Boronia Park - Its Cultural Heritage

Today as a part of our Hunters Hill discovery tour we did the Boronia Park Walk, which is part of the Great North Walk.

It was a beautiful walk, descending down to the Lane Cove River and continuing along the wetlands of the mangrove swamps.

We came upon extensive areas of Aboriginal middens (some of the largest we have seen) and caves where the Wallumedegal people would have lived prior to European settlement (Photo at left above).

This area of the Lane Cove River is very accessible to the shore and so the early Aboriginal tribes would have enjoyed a prime location in which to live, just as the modern day residents of Hunters Hill do.

A little further along, we came across a Sydney Water pumping station at Thorn Street. A pipeline has been laid under the river. Even though it is a major disruption to the natural environment, the pipe is hidden beneath an embankment which forms a picturesque "avenue" through the mangrove swamps (Photo a at right above.)

On emerging back into suburbia, at the entrance to Boronia Park on the corner of Park Road and Princes Street, we noticed a horse trough (Photos below).

What is the historical significance of this?

It is a Bills horse trough , one of many watering troughs that were manufactured in Australia and installed at various locations for the relief of working horses in the first half of the twentieth century. They were funded from a special trust set up by George Bills and his wife Annis.

An interesting day!

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If you are in interested in early Australian History go to our website at:

http://www.historyservices.com.au/