Fast facts
- Heart of Celtic Country, famous for the Australian Standing Stones
- Set amid rolling countryside in the picturesque New England Tablelands
- 617 km north-west of Sydney, population 8,500
Why go there
Historical Glen Innes is a charming rural town loved for its parks, autumn colours, stately heritage-listed buildings and art, crafts and collectables shops.
It’s the most prolific sapphire region in NSW and also the site of the Australian Standing Stones.
History
Such was the influence in the 1830s of the two heavily bearded stockmen who first settled in the Glen Innes area that it became known as Beardy Plains or Land of the Beardies.
These two influential ex-convicts advised and guided prospective settlers, many of Scottish descent, to the Glen Innes region.
Glen Innes was laid out in 1851, and throughout the 19th century it prospered from the commercial mining of tin, gold, manganese, silver, emeralds and sapphires.
Things to do
- Discover the Australian Standing Stones – a circle of giant granite monoliths that are the official national monument to Australia’s Celtic pioneers.
- Step out on the town's Heritage Walk – there are more than 30 heritage-listed buildings.
- Scour through sapphire-bearing gravel at the Wee Brek Fossicking Park and the surrounding area.
- Recapture the romance of the past at nearby Deepwater and Emmaville villages.
- Sample regional produce and local wines.
Events
- Australian Celtic Festival, in April/May, attracts clans, pipe bands, dancers and entertainers from Australia and overseas.
- Land of the Beardies Festival, in November, celebrates local history with a rodeo, street parade and biggest beard contest.
Don’t miss
- The Land of the Beardies History House Museum, a folk museum featuring an array of early farm machinery, horse-drawn vehicles, photographs and historical artefacts.
- A pub crawl on horseback.
- The Cooramah Aboriginal Cultural Centre for a taste of art and bush tucker.
- The marvellous rainforest wilderness of Washpool National Park.
