Thunderbolt's Rock | |
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Location | New England Highway, Uralla, Uralla Shire, New South Wales, Australia |
Coordinates | 30°41′52″S151°28′07″E / 30.6978°S 151.4686°E |
Owner | Uralla Shire Council |
Official name | The Captain Thunderbolt Sites - Thunderbolt's Rock; Split Rock; Big Rock |
Type | State heritage (landscape) |
Designated | 20 July 2012 |
Reference no. | 1889 |
Type | Geological site or area |
Category | Landscape - Natural |
Thunderbolt's Rock is a heritage-listed rock and now picnic site and tourist attraction located adjacent to the New England Highway in Uralla, a town in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Split Rock and Big Rock. The property is owned by Uralla Shire Council. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled The Captain Thunderbolt Sites for their association with bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, along with Blanch's Royal Oak Inn, Captain Thunderbolt's Death Site, and Captain Thunderbolt's Grave. Collectively, all properties were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012. [1]
On 27 October 1863, less than three months after escaping from Cockatoo Island, Fred Ward and Fred Britten lay in wait for the mail at Split Rock. Due to the increase in bushranging a police escort accompanied the mail to Uralla. The bushrangers were surprised by Sergeant Stephen Gardiner and Senior Constable Reynolds. [1] [2] [3]
A shootout ensued with the bushrangers escaping through the boggy ground of Church Gully (south of Thunderbolt's Rock). During the escape Fred Ward was shot through the back of the left knee and was later given medical assistance by a team of saw-pit men who confirmed the injury. Differing accounts were provided of who actually shot Fred Ward; Grainger or Reynolds. [1] [3] [4]
Seven years later Split Rock was to provide the first setting for Thunderbolt's last hold-up and final day. On the afternoon of 25 May Thunderbolt met the Blanchs at Split Rock, robbed them and then accompanied the pair back to their Inn. [1]
Thunderbolt's Rock provides an excellent vantage point to survey the surrounding countryside and in the bushranging career of Fred Ward is in the vicinity of many of his robberies. It is unknown when the name of the site was changed from Split Rock to Thunderbolt's Rock but this change reflects the connection of this site with Captain Thunderbolt both physically and within the psyche of the local community. [1]
Thunderbolt's Rock is a huge cluster of granite rocks located approximately 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of Uralla on the New England Highway. [1]
As at 5 April 2012, good, although the site is heavily covered with graffiti. [1]
The integrity of the rock is high. [1]
There is a small carpark and picnic table located behind the rocks [1]
As at 5 April 2012, Thunderbolt's Rock (originally known as Split Rock or Big Rock) contributes to the State significance of the Captain Thunderbolt sites as one of the first sites associated with the transition of Frederick Ward from escapee to bushranger after his escape from Cockatoo Island in 1863. [1]
His attempted hold up of the mail at this site in November 1863 led to an altercation with police during which he was shot in the left knee; an event that was to prove important in his identification after his death in 1870. The shooting also is thought to have been an important formative event in the modus operandi of Captain Thunderbolt, preferring to run from, rather than face, police. [1]
Thunderbolt's Rock contributes to the State significance of the Captain Thunderbolt Sites as a site recognised by the public to be associated with Captain Thunderbolt. Captain Thunderbolt is one of New South Wale's best known bushrangers and is well known in the Uralla region of NSW. Thunderbolt's Rock is well marked and is a popular tourist destination. [1]
Thunderbolt's Rock contributes to the State significance of The Captain Thunderbolt Sites as being representative of the type of places used by bushrangers to hold up coaches and travellers. Thunderbolt's Rock is an identifiable location of a highway robbery and being a high point provides excellent views of the surrounding countryside. The majority of roadside robberies by bushrangers took place at locations without relocatable landmarks. Aesthetically Thunderbolt's Rock is an impressive landmark on the New England Highway from Uralla to Tamworth. [1]
The Captain Thunderbolt Sites - Thunderbolt's Rock was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012 having satisfied the following criteria. [1]
The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history.
Thunderbolt's Rock contributes to the State significance of the Captain Thunderbolt Sites as the site of the first, and last, instances of highway robbery that Captain Thunderbolt attempted. [1]
The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.
Aesthetically Thunderbolt's Rock is of local significance as an impressive landmark on the road from Uralla to Tamworth. [1]
The place has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons.
Thunderbolt's Rock contributes to the State significance of the Captain Thunderbolt Sites as a site recognised by the public to be associated with Captain Thunderbolt. Captain Thunderbolt is one of the best known bushrangers who operated in New South Wales and forms a significant element to the construction of Australian identity. Thunderbolt's Rock site is well marked and is a popular tourist destination. [1]
The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales.
Thunderbolt's Rock is unusual as an easily recognisable and well documented place where a road side hold up by bushrangers took place. [1]
The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales.
Thunderbolt's Rock is of State significance as being representative of the type of places used by bushrangers to hold up coaches and travellers. Thunderbolt's Rock is an example of the type of place Captain Thunderbolt used for road side hold ups and which helped define these criminal activities as "bushranging" due to the men appearing out of the bush on horse back and then escaping into the bush with the proceeds of the robbery. [1]
Thunderbolt's Rock is an identifiable location of a highway robbery. The majority of bushranging robberies took place at locations which cannot be verified. [1]
Bushrangers were armed robbers who hid from authorities in the bush of the British colonies in Australia. The earliest use of the term applied to escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlements in Australia. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under arms" as a way of life, using bases in the bush.
Frederick Wordsworth Ward, better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushranger" and his lengthy survival, being the longest-roaming bushranger in Australian history.
