2. Devines Hill

This beautifully curved wall can be seen between the buttresses and Hangmans Cave on Devines Hill (1 hr, gentle walk) Start 500 metres west of the main ferry landing, on the northern bank of the Hawkesbury River. Access is past a locked gate into Dharug National Park. A fifteen minute walk up a gentle gradient leads to spectacular stone walling, culverts, quarries, buttresses, chiselled and blasted rock faces and hand hewn drains. Hangmans Cave is found after a beautiful curved wall, just above the buttresses. A few hundred metres further up a track leads into the campsite where the convicts lived while building these elaborate structures.

​The Devines Hill and Finches Line part of the Great North Road is one of the 11 Australian Convict Sites that are World Heritage Listed as a group listing.

Do not miss seeing  these key features:-

• Thomas James bridge – On the sealed road beside the entrance to Devines Hill. This is the oldest bridge in use in continental Australia – stone foundations were constructed by the 25 th Road party in 1830 under convict overseer Thomas James.
• Massive buttresses, elaborate walls and culverts. Contains some of the finest engineering and convict workmanship on the Road
• Culverts – Drainage was an important feature of the 19th century road building revolution. 41 stone-lined culverts take water away from the road on Devines Hill.
• Buttresses - Five large buttresses supported the road against the face of the hill. The fourth buttress slipped down the hill after heavy rain in 1856.
• Hangmans Cave -A natural overhang with a hole in the roof. Legend says it was used to hang convicts, but more likely it was used to store gunpowder, or as an observation post for overseers.

• Stockade site -Up to 150 convicts camped here at any one time. Little physical evidence remains, but due to its high usage the area has never fully revegetated.