Stuart Town, New South Wales: Travel guide and things to do

Stuart Town is a small town of about 300 people which is situated in a hillside hollow, 34 km south-east of Wellington and 380 km north-west of Sydney. It is a small service centre to the surrounding area where sheep and cattle farming and orchards are the major enterprises. There are two general stores and an hotel.

The route to Stuart Town follows that to Lake Burrendong. 5 km south of Wellington turn left. After 16 km there is a T-intersection. Instead of turning left to the lake, turn right and head south. 3 km brings you to the village of Mumbil. Although it was established with the arrival of the railway in 1879, the village did not really develop until the 1950s when it became the home of those involved in the construction of Lake Burrendong . Another 10 km south is Stuart Town. The road is sealed all the way.

Stuart Town (like Mookerawa) sprang up when a goldrush was sparked in the 1870s, although it is claimed that the gold was first found in the 1840s by a shepherd who did not know what he had.

The settlement was originally known as Ironbark, after the trees in the area. As such, it is the 'Ironbark' mentioned in 'Banjo' Paterson's well-known poem, 'The Man from Ironbark'.

It has been claimed that there were as many as 6000 persons working the local fields at the peak of activities, though this may well be an exaggeration. At any rate it is clear that they were of very mixed origins, including many Chinese. While the Europeans worked individually or in small groups the Chinese worked in units numbering in the hundreds which consisted of a large extended family and friends. They worked in shifts and built water races which ran for kilometres to supply water for washing.

Reef mining was also extensively conducted though water-logging defeated many, as the effort of clearing tunnels by bucket was so exhausting and slow. After its retrieval the ore was crushed in a stamper battery. The gold was retained on mercury-coated copper plates.

By 1880 there were four hotels in existence, with another at Mookerawa. The first gold dredging in NSW was allegedly carried out here in 1899. Most mining had ceased in 1914 although some dredging continued until 1958. Reef and alluvial activities retrieved 4 metric tonnes of gold between 1875 and 1914. In the early days an ounce (28.3 g) of gold was worth three times an average weekly wage. The riches attracted a number of bushrangers. Ben Hall and his associates robbed a wine shanty at Mookerawa at one point. The well-known NSW Premier, Robert Askin, was born at Stuart Town in 1901.

Stuart Town's annual fair is held at Easter and Mumbil's on the Australia Day weekend.

Things to see

Tourist Information
The major information centre in the area is at Wellington, tel: (02) 6845 1733. You can also ring the Ironbark Inn on (02) 6846 8224.