Trunkey and the Abercrombie

Discussion 1 post |  Only members can post. Join?

About Trunkey and the Abercrombie

Trunkey Creek
Trunkey Creek is a village located in the Central West of New South Wales, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the city of Bathurst and about 130 kilometres (82 miles) north of the city of Goulburn on the Bathurst Goulburn Road. At the 2006 census, Trunkey Creek had a population of 122 people.
During the Gold Rush of 1851, sparked by Edward Hargreaves when he announced that there was payable gold to be found at the junction of the Abercrombie River and Grove Creek near the village, it is reputed to have swelled to 2500 people. The rivers near the village continue to provide gold for hobbyists and prospectors.
The village is said to have received its name from a prospector who had a particularly large nose, and was given the nickname Trunkey. Although the village had received the official name of Arthur, the creek that the prospector was working on became known at Trunkey's Creek and the village - although officially called Arthur- was referred to as Trunkey Creek until it officially changed its name in 1988.
The town is endowed with a police station and court house built in 1879. The police station is still manned today. The Golden Age Hotel built in 1872 still stands today, as does the original general store of 1879 and the Black Stump Hotel (originally the Commercial Hotel) which although destroyed by fire in 1928 was rebuilt and continues to serve the public. The town now only has about 60 permanent residents.
Abercrombie Caves is a major geological tourist attraction situated close to the town.
www.visitbathurst.com.au/villages/trunkey-creek.html

Abercrombie Caves
The Archway is Abercrombie's most famous feature and includes the historic Gold miners dance platform which was built in 1880. This tour involves a leisurely walk over the surface area, and returns through the Archway. Lighting in the cave is automatic, and there is lots of information about the cave on signs and the leaflet with you get with your ticket

The Abercrombie Archway features the awesome size of the largest natural bridge in limestone in the Southern Hemisphere. This is a very different kind of cave tour as the Archway has such huge entrances that daylight filters right into the middle of the cave allowing some very interesting things to occur, such as pink and green algae growth on the caves massive decorations.
abercrombiecaves.com/

The Abercrombie River
The Abercrombie River is a river in New South Wales, Australia, flowing from Mount Werong westward to the Wyangala Dam near Cowra. The river is a tributary of the Lachlan, which it joins at Wyangala Dam.
The 130 km river flows through freehold land as well as the Abercrombie River National Park, and provides habitat for platypus and water rat. The Goulburn-Oberon Road crosses the Abercrombie River in the steep-sided Abercrombie Gorge.
The original inhabitants of the land alongside the river were Aborigines of the Wiradjuri or Gundungurra clans, which may have used the river as a trading route. The first European to discover the watercourse was explorer Charles Throsby on 5 May 1819, during an expedition from Sydney to the Central West of New South Wales. Alluvial gold was discovered in and along the river in 1851, inspiring a minor gold rush hampered by the ruggedness of the terrain and the periodic depths of the waterway. Early miners recovered up to 3 oz (85 g) of gold a day along the river, and by 1862 between forty and fifty mining parties were at work at Milburne Creek, a minor tributary of the Abercrombie.

A cemetery index for Trunkey and district is available here, thanks to Barry Cubitt - trunkeycreek.abercrombiecaves.com/cemetery/