The red and white soils at Burning Mountain

Burning Mountain
Unusual burning coal seam
Burning Mountain is situated near the tiny settlement of Wingen (pronounced 'win-jen') which fronts on to the New England Highway in the upper Hunter region, 300 km north of Sydney and 17 km north of Scone.

The area was occupied by the Wanaruah people before colonial settlement and it is presumably from their language that the word 'Wingen' derives. Appropriately it is said to mean 'fire'.

The first European in the vicinity was surveyor Henry Dangar who passed through the area to the west while scouting for new grazing lands. When his party was attacked by the Wanaruah's Geaweagal clan he retreated.

William Nowland passed through the area in 1827 while seeking a better route north over the Liverpool Range and on to the Liverpool Plains. He found it - at Murrurundi Gap. The route he took formed part of the Great North Road.

Local settlement began around 1840 and the township was proclaimed in 1857. When the train line was being laid between Scone and Murrurundi in 1870 a railway camp emerged. At that time there were a few houses, a store, a large hotel and two small inns. In the 1881 census the population was recorded as being 32.

A colourful piece of local history concerns the murder in 1863 of drover Peter Clarke by bushranger Henry Wilson. In the company of friends, Clarke was en route to Queensland to pick up some cattle. Slightly north-west of Burning Mountain the party was bailed up by Wilson. Clarke lunged at the highwayman to seize his gun but was shot in the neck. Undaunted he grappled with Wilson but was shot again, this time fatally. However, this gave his companions the chance to subdue the bushranger who was hanged at Maitland later that year. A 4WD track leads to a memorial near the location of his death on the Great North Road (see entry on Murrurundi).

North of Wingen the highway takes you over Warlands Range. Once you are over the top Bickham is to the east. This has been the home of the Wright family since 1848. Distinguished poet Judith Wright wrote of it in her family history, Generations of Men (1959).

Things to see:  

Wingen
At the southern end of Wingen is the Durham Hotel. Next door is The Railway Man, a bed-and-breakfast with tea rooms situated in the old station master's residence from the turn of the century, tel: (02) 6545 0409.

Further north is a cluster of shops centred around Burning Mountain Antiques which deals in Australiana, collectables and bric-a-brac (mechanicals, furnishings, china, farming and blacksmith's implements and other tools) specialising in items from colonial Australia. The building dates from the 1870s when it was a general store. The owners currently have plans to establish a barbecue area and a museum housing a collection of stationary engines, tel: (02) 6545 0235. Adjacent is the Plough Inn Coffee Shop, open seven days. On its southern side is the old Wingen Public School.

On the other side of the road, just to the north, is St Peter's Anglican Church. The original building, established in 1883, was replaced in 1912. It now serves as Wingen Craft Centre which is generally open from 10.00 a.m. - 4.00 p.m. daily, tel: (02) 6545 0406. If it is closed then you should proceed to the old sandstone building known as 'Abbotsford', situated a few hundred metres further north along the road, to the right.

Both buildings are situated on the property known as Abbotsford. The coaching inn 'Abbotsford' was built in 1845. It was used from the 1850s by the Cobb & Co coach service. Here passengers would have rested while the company changed horses for the climb over the Liverpool Range. It is now the base for the craft centre, as well as serving as a bed-and-breakfast with restaurant and tea rooms, tel: (02) 6545 0344.

Burning Mountain
Located 3.8 km north of the Highland Home is the clearly signposted turnoff to a car park with picnic-barbecue facilities, a toilet block and an information shed at the foot of the 3.5-km walking trail. As the path can get steep be sure to take some water in summer.

The path is clearly signposted

The name of the mountain derives from the sulphurous smoke which comes from fissures in the ground. It was well-known to the Wanaruah people who called it Wingen (meaning 'fire') and probably used it for warmth, tool manufacture and cooking.

It is said that the first European to notice smoke rising from the hills to the north was a farm hand named Smart working at Cressfield Station (about 9 km south) in 1828. He thought it was a bush fire but as it did not change or move over a period of days he went to have a look and came back declaring he had found a volcano. The story made the Sydney newspapers in March 1828 and several expeditions ensued.

