[1] The road from Emu Ford to Bathurst, a distance of 163.3 kilometres (101.5 mi) was completed in only six months during 1814 and 1815 by a working party composed mostly of convicts.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie decided to have a carriage road constructed across the Blue Mountains, to the country which had been "newly discovered" by Europeans in 1813.

Confronted with rocky platforms and sharp drops, he generally had his men clear the flattest parts, removing an "immense quantity of rock" where necessary, and usually marking out the line with shallow chiselled gutters and utilising the rock platform as a pavement; where the road ran over the shallow soils, it was often marked out by rows or low walls of rough, broken stone.

[1] The road was cut past 'Caley's' cairn of stones, built, it was thought, to mark the end of an earlier unsuccessful attempt to cross the mountains, but possibly a structure of Aboriginal origin.

The journal indicates that three areas in particular required extensive cutting through rocky outcrops, an activity especially likely to have left an "archaeological imprint" in the form of surviving physical evidence.

[3][1] Cox wrote describing the Linden - Woodford area as follows:[1][4][5][6] Sunday, 4 September 1814: Removed to the bridge the working road gang.

[1] Even if it was initially partly filled or shaped, much of the original surface of the road weathered away quickly, as by 1819 it was reported that the stumps of the trees which had been left within the roadway were becoming exposed.

This was the method adopted in relatively easy terrain, although later travellers reported that the stumps had not always been removed and the surviving physical evidence shows relatively few locations where the extant road conforms with the dimensions specified in the instructions.

It extends for over 800 metres (2,600 ft) beside and overlapping with an unsurfaced access road along the top of the ridge and also partly within adjoining private properties.

[1] The western end of the access track commences at Railway Parade where it climbs a short steep rise surfaced with loose stones.

The cuttings are between 10 and 60 centimetres (3.9 and 23.6 in) in height and where they mark both sides of the road they are 6 to 7 metres (20 to 23 ft) apart, roughly conforming with Governor Macquarie's requested width of "20 feet (6.1 m)".

These have generally been cut and smoothed at the edge of the road but in the centre remain very uneven, with natural cracks and crevices and evidence of deeply scored ruts made by the wheels of carts or other vehicles.

The successful construction of the road was symbolic of the conquest of the natural barrier created by the Blue Mountains, and represented Governor Macquarie's vision for the ongoing development of the colony beyond Sydney and its immediate surrounds.

Cox's Road enabled the later opening of the hinterland beyond the Blue Mountains for subsequent settlement, pastoral and agricultural expansion, which then escalated the dispossession of Aboriginal peoples from their lands.

The road symbolises the occupation of the country and Governor Macquarie's aspirations for the eventual opening of the interior to European settlement after the discovery of the Western plains by G. W. Evans in 1814.

In this respect the 1814-1815 Cox's Road has considerable symbolic significance as an official public work which laid the foundations for future development.

The crossing of the Blue Mountains, the surveying of a route to Bathurst and the building of Cox's Road were significant events in the period of Macquarie's governorship.

[1] William Cox's achievement using a small group of convict men in a short period of time and with no loss of life caused by road-making or other substantial difficulties, was reflective of his reputation as a more humane employer and magistrate than many of his contemporaries.

The leadership qualities, vision and skill he showed constructing the road would also be evident in later government contracts won by Cox for other public works .

[1] The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales.

[1] This Wikipedia article was originally based on Cox's Road and Early Deviations - Linden, Linden Precinct, entry number 01953 in the New South Wales State Heritage Register published by the State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) 2018 under CC-BY 4.0 licence, accessed on 2 June 2018.