Cessnock City Council has completed vegetation removal works on a historic retaining wall known as Ramsay's Leap.
Ramsay's Leap is part of the World Heritage listed Australian Convict Sites and is believed to have been built by convicts in 1830. The wall is named after an incident that happened at the site.
A prisoner named Ramsay reportedly leapt over the six-metre-high retaining wall to evade police while being escorted from St. Albans to Wollombi in the early 19th century.
The terrain in the area was very difficult to navigate at the time, so convicts were made to build a series of bridges, stone walls, culverts and buttresses to create a suitable road between Sydney and the Hunter Valley between 1826 and 1832.
This road became known as The Great North Road and is now known as The Convict Trail.
Ramsay's Leap can be found in the steep gully between Mount Manning Junction and Wollombi on The Convict Trail.
Cessnock City Mayor Jay Suvaal said he was glad to see conservation work going ahead at the site.
"Heritage sites like Ramsay's Leap are an important reminder of where we have come from," Mayor Suvaal said.
"This will be a great way for people to learn more about the history of our area and its people."
Vegetation removal works from the wall and the rock face will allow for site assessment and heritage maintenance in the future.
This project has been funded by the NSW State Government under the Caring for State Heritage category of the NSW Heritage Grants Program. Council is matching the NSW Government's contribution of $150,000.
More information about Council's current works can be found at https://www.cessnock.nsw.gov.au/Works.
