Hanging Rock, Victoria

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Hanging Rock
(Ngannelong)

| photo = HangingRock0005.jpg

| elevation_m = 718

| elevation_ref = {{AHD}}

| prominence = {{convert|105|m|ft|0}} above plain

| prominence_ref =

| listing =

| location = Victoria, Australia

| range = Macedon

| map = Australia Victoria

| coordinates = {{coord|37.330222|S|144.595083|E|type:mountain_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref =

| type = Mamelon

| age = 6.25 million years

}}

Hanging Rock{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60605868 |title=THE HANGING ROCK, NEAR WOODEND. |newspaper=Australasian Sketcher with Pen and Pencil |volume=IV |issue=51 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=17 February 1877 |access-date=30 March 2017 |page=182 |via=National Library of Australia}} (also known as Dryden's Mount[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVxOAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA93&dq=%22Dryden's+Mount+(the+Hanging+Rock)%22 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria] Vols. 11–12. The Society, 1898, p. 93. "The object of the present paper is to briefly record the occurrence of trachyte at Macedon, Mount Diogenes (the Camel's Hump), Dryden's Mount (the Hanging Rock) and Brock's Monument, and to make a few observations concerning the trachyte of the Coleraine district." or Dryden's Rock,Stephanie Skidmore & Ian D. Clark (2014) "Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve", In: [https://books.google.com/books?id=2gVQBAAAQBAJ An Historical Geography of Tourism in Victoria, Australia: Case Studies], Ian D. Clarke ed., De Gruyter Open Ltd: Warsaw/Berlin, pp. 111-134. and to some Aboriginal Australians as Ngannelong{{Cite web|url=http://malthousetheatre.com.au/blog/jason-tamiru-the-yung-balug-perspective-of-hanging-rock|title=Jason Tamiru / The Yung Balug perspective of Hanging Rock · Malthouse Theatre|website=malthousetheatre.com.au|language=en|access-date=2018-02-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222045355/https://malthousetheatre.com.au/blog/jason-tamiru-the-yung-balug-perspective-of-hanging-rock |archive-date=2018-02-22}}) is a distinctive geological formation in central Victoria, Australia. A former volcano, it lies 718 m above sea level, and 105 m above the surrounding plain, between the two small townships of Newham and Hesket, approximately 70 km north-west of Melbourne, and a few kilometres north of Mount Macedon.

In the middle of the 19th century, the original occupants of the place—the Dja Dja Wurrung, Woi Wurrung and Taungurung people—were forced from it.{{Cite news|url=https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/qkzzzv/what-really-happened-at-hanging-rock|title=What Really Happened at Hanging Rock|date=2017-02-03|work=Vice|access-date=2018-02-21|language=en-au}} They had been its occupants for thousands of years{{Cite news|url=https://hangingrock.net.au/extracts/|title=Hanging Rock History|work=Hanging Rock - A History|access-date=2018-02-21|language=en-US}} and, colonisation notwithstanding, continue to maintain cultural and spiritual connections to it.

In the late 20th century, the area became widely known as the setting of Joan Lindsay's novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Toponyms

Attempts to uncover Hanging Rock's Aboriginal name have proven difficult. Some think it is "Anneyelong" because of an inscription underneath an engraving of the rock made by German naturalist William Blandowski after an expedition in 1855–56. Historian and toponymist Ian D. Clark believes Blandowski misheard the name, and the word was possibly "Ngannelong" or something similar.

The name "Diogenes Mount" was bestowed on the rock by the surveyor Robert Hoddle in 1843,{{Cite book|title=Hanging rock : a history|last=McConville|first=Chris|publisher=Friends of Hanging Rock Inc.|year=2017|isbn=9780648166603|edition=First|location=Woodend, Vic.|pages=53, 58–59|oclc=1011492509}} in keeping with the spirit of several ancient Macedonian names given to places by explorer Thomas Mitchell during his 1836 expedition through western Victoria, which passed close to Hanging Rock. Other names include Mount Macedon, Mount Alexander, and the Campaspe River.{{cite book |editor = Duncan, J.S. | title = Atlas of Victoria | publisher = Victorian Government Printing Office | year = 1982|isbn = 978-0-7241-8255-8|page=74}} Six other European names (Mount Diogenes, Diogenes' Head, Diogenes Monument, Dryden's Rock, Dryden's Monument and Hanging Rock) have also been recorded.

