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Walks and Short Trips
Circular Quay |
Hyde Park |
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The Rocks |
The Domain |
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| Pitt Street |
Darlinghurst |
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Paddington |
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New South Wales
New South Wales is situated on the southeast corner of Australia between Victoria to the south, Queensland to the north and South Australia to the west. East to west, it is marked by a narrow coastal plain, the Great Dividing Range and the Murray Darling Plain. Its population is concentrated along the sea coast, principally around Sydney, the state’s capital. It is the country’s most populous state, with a population in 1996 of 6,130,200, more than a third of Australia’s total population.
The major ports are at Newcastle, Wollongong and Sydney. The highway system is fairly simple. Highway 1, the Pacific Highway, extends north from Sydney along the coast through Newcastle eventually to Brisbane. Highway 31, the Southwestern Highway then Hume Highway, proceeds south through the Murray Darling Plain to Melbourne with a side route to Canberra. An alternative route to Melbourne along the coast, the Princes Highway, is considerably slower, but much more interesting. Inland highways include the New England Highway (route 15, to the interior from Newcastle to Brisbane); the Newell Highway (route 39, through the interior from Melbourne to west of Brisbane); and the Sturt Highway (route 20, crossing southern New South Wales to Adelaide).
Geologically the metamorphic rocks and granites of the southern Tasman Geosyncline extend from south of the New South Wales–Victoria border in an arch more or less from Echuca, Victoria, to Hay to Ivanhoe to Broken Hill in the western part of the state. The Palaeozoic sediments extend eastward to the Queensland border northeast of Bourke where younger Mesozoic formations extending southeast to Sydney interrupt. Like the Cainozoic basin in the west and southwest, this formation is relatively flat and dry in the interior. The northeast corner of the state above Newcastle to the Queensland border is again Palaeozoic with igneous intrusions forming the mountains. Sydney, in other words, is part of the Mesozoic formation encompassing most of northern New South Wales and central Queensland. This intrudes on the Palaeozoic coastal highlands which extend from Cape York nearly to Mount Gambier in Victoria.
The physical features most attractive to the visitor include fine surf beaches (thirty-four in Sydney alone and hundreds more along the entire coastline), Sydney Harbour, the Blue Mountains (a day trip west of Sydney), limestone caves at Jenolan and Wombeyan, the Australian Alps or Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, the Hawkesbury River, and ‘Back ’o Bourke’, that is, the outback, in the state’s arid northwest.
Sydney
Sydney (population four million) has always been the premier
city of Australia. The capital of the state of New South Wales, it
encompasses a vast area around Port Jackson Harbour and as far west as
the Blue Mountains; officially, it is listed at 33°55’ south,
151°17’
east. With a population of four million, the Sydney region now
comprises almost a quarter of the country’s entire population.
Administratively, Sydney City refers to a very small segment of this
metropolitan area, but the many municipalities and surrounding suburbs
around this central district are generally considered part of Sydney.
In the last forty years, Sydney has been transformed from a provincial
British colonial outpost to a world-class multicultural city, a central
player, as David Dale states in The 100 Things Everyone Needs to Know
About Australia (1996), in Australia’s change from ‘one of the dullest
nations on earth to one of the most interesting’. Jan Morris, in her
book on Sydney (1992), mirrors these sentiments, amazed at its
transformation since her first visit in 1962; she declares it the
‘shiniest’ city of the old British Empire.
Sydneysiders, as residents are called, while notoriously disinterested
in self-reflection, would certainly agree with this description. They
are immensely proud of their robust and vibrant city, and all the
glitzy glamour of its most recent decades, and not very interested in
dwelling on its history.
The development of Australia as a Western nation began on 26 January 1788, when Captain Arthur Phillip and his shipment of 736 convicts and four companies of marines landed, first at Watson’s Bay and, finally, at Sydney Cove; these were the members of The First Fleet, so frequently referred to in Australian literature and popular culture. Their trip had taken eight months from Portsmouth and had covered more than 22,000km (14,000 miles). When their proposed site of settlement at Botany Bay proved unsuitable, they sailed on to find what is today Sydney Harbour. The penal colony of New South Wales was established as soon as the prisoners and marines disembarked.
