Campbelltown Water Works Traditional Cache
Blueandgolder: I don’t live in the area anymore and it takes a hour to get here. They have re grassed the area and the cache had been taken.
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Cache in a local park of Campbelltown NSW. Old site of Campbelltown Water Board. Scouts Australia and Hurley Park hall is near by. You can see the plaque from GZ.
I moved to the Campbelltown area about 12 months ago, I often go for walks around the area and I discovered a vacant area of land in Allman st. I always wondered why the area looked like a deep hole , I recently discovered a plaque which told me the story of the area and why there was a deep hole. This site was the old Campbelltown water board which housed a water reservoir and cattle tank. These structures originate from the first half of the 19th century and are a rare example of a convict built water supply installation from the early colonial period. The project was the last major construction carried out by convict labour under military control in the district. The site utilised the topography of Hurley Park to provide an innovative means of providing a secure water supply to the early community of Campbelltown. The main reservoir was formed by using the natural rise of the land to the east and retained on the epwest by a sandstone block dam wall about 3 metres in height. In the centre of this wall is a depressed lip which feeds a flat spillway, leading about 50 metres to the large rectangular excavated tank used for watering cattle. Water supply was a constant problem in the early days of Campbelltown, as wells and tanks were unable to supply sufficient water. In November 1832 the residents of Campbelltown decided to build a reservoir at their own expense. A committee consisting of John Hurley, John Patrick, John Scarr, Thomas Rose and Thomas Meehan petitioned Governor Burke for a grant of land. The subject land on the hillside between Dumaresq and Allman streets was chosen, as it formed a national basin into which two small creeks flowed. The first stone was laid on the 4th September 1838 and was completed in mid 1839. Built at a cost of almost £400, it provided Campbelltown with its water supply until 1888 when the city was connected to the new Sydney water supply system. The Cattle tank was in use until 1960. Urban development in the local catchment has reduced the natural flow of the water into the reservoir so that it is mainly dry, although it is noted that the structure are utilised as a stormwater detention facility in periods of high rainfall. The high quality stonework and their visual contribution to the landscape is evident in Hurley Park. *Congratulations to Noodles FTF*
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Vf gung n erny tlzabfcrez?
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