Discover our National Treasures in beautiful Kangaroo Valley's historic pioneering community

Take our Kangaroo Valley Explorer Historic Walk - you will be rewarded with historic houses, shops, churches and public buildings, and seven National Trust listed places of importance.

1. Scenic Grandeur - National Trust Listed Landscape.
This valley is considered one of the principal scenic features of the Illawarra-Shoalhaven region. The natural scenic grandeur of the valley walls contrasts with the peaceful rural landscape of the lush valley floor. Magnificent vistas of the valley may be obtained from various vantage points from the roads that descend into the valley, while pockets of rainforest vegetation heighten the scenic attraction of the area. View Image
2. Aboriginal Culture
The earliest inhabitants of this district were the Jerringa people. Several tribes, like the Wodi Wodi, had exclusive use of the valley and had names for various locations. ‘Noggarah' meant a big gully and they called the riverside flats, ‘Parronrah'. Kangaroos and other wild life abounded so the valley provided game and a meeting place for the tribes of the area. There is a ‘Dreaming line' which passes through Kangaroo Valley and the valley is considered a spiritual place of great energy and healing. With the arrival of the cedar getters and cattlemen in the 1800s the aboriginal way of life changed and eventually only two tribes remained, at Trimbles Creek and along the river on the southern side of the village. They were peaceful people and traded ‘bush tucker' with the settlers. In the early 1900s the remnants of the tribes relocated to the coastal areas of the Shoalhaven.
N.B. This information is based on what is known so far. Research is ongoing and will be updated as new information becomes available.
White Settlement
The cedar cutters were active in the early part of the 19th century with the logs being floated down the Kangaroo and Shoalhaven Rivers and taken by bullock drays to coastal vessels for shipping. In 1818 Dr Charles Throsby, guided by the aboriginal chief Timelong, mapped a route into the valley. This exploration opened up the Kangaroo Ground to white settlers and the isolation of the aboriginal places changed forever.
In 1840 Henry Osborne purchased 2500 acres of land at Barrengarry and started the dairying industry in the valley. Charles Mc Caffrey managed this estate for the Osborne family; he was the first dairy farmer in the valley and produced butter for the Sydney market, transporting it in kegs slung across pack horses, over the escarpment north of Gerringong Creek, in Upper Kangaroo River, to Wollongong.
After the Robinson Land Act of 1861, pioneering families were attracted by the offer of fertile land grants and settled in the valley. After 1900 the population rose to 1400, with several communities becoming established including Barrengarry, the village of Osborne (Kangaroo Valley), Maguires, Bellawongarrah and Beaumont. View Image
3. The Showground
Our original showground was located at the hamlet of Maguires, (opposite the Cemetery) and moved to the current location in 1956. The opening day was preceded by 17 days and 31 inches of continual rain.You can still enjoy an authentic country show every February here – wonderful for all the family.
4. Kangaroo Valley Community Hall – Heritage listed (local significance)
The iconic School of Arts was designed by James Burrell and built in 1908. There have been two extensions; in 1928 and 1937, and the building is used now, as it was then, for community social events. From 1906, the Cambewarra Shire Council was based in Kangaroo Valley and met for a period in the School of Arts. View Image
5. Court House and Police Station – National Trust and Heritage listed (regional significance)
Built in 1904 and still used today as the police station, this was designed by famous NSW Government Architect, Walter Liberty Vernon and is a particularly fine example of the series of rock faced stone courthouses designed for the cooler climate areas between 1895 and 1905. View Image
6. Heritage Dwellings - Heritage listed (local significance)
Old Bakery and residence Built in the 1890s, the cottage has been lived in by a succession of bakers and their families who sold the bread from the front of the bakery house. Historic cottage
Built in the 1880s this restored cottage is one of the oldest residences in the village. Originally built as a store, it later housed the village tailor, Ruben Rosenberg until 1925.
