BLUE TRAIL 2: Edgar Church’s gravesite and Pulpit Hill, Katoomba

Road builder William Cox is reputed to have completed the first Emu Plains to Bathurst Road in 1814 and 1815 without loss of life. Convict labour on the western road continued until 1844 and Edgar Church was a documented fatality in 1822.

The vegetation on Pulpit Hill includes the common Upper Mountains ridgetop vegetation community of Eucalyptus piperita and E. sieberi as well as very yellow Banksia spinulosa, Lambertia formosa and various Leptospermum species. Most prominent are the Eucalyptus oreades – a great range of tree ages within this species are visible around the flanks of Pulpit Hill.

The proposed shared path for pedestrians and cyclists between Katoomba and Medlow Bath runs near one of the most impressive corridors of elderly Oreades. It is to be hoped this corridor will be treated with respect during construction.