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Springwood is a town in the Blue Mountains,
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. Springwood is located 72 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD in the local government area of the
City of Blue Mountains The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains range west of Sydney. The Mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is cou ...
. At the , Springwood had a population of 8,475 people. Springwood is near the
Blue Mountains National Park The Blue Mountains National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The national park is situated approximately west of Sydney, and the park boundary is quite i ...
and the
Greater Blue Mountains Area The Greater Blue Mountains Area is a World Heritage Site located in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The area was placed on the World Heritage List at the 24th Session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Cairns in 2000 ...
World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
. It is 371 metres above sea level and, like most of the towns in the vicinity, is located on a narrow ridge between two gorges.
Winmalee Winmalee is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Winmalee is located 77 kilometres west of Sydney, in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains. At the , Winmalee had a population of 6,593. Originally known as North Springwood ...
is to the north.
Springwood railway station Springwood railway station is a heritage-listed former railway bridge and now railway station located on the Main Western line in Springwood, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by NSW Government Railways and bu ...
sits between Valley Heights and
Faulconbridge Faulconbridge is a village located in the Blue Mountains 77 km west of Sydney, New South Wales and is 450 metres above sea level. At the 2016 census, Faulconbridge had a population of 4,025 people. History and description The Faulconbrid ...
on the
Blue Mountains railway line The Blue Mountains Line (BMT) is an inter urban commuter rail service operated by NSW TrainLink serving the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The line travels west from Sydney to the major town of Katoomba and on to Mount ...
.


History

The Springwood area was first occupied by the Oryang-Ora Aboriginal people belonging to the wider Darug Aboriginal tribe of the wider Sydney region. They settled the area about 40,000 years ago, with many rock carvings and art sites in the area. At the time of settlement the chief of the clan was Oryang Jack who was drawn by French artist Pellier. "Oryang-Ora" was also the reference to the area that marked the dividing ridge line between the
Darug The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...
tribes of the north and the
Gundungurra The Gundungurra people, also spelt Gundungara, Gandangarra, Gandangara and other variations, are an Aboriginal Australian people in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Their traditional lands include present day Goulburn, Wollondilly Shire ...
tribes to the south in the Blue Mountains area. In 1815, Governor
Lachlan Macquarie Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Lachlan Macquarie, Companion of the Order of the Bath, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie se ...
and his wife stopped by what Macquarie called a spring. The place was later named Springwood: "Spring" from the springs in the area, and "wood" from the local Mountain Blue Gums (Eucalyptus deanei) of the area. As a town developed, the main street was named Macquarie Road, after Governor Macquarie. The first railway line was put through the Blue Mountains in 1867, and the Springwood station was built in 1868. This station was replaced by a more substantial building in the Victorian Gothic style, constructed in 1884 under the direction of
John Whitton John Whitton (1820, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, England – 20 February 1898), an Anglo– Australian railway engineer, was the Engineer-in-Charge for the New South Wales Government Railways, serving between 1856 and 1890, considered the Father o ...
, Chief Engineer of NSW Railways; a porter's cottage was constructed just west of the station. Springwood Station is the second-oldest surviving station in the Blue Mountains. It is listed on the (now defunct)
Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...
as well as having a New South Wales heritage listing. In 1892, James Hunter Lawson built ''Braemar'', a large, single-storey house situated on a sixty-acre property on Macquarie Road. ''Braemar'' started as a family residence, but later became a convalescent home, a boarding house, a private home again and a guesthouse. It was acquired by the
Blue Mountains City Council The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains range west of Sydney. The Mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is cou ...
in 1974, restored as a Bicentennial project and reopened in 1988. It serves as a community gallery and centre, staffed by volunteers. The local library is housed in a new building behind ''Braemar''. Christ Church Anglican Church was built on the Great Western Highway from 1888 to 1889, with extensions in the 1960s and 1980s. It was designed by the architect Sir
John Sulman Sir John Sulman (29 August 1849 – 18 August 1934) was an Australian architect. Born in Greenwich, England, he emigrated to Sydney in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and influenced the develop ...
, who had a holiday residence at
Lawson Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas ...
. Designed in the Victorian Academic Gothic style, the church is the oldest Anglican church building in the Blue Mountains and is heritage-listed. The house originally built as a vicarage, but only used as a private residence known as ''Southall'', is also heritage-listed. The Presbyterian Church building, a sandstone Gothic building located on Macquarie Road, was built in 1895. The Catholic community was originally part of the Penrith parish, but were given their own building in 1892: St Thomas Aquinas Church. The church has since relocated to St Columba's grounds, Winmalee.


