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Evans Survey Marker (Footsteps in Time)Print Page Print this page

28-January-2020
28-January-2020

Photographs supplied by John Huth

The Evans Survey Marker was installed as part of the Footsteps in Time Bicentenary Project in 1988 to commemorate the remarking of the first survey over the Blue Mountains by explorer and surveyor, George William Evans. The markers have since been restored.  

There are fifteen, mostly unseen pillars or obelisks that re-mark the original 1813-14 survey by surveyor, George Evans who followed close behind the explorers Blaxland, Lawson & Wentworth & their 1813 Blue Mountains Crossing. In July, 1814 a party of men led by William Cox commenced building the road from Daniel Woodriff's farm at Penrith to Bathurst. Governor Macquarie travelled to Bathurst on the new 100 mile long road in April 1815.


George William Evans (5 January 1780 – 16 October 1852) was a surveyor and early explorer in the colony of New South Wales. On 13 November 1813 Governor Lachlan Macquarie sent Evans across the Blue Mountains into the Wiradjuri nation of central-western New South Wales to confirm the findings of the exploration party of Blaxland, Lawson, and Wentworth. He was the first European to record meeting with the Wiradjuri people of the region.  

Evans generally followed the route of Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth, reaching the end of their route on 26 November 1813 at a point Evans named Mount Blaxland. Evan's party then moved on and discovered the Fish River area and further west near the junction of the now named Fish and Campbell Rivers and described two plains in his view, the O'Connell Plains and the Macquarie Plains. It was on 9 December that he reached the site of present day Bathurst.

Location

Address:Station Street, Wentworth Falls, 2785
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -33.709768
Long: 150.376156
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Exploration
Approx. Event Start Date:December-1813
Approx. Event End Date:January-1814

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Saturday 8th April, 1989
Front Inscription

Traverse of George William Evans
1813 - 1814

Latitude -33° 42` 40"
Longitude 150° 22` 29"

4th Jan. 1814
WENTWORTH FALLS MARKER



 

Left Side Inscription

Plaque:
Unveiled By 
Gwen Hammond
Great, Great, Great Granddaughter Of George Evans
8th April 1989

Plaque:
FOOTSTEPS
  IN
TIME

The Re-Marking Of
The First Survey
Over The Blue Mountains
       By
GEORGE WILLIAM EVANS
December 1813 - January 1814

This Monument Is Placed As Close To The Location
Of Evan`s Surveyed Line As Can Be Calculated From
             His Original Field Book

It Is Identical To The Base Of A Trigonometrical
Survey Pillar, Currently Used Throughout N.S.W.
For Major Surveys, Of Which Evan`s Work Was A 
                  Forerunner

The "Footsteps in Time" Project Was Initiated By John Yeaman B.E.M.
And Carried Out By 
The Blue Mountains City Council & The N.S.W. Department Of Lands
 With Funding By 
The Australian Bicentennial Authority
To Celebrate Australia`s Bicentenary In 1988 

 

Source: MA, ADB
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au