Canowindra, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Canowindra is an historic township located near Cowra
in the central west of New South Wales
, Australia
in Cabonne Shire
. Canowindra is on the Belubula River
. The curving main street, Gaskill Street, is partly an urban conservation area. At the 2006 census
, Canowindra had a population of 1,499. The name of the town is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'a home'.
, but the village was handicapped as part of a main route to the lower Lachlan, first by the lack of a bridge and later by the construction of the railway to Orange
. Today the main street has an old-world air, with its kerbside verandah posts lining the dog-leg course of what was once a bullock team track.
In October 1863, Ben Hall's gang took over the village for three days and entertained the whole population, as well as some stray travellers, all herded into the inn. An account of the incident was reported in the Bathurst Times
, also quoted in the Maitland Mercury
. A monument to Ben Hall, on the site of Robinson's inn, the Travellers' Rest, was erected in 1951, but evidently further research has indicated that the events recorded here happened at the inn on the other side of the river.
Capital of Australia. One of the largest ballooning festivals in Australia used to take place here every April. This was called Marti's Fiesta, which brought together people from local, national and international locations in a celebration of Central West hospitality and goodwill. In 2010, the Canowindra Challenge brought together a contingent of balloonist enthusiasts from around the globe to build upon the principles of Marti's Fiesta, bringing businesses together to support a week long event of ballooning competitions and skill based activities. The use of location enabled (GPS), point-of-view camera technologies was combined with live-to-web broadcasts via an online streaming platform for viewers to share in the spectacle and to join in the event virtually and for free.
This event coincides with food and wine events which bring in the greater Cabonne and surrounding districts during the April period each year.
discoveries from the late Devonian
epoch. A chance discovery by a road worker in 1956 uncovered a rich find of 360 million year old fish fossils, dating from the Devonian
period in the Paleozoic
era. The "Canowindra slab" was removed to the Australian Museum
, Sydney. The fish had been buried when trapped in a pool of water that dried up, stranding two armoured antiarch placoderms, Remigolepis walkeri and Bothriolepis yeungae
, and Canowindra grossi
, a lobe-finned crossopterygian fish, with two rare juvenile arthrodire placoderms, Groenlandaspis
species.
No further fossils had been recovered until January 1993, when a trial dig on the site using an excavator rediscovered the fossil stratum, where the mass mortality of fishes was preserved in detail (see Lagerstätte
). Specimens can be viewed in the specially established Age of Fishes Museum, with scientific support and funding from the Australian Museum. The Canowindra site has now been listed as part of Australia's National Heritage because of its international scientific importance.
Cowra, New South Wales
Cowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia in the Cowra Shire. It is located on the Mid-Western Highway, 317 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River at an altitude of 310 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census Cowra had a population of 8,430...
in the central west of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in Cabonne Shire
Cabonne Shire, New South Wales
The Cabonne Shire is a Local Government Area in the Central West of New South Wales. It is on the Mitchell Highway and the Broken Hill railway line.The council seat resides within one of the two largest villages in the Shire, Molong...
. Canowindra is on the Belubula River
Belubula River
The Belubula River is a river of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It flows from Vittoria State Forest South of Vittoria to its confluence with the Lachlan River, East of Gooloogong....
. The curving main street, Gaskill Street, is partly an urban conservation area. At the 2006 census
Census in Australia
The Australian census is administered once every five years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The most recent census was conducted on 9 August 2011; the next will be conducted in 2016. Prior to the introduction of regular censuses in 1961, they had also been run in 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933,...
, Canowindra had a population of 1,499. The name of the town is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'a home'.
History
A post office opened at Canowindra in 1847 with mail coming from CarcoarCarcoar, New South Wales
Carcoar is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Blayney Shire. In 2006, the town had a population of 218 people. It is situated just off the Mid-Western Highway 258 km west of Sydney and 52 km south-west of Bathurst and is 720 m above sea-level...
, but the village was handicapped as part of a main route to the lower Lachlan, first by the lack of a bridge and later by the construction of the railway to Orange
Orange, New South Wales
Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of . Orange has an estimated population of 39,329 and the city is a major provincial centre....
. Today the main street has an old-world air, with its kerbside verandah posts lining the dog-leg course of what was once a bullock team track.
In October 1863, Ben Hall's gang took over the village for three days and entertained the whole population, as well as some stray travellers, all herded into the inn. An account of the incident was reported in the Bathurst Times
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
, also quoted in the Maitland Mercury
Maitland, New South Wales
Maitland is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle...
. A monument to Ben Hall, on the site of Robinson's inn, the Travellers' Rest, was erected in 1951, but evidently further research has indicated that the events recorded here happened at the inn on the other side of the river.
Modern Canowindra
The Royal Hotel is on the site of another inn owned by Robinson and the plaque on the wall indicates present day understanding that this was the inn where Ben Hall's gang had their spree. Other notable buildings include the nursing home, the Junction Hotel, Finn's Building, the Victoria Hotel, the former Bank of NSW and the former CBC Bank. The Trading Post, a homewares shop, won the inland tourism award for 2006.Ballooning
Canowindra is also popularly known as the BalloonHot air balloon
The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying flight technology. It is in a class of aircraft known as balloon aircraft. On November 21, 1783, in Paris, France, the first untethered manned flight was made by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent d'Arlandes in a hot air...
