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Introduction
The Great North Road is a historic road that extends north from Sydney, New South Wales Australia. It was the first road to link Sydney with the fertile Hunter Valley. Constructed with convict labour between 1825 and 1836, it extends for over 260 kilometres, traversing the rugged terrain that hindered early agricultural expansion. The road was an engineering triumph, with some sections constructed to a notably high standard. Unfortunately, it was not an unqualified success in practical terms. Apart from the steep grades, there was a lack of water and horse feed along the route. For these reasons it quickly fell into disuse with the development of alternative means of getting to the Hunter Valley, such as steamships and newer roads. Much of the road fell into total disuse while other parts were absorbed into the urban and rural road network.
The route
The Great North Road commences at Parramatta Road, at what is now the Sydney suburb of Five Dock. It passes through Ryde and Dural before reaching the Hawkesbury River at Wisemans Ferry, 100km to the north. It then climbs and winds through isolated and often rugged bushland in the Dharug National Park, continuing through Bucketty until forking at Wollombi. From there one branch continues to Singleton via Broke and the other goes to Cessnock, Maitland and on to Newcastle.
The Great North Road today
The Great North Road survives to this day, but different parts are preserved in very different ways. Much of it is under bitumen and concrete, either as suburban street or rural backroad, while some is preserved in national parks and protected from vehicular traffic. Slight evidence of its past, such as bypassed bridgeworks or even convict rock carvings, survives within the Sydney metropolitan area; in contrast, large stretches remain in original condition north of the Hawkesbury River. The first few kilometres, from Five Dock (an inner Sydney suburb) to the Parramatta River (at Abbotsford), pass through a local shopping centre and residential area. The historic name is retained for this section, the only reason anyone would think twice about this unremarkable piece of suburban road.
Preservation
In 1990, the local communities of Bucketty and Wollombi established the 'Convict Trail Project', aiming to restore, maintain and promote the road as a museum of convict engineering. Original sections of the road which are on view have provided valuable insight into early road construction techniques in the colony of New South Wales, and how English road-building technology of the time was imported and adapted.
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