The old silver ming town of Yerranderie, NSW, is a ghost town located near Kanangra-Boyd National Park. Located about 50 kms from Oberon via the Colong historic stock route, the rough terrain and isolated location means that Yerranderie is best accessed with 4WD vehicles.
Yerranderie became isolated in 1959 when the main road was flooded by the establishment of Warragamba Dam and Lake Burragorang. Yerranderie is now owned by the National Parks.
Yerranderrie is taken from two local Aboriginal words meaning slope and summit.
Prehistory
Australia separated from Antarctica about 45 million years ago.
Aboriginal people
The Yerranderie area has been occupied by Dharug, Dharawal and Gundangarra Aboriginal groups for thousands of years.
The Nattai Reserve area was D'harawal and Gundangarra country, with boundaries and corridors existing in the Wollondilly and Burragorang valleys. The northern part of the Burragorang was Dharug land. The corridors allowed various clans access for hunting, gathering, travel to summer and winter camp and a meeting ground in the Camden area.The earliest ‘leader" of the Burragorang valley mentioned in historical records is an elder named Goondel who met Ensign Barralier in 1802. Goondel was mentioned by Governor Macquarie in 1814 as a trouble maker. Barralier' journal contains many sympathetic references to the customs and daily life of Aboriginal people.
By the late 1870s it would appear that Billy Russell was recognised as a leader by the Burragorang Aboriginal clan.
Werriberri – Billy Russell 1878 – 1914.
The recollections of William Russell or "Werriberrie" described as the "Chief Man of the Gundungorra Aboriginals of the Burragorang Valley", are recorded by A. L. Bennett. Werriberrie is stated (wrongly) to be "almost the last of his tribe".
Gundungurra Woman Kazan Brown's Mother lived in the Nattai Valley but had to move in 1948 to make way for the construction of Lake Burragorang and Warragamba Dam. Her daughter, Taylor Clarke, has said: “The valley is home to the only intact painting of a waratah connected to the Dreaming,” And, “There are many burial sites ... paintings, meeting places, the Jooriland homestead and more ... we believe our ancestors walk this sacred land beside us.” |
| The Dharug or Darug people were the original inhabitants of Western Sydney. Image: ‘Australia: William Blandowski's Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia’. In a book called "Gandanguurra: The Language of the Mountain People and Beyond" author Jim Barrett writes that an Aboriginal man said "red hand rock" in Upper Burragorang: "the hands were the imprints of those of their deity, when they were on earth". |
Nattai River comes from the Aboriginal meaning, "sweet water"
Evidence of Aboriginal occupation is found in axe grinding grooves, engravings, cave art, shelter caves, open camps, and artefact scatter.
1700s
John Wilson lived with the Gundungurra people for several years from 1792 and George Bass visited the Burragorang Valley in 1796. According to Jim Barrett's book "Life in the Burragorang", George Bass was the first European to climb perpendicular cliffs and descend the precipices into the isolated Burragorang Valley.
John Wilson returned to the area in 1798, sent by Governor Hunter concerned for the welfare of some Irish convicts who believed they could walk to China. Governor Hunter provide the convict escapees with food and an armed escort. Read about it in Girt: The Unauthorised History of Australia by David Hunt.
Previously, In 1792, 21 Irish convicts had escaped Sydney, with a hand-drawn paper compass, and started walking to China, which they believed lay about 150 miles to the north.
1800s
Ensign Francis Louis Barralier established a depot in the Nattai valley and explored the area in 1802 trying to find a path across the Blue Mountains. The cliff in the area created a significant geographical barrier to exploration. Barralier recorded the call "coo-ee" in the Nattai valley during 1802. |
| Federal Capital Pioneer Magazine (Canberra, ACT : 1926 - 1927) |
In 1815 Governor Macquarie visited the Burragorang Valley.
Charles Throsby, left the Cowpastures, (Camden) in 1819 to explore west of the Blue Mountains, finishing his journey near Bathurst.
 |
| Lachlan Macquarie, (born January 31, 1761, Ulva, Argyllshire, Scotland—died July 1, 1824, London, England), early governor of New South Wales, Australia (1810–21) |
Mt Burragorang was surveyed by Robert Hoddle in 1824.
"The difficulties of carriage are added to by the
In 1828 Major Mitchell wrote " ... in the numerous ravines surrounding Jellore, the little river Nattai has its source, and this wild region is the haunt and secure retreat of the Nattai tribe, whose chief, Moyengully, was one of my earliest Aboriginal friends" (Mullyengulli, meaning "eagle man").
