Bickley Vale

Bickley Vale

Bickley Vale is situated in Camden west, and forms part of the south ward in the Camden local government area. It was assigned the status of a suburb in October 1991. This rural area adjoins Cawdor to the south and east, Grasmere to the north and Mount Hunter to the west. Its boundaries include Westbrook Road, a line drawn north from Westbrook Road, about half way between Cawdor Road and Dowles Lane to Burragorang Road, The Old Oaks Road and Fosters Lane.

The area is home to the Tharawal and Gundungurra people.

Bickley Vale is part of the area first named West Camden in 1823. After the Government Prohibition Order against the occupation of lands west of the Nepean River ceased, Governor Brisbane was authorised to grant John Macarthur a further 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) adjoining his Camden Park Estate, previously granted in 1805.

In 1885, 3,600 acres (1,457 hectares) of Camden Park Estate north of Cawdor were subdivided into small farms of up to 130 acres (53 hectares) each. Among the buyers were WH Paling, W Stimpson, GA Porter, W Carter, JW Cliff, A McCullock, Alfred Burnett and F Ferguson.

The name Bickley Vale was taken from the property owned by the Sidman family, and later became the name of their residence at 69 John Street in Camden. It was demolished in 1984 for the erection of the Camden Senior Citizens Centre.

Bickley Vale is the only location in the Camden municipality to remain virtually untouched by residential development, with only a handful of occupied dwellings. Much natural forest and many wooded areas remain, and the ridge line along most of the length of the area running north to south offers magnificent views across the landscape towards Camden.

References

GV Sidman, The Town of Camden: a facsimile, Camden Public Library, 1995

Camden Council, Camden, www.camden.nsw.gov.au

Ian Willis 2008, 'Camden Bibliography: Biography of a Country Town', Camden Historical Society, Camden, www.camdenhistory.org.au

Notes