Hanging Rock (also known as Dryden's Mount or Dryden's Rock,Stephanie Skidmore & Ian D. Clark (2014) "Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve", In
''An Historical Geography of Tourism in Victoria, Australia: Case Studies''
Ian D. Clarke ed., De Gruyter Open Ltd: Warsaw/Berlin, pp. 111-134. and to some

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

as Ngannelong) is a distinctive geological formation in central Victoria, Australia. A former volcano, it lies 718 m above sea level, and 105 m above the surrounding plain, between the two small

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

and Hesket, approximately 70 km north-west of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, and a few kilometres north of

Mount Macedon Mount Macedon ( ; or ) is a dormant volcano that is part of the Macedon Ranges of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The mountain has a ...

. In the middle of the 19th century, the original occupants of the place—the

Dja Dja Wurrung The Djadjawurrung or Dja Dja Wurrung, also known as the Djaara or Jajowrong people and Loddon River tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people who are the traditional owners of lands including the water catchment areas of the Loddon and Avoca ...

, Woi Wurrung and

Taungurung The Taungurung people, also spelled ''Daung Wurrung'', are Aboriginal people who are one of the Kulin nations in present-day Victoria, Australia. They consist of nine clans whose traditional language is the Taungurung language. Their Country ...

people—were forced from it. They had been its occupants for thousands of years and, colonisation notwithstanding, continue to maintain cultural and spiritual connections to it. In the late 20th century, the area became widely known as the setting of

Joan Lindsay Joan à Beckett Weigall, Lady Lindsay (16 November 189623 December 1984) was an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and visual artist. Trained in her youth as a painter, she published her first literary work in 1936 at age forty under a ...

's novel '' Picnic at Hanging Rock''.

Toponyms

Attempts to uncover Hanging Rock's Aboriginal name have proven difficult. Some think it is "Anneyelong" because of an inscription underneath an engraving of the rock made by German naturalist

William Blandowski Johann Wilhelm Theodor Ludwig von Blandowski, known as William Blandowski (21 January 1822 – 18 December 1878), was a German explorer, soldier, zoologist and mining engineer of Polish descent, famous for his exploration of the Murray and Darlin ...

after an expedition in 1855–56. Historian and toponymist Ian D. Clark believes Blandowski misheard the name, and the word was possibly "Ngannelong" or something similar. The name "Diogenes Mount" was bestowed on the rock by the surveyor Robert Hoddle in 1843, in keeping with the spirit of several ancient Macedonian names given to places by explorer Thomas Mitchell during his 1836 expedition through western Victoria, which passed close to Hanging Rock. Other names include

Mount Alexander Mount Alexander is a mountain located approximately 125 km north-west of Melbourne, near the town of Harcourt. It rises 350 metres above the surrounding area to a level of 744 metres above sea level. Being a prominent local landmark, ...

, and the

Campaspe River The Campaspe River, an inland intermittent river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Wimmera regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The ...

. Six other European names (Mount Diogenes, Diogenes' Head, Diogenes Monument, Dryden's Rock, Dryden's Monument and Hanging Rock) have also been recorded.

Geology

Hanging Rock is a mamelon, created 6.25 million years ago by stiff magma oozing from a vent and congealing in place. It is not a

volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcano, volcanic object created when magma hardens within a Volcanic vent, vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if risi ...

. There are two other mamelons nearby, created during the same period: Camels Hump, to the south on Mount Macedon and, to the east, Crozier's Rocks. Alternative names for Crozier's Rocks are Brock's Monument, Alexander's Head and Mount Crystal. All three mamelons are composed of soda

trachyte Trachyte () is an extrusive igneous rock composed mostly of alkali feldspar. It is usually light-colored and aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained), with minor amounts of mafic minerals, and is formed by the rapid cooling of lava (or shallow intrus ...

. As the magma at Hanging Rock cooled and contracted, it split into rough columns. Over time, the columns weathered into the many pinnacles that can be seen today. The three mamelons demonstrate the mechanism of plate tectonics. As the Australian Plate moved northwards towards East Asia over 27 million years, it passed over a volcanic hotspot. That resulted in the formation of a chain of volcanoes stretching from Hillsborough (33 million years ago) in Northern Queensland to Hanging Rock (6.5 million years ago), which is part of the southernmost end of that volcanic activity. This chain also includes the Warrumbungles (New South Wales, 15.5 million years ago) and the Glass House Mountains (Southern Queensland, 24.3 million years ago). Those volcanoes all have the same chemical composition. Hanging Rock contains numerous distinctive rock formations, including the "Hanging Rock" itself, a boulder suspended between other boulders, under which is the main entrance path, the Colonnade, the Eagle and the UFO. Hanging Rock's highest point is 718 metres above sea level and 105 metres above the plain below.