This strange event came about as a result of the draconian legal codes and harsh social conditions of 18C England, leading to an enormous prison population which could no longer be housed. Once England lost the American colonies as a convenient dumping ground for convicts, it had to look elsewhere to find a solution to the prison problem.
The continent that became known as Australia had been discovered and claimed for England in 1770 by Captain James Cook; upon the suggestion of Cook’s naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, this continent on the other side of the world was seen as the ideal place to transport a large portion of the law-breakers. Not only would the horrendous overcrowding in prison be alleviated, but British imperialist ambitions in the Pacific would be furthered by the establishment of a colony in this land about which Cook and Banks had so romantically enthused. In his 1771 report, Cook wrote ‘it can never be doubted but what most sorts of Grain, Fruits, Roots etc of every kind would flourish’ and ‘here are Provender for more Cattle at all seasons of the year than can be brought to this Country.’
While the first years of settlement were anything but flourishing, with deprivation and isolation exacerbated by failure of crops and livestock, inadequate housing, lack of building materials and skilled labour, Captain Phillip undertook the venture with ambitious conscientiousness and fortitude. He bestowed the name Sydney in honour of Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, who was then Home Secretary in the British Cabinet.
David Collins, marine captain and Judge-Advocate arriving with the First Fleet, provides one of the most valuable early accounts of the settlement:
The spot chosen [at Circular Quay]...was at the head of the cove, near the run of fresh water [the Tank Stream], which stole silently along through a very thick wood, the stillness of which had then, for the first time since the creation, been interrupted by the rude sound of the labourer’s axe... The confusion that ensued will not be wondered at, when it is considered that every man stepped from the boat literally into a wood...the spot which had so lately been the abode of silence and tranquillity was now changed to that of noise, clamour,and confusion... As the woods were opened and the ground cleared, the encampments were extended, and all wore the appearance of regularity.
On viewing the cosmopolitan congestion of present-day Sydney,
it is hard to envision this as a description of the area around
Circular Quay.
The Tank Stream, as the freshwater source was called, very quickly
proved insufficient for the needs of the colony. Three sandstone tanks
were built almost immediately in which to preserve its supply, but by
the 1810s the stream was severely depleted and polluted. By 1827, a
project was begun to dig a tunnel to the swamps of present-day
Centennial Park4km away. Known as ‘Busby’s Bore’ after its engineer
John Busby, it was Sydney’s first major engineering feat when completed
in 1837. The old Tank Stream is now channelled underneath Pitt Street.
When the First Fleet landed, the cove where Circular Quay is today was a salt-water estuary, and at low tide a mudflat covered the area of present-day Bridge Street, Lower Pitt and Alfred Streets, as well as a part of Loftus and Young Streets. This area was gradually filled in and reclaimed to become the central city itself. Frank Clune, in his Saga of Sydney (1961) boasts that ‘no water frontage in the world has been so transformed by reclamation of tidal flats as Sydney’s Circular Quay’.
The earliest streets were laid out parallel to the course of the Tank Stream, beginning with High Street, today’s George Street. While the settlement did originally have a town plan—Baron Alt, a German surveyor on the First Fleet, laid out the initial settlement—it is obvious to the visitor that any systematic town planning was not enforced in the early days. In the 1810s, Governor Macquarie attempted to regulate the growth of the town and the standard of building, decreeing that streets must be at least 50 feet wide and houses set back 20 feet from the road. His efforts did not go unheeded, as one can see in the number of substantial structures from his time by convict architect Francis Greenway and others; haphazard development continued nonetheless.
The oldest area around the Circular Quay is a chaotic mishmash of diagonal streets and pathways that developed from short cuts used by pedestrians, a confusion exacerbated today by the overhead gash of the Cahill Expressway, built in the 1950s, which runs directly across the quay from the bridge.
Sydney Harbour
All considerations of Sydney must begin with and centre on the harbour, which Joseph Conrad described in his autobiography The Mirror of the Sea (1906) as ‘...one of the finest, most beautiful, vast and safe bays the sun ever shone upon.’ The harbour provides one of the most stunning locations of any city in the world. The harbour dominates Sydney life, and any visitor to the city will undoubtedly begin explorations at the ferry terminus in the heart of the city, the Circular Quay. The quay vibrates with activity, intermingling a variety of regular buskers and vendors with a multitude of tourist attractions and excursion opportunities; tens of thousands of Sydneysiders take the ferry into the quay every day. Several organised walking tours commence from the quay, leading into the thick of the central city itself. For details of these walks, enquire at one of the Sydney Visitor Centres, t 02 9240 8788.
