Kembla Heights, New South Wales facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kembla HeightsWollongong, New South Wales |
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 Kembla Heights
Location in New South Wales
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| Population | 88 (2021 census) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2526 | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | Wollongong | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Keira | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Cunningham | ||||||||||||||
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Kembla Heights is a small village located west of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It sits along Harry Graham Drive and Cordeaux Road. This area is part of a scenic route that follows the Illawarra escarpment between Mount Kembla and Mount Keira.
Kembla Heights is special because it's a heritage conservation area. This means the old buildings and the village's history are protected. It's known as the most complete mining village in the Wollongong area. The village has many simple cottages from the late Victorian and early Federation periods. It's also the last remaining coal mining village in the Illawarra region that is still owned by a company.
Part of Kembla Heights, known as Windy Gully, is also a heritage area. The historic Windy Gully Cemetery is located here and is still company-owned.
A Look Back: History of Kembla Heights
Kembla Heights is located in the traditional lands of the Dharawal Aboriginal people. For a long time, this area was an important travel route. It connected the coast to the inland Bargo area. It also linked Mt Kembla, which was seen as the men's mountain, to Mt Keira, the women's mountain.
In the early 1800s, around the 1810s, timber getters came to the area. They were looking for valuable red cedar trees. By the 1850s, European settlers began to farm the land. This led to a collection of farms near a settlement called American Creek.
Mining History in Kembla Heights
The discovery of oil shale and coal changed the area forever. Land around Kembla Heights was bought to create a mining settlement. Australia's first shale mining and kerosene factory, the Pioneer Kerosene Works, operated here from 1860 to 1878. It was owned by John Graham.
Later, the Mt Kembla Coal and Oil Company bought this factory in 1878. They opened a new coal mine nearby. This mine changed its name several times over the years. It became the Mt Kembla Colliery Ltd and then was bought by Australian Iron and Steel (AIS). AIS also developed another mine, the Nebo Colliery, on the site of the old Kerosene works.
The Mount Kembla Mine Disaster
Kembla Heights was the site of a very sad event in Australia's history. This was the Mt Kembla Mine Disaster, which happened at the Mt Kembla Coal and Oil Company's mine. It was the worst industrial accident in Australia at the time.
The disaster occurred on Thursday, July 31, 1902, at 2:03 PM. It was caused by gas that had built up in a disused part of the mine. A rock fall pushed this gas into the tunnels where miners were working. When the gas met the open flames of the miners' lamps, it exploded. This led to more explosions involving gas and coal dust.
Some miners died instantly from the blast. However, most of the victims died from Carbon monoxide poisoning. This deadly gas filled the tunnels after the explosions.
The Windy Gully cemetery was created especially for the victims of this disaster. About one-third of the miners who died were buried there. Most of them were Presbyterian or Methodist. It was first known as the Kembla Heights Cemetery.
