Johns Plains
John's Plains is located in the Parish of Prospect on the point of land on the northern bank of the Wilson River and the western bank of the Maria River and crossed by the smaller Cooperabung Creek.
History
The area of land called 'John's Plain's' was named by John Allman, the son of Captain Allman (Moyes and Mant 1986, p106). The Maitland Mercury (Saturday 8th October 1887 p 3) described Johns Plains and the surrounding area as follows: "three or four miles further is the confluence with the Wilson River, at Fenelon's (sic- Fenton's) Island. On the right is a pretty country, known as John's Plains and Lovely Banks, Three miles further is the confluence with Piper's Creek and at the head of the navigation is a village reserve even at this distance from the sea and very near the source of the river the tide is seen to flow the country being so level that this stream is more like a canal than a river"
The parcel of land an the confluence of the two rivers was planned as a Village Reserve and not made available for selection as a land grant to early settlers of the area. It was not until the plans for the Village Reserve were revoked that the land became available for selection.[1]
A Crown plan of Portions 26, 32 and 33 were surveyed for a subdivision of part of the Village Reserve (Flynn 1893: 3371.666). Presumably it was at this time that John's Plains was divided into Parish Portions. The Village Reserve was revoked on the 10th February 1894.
The surveyors recorded features of the undulating forest landscape and the variety of timber growing on it including Blood wood, Oak, Box, Gum, Tea Tree, Ironbark, and Mahogany. The surveyor described the land as "oak scrub" near the northern border, "flat swampy land" to the south along the bank of the Wilson, "scrubby forest" to the west, "oak, tea tree, gum etc" to the east.
The surveyor also recorded an old timber track which ran through the northern part of Portion 18 connecting it with the "Main Track to Timber Wharf"
Files and External Links
References
- ↑ Fiona Leslie, Lydia Sivaraman & Jamie Reeves, Historical Archaeological Assessment and Research Design Site OHK11, for NSW Roads and Maritime Services.
