Caves Beach is a locality on the

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

peninsula between

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. The ...

and the

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Greater Newcastle Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is part of the

City of Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area (LGA) in the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city on 7 September 1984. It is adjacent to the city of Newcastle and is part of the Greater Newcastle area. ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. 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 red morwong (''Cheilodactylus (Morwong) fuscus''), also known as the sea carp, is a species of marine ray finned fish traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It ...

. The traditional custodians of the land were the

Awabakal The Awabakal people , are those Aboriginal Australians who identify with or are descended from the Awabakal tribe and its clans, Indigenous to the coastal area of what is now known as the Hunter Region of New South Wales. Their traditional te ...

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. Caves Beach NSW pano

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 grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s 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, constructed to load coal into ships, remains from this venture. 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 Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by H ...

Cold Chisel Cold Chisel are an Australian Pub rock (Australia), pub rock band, which formed in Adelaide in 1973 by mainstay members Ian Moss on guitar and vocals, Steve Prestwich on drums, Les Kaczmarek on bass and Don Walker (musician), Don Walker on pia ...

and The Angels, who performed there. The hotel was beloved by the locals but the Mawsons eventually sold the hotel for a reported $1.2 million 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.

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%.

References

External links

History of Caves Beach
(Lake Macquarie City Library) {{City of Lake Macquarie suburbs Suburbs of Lake Macquarie Coastal towns in New South Wales