Harbour trips
You can choose from any number of harbour excursions, from individual
taxi-boats, sometimes cheaper and faster than a land-taxi, to cruises
on a replica of the Bounty. But one of the most enjoyable ways to
explore the harbour and the city itself is to take the regular service
ferries to their various destinations.
The most extensive and enjoyable sightseeing experience is the ferry to
Manly, which leaves the quay regularly to cross the entire bay,
culminating at Manly Beach, next to the Heads which mark the entrance
to the harbour itself. Many writers and regular travellers maintain
that this trip is the one thing that all visitors to Sydney should do.
Other ferries travel from Circular Quay to Balmain, the North Shore,
Hunter Hill and Parramatta. One of the most popular services is the
ferry to Taronga Park Zoo, at the end of which visitors walk up to the
zoo or, if in operation, ascend above the harbour in a cable car.
The harbour is the true heart of Sydney; explore the city from its
shores, and take advantage of transportation on the water.
Walk 1 Circular Quay and Macquarie Street
Starting at the railway station, follow the pedestrian tunnel at Circular Quay to emerge at the entrance to central Sydney on Alfred Street. Here turn left (east).Customs House
About 300m down Loftus Street is the Customs
House (t 02 9247 2285; open
daily), now an isolated example of Victorian architecture
among the glass and steel skyscrapers. Nearby is a small flagpole,
marking the spot where Governor Phillip raised the Union Jack on 26
January 1788.
The original customs house was erected on this site to the Georgian design of Mortimer Lewis in 1844. When additions were necessary, structural difficulties required that this building be demolished. As it stands today it is a conglomerate of government architects’ styles, the first floor completed in 1887 by James Barnet and the other floors added by Walter Vernon between 1887 and 1917. The floor in the entryway includes swastikas, traditionally symbols of good fortune.
Customs House was renovated in 1999 by the architectural firm Tonkin Zulaikha Greer, creating spaces for galleries and corporate reception areas. The renovation is certainly controversial, demonstrating little sympathy for the colonial character of the structure and adding an incongruously proportioned glass-and-steel upper deck; but the interior levels offer airy public spaces. The building now functions largely as a public library.
Continue east on Alfred Street to Albert Street. Between Young and Phillip Streets along this stretch is the AMP Building, which for many years after its opening in 1962 was the highest building in Sydney at 114m (380 ft). Its appearance, along with the opening of the Cahill Expressway in the same year, signalled the end of the old accessible Circular Quay.
At present, construction between the quay and Macquarie Street, along with the rumbling of cars on the expressway overhead, combine to present an unfortunately uninspiring view towards the harbour and the Opera House. Recently mobilised Sydneysiders have begun protesting against the monstruous building blocks being constructed here, on arguably the most valuable real estate in the world, but so far the demonstrations appear to have come too late to save any vestige of the harbour’s skyline on the south side.
On the corner of Albert and Phillip Streets is the NSW Justice and Police Museum (t 02 9252 1144; open daily 10.00–17.00), identified by the kitschy mannequins of police officer and convict on the front of the building. Now a complex of Classic Revival buildings, the first section facing Albert Street was designed by Edmund Blacket in 1854 in a Palladian style with an open portico and Doric columns. It originally served as the Water Police Court. Around the corner on Phillip the additions, also in sandstone, were probably designed by Mortimer Lewis (1870) and James Barnet (1885).
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Blacket (1817–83) was New South Wales’s most prolific
ecclesiastical architect, sometimes referred to as the ‘Christopher
Wren of Australia’. He arrived from England in 1842, having escaped a
father opposed to his dream of being an architect. Intending to settle
in New Zealand, he was persuaded by Sydney acquaintances to stay in the
city and became inspector of Church of England buildings. In 1845 he
began practice as an architect, appointed colonial architect in 1849;
in 1854 he set up private practice. His first impressive building was
the main building for the new University of Sydney, completed in 1860.
In all, Blacket completed some 58 churches, most of them in Sydney and
almost all in Gothic Revival style.
