Story of the Capertee Valley.
Capertee Valley is 30 kilometers (km) wide and is only 1 km wider than the Grand Canyon, but not as deep (approx 1,000m to 1,857m deep)
The Valley is home to some 236 species of birds and 10% of Australia's biodiversity in a world heritage listed area. It is also home to the elusive Regent Honeyeater
Be inspired by the dramatic landscape at Gardens of Stone. This World Heritage area features stunning rock pagodas, sandstone cliffs, canyons, breathtaking scenic views and the old Glen Davis township of the shale mine along with the ruins of the Oil Shale Works.
The picture below shows the approximate position and age of the 5 layers of Strata in the cliffs of the Valley. These cliffs were exposed about 50 million years ago when the Indian and Eurasion plates moved together (same time as the Himalayas rose up)
History.
Prior to the arrival of Europeans the district was occupied by the Wiradjuri Aboriginal people.
* The first European in the district was James Blackman who surveyed a roadway from Wallerawang to Mudgee in 1821.
* The explorer, William Lawson, was in the area by 1822.
* Allan Cunningham, the well known explorer, investigated the flora and fauna of the area in 1822-23.
* Sir John Jamison established a large cattle station in the district in the 1820s. It was called 'Capita'.
* The Corlis and Gallagher families took up land in the valley in the late 1840s
*Shale was discovered in the valley in 1865.