Geology

File:The Hanging Rock at Mount Diogenes, Victoria.jpg

Hanging Rock is a mamelon, created 6.25 million years ago by stiff magma oozing from a vent and congealing in place. It is not a volcanic plug. There are two other mamelons nearby, created during the same period: Camels Hump, to the south on Mount Macedon and, to the east, Crozier's Rocks.{{citation needed|date=January 2012|reason=this appears to be a local name and contradictory to some sources}} Alternative names for Crozier's Rocks are Brock's Monument, Alexander's Head and Mount Crystal. All three mamelons are composed of soda trachyte. As the magma at Hanging Rock cooled and contracted, it split into rough columns. Over time, the columns weathered into the many pinnacles that can be seen today.

The three mamelons demonstrate the mechanism of plate tectonics. As the Australian Plate moved northwards towards East Asia over 27 million years, it passed over a volcanic hotspot. That resulted in the formation of a chain of volcanoes stretching from Hillsborough (33 million years ago) in Northern Queensland to Hanging Rock (6.5 million years ago), which is part of the southernmost end of that volcanic activity. This chain also includes the Warrumbungles (New South Wales, 15.5 million years ago) and the Glass House Mountains (Southern Queensland, 24.3 million years ago). Those volcanoes all have the same chemical composition.{{Cite book|title=Hanging rock : a history|last=McConville|first=Chris|publisher=Friends of Hanging Rock Inc.|year=2017|isbn=9780648166603|edition=First|location=Woodend, Vic.|pages=65|oclc=1011492509}}{{Cite journal|last=Wellman|first=P.|date=20 July 1983|title=Hotspot Volcanism in Australia and New Zealand: Cainozoic and Mid-Mesozoic|doi=10.1016/0040-1951(83)90219-6|journal=Tectonophysics|volume= 96| issue = 3–4|pages=225–43|bibcode=1983Tectp..96..225W}}{{Cite journal|last=Wellman, P. McDougall, I.|date=July 1974|title=Cainozoic igneous activity in eastern australia|doi=10.1016/0040-1951(74)90110-3|journal=Tectonophysics|volume= 23| issue = 1–2|pages=49–65|bibcode=1974Tectp..23...49W}}

Hanging Rock contains numerous distinctive rock formations, including the "Hanging Rock" itself, a boulder suspended between other boulders, under which is the main entrance path, the Colonnade, the Eagle and the UFO. Hanging Rock's highest point is 718 metres above sea level and 105 metres above the plain below.

Community

Horse races have been held at Hanging Rock for over 100 years;{{Cite web|url= https://woodendhistory.com/the-lure-of-the-hanging-rock-races/ |title=THE LURE OF THE HANGING ROCK RACES|website=www.woodendhistory.com|language=en|access-date=2025-02-04}} the Hanging Rock Racing Club holds two race meetings a year, on New Year's Day and Australia Day (26 January).{{cite web|url=http://www.countryracing.com.au/hanging-rock |title=Country Racing Victoria - Hanging Rock |access-date=2014-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413062518/http://www.countryracing.com.au/hanging-rock |archive-date=2014-04-13 }}

The Friends of Hanging Rock, established in 1987, is a community group that holds events open to the public, such as planting days and wildlife tours.{{cite web|url=http://friendsofhangingrock.org |title=Friends of Hanging Rock – We work to restore and preserve Hanging Rock |website=Friendsofhangingrock.org |date=2015-02-05 |access-date=2017-03-29}}

In 2013, the Hanging Rock Action Group was formed by local residents to call for adequate community consultation about the Macedon Ranges Shire Council's proposal to build a 200-person conference centre and 100-bed hotel in the Eastern Paddock, adjacent to and very visible from the Rock. The local community's anger over this issue{{Cite web | url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2014/s3956948.htm | title=Residents angry with council over Hanging Rock tourism development| website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation| date=2014-03-04}} led to 7 of 9 councillors being voted out in the following elections.

Hanging Rock is the centrepiece for the Hanging Rock Recreation Reserve, a public reserve managed by the Macedon Ranges Shire Council. The reserve includes a horseracing track, picnic grounds, creek, interpretation centre and cafe. The reserve is a habitat for endemic flora and fauna, including koalas, wallabies, possums, phascogales, wedge-tailed eagles, and kookaburras.

There is also a "Picnic at Hanging Rock" costumed event held in February around Valentine's Day, organised by Central Highlands Victorian Historical Group. Participants dress in Victorian or Edwardian attire and picnic at the base before climbing the Rock for photo opportunities.