The MOS is part of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, and is certainly the most post-modern museum in the city; such state-of-the-art exhibition techniques have been employed that it is sometimes difficult to know what artefacts you are supposed to be seeing. The changing exhibitions are varied and eclectic, and always innovatively presented. The plaza includes a ‘talking poles’ sculptural monument, Edge of Trees by Janet Laurence, and Fiona Foley, evoking through objects and voices the history of Sydney’s people. Its exhibitions emphasise early Sydney history, with special displays concerning the Eora, the Aboriginal peoples of the Sydney region, and it has one of the most exciting bookshops in the city, emphasising architecture and design, as well as the requisite chic restaurant on the plaza.
Rising enormously behind the museum is Governor Phillip Tower (1989–94), one of the newest post-modern skyscrapers in the central business district, touted for its impressive integration of contemporary elements with the needs of a historical site.
The Opera House
To reach the Opera House, walk over one block and north down
Macquarie
Street to the Opera House at Bennelong Point (c 500m).
No landmark more readily identifies Sydney today than its Opera House,
placed on Bennelong Point overlooking the harbour. Its silhouette is so
well-known internationally that it is hard to believe that it was only
begun in 1959 and was not completed until 1973.
History of the Opera House
The saga of the construction of the Opera House can itself be described
as operatic. Indeed, its story has served as the basis for an opera,
The Eighth Wonder, by Alan John and Dennis Watkins, which premiered
here in 1995.
The location at Bennelong Point was an inspired choice. This jutting
bit of land to the east of Circu9225 1700lar Quay was named in honour
of the
Aboriginal Bennelong, the first ‘domesticated’ native, whom Governor
Phillip took to England as a specimen of the ‘civilising experiment.’
When he returned he lived in a small hut at this point. He remained a
familiar character in early Sydney until his death in 1815 in Ryde.
Until 1902, Bennelong Point was the site of Fort Macquarie, designed by
convict architect Francis Greenway in 1817; it served as a sentinel
post to warn of approaching ships. It was demolished in the early 1900s
to make way for, of all things, an elaborately castellated tram shed,
built by W.L. Vernon. It still served as a tram terminus when it was
torn down to make way for the construction of the Opera House in 1959.
The initial impetus for the building of the Opera House came in 1947,
when the English composer Eugene Goossens—ironically, a direct
descendent of Captain Cook—was appointed Conductor of the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra. Goossens persuaded the government that the city
should have its own opera house and found an unlikely supporter in the
Labor Premier, J.J. Cahill.
In 1956, Cahill announced a £5000 international design
competition, for
which 216 entries arrived from 36 countries. The winning design,
selected by a four-man jury, came from a young Danish architect, Joern
Utzon. A disciple of Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, Utzon
conceived of a structure with a dramatically soaring roof line, ‘the
fine lines defining the form of the curve like the seams in a billowing
sail’. (Utzon has described his idea as ‘wedges of an orange’.) The
jury was impressed with the concept. They also believed that the
estimated price—£3.5 million—made the design the cheapest to
build.
They announced that the entire building would be completed in three
years.
Controversy surrounded the project from the beginning on nearly every
front. First of all, the project’s greatest supporter, Eugene Goossens,
was forced to resign his post as conductor and left Australia in 1956,
after he was found guilty of importing ‘indecent material’ in his
luggage after a trip abroad. More horrifically, a public lottery
organised to fund the project ended in tragedy when the eight-year-old
son of the winner of the £100,000 prize was kidnapped and
murdered.
Then there was the problem of the building itself. It became apparent
that neither Utzon nor anyone else had an idea of how his magnificent
sails could actually be constructed. The task of solving complex
engineering problems led to endless delays and ever-increasing costs,
exacerbated by political infighting and mismanagement. Utzon also
confronted bureaucratic resistance and political battles, which
increased when a new director of public works, Davis Hughes, was
appointed in 1965 after the Liberal Party came to power. When Hughes
tried to downgrade Utzon’s position from controlling architect to
design consultant, Utzon resigned, asking that his name no longer be
associated with the Opera House. He left Australia, never to see the
building finished. It was finally completed by a team of Australian
architects headed by Peter Hall.
The building was opened by Queen Elizabeth on 20 October 1973, fifteen
years after construction began. The original cost of $7 million had
increased to $102 million.
