The Road Builders MemorialPrint Page 
The sculpture commemorates the convict road builders of the Blue Mountains region.
Convict labour was used to build Cox’s Road and, thus, open up the Central West of New South Wales. The road was completed in 1813. The bronze sculpture which took two and a half years to create comprises five human figures, each weighing about 2.8 tonnes. The figures represented are two convict labourers, one carting a boulder and the other swinging a mallet; a trooper, with a rifle and a pot of tea; and two bemused Aboriginal onlookers. The traditional owners bear witness to the brutality dealt to the convict labourers as they work to open up the continent and create a new nation.
Location
| Address: | Echo Point Road, Lilianfels Park , Katoomba, 2780 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.730148 Long: 150.310661 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Sculpture |
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| Monument Theme: | Landscape |
| Sub-Theme: | Settlement |
| Artist: | Terrance Plowright |
| Monument Manufacturer: | Rotarians & the Blue Mountains City Council |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Wednesday 7th March, 2007 |
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Rotary Club of Katoomba
Centenary Project 2005
"THE ROAD BUILDERS MEMORIAL"
These sculptures celebrate the lives of convicts and pioneer families upon whose labour the Australian nation was founded.
Equally we acknowledge the presence of the Darug and Gundungurra people who belong to this land.
Especially we bear in mind the hardships endured by the road builders.
Gangs of convicts in leg irons toiled for over 30 years to create "The Great Western Highway" from the early settlement in Emu Plains to the new development in Bathurst.
With primitive tools they endured many cold winters and hot summers - They broke rock and carted soil, forging a road through those rugged "Blue Mountains".
We ask you to pause and reflect on their lives of our ancestors who helped create our great Australian spirit and the immeasurable character of our nation.
Their character and spirit is their legacy ro all generations that follow.
Sculptor Terrance Plowright
Erected by Rotarians & the Blue Mountains City Council
Statues donated by Tom Colless
Plaque :
These Sandstone blocks
were laid by the Road Builders
1830 - 1840 as part of the
original Bathurst Road.
Their hard work and endurance
will live on in these stones.
Rotary Club of Katoomba 2010
Plaque :
Rotary Club of Katoomba
Early settlement Ancestor`s List No 1
Descendant Ancestor Ship Arrival
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