Blue Mountains, Hungerford and Donald (Kangaroo Press) 1982, pp.172-173
5. ^ Flaws in the Glass, Patrick White (Jonathan Cape) 1981
6. ^ Sydney and Blue Mountains Bushwalks, Neil Paton (Kangaroo Press) 2004, pp.291-298

External links

• Mount Wilson Website
• Mt Wilson to Bilpin Bush Run - held each August
• Article about Mount Wilson at Sydney Morning Helald