Historic House
Currently used as the Kangaroo Valley Pottery shop, this building is a beautiful example of the architecture of its time. It was built by Peter L'Estrange in 1906 for Robert Davidson who operated 'Cheap Stores' until 1926. Ted L'Estrange bought the building in 1927 and lived there with his family. He also operated a billiard saloon and a barber's shop on the premises.
7. Bank Site - Heritage listed (local significance )
Currently used as the Fudge House, this building was originally the English Scottish and Australian Bank. It was built in 1891 by Anton Wolf in the Victorian/ Georgian style. View Image
8. Friendly Inn - Heritage listed (local significance )
Designed by Cyril Blackett and built by Mr Wiley in 1891 as the Commercial Hotel, it was brick and stone and had 17 rooms. Originally it had neither verandah nor awnings. It was a popular meeting place and banquet centre for Kangaroo Valley associations. Partially destroyed by fire in 1933, it was refurbished by Archie Freeburn and the name changed when Bill Stewart was proprietor. View Image
9. Pioneer Hotel Site
The Pioneer Motel and townhouse development now occupy a large site that was the centre of much activity from 1876-1930. Travellers on the Cobb and Co coaches between Moss Vale and the Shoalhaven were accommodated at the weatherboard Pioneer Hotel and the community enjoyed social functions in the ‘Cosmopolitan Hall' built on the eastern end by Charles Robinson. Dan Condon was the last publican before the hotel was de-licensed in 1916 and the buildings dismantled in 1930.
10. War Memorial - Heritage listed (local significance)
Designed by Mr Barr and built from granite in 1920 by Loveridge and Hudson, the memorial commemorates servicemen from the Boer War, World War 1 and World War 2. An annual ANZAC Day ceremony is held here. View Image
11. Post Office - Heritage listed (local significance)
In the early pioneering days supplies from Berry and Wollongong arrived every 3 months by pack horses over the narrow mountain track. Postal service on horseback was a couple of times a week. The first Post office, on the corner of Moss Vale Road and Jarretts Lane was operated by the Nugent family, from 1870-1909. The current Post Office building was built in the 1880s and used as a temporary Court House, Council Chambers and haberdashery store before becoming the Post Office in 1912. View Image
12. The Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd, and the graveyard - National Trust and Heritage listed (State significance)
The church was designed by John Horbury Hunt and built by John Tanner under the patronage of Isabel Osborne in 1872. Constructed of brick and local sandstone, the church had a thatched roof, which was replaced by shingles and then tiles. This was John Horbury Hunt's first independent commission and bears all of the structural honesty for which he was later to become famous. The Memorial gates for George V's Diamond Jubilee were erected in 1935. View Image
13. Kangaroo Valley Primary School and former residence - Heritage listed (regional significance)
The present sandstone building was constructed in 1885. View Image
14. St Joseph's Catholic Church and Franciscan hermitage - Heritage listed (local significance)
This is the second structure on the site. The first, a wooden structure that seated about 30 people, was built in 1873. It was replaced in 1888 by the Church of St Joseph. Red cedar cut and milled from the Valley was used for the pews. Father Harnett rode a horse from Moss Vale to the valley to conduct weekly Sunday Mass. View Image
15. Old Butcher's Shop
The Old Butcher's Shop, or 'Still Here Butchery' was owned by Bluey Wallis who counted the local policeman among his friends. This was a fortunate mateship, for if a stray beast from the adjacent sales yards was accidentally hit by some form of transport, between them they readily disposed of the carcass. The customers could be sure of fresh meat from Bluey's shop.View Image
16. Church of the Good Shepherd rectory - National Trust and Heritage listed (State significance)
Designed by the renowned colonial architect John Horbury Hunt and built by John Tanner in 1882. The sandstone for the walls and chimney was quarried from the banks of the Kangaroo River at Hampden Bridge. View Image
17. Hampden Bridge - National Trust and Heritage listed ((State significance)