Community

Horse races have been held at Hanging Rock for over 100 years; the Hanging Rock Racing Club holds two race meetings a year, on New Year's Day and

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet and raising of the Flag of Great Britain, Union Flag of Great Britain by Arthur Phillip at Sydney Cove, a ...

(26 January). The Friends of Hanging Rock, established in 1987, is a community group that holds events open to the public, such as planting days and wildlife tours. In 2013, the Hanging Rock Action Group was formed by local residents to call for adequate community consultation about the Macedon Ranges Shire Council's proposal to build a 200-person conference centre and 100-bed hotel in the Eastern Paddock, adjacent to and very visible from the Rock. The local community's anger over this issue led to 7 of 9 councillors being voted out in the following elections. Hanging Rock is the centrepiece for the Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve, a public reserve managed by the Macedon Ranges Shire Council. The reserve includes a horseracing track, picnic grounds, creek, interpretation centre and cafe. The reserve is a habitat for endemic flora and fauna, including koalas, wallabies, possums, phascogales, wedge-tailed eagles, and kookaburras. There is also a "Picnic at Hanging Rock" costumed event held in February around Valentine's Day, organised by Central Highlands Victorian Historical Group. Participants dress in Victorian or Edwardian attire and picnic at the base before climbing the Rock for photo opportunities. The reserve is open to the public during daylight hours seven days a week. Entry is charged per vehicle. Camping is possible by arrangement. Hanging Rock Reserve is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. ...

as a place of historical, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria. Hanging Rock Reserve is under review by the

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was a government department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation in January 2015, the DELWP was created in the aftermath of the 2014 state election, with Premier Daniel And ...

to determine future governance and administrative arrangements for management of the site.

Treatments in novel and film

Hanging Rock was the inspiration and setting for the novel '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'', written by

and published in 1967. The novel dealt with the disappearance of a number of schoolgirls during a visit to the site. The novel's popularity led to several adaptations in film, theatre, radio and television, with the 1975 film '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' directed by

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born 21 August 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), '' Gallipoli'' (1981), '' The Y ...

the most prominent example. The film's success was responsible for a substantial increase in visits to the rock and a renewal of interest in the novel.

Concert venue

Hanging Rock reserve is used as an occasional outdoor concert venue by major international acts on tours. The following events have taken place at Hanging Rock as part of a trial by Frontier Touring and the Macedon Ranges Shire Council: *

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

– November 2010 *

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

– February 2012 *

Bruce Springsteen Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Nicknamed "the Boss", Springsteen has released 21 studio albums spanning six decades; most of his albums feature th ...

– March 2013 (Wrecking Ball tour) In 2014, the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

were scheduled to play a night concert (30 March) at Hanging Rock as part of their " 14 On Fire" tour. The death of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

's partner, L'Wren Scott, resulted in the tour's postponement. The tour was rescheduled and resumed in Adelaide on October 25. The Hanging Rock concert was rescheduled for November 8, but Jagger cancelled the concert due to a throat infection. In October 2013, Frontier Touring signed a five-year agreement with the Macedon Ranges Shire Council to hold up to four concerts per year at Hanging Rock, effective from 31 October 2014. Subsequent concerts have been: *

The Eagles The Eagles are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1971. With five number-one singles, six number-one albums, six Grammy Awards and five American Music Awards, the Eagles were one of the most successful musical acts of the 1970s in ...

– February 2015 ( History of the Eagles) *

– March 2015 *

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...

– November 2015 *

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

– February 2017 *

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

– November 2017 *

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

– January 2020 (Farewell Yellow Brick Road) *

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian musician, writer, and actor who fronts the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Known for his baritone voice, Cave's music is characterised by emotional intensity, a wide variety ...

and

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is an English comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ...

– November 2022

Gallery

File:Entrance - Hanging Rock, Victoria, Australia.JPG, Entrance to Hanging Rock, 2005 File:Rock Formations - Hanging Rock, Victoria, Australia.JPG, Rock formations, 2005 File:Engraving on Hanging Rock 2009.JPG, Engraving near the summit, 2009 File:View From Hanging Rock.jpg, View from Hanging Rock, 2015

References

External links

*
Hanging Rock Action Group
{{Authority control Victorian Heritage Register Rock formations of Victoria (state) Mountains of Victoria (state) Dja Dja Wurrung Volcanoes of Victoria (state) Pliocene volcanoes Sacred mountains of Australia