Silver was discovered at Yerranderie in 1871
Galena ore was discovered in Yerranderie. in 1871 by Billy Russell (Werri Berri) and Billy George who had links to the Gundangarra Clan. The two men gained nothing from the find.
Silver was discovered at Yerranderie in 1871
It was after John Vigar Bartlett began to produce payable ore in 1898 that silver mining at Yerranderie took off.
In 1906 the cemetery was allotted with an area of 10 acres.
The Post Office was built in 1907. YERRANDERIE, Hennessys Hotel.
1900s
Between 1900 and 1926 Yerranderie (The Peaks) was a busy town with 3000 people. There were 16 silver-mines working full shifts. A galvanised-iron-canvas city where 800 miners lived. (1.) More than 50 mines were registered and operated of varying capacity over time.
 |
| New South Wales Post Offices photo album - Post Office, Yerranderie [black and white photograph ] Date1901, National Archives of Australia |
Yerranderie.
"The usual fortnightly meeting of
the Yerranderie Progress Association
was held at the Silver Mines Hotel,
Yerranderie,...."
"The usual fortnightly meeting of
the Yerranderie Progress Association
was held at the Silver Mines Hotel,
Yerranderie,...."
Picton Post (NSW : 1907 - 1954), Wednesday 5 February 1908
"Communication is by the southern railway
line to either Camden or Picton, and thence
by coach 40 miles from either station. The
Camden route is throuigh the picturesque
Burragorang Valley, threaded by' the Wollondilly River,
 |
| MINISTER FOR WORKS AT YERRANDERIE. NSW. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 26 May 1909 |
 |
| Yerranderie Public School, NSW, Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 26 May 1909 |
 |
HON. C. A. LEE INTERVIEWS THE TEAMSTERS ON THE ROAD. east of the head of the beautiful Burragorang Valley, and about 42 miles by road from Camden. Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1871 - 1912), Wednesday 26 May 1909 |
 |
| Yerranderie Public School - Empire Day. Dated: c.1909, NSW State Archives |
 |
| Methodist (Sydney, NSW : 1892 - 1954), Saturday 1 January 1910 |
line to either Camden or Picton, and thence
by coach 40 miles from either station. The
Camden route is throuigh the picturesque
Burragorang Valley, threaded by' the Wollondilly River,
the scattered mining settlement extending
to some 40 miles beyond the Burragorang township."
absence of a bridge over the Nattai River.
A railway to the field has been proposed, which would,
if constructed, allow of much second-grade ore
being treated,- which, under present condi
tions, is unprofitable to send away."
tions, is unprofitable to send away."
Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911
Mr Moore's homestead, Coolong, is a short bridle track to Yerranderie in 1911.
WWI
In the 1920s financial problems and industrial disputes developed in the mining industry.
In my many trips through Couridjah Corridor – named by me somewhere about this time – both before and subsequent to this 1928 Easter outing, I developed a great liking for this remarkable canyon passage or corridor through the table-land. I realised its importance as a topographical feature and that in fact it was the only naturally graded way through the tablelands to the great Burragorang Valley and Southern Blue Mountains. For a hundred years it had been a hidden feature, and presumably only a few local people had knowledge of it. It was remarkable that a road had not been put through the Corridor to serve Burragorang and the Yerranderie silver mines.
Although I had been in Lower Nattai before on several occasions, the first time I went through the whole distance of the natural pass was on Saturday, 5th October, 1913. My mate Herbert R. Gallop and I found a jinker track from Picton Lakes down to a spot a short distance below the junction of Buxton Creek with Blue Gum Creek."
