Pheasants Nest, New South Wales

Pheasants Nest is a small village in the Macarthur Region of New South Wales, Australia, near Bargo in Wollondilly Shire.

Pheasants Nest New South Wales
Scrub near Peasants Nest
Pheasants Nest
Coordinates	34°15′21″S 150°38′08″E
Population	716 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)	2574
Elevation	292 m (958 ft)
Location	101 km (63 mi) SW of Sydney CBD 32 km (20 mi) NE of Mittagong 57 km (35 mi) WNW of Wollongong
LGA(s)	Wollondilly Shire
Region	Macarthur
State electorate(s)	Wollondilly
Federal division(s)	Hume
Localities around Pheasants Nest: Tahmoor Maldon Wilton Tahmoor Pheasants Nest Wilton Bargo Yanderra

History

The area was inhabited by the Dharawal and Gundungurra peoples for tens of thousands of years.^[2]

White settlers first recorded sightings of the koala, lyrebird, and wombat in the area, with ex-convict John Wilson describing the lyrebird as a pheasant, and this is the mostly likely origin of the name.^[3][4]

Description

Pheasants Nest has a northbound and southbound roadhouse on the Hume Highway, and also serves as a freeway exit between Picton and Yerrinbool.

At the 2021 census, Pheasants Nest had a population of 716 people.^[5]

The Pheasants Nest Rural Fire Brigade consists of a two-way bin station. Housed in the station is the brigade's Cat 1 Tanker, code name Pheasants Nest 1 and the brigade's Cat 9 vehicle, code name Pheasants Nest 9.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture

Journalist Louise Milligan's debut novel, a crime fiction thriller published in March 2024, is named after the town. It refers in particular to a notorious suicide spot, Pheasants Nest bridge, which crosses the Nepean River on the Hume Highway.^[6]