Stonehenge, New South Wales

‘‘‘Stonehenge’’’ is a rural locality on the Northern Tablelands of New England in New South Wales, Australia.

The settlement is located about convert|8|km|mi|0|lk=on south of Glen Innes, on the New England Highway and just north of Beardy Waters. It is about convert|3500|ft|m|0|lk=on above sea level and exists mainly as a flat plateau strewn with granite boulders, some over 5m high. Of note is a roughly spherical monolith about 2.5 metres in diameter known as the "Balancing Rock". The locality was named because of the local granite outcrops that were reminiscent of Stonehenge, England.

History

Stonehenge station was occupied by Thomas Hewitt in 1838 on behalf of Archibald Boyd making him the first settler in the Glen Innes district. In 1848, Stonehenge, also known as Boyd’s Plains covered an area of 80,000 acres. In 1886 the station was purchased by a Queensland grazier, George Morris Simpson, who built the Stonehenge homestead the following year. [Donald, J.Kay, Exploring the North Coast and New England, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst, 1987.]

The Main North railway line (now closed) crosses the New England Highway at Stonehenge, which also had a railway station which opened in 1884 and closed about 1974.

Stonehenge has a Recreation Reserve of about 80 acres which includes a sports ground, shelter shed and toilets.

References