Heritage listings

Springwood has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Blue Mountains National Park:
Blue Mountains walking tracks The Blue Mountains walking tracks are heritage-listed picnic areas, walking tracks and rest areas located in the Blue Mountains National Park, in the City of Blue Mountains local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from ...
* 345-347 Great Western Highway:
Christ Church Anglican Church, Springwood The Christ Church Anglican Church is a heritage-listed Anglican church located at 345-347 Great Western Highway, Springwood, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Sir John Sulman and built from 1888 to 1889. ...
* 39 Hawkesbury Road:
Buckland Convalescent Home Buckland Convalescent Home is a heritage-listed former residence and private parkland and now convalescent hospital located at 39 Hawkesbury Road, Springwood, in the City of Blue Mountains local government area of New South Wales, Australia. ...
* Main Western railway:
Springwood railway station Springwood railway station is a heritage-listed former railway bridge and now railway station located on the Main Western line in Springwood, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by NSW Government Railways and bu ...


October 2013 bushfires

A small part of Springwood, along with larger parts of the adjacent town of
Winmalee Winmalee is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Winmalee is located 77 kilometres west of Sydney, in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains. At the , Winmalee had a population of 6,593. Originally known as North Springwood ...
and nearby village of Yellow Rock were badly affected by bushfires in October 2013. 193 residential properties were destroyed, and 109 damaged in those localities.


Commercial area and transport

Springwood's commercial area centres around Macquarie Road which runs parallel to the Great Western Highway and the railway line. The Springwood & District Chamber of Commerce represents retailers, businesses, services and not-for-profit organisations in Springwood and surrounding areas. *
Springwood railway station Springwood railway station is a heritage-listed former railway bridge and now railway station located on the Main Western line in Springwood, City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by NSW Government Railways and bu ...
is on the
Blue Mountains Line The Blue Mountains Line (BMT) is an inter urban commuter rail service operated by NSW TrainLink serving the Blue Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The line travels west from Sydney to the major town of Katoomba and on to Mount ...
of the
NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, along with limited interstate services into Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Its primary inter ...
intercity network. *
Blue Mountains Transit CDC NSW is an Australian bus operator in New South Wales, Australia. It is an umbrella brand of ComfortDelGro Australia established in 2017 to cover the latter's New South Wales operations, some of which had been owned by ComfortDelGro since 200 ...
provides daily bus services through Springwood from Penrith and Katoomba, in addition to various bus routes from Springwood to Burns Road, Springwood Hospital, Hazelbrook, Winmalee and Yellow Rock.


Education

The town is serviced by three high schools, Springwood High School,
Winmalee High School Winmalee High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Winmalee, a suburb in the City of Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1985, the school caters for approxim ...
and St. Columba's High School, as well as private and selective high schools in other suburbs. Springwood is also serviced by five primary schools: Ellison Public School, Faulconbridge Public School, Winmalee Public School, Springwood Public School and St Thomas Aquinas Primary School.


Churches

* Anglican Churches Springwood Christ Church Anglican Church (1888) and the Factory (2004)">Christ Church Anglican Church, Springwood "> Christ Church Anglican Church (1888) and the Factory (2004)* Springwood Baptist * Springwood Presbyterian meeting at Frazer Presbyterian Church (1895) * Springwood Salvation Army * Springwood Uniting Church *
St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy ...
* Lutheran Springwood * Strong Nation Churches (Blue Mountains)


Climate

Despite its location in the temperate oceanic Blue Mountains region, Springwood has a humid subtropical climate (''Cfa''). Unlike the upper Blue Mountains area, it generally has mild winters and warm summers. Although Springwood's elevation is at 371 m (1,217 ft), its winter nights are warmer than those of Penrith and
Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...
in the lower Sydney metropolitan area, which lie on the footsteps of the Blue Mountains. This is mainly because cool air from the mountains sinks to the
Cumberland Plain The Cumberland Plain, an IBRA biogeographic region, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term for the low-lying plain of the ...
, thus cooling these suburbs at night. Unlike these aforementioned Sydney suburbs, which border the Blue Mountains, Springwood has a higher annual rainfall amount. Winter and early spring is relatively drier due to the
foehn effect A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of ...
from the Great Dividing Range which block rainfall that are brought on by westerly
cold front A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Northern ...
s. Furthermore, Springwood can suffer
bushfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
damage during the spring and summer months due to it being located in, and surrounded by, a predominant
eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...
woodland area which encompass the Blue Mountains region.


