Appin Early history            Appin is in the lands of the Dharawal people.

“During the Dreaming a great fire swept through the land. Wiritjiribin led the people to sanctuary in a cool green gully which had been missed by the fire, under the rocky cliffs of a gorge south of Appin. Those who had perished in the fire were reincarnated as animals and Wiritjiribin appeared as a lyrebird, which became the clan’s totem, a symbol of peace and caretaker of the Land of Gawaigl, an area which became a meeting place for Peoples from all over the east coast of Australia”

European settlement in the Appin district was prohibited for some years; Appin was part of the ‘Cowpastures’ where a small herd of cattle had established themselves, having escaped from the Sydney Cove settlement.

The Appin massacre

Dharawal people made friendships among several Appin settlers, but others came into conflict. In 1814, both Aborigines and Europeans died in skirmishes, usually over stolen crops. After further deaths at Bringelly Governor Lachlan Macquarie sent a punitive expedition to round up all Aborigines in the area. Those who resisted were to be shot. On 16 April, at least 14 were killed by shooting; others were driven to jump to their deaths into a rocky gorge, near Broughton Pass.