Interesting tale of historic stone quarry turned into public parkland - Quarry Masons Forest, Killara, New South Wales, Australia
The geological term for this metamorphic rock is prismatic
sandstone. Ku-ring-gai Council mined this quarry for ‘white metal', a hard stone used for road building, railway tracks and local houses. The quarry commenced operations in the 1890s and may have been called Wilkes Quarry after the family that owned it. In 1915, newspaper records stated:
'The shire council' of Ku-ring-gai ...is properly reconstructing and efficiently repairing the Lane Cove Road from Roseville to Wahroonga… with a foundation of 4 inches of white metal from the Council’s quarry in Killara. "
In 1946 the quarry land was transferred for public park purposes and fell into disrepair until 1992 when the site was upgraded to its current layout for use by local residents. In 2007 local residents, with the support of Ku-ring-gai Council, formed a Parkcare group (QUARRY MASONS FOREST PARKCARE GROUP) to maintain the reserve for the community which enables them to improve their environment in a hands-on way. Council provides.a Parkcare trainer who assists the group with education and training, jncluding plant identification and weed removal techniques. The Parkcare program directly contributes to improving the park and surrounding bushland for the residents of the future. S20N_347
Interesting tale of historic stone quarry turned into public parkland - Quarry Masons Forest, Killara, New South Wales, Australia
The geological term for this metamorphic rock is prismatic
sandstone. Ku-ring-gai Council mined this quarry for ‘white metal', a hard stone used for road building, railway tracks and local houses. The quarry commenced operations in the 1890s and may have been called Wilkes Quarry after the family that owned it. In 1915, newspaper records stated:
'The shire council' of Ku-ring-gai ...is properly reconstructing and efficiently repairing the Lane Cove Road from Roseville to Wahroonga… with a foundation of 4 inches of white metal from the Council’s quarry in Killara. "
In 1946 the quarry land was transferred for public park purposes and fell into disrepair until 1992 when the site was upgraded to its current layout for use by local residents. In 2007 local residents, with the support of Ku-ring-gai Council, formed a Parkcare group (QUARRY MASONS FOREST PARKCARE GROUP) to maintain the reserve for the community which enables them to improve their environment in a hands-on way. Council provides.a Parkcare trainer who assists the group with education and training, jncluding plant identification and weed removal techniques. The Parkcare program directly contributes to improving the park and surrounding bushland for the residents of the future. S20N_347