Allan Cunningham Print Page

The plaque commemorates Allan Cunningham who pitched his camp near here and named Pandora`s Pass.

In 1823 Cunningham became the first known European in the district when he followed this route to Pandora`s Pass which took him over the Warrumbungle Range where he gazed down upon the Liverpool Plains. The grazing potential of the plains did not go unnoticed by the explorer and they quickly attracted squatters in search of pastures.

On April 15, 1823, Allan Cunningham left Bathurst with five men. He travelled the Cudgegong Biver, reached the Goulburn River and then turned to the north. Here his way was blocked by impassable mountains. For five weeks he searched to find an opening in this great barrier, but without success. He was almost on the point of leaving the ranges when one more ascent was decided on. He climbed the highest ridge to the westward, and from its summit he saw through a depression in the main range, the Liverpool Plains. The following day (June 7) Cunningham walked through the pass which he appropriately named Pandora's Pass. The valley leading to the pass he named Hawkesbury Vale, and before returning he planted peach stones in the vale and on the plains north of it.
Sunday Mail (Brisbane, Qld.), 16 September 1928.

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