Despite his rejection of the finished product, Utzon’s original vision
prevailed, at least in modified form, and the Opera House, with its
soaring roof, stands as a work of sculpture. (Utzon’s original models
and plans have been donated to the State Library of NSW.) Not everyone
enjoys its presence; the writer Blanche d’Alpuget wrote that it looks
like ‘an albino tropical plant rootbound from too small a pot’, and Jan
Morris considered it ‘unguent’, making the visitor feel like an ‘insect
in an ice-cream’.
The surface of the roof is covered in 1,056,000 ceramic tiles covering
an area of 4 acres (1.6 hectares), bonded to 4228 tile panels which had
to be constructed on the ground and slotted onto the skeletal shells.
Acoustically, the concert hall rates as one of the best in the world;
over 2900 events take place annually in its five theatres.
The Sydney Opera House contains more than 1000 rooms, some of
curious shape due to the angular exterior. The entrance is up the
southern steps off the forecourt to the ticket box and information
desk. The major halls are the Opera Theatre on the northeast and the
Concert Hall on the northwest. The northern foyers offer panoramic
views of the harbour. The Possum Dreaming mural in the Opera Theatre
foyer is by Michael Nelson Tjakamarra who also designed the mural at
Parliament House in Canberra. The theatre seats 1547 and has a 12 metre
wide proscenium. The Concert Hall seats 2690. Despite its size, the
wood panelling and acoustic vaults give it an intimate feeling. Ronald
Sharp designed and built the Grand Organ (10,500 pipes).
Smaller theatrical venues are accessible along the western boardwalk.
These are the Playhouse at the boardwalk's northwest corner, the
recently opened Drama Theatre, and the Studio.
Macquarie Street
From here, walk back to Macquarie Street. Named by Governor
Macquarie in October 1810, in honour of himself, the street
was to
be a
grand avenue of impressive public buildings; at the time, it was only a
rough ridge of sandstone between the valleys of the Tank Stream and
Woolloomooloo Bay. Eventually it was to become the most fashionable
residential street in the city. The street extends from the Opera House
to Hyde Park; on the eastern side it is flanked by the Botanic Gardens
and Government Domain.
At East Circular Quay, you come to Moore’s Stairs which lead onto
Macquarie Street itself. Moore’s Stairs were named for Charles Moore,
mayor of Sydney who dedicated them in 1868. From here one can look out
over the Quay and into The Rocks.
Governor Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie (1761–1824) was born in the Hebrides and took up a
military career at an early age. He fought in the American War of
Independence, then went to India in 1788. His first wife died of
tuberculosis in 1796, which caused him immense suffering, as recorded
in his voluminous writings. In 1807, he married Elizabeth Campbell, who
became an active participant with her husband in the development of the
new colony of New South Wales. They arrived in Sydney on 1 January
1810; Macquarie remained in his post as governor until 1821, the
longest tenure of any Governor until the 20C.
As he wrote about New South Wales when he arrived:
I found the colony barely emerging from infantile imbecility and suffering from various privations and disabilities; the country impenetrable beyond 40 miles from Sydney; agriculture in a yet languishing state; commerce in its early dawn; revenue unknown; threatened by famine; distracted by faction; the public buildings in a state of dilapidation and mouldering to decay; the few roads and bridges formerly constructed, rendered almost impassable; the population depressed by poverty; no public credit nor private confidence; the morals of the great mass of the population in the lowest state of debasement and religious worship almost totally neglected.
This lamentable situation Macquarie set out to rectify. As
architectural historian J.M. Freeland eloquently states, ‘What William
the Conqueror was in English history Lachlan Macquarie was in
Australia.’ The ambitiousness of his vision for the colony is evident
in the scale of buildings that he planned for this promenade: in his 12
years as governor, he saw completed in the city 200 public buildings,
the establishment of the city’s two cathedrals, the setting aside of
Hyde Park, the founding of the Botanical Gardens (1816), the
implementation of the colony’s first coinage and the opening of its
first bank. He founded new settlements along the Hawkesbury River, in
which he introduced building regulations, aimed at creating uniform
standards and well-ordered living conditions.
Eventually his vision of a self-sufficient, civilised colony, comprised
of egalitarian mixing of all classes and surrounded by grand structures
and all the trappings of European culture, would be Macquarie’s
undoing. His support of emancipated convicts as full citizens with
equal rights to property and privilege brought him into conflict with
free settlers and the military, who were horrified by his stance. The
government in England was itself ambivalent in its attitude to this
far-away colony established as a penal colony. In response to a list of
accusations against him sent by his enemies, the government sent J.T.