Capital of Australia. One of the largest ballooning festivals in Australia used to take place here every April. This was called Marti's Fiesta, which brought together people from local, national and international locations in a celebration of Central West hospitality and goodwill. In 2010, the Canowindra Challenge brought together a contingent of balloonist enthusiasts from around the globe to build upon the principles of Marti's Fiesta, bringing businesses together to support a week long event of ballooning competitions and skill based activities. The use of location enabled (GPS), point-of-view camera technologies was combined with live-to-web broadcasts via an online streaming platform for viewers to share in the spectacle and to join in the event virtually and for free.
This event coincides with food and wine events which bring in the greater Cabonne and surrounding districts during the April period each year.
Fossils
Canowindra is the site of one of the world's great fossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
discoveries from the late Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
epoch. A chance discovery by a road worker in 1956 uncovered a rich find of 360 million year old fish fossils, dating from the Devonian
Devonian
The Devonian is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic Era spanning from the end of the Silurian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya , to the beginning of the Carboniferous Period, about 359.2 ± 2.5 Mya...
period in the Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
era. The "Canowindra slab" was removed to the Australian Museum
Australian Museum
The Australian Museum is the oldest museum in Australia, with an international reputation in the fields of natural history and anthropology. It features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology, and anthropology...
, Sydney. The fish had been buried when trapped in a pool of water that dried up, stranding two armoured antiarch placoderms, Remigolepis walkeri and Bothriolepis yeungae
Bothriolepis
Bothriolepis was the most successful genus of antiarch placoderms, if not the most successful genus of any placoderm, with over 100 species found on every continent.-Description and palaeobiology:...
, and Canowindra grossi
Canowindra (fish)
Canowindra is a prehistoric lobe-finned fish which lived during the Late Devonian period . The genus is known from only a single well preserved specimen, dubbed Canowindra grossi, after Professor Walter Gross, who spent his career studying lobe-finned fish...
, a lobe-finned crossopterygian fish, with two rare juvenile arthrodire placoderms, Groenlandaspis
Groenlandaspis
Groenlandaspis is an extinct genus of armored placoderm.Groenlandaspis was a member of the Order Arthrodira, the most successful group of placoderms which also included the superpredator Dunkleosteus...
species.
No further fossils had been recovered until January 1993, when a trial dig on the site using an excavator rediscovered the fossil stratum, where the mass mortality of fishes was preserved in detail (see Lagerstätte
Lagerstätte
A Lagerstätte is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossil richness or completeness.Palaeontologists distinguish two kinds....
). Specimens can be viewed in the specially established Age of Fishes Museum, with scientific support and funding from the Australian Museum. The Canowindra site has now been listed as part of Australia's National Heritage because of its international scientific importance.
The Bendy Street Group
One of Canowindra's unique features is the curving nature of Gaskill Street - the main street of town. It is from this feature that the Bendy Street Group has derived its name. Originally formed by local businesses as a type of "Chamber of Commerce", the Bendy Street Group has developed to encompass a whole of town approach. To date the group has developed successful submissions for funding for the upgrade of Memorial Park, veranda post replacement, Historic Town Centre signage, interpretive signage for Historically significant sites, and has facilitated funding for sporting and cemetery projects. The group has also a further two submissions in the assessment phase seeking a further $500,000 in funding for the community through the federal government and is also seeking a further $75,000 through Cabonne Shire Council. The Group has regular public meetings at The Royal Hotel to ensure its direction is guided by the popular vote. Small working parties also conduct frequent meetings in a disused bakery within the village, developing submissions and formulating work plans for the communities desired projects. Outside of the funding arena, the Bendy Street Group has organised the Bendy Street Bazaar, - a community event to raise the profile of Canowindra, has met regularly with council to discuss town planning and economic development issues and has organised and chaired the Canowindra Community Consultation with Cabonne Shire Council.Notable Canowindrans
- Rhyan GrantRhyan GrantRhyan Grant is an Australian football player who currently plays for A-League club Sydney FC as well as Australia's U-20 team.-Sydney FC:...
- Footballer currently playing for Sydney FCSydney FCSydney FC is a professional football club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and competes in the country's premier football competition, the A-League...
in the A-LeagueA-LeagueThe A-League is the top Australasian professional football league. Run by Australian governing body Football Federation Australia , it was founded in 2004 following the folding of the National Soccer League and staged its inaugural season in 2005–06. It is sponsored by Hyundai Motor Company... - Mitchell SargentMitchell SargentMitchell Sargent is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer of the 2000s. A Country New South Wales representative forward, he played club football in the NRL for the Melbourne Storm, North Queensland Cowboys and Newcastle Knights and in Super League for English side, Castleford...
- Rugby League currently playing for Castleford TigersCastleford TigersCastleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club based in Castleford in West Yorkshire, England. They participate in the professional European competition Super League. They are sometimes known as 'Cas', 'Cas Tigers', 'Classy Cas' or the 'Black & Amber'...
in the Super LeagueSuper LeagueSuper League is the top-level professional rugby league football club competition in Europe. As a result of sponsorship from engage Mutual Assurance the competition is currently officially known as the engage Super League. The League features fourteen teams: thirteen from England and one from...