The "Great" Cumberland Forest

"Some good farming might be made. Some places were rather stoney but in general I  have not seen so good forest land in the country"

1805 - George Caley - Self taught botanist under Joseph Banks

European timber getters were the first to settle the North Shore in the early 1800's. By the 1830's a saw mill was established (near Cowan Road in 1831). Bluegum, blackbutt, stringybark, turpentine and ironbark were felled from the great forest to build Sydney. The cleared lands were converted to farms and orchards. Later these became the suburbs.

Rodgie and Hartnell, 1985, Dalrymple Hay Nature Reserve: A Twelve Month Bush Regeneration Project, Ku-Ring-Gai Bushland and Environmental Society, Pymble, Sydney