Barrington Tops National Park
Barrington Tops National Park wilderness area) | |
---|---|
Nearest town or city | Gloucester |
Coordinates | 32°3′10″S 151°29′37″E / 32.05278°S 151.49361°E |
Established | 3 December 1969[1] |
Area | 765.12 km2 (295.4 sq mi)[1] |
Managing authorities | NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service |
Website | Barrington Tops National Park |
See also | Protected areas of New South Wales |
The Barrington Tops National Park is a
The park is part of the Barrington Tops group
It is also part of the Barrington Tops and Gloucester Tops Important Bird Area.[4]
Environment
Geology
Barrington Tops is part of the Mount Royal Range, a spur of the Great Dividing Range. Barrington Tops is a plateau between two of the large peaks in the range. The park is believed to be an extinct volcano and the mountain ranges are made up of a mixture of sedimentary rocks with a granite top. Erosion has weathered the granite and rounded granite boulders can be seen in some areas of the park. Estimates put the age of the rock at 300 to 400 million years, well before Australia separated from Gondwana.
Climate
The climate varies from temperate on the lower altitudes to subalpine at highest elevations. A record low of −17
Flora
The ecology of the national park varies from
A large variety of plants and animals reside in the park and the steepness of the terrain ensures that they are not disturbed by humans. Plant life includes a large variety of
Fauna
The remoteness and inaccessibility of a large part of the park has allowed some of the more sensitive animals to remain largely undisturbed. A large number of fauna have been catalogued in the park. Some of the more common animals include:
Animals such as quolls, native rodents and platypus are reclusive, but may be seen. Not all of the animals in the park are desirable; introduced species such as feral horses, deer, feral pigs, feral goats, foxes, and feral cats are planned to be removed.[7]
History
The
National Park and World Heritage Area
In 1969 the area between
Aircraft crashes
A number of aircraft have crashed in and around the Barrington Tops, Aeroplane Hill being named after one of the crashes.[9] The altitude, frequent fog & cloud, storms and cold weather (causing icing) make this area potentially hazardous to aircraft. One article refers to the "Devil's Triangle".
- 16 April 1945 – De Havilland Mosquito A52-70. Wreckage found January 1946 in the national park.[10][11]
- The propeller, ailerons and machine gun were on display at the Barrington Tops Guest House.[12]
- 2 September 1948 – Australian National Airlines Douglas DC-3 VH-ANK. 13 killed.[13][14][15]
- 25 September 1967 – RAAF Mirage III-O A3-52. Pilot ejected safely.[16][17] The ejection seat was later recovered and is on display at Fighter World aviation heritage centre.[18]
- 14 September 1969 – Lockheed Hudson VH-SML crashed in the foothills. 3 killed.[19][20]
- 9 August 1981 –
- 3 August 1987 – Aermacchi MB-326H A7-079 (built as CA30-79). Crew ejected. Wreckage located by bushwalkers 28 April 1995.[22][23]
- Photo of crew being rescued from a tree.[24]
Barrington Guest House
The Barrington Guest House was built from 1925 on the upper Williams River near Barrington Tops by Norman T. McLeod, licensee of the Royal Hotel in Dungog, using timber cut and milled from the property. It stood on land consisting of 10.5 hectares (26 acres) of forest surrounded by National and State Parks and was officially opened in 1930 by Leader of the Country Party Earle Page. During the opening there was some 200 guests that attended.[25]
The guest house was a popular venue for people to stay in the park, until it burned down in a fire at 11pm on 24 September 2006 due to an electrical fault.[26] The fire was not regarded as suspicious.[27] It was undergoing modernisation under new ownership at the time of the fire. There are plans to rebuild, but no significant process has been made, and only part of the old chimney remains on the site. [28] The guest house has undergone many different owners in its history; Mattara Investments that traded as Barrington Guest House and bought the premises in 1976. Due to business troubles however, it was then placed into voluntary administration in 2000, after which the business was than taken over by David and Susan Eissa in February 2002.[29] Only one more owner has been known since (according to the now defunct website); Purchased in January 2004 by Natalie Day and Tony Horley. [30]
Access
Barrington Tops is a popular weekend destination from Sydney and Newcastle. Numerous walking trails and camping grounds are scattered throughout the park. The park also contains well marked and well-maintained gravel roads as well as specific
See also
- Barrington Tops State Conservation Area
- Careys Peak
- List of mountains in New South Wales
- Mount Royal Range
- Protected areas of New South Wales
References
- ^ a b "Barrington Tops National Park". Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
- Department of the Environment. Australian Government. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- Department of the Environment. Australian Government. 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
- ^ a b "IBA: Barrington Tops & Gloucester Tops". Birdata. Birds Australia. Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Zoete, Toivo (2000). "Vegetation survey of the Barrington Tops and Mount Royal National Parks for use in fire management". Cunninghamia. 6 (3): 511–578.
- .
- ^ Thompson, Frances; Sharpe, Donna (29 December 2011). "Ferals under fire in Barrington Tops". Newcastle Herald. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "Aboriginal associations with the park area". Barrington Tops National Park. NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
- ^ "Interesting facts about Barrington Tops". Gloucester Advocate. 25 December 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
- ^ "Military Aircraft Crashes in NSW during WW2 years". Peter Dunn's Australia at War. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "RAAF A52 De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito". ADF Aircraft Serial Numbers. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ Smith, Tim. "Plane Sailing: The archaeology of aircraft losses over water in New South Wales, Australia" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "Barrington Tops, NSW: Aircraft Crash". Emergency Management Australia National Disasters Database. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ "VH-ANK". Ed Coates' Civil Aircraft Photograph Collection. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ISBN 9781741151756. Retrieved 28 June 2008.
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald. 29 March 2004. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ^ "Mirage IIO/D". ADF Serials. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ "Crash of a Lockheed Hudson foothills of Barrington Ranges, NSW on 14 September 1954". Peter Dunn's Australia at War. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "VH-SML". The Lockheed File. Archived from the original on 17 May 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "Barrington Tops, NSW: Light Aircraft Crash in Storm". Emergency Management Australia National Disasters Database. Retrieved 10 January 2007.[permanent dead link] (password protected Australian Government site)
- ^ Crawley, CMDR John, RAN (Rtd). "A Chronological History of Ejections from ADF Aircraft" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 October 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "Aermacchi MB326". Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group. Archived from the original on 6 May 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ^ "Chronological Listing of Australian RAAF & RAN Ejections". Project Get Out and Walk. Archived from the original on 18 February 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- OCLC 38342669.[page needed]
- ^ "Fire destroys historic guesthouse". The Australian. 25 September 2006. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2007.
- ProQuest 448958194.
- ^ "Guest house to be replaced with building of similar character". www.abc.net.au. 29 July 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
- ProQuest 364744038.
- ^ "Our History". 21 August 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2021.