Uralla is a town on the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the intersection of the New England Highway and Thunderbolts Way, 465 kilometres (289 mi) north of Sydney and about 23 kilometres (14 mi) south-west of the city of Armidale. At the 2016 census, the township of Uralla had a population of 2,388 people. According to the 2021 census, the population of Uralla had increased to 2,728.
Thunderbolts Way is a 305-kilometre (190 mi) country road located in the Northern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia, linking Inverell via Bundarra, Uralla and Walcha to Gloucester The road is sealed and passes through thickly forested mountain areas with many nearby national parks and nature reserves.
Mary Ann Bugg was a Worimi bushranger, one of two well-documented women bushrangers in mid-19th century Australia. She was an expert horse rider and bush navigator who travelled with her bushranging partner and lover Captain Thunderbolt.
The Northern Tablelands, also known as the New England Tableland, is a plateau and a region of the Great Dividing Range in northern New South Wales, Australia. It includes the New England Range, the narrow highlands area of the New England region, stretching from the Moonbi Range in the south to the Queensland border in the north. The region corresponds generally to the Bureau of Meteorology forecast area for the Northern Tablelands which in this case includes Inverell although it is significantly lower in elevation.
Uralla Shire is a local government area located in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The New England Highway passes through the Shire.
Bundarra is a small town on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The town is located on Thunderbolts Way and on the banks of the Gwydir River, in the Uralla Shire local government area, 563 kilometres (350 mi) from the state capital, Sydney. At the 2016 census, Bundarra had a population of 394 and the surrounding area had 676 persons.
Kentucky is a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is about 17 kilometres (11 mi) south of Uralla and 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-west of Walcha and about 7 kilometres (4 mi) off the New England Highway. Kentucky is located 540 kilometres (336 mi) by rail from Sydney in Sandon County on the Northern Tablelands. It is at an altitude of 1066m and is within Uralla Shire. At the 2016 census, Kentucky had a population of 158.
Captain Thunderbolt is a 1953 Australian action film from director Cecil Holmes about the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. It was one of the few all-Australian films of the 1950s.
Henry Albert ('Bert') Forsyth, known professionally as H. A. Forsyth, was a pioneer of Australian film production during the silent era. From about 1907 to 1909 Forsyth worked as a travelling picture showman, screening the film Robbery Under Arms in Australian country towns. In 1910 his company, Southern Cross Motion Pictures, produced and released two successful motion pictures, Thunderbolt and Moonlite, based on incidents in the careers of the bushrangers Frederick Ward and Andrew Scott. For these projects Forsyth worked with Jack Gavin, who directed both films and acted in the lead roles. In January 1913 the New South Wales Government banned Forsyth's bushranger films. At various stages in his career Bert Forsyth also managed theatres that screened motion pictures.
The bushranger ban was a ban on films about bushrangers that came into effect in parts of Australia in 1911–12. Films about bushrangers had been the most popular genre of local films ever since The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Governments were worried about the influence this would have on the population and bans against films depicting bushrangers were introduced in South Australia (1911), New South Wales and Victoria (1912).
Thomas Frederick Lowry, better known as Fred Lowry, was an Australian bushranger whose crimes included horse theft, mail-coach robbery, prison escape, and assault with a deadly weapon. Lowry briefly rode with the Gardiner–Hall gang, but soon afterwards formed his own gang with John Foley.
John Foley was a bushranger and associate of Fred Lowry. In July 1863 they robbed several mail coaches, including the Mudgee mail robbery which netted £5,700 in bank-notes. Foley was captured several weeks later with bank-notes from the Mudgee mail in his possession. He was tried at Bathurst and sentenced to fifteen-years hard labour. Foley was released in 1873; he settled in the Black Springs district near Oberon and led a respectable life until his death in 1891.
Cliefden is a heritage-listed homestead at 1521 Belubula Way, Mandurama, Blayney Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with Ben Hall's Death Site, the Bushranger Hotel, Escort Rock, the Grave of Ben Hall and Wandi. It was built from 1842. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.
Escort Rock is a heritage-listed geological formation at Escort Way, Eugowra, Cabonne Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with Ben Hall's Death Site, the Bushranger Hotel, Cliefden, the Grave of Ben Hall and Wandi. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.
Captain Thunderbolt's Grave is a heritage-listed burial site located at Uralla Square in Uralla, a town in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. The grave comprises a marble headstone, designed by Mr Callcott, and built in 1914. It is also known as Uralla Old General Cemetery. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled The Captain Thunderbolt Sites for their association with bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, along with Captain Thunderbolt's Rock, Blanch's Royal Oak Inn, and Captain Thunderbolt's Death Site. Collectively, all properties were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012.
Bushranger Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel located at 24 Church Street, Collector, in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled the Ben Hall Sites for their association with bushranger Ben Hall, along with Ben Hall's Death Site, Cliefden, Escort Rock, the Grave of Ben Hall and Wandi. It was built from 1860 to 1861. It is also known as Kimberley's Commercial Hotel and Kimberley's Inn. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 8 October 2010.
Captain Thunderbolt's Death Site is a heritage-listed paddock in the Kentucky District, in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled The Captain Thunderbolt Sites for their association with bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, along with Captain Thunderbolt's Rock, Blanch's Royal Oak Inn, and Captain Thunderbolt's Grave. Collectively, all properties were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012.
Blanch's Royal Oak Inn is the heritage-listed site of a former inn on the New England Highway in Kentucky, a village in the New England region of New South Wales, Australia. It is one of a group of historic sites labelled The Captain Thunderbolt Sites for their association with bushranger Captain Thunderbolt, along with Captain Thunderbolt's Rock, Captain Thunderbolt's Death Site, and Captain Thunderbolt's Grave. Collectively, all properties were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 20 July 2012.
Media related to Captain Thunderbolt's Rock at Wikimedia Commons