RUINED CASTLE MINING VILLAGE

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Since 2015 we have been engaged in surveying the remains of the 19th century Bleichert Ropeway that once linked the present Scenic World site in Katoomba with the shale mine at Ruined Castle in the Jamison valley. This ropeway, that collapsed in 1890, was the first industrial use of steel cables and buckets in Australian mining.

A preliminary archaeological survey of the late 19th century mining village at Ruined Castle was completed in 2018 by a team of archaeologists and students led by Professor Shawn Ross from Macquarie University.

The village was linked to the shale mine and Bleichert Ropeway, and was eventually abandoned when the shale mine closed in the early years of 20th century.

This survey was the first stage in the archaeological and historical exploration of the site.

The village was abandoned when the mine closed in the early years of this century, however the remains of the settlement have proved to be far more extensive than previously thought. Like many old mining sites that are scattered across the World Heritage area, they provide an important window on the economic and social life that shaped Australia and the region throughout the 19th century. Many were located in remote and inaccessible bushlands, and not only housed the men who worked in these remote mines, but also women and children.

How people lived and survived in these most remote and primitive conditions has now become the subject of an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant project commencing in mid 2020.

This new project, led by Macquarie University researchers in partnership with BMWHI, will survey both the Ruined Castle and Nellie’s Glen mining village sites and attempt to piece together a picture of just what life was like in these remote Blue Mountains mining camps in the 1890s. Goals of the project include developing a virtual reconstruction of these villages, documenting social and oral histories of those living in these mining villages and connecting with people still living in the Blue Mountains.

A rapid survey was undertaken at the Ruined Castle and Nellie’s Glen sites by the Macquarie University archaeological team in April, to take advantage of the clearing of the ground cover as a consequence of the recent fires. More detailed surveys will be undertaken from July 2020.

PUBLICATIONS

2018. Ruined Castle Shale Mining Settlement survey report.

The 2018 survey report has been submitted as a paper for publication in Volume 36 of Australasian Historical Archaeology. 

View the online and freely available GitHub repository:
https://github.com/FAIMS/bmwhi-survey-2018