Coxs River - Description and History

Description and History

Coxs River begins just west of the city of Lithgow and flows south for many kilometres before turning east to flow into Lake Burragorang, the lake that was created when Warragamba Dam was built. It is thus a major tributary to Warragamba Dam, which supplies most of the water for Sydney, the capital of New South Wales.

To the Aborigines who lived in the area for thousands of years before white settlement, Coxs River was one of two corridors that could be used to cross the Blue Mountains, the other being the Bilpin Ridge, now the site of Bells Line of Road. Coxs River was the easiest way to cross the mountains, but this fact was unknown to the European settlers, for whom the mountains were a seemingly impassable barrier.

A former convict, John Wilson, may have been the first European to cross the Blue Mountains. Wilson arrived with the First Fleet in 1788 and was freed in 1792; he promptly went bush, living with the Aborigines and even functioning as an intermediary between them and the settlers. In 1797 he returned to Sydney, claiming to have explored up to a hundred miles in all directions around Sydney, including across the mountains. His descriptions and observations were generally accurate, and it is possible that he had crossed the mountains via the Coxs River corridor, guided by the Aborigines.

On the 24th June 1815 the naming of the Coxs River is mentioned in the Historical Records of Australia (Series I, Vol. VIII p. 572) It states: The junction of these two streams a very handsome river, now called by the Governor "Cox's River" which takes its course...and empties itself into the River Nepean..." The Nepean then becomes the Hawkesbury River and flows into the Pacaific Ocean at Broken Bay. Governor Macquarie named both Coxs River and Coxs Pass in honour of William Cox (pioneer)1764 - 1837 military officer, roadmaker and builder.