The reserve is open to the public during daylight hours seven days a week. Entry is charged per vehicle. Camping is possible by arrangement.

Hanging Rock Reserve is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register as a place of historical, aesthetic and social significance to the State of Victoria.{{cite web|url=http://vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au/places/12533 |title=VHD |website=Vhd.heritagecouncil.vic.gov.au |access-date=2017-03-29}}

Hanging Rock Reserve is under review by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning to determine future governance and administrative arrangements for management of the site.{{cite web|url=http://delwp.vic.gov.au/news-and-announcements/hanging-rock-review |title=Hanging Rock Review – DELWP |date=2015-06-17 |access-date=2017-03-29 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912130038/http://delwp.vic.gov.au/news-and-announcements/hanging-rock-review |archive-date=2015-09-12 }}

Treatments in novel and film

File:William Ford Hanging Rock.jpg]]

Hanging Rock was the inspiration and setting for the novel Picnic at Hanging Rock, written by Joan Lindsay and published in 1967. The novel dealt with the disappearance of a number of schoolgirls during a visit to the site.

The novel's popularity led to several adaptations in film, theatre, radio and television, with the 1975 film Picnic at Hanging Rock directed by Peter Weir the most prominent example. The film's success was responsible for a substantial increase in visits to the rock and a renewal of interest in the novel.

Concert venue

Hanging Rock reserve is used as an occasional outdoor concert venue by major international acts on tours.

The following events have taken place at Hanging Rock as part of a trial by Frontier Touring and the Macedon Ranges Shire Council:{{cite web|url=http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/springsteen-wrecks-hanging-rock-20130331-2h12c.html |title=Springsteen wrecks Hanging Rock |website=Theage.com.au |date=2013-03-31 |access-date=2017-03-29}}

Leonard Cohen – November 2010
Rod Stewart – February 2012
Bruce Springsteen – March 2013 (Wrecking Ball tour)

In 2014, the Rolling Stones were scheduled to play a night concert (30 March) at Hanging Rock as part of their "14 On Fire" tour. The death of Mick Jagger's partner, L'Wren Scott, resulted in the tour's postponement. The tour was rescheduled and resumed in Adelaide on October 25. The Hanging Rock concert was rescheduled for November 8, but Jagger cancelled the concert due to a throat infection.

In October 2013, Frontier Touring signed a five-year agreement with the Macedon Ranges Shire Council to hold up to four concerts per year at Hanging Rock, effective from 31 October 2014.{{cite web|url=http://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Council_the_Region/News_Media/Latest_News/More_concerts_planned_for_Hanging_Rock |title=Home - Macedon Ranges Shire Council |access-date=2014-04-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413045603/http://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Council_the_Region/News_Media/Latest_News/More_concerts_planned_for_Hanging_Rock |archive-date=2014-04-13 }}

Subsequent concerts have been:

The Eagles – February 2015 (History of the Eagles)
Rod Stewart – March 2015
Cold Chisel – November 2015
Ed Sheeran – February 2017
Bruce Springsteen – February 2017
Midnight Oil – November 2017
Elton John – January 2020 (Farewell Yellow Brick Road)
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis – November 2022

Gallery

File:Entrance - Hanging Rock, Victoria, Australia.JPG|Entrance to Hanging Rock, 2005

File:Rock Formations - Hanging Rock, Victoria, Australia.JPG|Rock formations, 2005

File:Engraving on Hanging Rock 2009.JPG|Engraving near the summit, 2009

File:View From Hanging Rock.jpg|View from Hanging Rock, 2015

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite web

| url = http://www.rollingstones.com/2014/11/06/hanging-rock-show-cancelled/

| title = Hanging Rock Show Cancelled

| publisher = rollingstones.com

| date = November 6, 2012

| access-date = 2012-11-08

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141107224850/http://www.rollingstones.com/2014/11/06/hanging-rock-show-cancelled/

| archive-date = November 7, 2014

| url-status = dead

}}

{{cite web | url = http://www.visitmacedonranges.com/natural-attractions/hanging-rock/about-the-reserve/ | title = About Hanging Rock | publisher = Macedon Ranges Tourism | access-date = 2014-11-08 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120401003924/https://www.visitmacedonranges.com/natural-attractions/hanging-rock/about-the-reserve/ | archive-date = 2012-04-01 | url-status = dead }}

}}