By 1829 it was known that it was a burning coal seam, part of the 235-million-year-old Greta Series which forms the main coalfields of the Hunter Valley. As one section of the seam is burnt out the fire moves on to the next. However, as it is some 30 m underground there is little oxygen so the rate of combustion is slow. Consequently the burning site moves about one metre southwards each year. As it has moved 6 km it is estimated that it has been burning for approximately the last 5500 years. It has shifted 150 m since 1828. As the seam was once exposed to the surface it is speculated that a bushfire may have ignited it, although sulphur is capable of spontaneous combustion after heating.

Starting at the car park, cross over the small timber bridge, past the small lagoon and start up the steps. This area is characterised by narrow-leaved ironbark, grey box and rough-barked apple.

The soil here is Permian sandstone and conglomerate, reflecting the fact that this area was once covered by water as great rivers flowed from the north-east into a delta. Consequently there are large numbers of fossils deposited in pockets particularly in the group of boulders further along the walking track where it crosses the quarry road.

The thorny wattles and dead logs aside the path provide havens for insects and goannas. The view rapidly improves as the steep track elevates you above the tree-line. Once you reach the top of the hill and cross the grassy plateau you come to a gully created by subsidence where the land has collapsed into the space left by the burnt-out coal seam. The resulting cracks and vents permit the expulsion of smoke and the inhalation of oxygen which fuels the fire.

Exposed red and white soils beside the path

The path of the burning seam can easily be followed from here due to the reddened soil which is readily apparent. The trees here are younger reflecting the fact that the preceding vegetation was killed by the intense heat. Run-off from the burnt soil has altered conditions in favour of the stringybark community. The Wanaruah made the bark of this tree into a twine which they used in fishing and basket-making. The Europeans also used it for rope. The outer bark was used in the roofing of gunyah huts.

A little further on the path leads to a footbridge over a ravine which focuses attention westwards and downwards into the gully where claystones have been baked solid into brick-like forms, hence its popular name, 'the brickpits'. It is thought that the indigenous inhabitants used these hard stones in their weapons. The very dark brown soil marks the boundary of the basalt produced by volcanic lava.

Tea-trees surround the path as it climbs again to the current chimney area. With the exception of lichens and mosses they are the first to grow after the ground cools. A sign draws attention to the prospect of the Wingen Maid in the distance and the Aboriginal interpretation of the rock formation. In fact the view (653 m above sea-level) is one of the major attractions of this spot.

On the last leg of the path plants begin to disappear due to the heat. The track then reaches the current vent area. What one sees is essentially a plantless section of baked rock covered with a white patina while wisps of diffuse pale smoke drift into the air. What you smell is distinctly sulphurous and what one feels is an encompassing glow of warmth emanating from a surface which is a toasting 350°C. The temperature at the seam is thought to be about 1700°C as the heat has difficulty escaping.

The white covering is not ash but sinter, alum and sulphur, deposited on the surface through the condensation of the highly acidic gases. For about 50 years the chimney area was covered with the pipes and ducts of the Winjennia Company which drew off the fumes to obtain alum which was used in an ointment and liquid claimed to possess therapeutic qualities.

It is said that wedge-tailed eagles sometimes use the thermal currents to attain elevation.

Wingen Maid
The Wingen Maid is the name given to the profile of a section of mountain to the south-west of Wingen, at the southern rockface of Wingen Maid Nature Reserve. Viewed from certain angles it looks like the profile of a woman. Some say she is sitting, some say she is clutching flowers to her breast.

In the legends of the Wanaruah it is said that the Gumaroi tribe from over the Liverpool Range sent a raiding party south to Broke to steal Wanaruah women for wives. Forewarned by the Wiradjuri people the Wanaruah warriors prepared themselves and headed off to meet them. One of the Wanaruah women sat at the edge of the cliff in question waiting for the return of her beloved. When he failed to do so she asked the sky god Biamie to kill her as she could not bear to live without him. Taking pity on her he turned her to stone. As she was transfigured she cried tears of fire setting Burning Mountain alight.

There are several vantage points. One is on top Burning Mountain. Another is to drive south from Wingen along the New England Highway. About 5.3 km south of Burning Mountain Antiques look at the mountains on your right-hand side. With your eyes follow them a short distance to the southern edge of the cliffline.

A little further south Cressfield Road heads west off the highway to a point just south of the rock profile. If you are driving south it is signposted on the left-hand side of the road but heads off to the right. The sign indicates 'Dry Creek - 4 km'. 2.7 km down this road is another good perspective.