The
Historical Markers are large, metal, printed signs, set angled into the brown-painted, rectangular metal tubed frames side by side, below the Rydal Mount Retreat Centre. The text of the left-hand one reads:
'Rydal lies in the Solitary Creek valley, just over a thousand metres above sea level. The first Europeans to obtain land in the valley were Elizabeth Cartwright and Lydia Fulton who in 1831 each received a grant of two square miles.
'Major Thomas Mitchell surveyed a new road to Bathurst which was built between 1832 and 1837. Mitchell's road through Rydal remained as the Great Western Highway to Bathurst until 1929. Part of it, where a white bridge crosses Solitary Creek, can be seen on the opposite side of the railway line.
'Several inns were built here in the 1830s. The Queen Victoria Inn was one of these and was an important haven for travellers between Sydney and Bathurst in the bushranging days. It was beside Mitchell's road on the hill just beyond the white bridge on the opposite side of the railway line and is the only building to survive from that era.
'Plans for a village to be called Solitary Creek were drawn up in 1843. Governor Gipps approved the plans but determined that it would instead be called Rydal. In the year the village was named, Queen Victoria had appointed William Wordsworth, who lived in a house called Rydal Mount in the village of Rydal in England, as Poet Laureate.
'In 1859, Rydal became a stopping point for one of Cobb and Co.'s first coach runs in New South Wales and there was a Cobb and Co. Office here until 1912. Rydal's great days started in 1868 when the NSW Government decided to build the western railway from Sydney as far as Rydal. Not only was the railway station built at that time, but the police station (to the right of this sign) and the school (directly behind this sign) were built.'
With the right-hand sign having the following text:
'For six years from 1870 Rydal was one of the most important, busiest and best known railway stations in New South Wales. Trains from Sydney terminated here. People would then travel to Bathurst and other western towns by Cobb and Co and other coaches. Wool, farm produce and gold would be loaded on trains for Sydney. The village had eight hotels, five stores and five blacksmiths. One hundred children were enrolled at the school. In 1876 the train was opened to Bathurst and the halcyon days of Rydal had finished.
'The first church built in Rydal was a Presbyterian Church which opened at the beginning of 1869. Catholic and Anglican Churches soon followed. In 1899 a Union Church was built by the community for all denominations to use because some of the original churches were in poor repair. It is located 80 metres to the left of this sign. St Matthews Catholic Church is in the street behind this sign. Both churches are still in use.
'In World Wars I and II many young men of the district enlisted. A memorial for those enlisting in WWI is at the railway station. A memorial for those enlisting in WWII is at the entrance to the showground. The Alexander Hotel (100 metres to the left of this sign) was built in 1914.
'The former Queen Victoria Inn was used between 1918 and 1925 as a training college for youths interested in joining the Franciscan Order. The former inn is now a private residence and was the home of artist John Olsen from 1989 to 1999.
'In 1921 the first Rydal Show was held and has continued until the present time, except for several years during WWII.'
Address:
16 Bathurst Street, Rydal, NSW, 2790, Australia
Visited: 1640, Thursday, 23 May, 2019