A sign protesting coal in the Liverpool Plains, NSW

Liverpool Plains, New South Wales, Australia

The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. These

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands ...

s are a region of prime agricultural land bounded to the east by the Great Dividing Range, to the south by the

Liverpool Range The Liverpool Range is a mountain range and a lava-field province in New South Wales, Australia. The eastern peaks of the range were the traditional territory of the Wonnarua people. Geography The Liverpool Range starts from the volcanic plate ...

and on the west by the

Warrumbungle Range The Warrumbungles is a mountain range in the Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The nearest town is Coonabarabran. The area is easiest accessed from the Newell Highway which is the major road link directly between Melbourne, Victoria ...

. The area is drained by the

Namoi River The Namoi River, a major perennial river that is part of the Barwon catchment of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands and North West Slopes districts of New South Wales, Australia. The Namoi River rises on the west ...

and its tributaries, the

Mooki River Mooki River, a perennial stream that is part of the Namoi catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Northern Tablelands district of New South Wales, Australia. The river starts at the junction of Omaleah Creek and Phillips ...

and the Peel River. There are many depressions, across the plains, which remain as lakes for long periods after heavy rain. These plains are unusual in that many steep hills arise suddenly from the plains. Towns in the Liverpool Plains include

Gunnedah Gunnedah is a town in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia and is the seat of the Gunnedah Shire local government area. In the the town recorded a population of 9,726. Gunnedah is situated within the Liverpool Plains, a fertile agricultu ...

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highw ...

Quirindi Quirindi ( or ) is a small town on the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia, in Liverpool Plains Shire. At the , Quirindi had a population of 3,444. It is the nearest link to Gunnedah to the west and Tamworth to the north. ...

Werris Creek Werris Creek is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, near Tamworth, in Liverpool Plains Shire. It is north of Quirindi and is at the junction of the Main North railway line to Armidale and Moree. At the 2011 census, Werris Creek had ...

and Tamworth. Smaller villages include

Breeza Breeza is a locality in New South Wales, Australia. It is about south of Gunnedah, in the Liverpool Plains The Liverpool Plains are an extensive agricultural area covering about of the north-western slopes of New South Wales in Australia ...

, Carroll,

Mullaley Mullaley is a village in the Gunnedah Shire, New South Wales, Australia. Geography Mullaley is on the Oxley Highway, 38 km west of Gunnedah. The Coxs Creek runs across the highway on the western side of the village. Mullaley is on the cr ...

and

Willow Tree Willows are a genus of trees. Willow Tree may refer to: Places * Willow Tree, New South Wales, a village in Australia * Willow Tree railway station, in Australia * Willow Tree (LIRR station), a railway station in New York Entertainment * "Wil ...

. Most of the region nowadays comes under the jurisdiction of Liverpool Plains Shire Council. However substantial parts of the region also form part of the

and Tamworth local government areas.

History

The Liverpool Plains were initially inhabited by Australian Aboriginal people. In the 19th century they were mostly

Gamilaraay The Gamilaraay, also known as Gomeroi, Kamilaroi, Kamillaroi and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people whose lands extend from New South Wales to southern Queensland. They form one of the four largest Indigenous nations in Aust ...

. John Oxley was the first European to visit the area while exploring the

Macquarie River The Macquarie River - Wambuul is part of the Macquarie– Barwon catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is one of the main inland rivers in New South Wales, Australia. The river rises in the central highlands of New South Wales near the ...

area in 1818. The Plains were subsequently named after the

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern ...

, the

Earl of Liverpool Earl of Liverpool is a title that has been created twice in British history. The first time was in the Peerage of Great Britain in 1796 for Charles Jenkinson, 1st Baron Hawkesbury, a favourite of King George III (see Jenkinson baronets for ...

. Nowlands Gap, a pass over the

, was discovered by William Nowland and has been described as the gateway to the Liverpool Plains. In the early 1830s,

Henry Dangar Henry Dangar (1796 - 1861) was a surveyor and explorer of Australia in the early period of British colonisation. He became a successful pastoralist and businessman, and also served as a magistrate and politician. He was born on 18 November 179 ...

surveyed and explored the area and made land claims in the name of the

Australian Agricultural Company The Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) () is a public-listed Australian company that, as at 2018, owned and operated feedlots and farms covering around of land in Queensland and the Northern Territory, roughly one percent of Australia's la ...

. In 1838, 28–30 Aboriginal Australians were murdered by a group of convicts; seven men were convicted of the "Liverpool Plains Massacre" (also referred to as the

Myall Creek massacre The Myall Creek massacre was the killing of at least twenty-eight unarmed Indigenous Australians by twelve colonists on 10 June 1838 at the Myall Creek near the Gwydir River, in northern New South Wales. After two trials, seven of the twelve c ...

) and hanged. During the 1860s

Captain Thunderbolt Frederick Wordsworth Ward (1835 – 25 May 1870), better known by the self-styled pseudonym of Captain Thunderbolt, was an Australian bushranger renowned for escaping from Cockatoo Island, and also for his reputation as the "gentleman bushra ...

(Fred Ward) and two accomplices robbed inns and mail-coaches in the Liverpool Plains district.Victor Crittenden, 'Ward, Frederick (Captain Thunderbolt) (1835 - 1870)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6

Agriculture

The Liverpool Plains area is typical of temperate woodland regions in south-east Australia. It has an elevation of approximately 270 metres above sea level., p. 32 Most of the 620 mm of rainfall the area experiences each year is high intensity and occurs in the warmer months, from October through March. Rivers run from the

s in the south-east to the

valley in the north-east, where elevation falls to 264 metres above sea level. Soils in the area are distinctly black, have a high fertility rating and store a lot of water. They are well suited to growing winter crops such as wheat, but at risk of erosion when cultivated. Agricultural settlement of the Liverpool Plains started in the late 1820s after the pass was discovered and since then it has been one of the prime agricultural regions of New South Wales. The major land uses of the Liverpool Plains are cropping and

grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to roam around and consume wild vegetations in order to convert the otherwise indigestible (by human gut) cellulose within grass and other ...

. The main crops include

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...

chickpeas The chickpea or chick pea (''Cicer arietinum'') is an annual legume of the family Fabaceae, subfamily Faboideae. Its different types are variously known as gram" or Bengal gram, garbanzo or garbanzo bean, or Egyptian pea. Chickpea seeds are hi ...

, faba beans,

sorghum ''Sorghum'' () is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Some of these species are grown as cereals for human consumption and some in pastures for animals. One species is grown for grain, while many othe ...

, sunflowers, soybeans,

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

and

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

while grazing comprises

beef cattle Beef cattle are cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of mature or almost mature cattle is mostly known as beef. In beef production there are three main stages: cow-calf opera ...

and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated s ...

mainly for prime lambs. The more fertile alluvial soils (native grassland and poplar box country) have been cleared, while larger areas of remnant vegetation (

ironbark Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accum ...

and Callitris pine) remain on poorer sandy and ridgetop soils.

References

;Bibliography *

External links

68 Threatened Species found in the Liverpool Plains
{{Coord, 30, 23, 05, S, 149, 20, 43, E, region:AU-NSW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Regions of New South Wales

History

Agriculture

See also

References

External links