THE NEWNES OIL-SHALE WORKS

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Background:
Ruins today Newnes was established about 1906 for the purpose of mining and processing oil-shale. The industry continued here intermittently until the 1930s, when the works were transferred to Glen Davis, on the other side of the mountain to the north of Newnes.

While very little is left of the town of Newnes, there are extensive ruins of the refinery and associated plant, mostly retaining walls and other brick structures. The main works site covers an area of riverbank and adjacent talus slopes extending for about 1km along the Wolgan River. These ruins can be explored by the present day visitor. The entire ruins area lies within Wollemi National Park and is maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Pictured is a section of wall at the paraffin sheds, one of the more substantial ruins to be seen within the old works area. -->
Click on either photo for more / bigger pictures of the works

Access:
The main ruins are located about 2km beyond the Newnes Hotel and on the opposite side of the river. The river crossing is located 200m past the old hotel, but this crossing is only suitable for 4-wheel drive vehicles. The only other alternative is to walk. Do not cross the river after heavy rain or when the river is in flood.
See Access to Newnes page for details on how to get to Newnes itself.
A parking area and gate mark the start of the works area. The ruins are best explored on foot and a map of the works area is helpful. (A brochure with map is sold at the Newnes Kiosk.) However, a self-guided walk has been marked out and interpretive signs at some of the more important features will assist if you don't have a map. The ruins are located on several levels and parts are overgrown. Besides the marked trail, there are numerous other tracks through the works site so that access is generally quite good.
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For a history of Newnes and it's oil-shale industry see: A Short History of Newnes page.
For details of the oil shale process used at Newnes see: Oil shale processing at Newnes page.

Circuit Photo of Works
Section of a circuit photograph of the works, looking south, c.1922.
Click on either photo for more / bigger pictures of the works

Map of works
The above map is a binary "GIF" file. If your screen shows black, click here for a "JPG" version (110kb)
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Links to the information pages on this web site:
NEWNES BASICS GETTING TO NEWNES OIL-SHALE RUINS GLOW-WORM TUNNEL OTHER WALKS OTHER PLACES
NEWNES KIOSK CAMPING & ACCOM. TOURS TO NEWNES ABOUT US OTHER WEB-SITES CURRENT CONDITIONS
RETURN TO HOME PAGE FOR LINKS TO OTHER PAGES ON THIS WEB SITE.
This page last updated 27Oct2010