Stanwell Park

Stanwell Park Wollongong, New South Wales
View from Bald Hill over Stanwell Park valley to Mount Mitchell, and the site of the Sea Cliff Bridge in the background
Stanwell Park
Coordinates	34°13′44″S 150°59′00″E / 34.22889°S 150.98333°E / -34.22889; 150.98333Coordinates: 34°13′44″S 150°59′00″E / 34.22889°S 150.98333°E / -34.22889; 150.98333
Population	1,396 (2006 census)
Established	1824
Postcode(s)	2508
Location	28 km (17 mi) north of Wollongong 54 km (34 mi) south of Sydney
LGA(s)	City of Wollongong
State electorate(s)	Heathcote
Federal Division(s)	Cunningham
Suburbs around Stanwell Park: Stanwell Tops Otford Stanwell Park Pacific Ocean Coalcliff Pacific Ocean

Stanwell Park is a picturesque coastal village and northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is the northernmost point of the Illawarra coastal strip and lies south of Sydney's Royal National Park. It is situated in a small valley between Bald Hill to the north, Stanwell Tops to the west and Mount Mitchell to the south. It has two lagoons from the village’s two creeks, Stanwell and Hargrave Creeks and a beach running between headlands. Like other towns in the region the village is known colloquially known as TFOE, this is an acronym for the postcode (2508).

Stanwell Park was the name given to the farm established on the grant given to Matthew John Gibbons in 1824. He was given most of the area called Little Bulli which included present-day Stanwell Park and Coalcliff. The whole of Northern Illawarra went under the Aboriginal name Bulli which means rising up, about the only thing one can do along the narrow coastal strip and indentations of Northern Illawarra. Bulli remains the name of an Illawarra suburb further south of Stanwell Park.

The area was originally inhabited by the Wodiwodi Aboriginal clan of the Tharawal people. It was first traversed by 3 shipwrecked sailors in an epic journey of survival along hundreds of miles of coastline until rescued at Wattamolla, north of Stanwell Park. Two of their companions were unable to negotiate the Coal Cliffs where the Sea Cliff Bridge is today, and their remains were found by explorer George Bass, who also reported on the rich coal seam apparent in the cliffs.

Mr Gibbons installed a convict, John Paid, to manage the Stanwell Park farm. Paid however used the out-of-the-way valley and a hideout for a gang of bushrangers he formed. He adopted the name of Wolloo Jack and his gang terrorised the Bargo to Liverpool area until he and others of the gang were sent to the gallows in 1829.