Caves Beach, New South Wales
Suburbs around Caves Beach: | ||
Swansea | Swansea | Swansea Heads |
Pinny Beach | Caves Beach | Pacific Ocean |
Pinny Beach | Pinny Beach | Pacific Ocean |
Caves Beach is a locality on the Swansea peninsula between Lake Macquarie and the Pacific Ocean in Greater Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the City of Lake Macquarie local government area. The locality is named for the large number of caves on the nearby coastline. It has a surfing beach which is popular with the local surfers. It is highly popular for spearfishing, with the premier target species being the elusive red morwong. The traditional custodians of the land were the Awabakal people.
Local businesses include a resort, restaurants, convenient stores, IGA, Cafés, butchers, gelato store.
Geography
Caves Beach approximately covers 43 km2 (16.6 sq mi). The west side of the suburb is mainly all residential. To the east, there are more shops, cafes and restaurants. To the far east is the beach.
To the north is Swansea Heads and Ham's Beach, named after a family living on a hill behind the Surf Lifesaving Club. The rocky section of Ham's is dubbed Frenchie's Beach by the locals. To the south is Pinny's Beach.
History
Aboriginal occupation
The Plains were covered with grass trees and the Awabakal people went there to collect the resin, used in spear-making. There were campsites at Ham's beach because of the good fishing and availability of a fine-grained quartzite for making stone implements.
Early European years
Originally, Caves Beach was known as The Plains. After the name was changed to Plains Beach and then Caves Beach. In 1960 it was named Mawson but the community objected and the name Caves Beach was restored in 1965.
19th century
The Swansea-Caves Beach Surf Life Saving Club was founded in 1929 by a group of men from Swansea wanting to establish a Surf Lifesaving Club between Swansea Heads and Pinny Beach.
Early surveying for [Land Grants] occurred in 1864 and early subdivisions in 1935. in the 1940s Mr. Mawson, initiated the development of Caves Beach. At one stage he involved a Japanese consortium in a mining venture called Silver Valley Minerals but it failed to develop. The breakwater at Spoon Rocks remains from this venture, constructed to load coal into ships.
In 1958 plans were approved for a new hotel on Caves Beach Rd called The Mawson. The pub was famous and very popular throughout the 60s and 70s and attracted the attention of bands such as [Midnight Oil], [Cold Chisel] and [The Angels] who performed there. The hotel was beloved by the locals but The Mawsons eventually sold the hotel for a reported $1.2million and on 9 October 1981. In 2018 a restaurant called Mawson opened up, with the name being an obvious reminder of the old hotel.
Swansea High School opened at Caves Beach in 1964 and Caves Beach Public School was opened in 1968 beside the high school. [citation needed]
Population
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 4,054 people in Caves Beach.
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.6% of the population.
- 86.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 3.7%.
- 94.5% of people only spoke English at home.
- The most common responses for religion were No Religion 28.4%, Catholic 23.2% and Anglican 21.5%.[1]
References
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Caves Beach". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 21 July 2023. Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
External links
- History of Caves Beach (Lake Macquarie City Library)
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& localities
- Adamstown Heights
- Arcadia Vale
- Argenton
- Awaba
- Balcolyn
- Balmoral
- Barnsley
- Belmont
- Belmont North
- Belmont South
- Bennetts Green
- Blackalls Park
- Blacksmiths
- Bolton Point
- Bonnells Bay
- Boolaroo
- Booragul
- Brightwaters
- Buttaba
- Cameron Park
- Cams Wharf
- Cardiff
- Cardiff Heights
- Cardiff South
- Carey Bay
- Catherine Hill Bay
- Caves Beach
- Charlestown
- Coal Point
- Cooranbong
- Croudace Bay
- Dora Creek
- Dudley
- Edgeworth
- Eleebana
- Eraring
- Fassifern
- Fennell Bay
- Fishing Point
- Floraville
- Freemans Waterhole
- Garden Suburb
- Gateshead
- Glendale
- Highfields
- Hillsborough
- Holmesville
- Jewells
- Kahibah
- Kilaben Bay
- Killingworth
- Kotara South
- Lakelands
- Little Pelican
- Macquarie Hills
- Mandalong
- Marks Point
- Marmong Point
- Martinsville
- Mirrabooka
- Morisset
- Morisset Park
- Mount Hutton
- Murrays Beach
- Myuna Bay
- New Lambton Heights
- Nords Wharf
- Pelican
- Pinny Beach
- Rankin Park
- Rathmines
- Redhead
- Ryhope
- Seahampton
- Silverwater
- Speers Point
- Sunshine
- Swansea
- Swansea Heads
- Teralba
- Tingira Heights
- Toronto
- Valentine
- Wakefield
- Wangi Wangi
- Warners Bay
- West Wallsend
- Whitebridge
- Windale
- Windermere Park
- Woodrising
- Wyee
- Wyee Point
- Yarrawonga Park
points of interest
- Avondale College
- Belmont Anti-Tank Ditch
- Blackalls Park railway station
- Cardiff Locomotive Workshops
- Charlestown Square
- Cockle Creek Smelter
- Eraring Power Station
- Fernleigh Track
- Glenrock Lagoon
- Lake Macquarie
- Lake Macquarie Petrified Forest
- Mount Sugarloaf
- RAAF Base Rathmines
- South Waratah Colliery
- Teralba Colliery
- Toronto railway line
- Toronto railway station
- Wangi Power Station
- Watagans National Park