Jenolan Caves in the State Archives Collection

We are donning our speleological hard hats and highlighting digitised material relating to Jenolan Caves held in the State Archives Collection.

The Jenolan Caves are part of the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve, located in the Greater Blue Mountains. The Caves are on the traditional lands of the Burra Burra people who are part of the Gundungurra Nation.¹

Jenolan Caves have long been a popular tourist destination, with the land having been set aside by the NSW Government in 1866 for recreational use and public enjoyment.² Today, the caves are managed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust.

The State Archives Collection contains a range of digitised material relating to Jenolan Caves.

In this image from a series of glass-plate negatives created by the Government Printing Office, tourists can be seen posing on a bridge over Jenolan River.

The State Archives Collection also holds a series of tourist information flyers from the former NSW State Rail. Jenolan Caves features heavily in the series with advertisements of special one-day tours by rail and motor car.

The images in these tourist brochures date largely from the 1930s. Caves House and the surrounding area are still recognisable, with Caves House having changed little since the second Caves House was completed in 1926.

If you have walked the Six Foot Track, a 45-kilometre bridle trail from Katoomba to Jenolan Caves, you may know the joy of arriving on the doorstep of Caves House for a well-deserved beverage after the challenging three-day hike.

Recently digitised albums

Other material in the State Archives Collection that showcases Jenolan Caves is a set of two photograph albums created by the Government Printing Office and presented to Lord Carrington, Governor of NSW from 1885 to 1890. Lord Carrington visited the caves in 1887 and 1889. These images of the interiors of the caves were created using electric and magnesium light.

In these photographs, taken in 1887, Caves House and grounds are less recognisable – the original iteration of Caves House was a much humbler abode.

These images, taken in 1887, show the entrance to the Grand Arch before a road was constructed allowing travellers to drive through the Arch before arriving at Caves House.

The Grand Arch became the main entry way to Jenolan Caves in 1896.³ This image, taken in 1932 by the Government Printing Office, shows the road built through the Grand Arch.

Related

More digitised photos of Jenolan Caves can be viewed in the State Archives catalogue.