Last updated 2Jul19

NSW Portion Survey reference tree

The NSW Portion Survey reference tree is located on the NSW-ACT border 1.4km west of Westermans Homestead in the Namadgi National Park.

Location: GR 55H FA 76597-26461 (MGA94), Shannons Flat 8626-2S 1:25000


Blaze, April 2010

Visits: 22 Oct 13, 23 Mar 13, 28 Dec 10, 13 Apr 10

Photographs are available.

Documentation:

• Thanks very much to Les G from the NSW Lands and Management Authority who provided the complete good oil on the non ACT border reference tree:

1 Les first plotted the location I’d recorded at the blaze on a NSW Portions map. It fell smack on the junction of portions 126 and 131 with the ACT border. (Not sure why the areas DP 717544 are not labelled 131, but they are in the second photo.)

2 The Plan of Portion 126 shows Portion 131 to the east. Click on the thumbnail and use the Picasa magnifying glass icon to see the magnified view. Note the reference B at the north end of the boundary between portions 126 and 131. Scroll to the bottom left hand corner and look at row Corner B in the Reference to Corners table. In the No on Tree entry it says F.89.126.131

3 Look at the blaze. It consists of a carved Broad Arrow – Les notes that all Commonwealth surveys are marked using a Broad Arrow with a bar below the arrow and as there is no bar below the arrow in this case it is a NSW arrow; he also provided the fact that all actual measurements involving the blaze (eg. it being 107.8 links at 188° 22′ to the corner marker) are taken from the tip of the broad arrow. Then F, then 8?, then 12?, then 131. Pretty neat!

4 Les is not sure what the F and 8 signify. But he points out that Portions 126 and 131 are in the county of Beresford and the Portion 48 to their NE (now ACT) is in the county of Cowley. A ‘feature survey’ would have had to be done for the county border – that Feature Survey may have placed the “F” and “89”.

• Martin Chalk reports: “A copy of a survey plan for the Parish of Boboyan, County of Cowley that I have (dated 16 Aug 1911), shows the site to have a survey mark of F89.”