Joadja Historic Site is located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. The town of Joadja was established in the late 1870’s by the Australian Kerosene Oil and Mineral Co.

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Hundreds of Scottish oil shale miners who brought with them their skills in the mining and retorting technique…  and the stilling and brewing of “sly grog”.

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The Scottish heritage in the valley and  the history of "sly grog" has inspired the Jimenez family who currently own and manage Joadja Town, to establish Joadja Distillery in 2014. 

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Joadja Today

Joadja is our home first and foremost. We just happen to have a national heritage site in our backyard!

We feel it would be a crime to lock Joadja up for another 100 years and let it crumble under our feet, so we have partnered with others to carry on with the conservation and some restoration of structures and items on site to ensure generations in the future can witness the struggles and triumphs of the thousands of Scottish miners brought out to help exploit the rich kerosene shale locked in Joadja Creek.

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We invite you to come and visit this magical and mysterious property in the Joadja Valley.  Unfortunately, tours of the site are simply not financially viable, so we can't open to the general public every day.

 

We recommend that you phone us on (02) 4878 5129 before driving into the Valley, to ensure access is safe [from bushfires and floods]. 

 

Pre-Arranged private and group tours can be arranged with enough notice. Minimum numbers and conditions apply. ​​