 |
| Sending down a load of sharpened steel drills to the shift below. Yerranderie Mine, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| Bartlett's Mine, Yerranderie, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| Miners' at the Silver Peaks Mine, Yerranderie. NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| Discharging the water tank. Yerranderie Mine, NSW .Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| Silver Mining at Yerranderie, NSW. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| Silver Mining at Yerranderie, NSW. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| Silver Mining at Yerranderie, NSW. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 16 August 1911 |
 |
| The mines on the Yerranderie silver field, situated in the Burragorang Valley, and reached by a 40 miles coach drive from Camden, NSW. Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 30 August 1911 |
 |
| Half-way House, Burragorang, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 6 September 1911 |
 |
| Loading Silver Ore, Yerranderie, NSW, Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 6 September 1911 |
 |
| Camden News (NSW : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 9 November 1911 |
 |
| "The Peak," at the entrance to the township of Yerranderie, NSW.Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870 - 1919), Wednesday 10 July 1912 |
Newspaper story about interactions between Aboriginal people and settlers in the Burragorang Valley. Here
Australian Casualties. Pte. D. ROWAN, 3rd (Yerranderie). Gnr. W. J. COLEMAN, 2nd Div. Amm. Col. 2nd Refcts. Yerranderie (Cairo). Pte. EDWARDS, D. T. (Yerranderie)
1920s
 |
On a lonely bush road, where the rattle of chains and the creak of waggon and harness are music to the ear of the lonely driver. A horse team on the road to Yerranderie silver mine, Burragorang Valley. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Thursday 17 December 1925 |
In 1928 the miners were locked out due to an industrial dispute.
In 1929 Fathers Keith Bush and Steve Ford, as seminarians, walked from Wentworth Falls to Picton. On the way they came across a camp of Aboriginal people in the Burragorang Valley, on Cox's River, near the Wollondilly junction. Here
MILES DUNPHY JOURNAL 11
5th to 9th April 1928
5th to 9th April 1928
In my many trips through Couridjah Corridor – named by me somewhere about this time – both before and subsequent to this 1928 Easter outing, I developed a great liking for this remarkable canyon passage or corridor through the table-land. I realised its importance as a topographical feature and that in fact it was the only naturally graded way through the tablelands to the great Burragorang Valley and Southern Blue Mountains. For a hundred years it had been a hidden feature, and presumably only a few local people had knowledge of it. It was remarkable that a road had not been put through the Corridor to serve Burragorang and the Yerranderie silver mines.
Although I had been in Lower Nattai before on several occasions, the first time I went through the whole distance of the natural pass was on Saturday, 5th October, 1913. My mate Herbert R. Gallop and I found a jinker track from Picton Lakes down to a spot a short distance below the junction of Buxton Creek with Blue Gum Creek."
*Timber getters used to cart timber along bush tracks on a jinker, a four-wheel wagon pulled by horses.
 |
BUSH FIRE FIEND swept across the Yerranderie district, and gutted Colong Homestead, NSW. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1883 - 1930), Friday 18 January 1929 |
BYRNE, G. W., Silver Mines Hotel, Yerranderie—to David W. Steedman (1929).
Yerranderie went into decline in the 1930s.
Recollections of Aboriginal people and settlers in the Burragorang Valley, 1938. Here
BARTLETT, Edgar Geoffrey, Lance Corporal NX85426. Birth 1909, Yerranderie, NSW. Unit: 1st Squadron Signals, 1st Armoured DivisionBEARD, Alfred Henry William, Gunner N271352. Residence: Yerranderie, NSW. Unit: 32nd Australian Anti Aircraft Battery
1930s
 |
| Yerranderie Public School - [Students holding dolls]. Dated: c.1930. NSW State Archives |
 |
| Red Hand Rock , Burragorang, NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 9 July 1930 |
 |
| A CEREMONIAL ROCK IN BURRAGORANG VALLEY. NSW, Sydney Mail (NSW : 1912 - 1938), Wednesday 18 March 1931 |
 |
| Camden News (NSW : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 31 October 1935 |
 |
| Mr. Frank Hearn now takes the mail and passengers to Yerranderie in a couple of hours or so, compared with the nine hours trip by coach. But, remember the roads to-day are far different to what they were in those days, and one could safely say that there were times in those days when it was impossible for a car to get as far as Sounding Rock, let alone Yerranderie. Camden News (NSW : 1895 - 1954), Thursday 30 September 1937 |
 |
| Yerranderie, Burragorang Valley, NSW, 1938, NLAUST |
1940s and WWII
An account of a family’s experience of Yerranderie, a small town west of Sydney, during WWII. Here
 |
| "SEVENTY-TWO-YEAR-OLD Arthur Mealing has been a miner all his life, worked six years in the Silver Peaks until it closed down in 1928. Arthur plays dominoes nightly at the pub, likes his rum, says he'd like to be armed with a pep-rifle and meet Hitler alone in the bush around Yerranderie." NSW. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Sunday 13 July 1941 |
 |
| "IN THIS WILD mountain gully behind the mine are 50,000 tons of "skimp," residue from the crushing mill. Vandals have smashed glass windows of the mill (in foreground) but few people visit old workings. Once a year engineers look over costly plant, grease it to guard against rust." Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Sunday 13 July 1941. Yerranderie." NSW |
 |
| DESERTED ASSAY room, where dust has settled thickly. From workings was wrested 20 tons of ore daily, which yielded 400oz. of silver, four pennyweights of gold to the ton. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Sunday 13 July 1941. Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| MAIN STREET OF YERRANDERIE, IN THE UPPER BURRAGORANG VALLEY, IN MID-AFTERNOON. IN THE OLD TWO-STOREY BUILDING ON THE RIGHT IS THE POST OFFICE, WHICH HAS ONE TELEPHONE SUBSCRIBER. Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW : 1931 - 1954), Sunday 13 July 1941 |
Aubin Rene Lhuede bought the entire town in 1947 and began restoring the buildings.
