The Wool Road was built in 1841 and connected the
town of Nerriga to South Huskisson, now known as
Vincentia, on Jervis Bay. The route was marked
out by Surveyor James Larmer in 1840 and was
based on explorations as early as 1831. The road
was to take produce such as wool, wheat, hides
etc. from the Braidwood, Goulburn and Canberra
areas to the coast for shipping to Sydney. The
alternative route through Bungonia took three
weeks.
The road began near Nerriga, forded the Endrick
River, and ascended onto the plateau via a ridge
on Bulee Mountain. A gap (Bulee Gap) had to be
cut and blasted to allow the route to get through
the sandstone escarpment. The road continued
eastward to Sassafras, past Tianjara Falls,
across to and through the eastern escarpment at
the Wandean Gap, down the ridge towards
Jerrawangala and then north to Wandandian on to
South Huskisson.
Amazingly, the road was completed in
approximately just ten months by a gang of
seventy convicts directed by local landowner,
Colonel John Mackenzie of Nerriga, and under the
command of Captain John Coghill. Colonel John
Mackenzie was a veteran of the Spanish Peninsula
War under Wellington. He was one of the early
settlers in the Nerriga area, purchasing 900
acres in 1836.
Views from the Wandean Gap escarpment towards the
coast and to the south east (left and
below)
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