Some time ago, I was contacted by Terri Watson, who sent me this fascinating story. Is there anyone out there who knows anything about this mystery road? I know nothing about it. This is what Terri told me:-
“We are currently care taking a non-operational mine site along the Old Agnew Rd and over the last couple of weeks have had very heavy rainfall and quite a lot of flooding.”
Attached are a couple of photos I took of a rain/flood-exposed old cobbled road, and I am trying to find out its history. From edging stones and other remnants, it appears that this road ran all the way from Lawlers to Leonora or at least Eight Mile along the “Old Agnew Rd” as it is now known.
We have seen evidence of it at various spots along this road. I was told that it was put down after the war as a sustinence program (to give ‘worthy’ occupation to returned soldiers), but I have also been told that it was put down when Cobb and Co was doing the run from Lawlers, to Poison Creek, Doyles Well and then into Leonora. I was also told that it was only put down in the creek crossings but there is plenty of edging and evidence of it extending well beyond just the creeks. If it did run the full length, it would have been one heck of an undertaking and the cobbles are well placed and the road well built. What do you think???
I am also a bit concerned that with the shire redoing the road to repair it after the floods instead of covering the old cobbles up like they have done in the past, they may get removed, albeit accidentally, because of the amount of work that has to be redone this time around. The cobbled road didn’t appear from nowhere, it is old and so carefully done/placed, that you would think it was in a main street somewhere, not out in the bush – it must have some very interesting stories to tell…like where did the stone come from ( in some sections it doesn’t look locally sourced), who did the actual construction, how long was it in use, who travelled over it, why was it built to that standard out here?
I had thought there may be a mention in the following book, but it’s only indexed by names and not by subject, so a thorough read would be necessary. The book really only covers the Murchison, but I thought it might make a mention of the building of this road.
The Old Coach Roads to Cue and Beyond- by Alex Palmer
Available from:
Hesperian Press – https://www.hesperianpress.com/
and The Eastern Goldfields Historical Soc – https://www.kalgoorliehistory.org.au/
Moya Sharp
Latest posts by Moya Sharp (see all)
- Blood on the Mulga Plains: The Last Day of John Sutherland - 28/02/2026
- A Brother’s Return in Mourning: Tragedy on the Coolgardie Goldfields - 28/02/2026
- The Contract at Old Warden Shaft - 28/02/2026
Leave a Reply