Archaeological Sites
Errowanbang - Pastoral Station
Little Cadia Copper Mine
Copper Smelter No. 1
Cadia Engine House and the West Cadia Mines (North Section & South Section)
Cadia Engine House - its Significance and Conservation
Cadia Village - archaeological investigations
2002
Cadia Village - finding the buildings in the 1861 inventory
The Chaplain's House or Underground Manager's House (Site W001)
Cadia Village - unexpected results from West Cadia Village
Cadia Village - the house that grew and grew
Cadia Village - Miner's Huts
Cadia Village - The Bon Accord Hotel
Cadia Village - the Cadiangullong Store and the Old Village Centre
Artifacts, Assemblages and Life Paths
Cadia Cemetery
1864 - 1927
Waringa Farm - the story of a Conditional Purchase
Tunbridge Wells - a history of farm amalgamation
Te Anau Homestead - the Holman connection with Cadia continues to 1956
Tynan's Slaughterhouse - from farm to slaughterhouse
Wire Gully Gold Diggings and Farm
Cadia Engine House - its Significance and Conservation
Significance
The Cadia Engine House is of national significance, not only because the buildings have partially survived, along with the chimney and some of the engine parts, but also because the mine site has not been heavily worked since the late 1860s, preserving the main elements of all the above ground workings.
While the engine layout is characteristic of Cornish mining machinery, it is the combination of all the surviving elements that makes the site so significant. Three things are unique about this engine house:
"It is the only engine house in New South Wales."
"No parts of any other beam engine used on an Australian mining site are known to exist."
"No original drawing of any other Cornish engine or engine house erected in Australia is known to exist."
Conservation
In order to preserve the historical significance of the Cadia Engine House, Newcrest Mining1, in conjunction with the NSW Heritage Office, restored the Engine House and Chimney in 1994. The Engine House, Chimney and surrounding area are listed on the NSW State Heritage Register.
The Engine House crushing room and chimney are protected by metal bracing to prevent any damage due to mine blasting or deterioration. Blast monitors are located at the site to ensure mine blasts do not exceed the limits set by state government.
The section of the Cornish boiler that had been used as a culvert under Old Cadia Road was returned to an area near the Engine House in December 2002.
The roof of the Engine House was removed by Newcrest Mining1 to enable the strengthening work to take place on the Engine House. The roof was constructed by Newcrest1 in the 1990s as part of a restoration project in the area. When the strengthening work is removed, the roof will be installed on the Engine House.
1 Newcrest Mining was acquired by Newmont Corporation in 2023.
The Scottish Australian Mining Company’s plan and section of the East Cadia Property shows the gold workings on Trathen’s Reef, worked in the 1870s, but the sections of the North and South Section of the West Cadia Property show the copper mining, probably up to their closure in 1868. Some of the mine shafts and lodes are named after the property investors or miners.
The Scottish Australian Mining Company’s plan of the Cadia Properties reveals some interesting details. It shows the Common established in 1866, as a result of the petition by the Cadia miners and settlers, and the land within the Common, already alienated by that date. At the south-east of the mine properties, it shows the land excluded from the mine in 1864, when the Cadiangullong Consolidated Copper Mining Company was set up. Even in 1878, the surrounding bush was only partly occupied by conditional purchases. Part of William Lawson’s Errowanbang estate is shown to the south of the mine.
The Scottish Australian Mining Company’s plan of East Cadia shows the original copper workings as well as the later gold workings at Trathen’s Reef, together with the associated water races. The old copper mine workings include the East Cadia Copper Stopes (The Cadiangullong Mine), Murphy’s Shaft and the East Cadia Engine House, as well as various drives or adits. Does the East Cadia Engine House mark the site where construction of the engine house commenced in 1862?
The Scottish Australian Mining Company’s plan of the Cadia Properties in 1881 reveals specific details of the mine and village, not seen on the earlier plan of 1878. The principal lodes of copper and iron ore are shown, along with the gold reefs. The location of the Cornish Engine and the Smelting Works are plotted. Within the Village four buildings are shown, the School, the Chaplain’s House, the Chapel and Christoe’s House (see detail). The Mine Manager’s House is not identified. The importance of education and the religious life of the villagers is revealed by this brief list of identified buildings.
The plan also clearly indicates a group of buildings at the main creek crossing, revealing the centre of the early Village.
The two water races and stamper battery, constructed in the 1870s to exploit the gold reefs are shown on this plan. The plan also shows the former location of the Canoblas Mining Company at Little Cadia and the location of a house to the south of the mine, possibly the one belonging to Dr. Matthew Blood.