 |
| Sun (Sydney, NSW : 1910 - 1954), Monday 23 May 1949 |
1950s
 |
| Yerranderie, New South Wales, 1953 |
DOOM VALLEY
ONCE the Burragorang Valleywas a happy, idyllic spot, but now its
people call it "Doom Valley".
"As the Warragamba Dam
is being built, the steep
mountain slopes of this
breathtakingly beautiful val-
ley are being prepared for
the inundation that will drive
the 150 remaining inhabi-
tants from their homes, their
is being built, the steep
mountain slopes of this
breathtakingly beautiful val-
ley are being prepared for
the inundation that will drive
the 150 remaining inhabi-
tants from their homes, their
farms, and their market gar-
dens. Forty others have
already left."
dens. Forty others have
already left."
"The ghost mining town of
Yerranderie that once em-
ployed 3,000 men on silver
production still has 40
inhabitants. They are alarmed by the
knowledge that when ap-
proximately 54 miles of
roadway vanish under the
waters the township will be
completely isolated."
Yerranderie that once em-
ployed 3,000 men on silver
production still has 40
inhabitants. They are alarmed by the
knowledge that when ap-
proximately 54 miles of
roadway vanish under the
waters the township will be
completely isolated."
Houses already aban-
doned are being demolished.
doned are being demolished.
"Then will follow the destruc-
tion of:
. Two large guest houses
catering for thousands of
visitors a year.
. Three churches and
halls.
. Three post-offices.
. l8 farms, and
. A school."
Mrs. Hulme-Moir recalled how her father, the Rev. Reginald Smee, "took us to our first house at Yerranderie, it was a tin shanty with galvanised iron roof, earth floors, and the roof was lined with hessian. I'd lie in my cot at night and see the hessian denting in as the mice scuttled over my head. And sometimes there was the slither of a snake, too." (2.)
Kevin (Killer) Curry's interview in 1990 for the book "Back at the Coal Face" ..... "During the Second World War there was another group of interesting men working at Nattai Bulli. These were from the Yerranderie silver mines in the Valley. During the war there was a shortage of manpower and they were given the choice of either working at Nattai Bulli or joining the army. When I started at the pit the Yerranderie men had already been working there for some time and I must say, they were among the best people I have ever known in my life and I learned a lot from them."
"Joorilands” homestead was the last agricultural enterprise vacated in 1993.
Legislation enabling the flooding of about 4700 hectares of the World Heritage Blue Mountains National Park, to reduce the flood risk in the Hawkesbury-Nepean valley. Many objections to this.
A bridge has been installed across the top of one of the large mineshafts on Silver Peak mine allowing visitors to overlook directly into the mining area.tion of:
. Two large guest houses
catering for thousands of
visitors a year.
. Three churches and
halls.
. Three post-offices.
. l8 farms, and
. A school."
Sun-Herald (Sydney, NSW : 1953 - 1954), Sunday 19 December 1954
1970s
1990s
2000s
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW, 2017 |
2018
Around Yerranderie
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Cemetery, Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Cemetery, Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW. Outside Frank (Slippery) Norris’ cottage |
 |
| Yerranderie, NSW |
 |
| Aboriginal people made the grooves when they shaped and sharpened stone axes by grinding them against the sandstone. Near Yerranderie, NSW |
Things To Go and Places To Go
How To Get There
Start at Oberon on Edith Road, then turn right after 8km onto Butter Factory Lane, which leads onto Shooters Hill Road. Turn left onto Mount Werong Road (also known as Colong Oberon historic stock route) and follow this unsealed road past Mount Werong campground.