Celebrations and events

The town's annual celebration, Foundation Day, occurs in late March to early April. Springwood is also the site of a notable Anzac Day Parade. The Blue Mountains Vietnam Veterans' Association conducts the largest annual parade and Memorial Service for Vietnam veterans in Australasia at Springwood, on the third Sunday of August, to coincide with the anniversary of the
Battle of Long Tan The Battle of Long Tan (18 August 1966) took place in a rubber plantation near Long Tân, in Phước Tuy Province, South Vietnam, during the Vietnam War. The action was fought between Viet Cong (VC) and People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) units ...
. Springwood Australia Day Festival, conducted by Lower Mountains Fundraising Events Inc., is held in the grounds of Springwood Public School and involves local entertainers on two stages, food and market stalls and amusement rides. Springwood Springtopia Festival is held on the first Saturday of September with a similar format to Australia Day.


Parks and recreation

Springwood has some parklands with bushwalks often leading into wilderness areas. Fairy Dell is located immediately south of the township and has some tracks leading into the Blue Mountains World Heritage area. The Deanei Reserve is another bushland area which is located east of the township and hosts the threatened and endangered Blue Mountains Shalecap Forest. There are also bushland walks in this bushland Reserve. Buttenshaw Park is also a recreational area which hosts an arboretum, play structures and the Springwood Pool. Summerhayes Park is a public reserve located in Winmalee, which is used for sport and recreational activities. Its facilities include tennis and netball courts, a newly built skate park and fields for football (soccer). It is the home of Springwood United Football Club (formerly Springwood Soccer & Sports Club) and Springwood Netball Club. Summerhayes Park has diverse native flora and fauna and contains many threatened/endangered species and ecological communities. It is also a bushwalking area with many tracks, vistas and aboriginal archeological sites. Braemar Gallery opened in 1988. It serves as a community gallery. The venue hosts different exhibitions each month, showcasing local and regional artists' works. Braemar House, where the gallery is situated in, is said to be beautiful and known to be historic.


Population

Springwood is the largest town in the lower Blue Mountains. According to the 2016 Census, there were 8,475 people living in Springwood including 3,938 males (46.4%) and 4,540 females (53.6%). 79.7% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 6.9% and New Zealand 1.5%. 91.5% of people only spoke English at home. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Springwood is 147 or 1.7% of the total population. The most common responses for religion were No Religion, so described 32.2%, Catholic 20.9% and Anglican 18.7%.


See also

*
List of Blue Mountains subjects This is a list of articles about the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, Australia. A * Aboriginal sites of New South Wales (includes Blue Mountains) B * Bargo River * Barrallier, Francis * Bell railway station, New South Wales * Bell, New ...


Notable people

Notable people from or who have lived in Springwood include: *
Gerry Harvey Gerry Harvey (born 18 September 1939) is an Australian entrepreneur best known for being the executive chairman of Harvey Norman Holdings, a company which runs Australian retail chain Harvey Norman. He co-founded it with Ian Norman in 1982. ...
, entrepreneur *
Andrew Hinson Andrew Hinson (born 17 August 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Penrith Panthers and South Sydney Rabbitohs, South Sydney in the National Rugby League (NRL). Hinson grew up in the Blue Mountai ...
, rugby league player *
Julia Jacklin Julia Jacklin (born 30 August 1990) is an Australian singer-songwriter from the Blue Mountains. Jacklin's musical style has been described as indie pop, indie folk, and alternative country. She has released three studio albums, '' Don't Let th ...
, singer-songwriter *
Amanda Spratt Amanda Spratt (born 17 September 1987) is an Australian road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Spratt was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics. In 2012, 2016 and 2020 she won the Aust ...
, professional cyclist *
Graham Toulmin Graham Adrian Toulmin, AM FICD (born 31 March 1948) is a dentist and musician, notable for his fundraising and dental philanthropy for the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2009, Dr Toulmin was made a member of the Order of Australia. Life and ...
AM, dental clinic philanthropist *
Wendy Toulmin Wendy Alison Toulmin AM (née Stirling, born 5 January 1953) is a Christian philanthropist, former Executive Officer oLangham Partnership Australiaand missionary in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 2009, Wendy Toulmin was made a member of ...
AM, dental clinic philanthropist


References

{{authority control Towns in New South Wales