Hampden Bridge was named after Lord Hampden, Governor of NSW 1895 to1899. It was designed by Ernest de Burgh and built by Loveridge and Hudson, replacing the 1879 timber truss bridge. The bridge and approaches are 280 m long and about 20m above the water level of the Kangaroo River. The twin towers of sandstone quarried from the river banks are 76 m apart. Local timber was used while the 28 steel cables were manufactured in England and shipped to Nowra. Opened on 2nd February 1898, it is now the only surviving suspension bridge of that era. A week after the official opening the old bridge was swept away in the summer floods! View Image
18. Pioneer Museum Park - Heritage listed (regional significance)
Here the Kangaroo Valley Historical Society showcases family life and farming methods of the early settlers.A remarkable collection of original settlers homes, an old school house, saddlery, blacksmiths shop and lifestyle exhibits that together make it the most significant museum of early settler life in the greater Sydney metropolitan region There are also two bush walks to be enjoyed. View Image
19. Barrengarry General Store & Post Office, and residence - Heritage listed (local significance)
A separate settlement north of the Kangaroo River was served by the Barrengarry Post Office and store from 1874. The store was run by the Manager of the Osborne's estate. View Image
Geology
Kangaroo Valley has not always been as we see it today. Over the last 450 million years it has been situated in a deep ocean, on a limestone reef, on the flanks of explosive volcanoes, in a shallow seaway and part of a huge peat swamp.The oldest rocks are in the river gorges downstream to the west of the village. Sitting above these 300-450 million year old deposits are Permian rocks, 250-300 million years old, forming most of the Kangaroo Valley slopes and hillsides. They include deep ocean sediments, siltstones, sandstone and coal measures besides lava flows still visible on Cambewarra Mountain. The Permian rocks were formed when this part of Australia was under the sea near the South Pole.Lying above the Permian rocks are shallow water sediments, shales, siltstones and sandstone from the Triassic Period, 65-250 million years in the past .The sandstones form the spectacular vertical cliffs at the summit of the Valley slopes.
More recent volcanic activity during the Tertiary Period, up to 65 million years ago along the east coast, resulted in the deposit of basalt lavas on top of the Triassic Sediments. These can be seen at Robertson.
The present Valley with its cabbage palms, fern trees and rich grasslands was formed in recent geological times over the past few million years. Kangaroo Valley is approximately 33 kilometres long, east to west and 4-10 kilometres wide. The total area is 256 square kilometres. The Valley has been carved out of the old sediments and volcanics by river erosion from Upper Kangaroo River, Barrengarry Creek and Brogers Creek. The deposits of this material into the river flats has produced the wonderful fertile soil of the dairy farms in the eastern half of the Valley.
The Tree Bank
As part of our sustainability program the Kangaroo Valley Tourist Association has planted 110 trees to commemorate the 110th birthday of Hampden Bridge. They will be harvested in future years for the restoration of the bridge's unique wooden suspension structure. Five specimen trees have been planted here, they are Black Butt, Grey Box, Iron Bark, Spotted Gum and Tallow Wood. The 110 trees have been planted at: Banksia Park, Jenoma Cottages, Man From Kangaroo Valley Horse Trail and Crystal Creek Meadows.
Other historic places of interest to visit:
The General Cemetery – National trust Listed
The ground was consecrated in 1870. All denominations are allocated separate areas including "infidels, pagans and suicides". It was originally part of the outer settlement of Maguires. View Image
Bellawongarah Church (private property)
Wesleyan Church & Minister's residence established in1867 with antique bibles and hymn books
Barrengarry House (private property)
The home of Isabel and Alick Osborne from 1870-1890. The house was substantially altered by the renowned architect John Horbury Hunt in 1880, becoming the three storey residence of today. It has 25 rooms on a 625 acre site. Auctioned in 1910 and bought by AD Nelson. Many of this well known valley family were born and lived in the house until the 1930's.

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