History

Stanwell Park was the name given to the farm established on the grant given to Matthew John Gibbons in 1824. He was given most of the area called Little Bulli which included present-day Stanwell Park and Coalcliff. The whole of Northern Illawarra went under the Aboriginal name Bulli. Bulli remains the name of an Illawarra suburb further south of Stanwell Park.

The area was originally inhabited by the Wodiwodi Aboriginal clan of the Tharawal people. It was traversed by 3 shipwrecked sailors in an epic journey of survival along hundreds of miles of coastline until rescued at Wattamolla, north of Stanwell Park. Two of their companions were unable to negotiate the Coal Cliffs where the Sea Cliff Bridge is today, and their remains were found by explorer George Bass, who also reported on the rich coal seam apparent in the cliffs.

Mr Gibbons installed a convict, John Paid, to manage the Stanwell Park farm. Paid however used the out-of-the-way valley as a hideout for a gang of bushrangers he formed. He adopted the name of Wolloo Jack and his gang terrorised the Bargo to Liverpool area until he and others of the gang were sent to the gallows in 1829.

When Governor Lachlan Macquarie visited Stanwell Park in 1822 he remarked that: "On our arrival at the summit of the mountain, we were gratified with a very magnificent bird's eye view of the ocean, the 5 Islands, and of the greater part of the low country of Illawarra ... After feasting our eyes with this grand prospect, we commenced descending the mountain ... The whole face ... is clothed with the largest and finest forest trees I have ever seen in the colony."

The valley continued to attract notable people: Major Sir Thomas Mitchell, one of Australia's best-known explorers built the first house at Stanwell Park; Supreme Court Judge John Fletcher Hargrave later owned and holidayed in the area, his inheritance coming to Lawrence Hargrave, one of the world's most important aviation pioneers of the 1890s in the lead-up to powered man flight. He performed his most important experiments at Stanwell Park. Lawrence Hargrave moved to Hillcrest House, having inherited it from his brother Ralph Hargrave, in 1893. It is on the road up to the Stanwell Park railway station.

Landscape

Stanwell Park is decently hilly. However, this is not the case in whichever direction you come from. Rather, the terrain is pretty steep, and often cyclists are asked to dismount when going uphill. However, there is a narrow 40 m stretch to the south where the road passes through, it is a lot less steeper, but all the roads to the west can't be seen – due to the hills.

Climate

By car

From Princes Motorway, exit onto Lawrence Hargrave Drive and follow it for 10 mins.

By train

Due to Sydney's extensive train network, you could go here in just $8 from anywhere between Scone to Goulburn to Nowra to Port Kembla to Bathurst. Clock resets at midnight and often there's only one train service an hour after 9PM, but differs from line.