Bigge in 1819 to carry out an inquiry on the circumstances of the
colony. The results of his report tended to support the view that
Macquarie was overly ambitious in his endeavours, with particular
criticism directed towards his public building campaigns, which were
viewed as too grandiose and opulent for the needs of the colony.
Greatly offended by this attack on his administration and integrity,
Macquarie left the colony in 1821, and died three years later at home
in Scotland.
At the same point is Tarpeian Way, at the end of which is the Sudan Memorial, a plaque in Tarpeian Rock, commemorating the first Australian expeditionary force to participate in a military engagement. A New South Wales contingent was dispersed on 3 March 1885 to support the British in the Sudan. Political debate about the constitutionality of this action led to a return of the troops only three months later with three wounded and six dead of fever, but Australia’s commitment to fight in British wars was established.
Continue south on Macquarie Street about 200m to see to the
east at
Bridge Street the Conservatorium
of
Music (t 02 9230 1222). The
location was the original site of the windmill of John Palmer, purser
with the First Fleet; early prints of Sydney clearly show this
prominent structure, which has long since been demolished. The current
conservatorium was designed by Francis Greenway, Macquarie’s
emancipated convict architect, and was intended initially as the
stables for the governor’s proposed new Government House. It was begun
in 1817 and completed in 1821. When one views this elaborately
‘castellated’ structure, meant to house horses behind an even more
palatial Government House, one can understand why Commissioner Bigge,
arriving in Sydney in 1819 to investigate charges of mismanagement,
would criticise Macquarie’s extravagant and unnecessary expenditure of
public moneys. To make matters worse, Macquarie had not informed the
home government of this project for two years. It was this building
more than any other which led to Bigge’s negative report; Macquarie’s
new government house was never built.
Between 1908 and 1915, the stables building was converted into the
State Conservatorium of Music by W.L. Vernon, amidst protests at such a
public expenditure during the First World War. The Premier of New South
Wales, W.A. Holman, supported the project which culminated in an
inaugural concert held in the new hall on 6 May 1915. The first
director was Henri Verbrugghen, appointed in 1914 and responsible for
establishing a first-rate conservatory training programme. When
Holman’s government lost power in 1920, funds ceased and Verbrugghen
left for America. Other directors have included Arundel Orchard and Sir
Eugene Goossens in 1946–56 (see Opera House). The first Australian-born
director, Sir Bernhard Heinz, succeeded Goossens. During term time,
free recitals are held by Conservatorium students in the Concert Hall.
Francis Greenway
Francis Greenway (1777–1837) was the first fully-qualified architect in
Australia. He was trained as an architect and painter in England, and
had exhibited works at the Royal Academy in 1800. Greenway was
transported to New South Wales for forgery in 1813, following the
bankruptcy of his family’s company; he carried with him a letter of
recommendation from Governor Phillip to Governor Macquarie. By the end
of 1814, Greenway had a ticket of leave and had established a practice.
Macquarie was so impressed with his skills, and so in need of a real
architect to carry out his amibitious plans, that he granted him a full
pardon in 1819, and commissioned him for most of his major public
buildings. These schemes were considered by Commissioner Bigge as too
grandiose for the colony; such condemnation, coupled with Greenway’s
difficult nature, led to his decline. By the time of Macquarie’s
departure, Greenway was exiled in poverty to his farm near Newcastle.
On his death, he is believed to have been buried in the East Maitland
cemetery, in an unmarked grave. While many of his structures have been
destroyed, his elegant style can still be appreciated in such important
monuments as Hyde Park Barracks and St James’s in Sydney, St Luke’s in
Liverpool, and St Matthew’s in Windsor.
Along Macquarie Street, near Bridge Street, an information
sign commemorates the site of Exhibition Building, built in 1879 to
house the Sydney International Exhibition. Covering almost two
hectares, it was designed in four days and erected in eight months to
showcase Australian design, art and technology. On the morning of 22
September 1882, the structure burnt to the ground. In the blaze 300
paintings were lost, as well as relics of the Eora, Sydney’s Aboriginal
tribe and records of early convicts; legend has it that the fire was
deliberately lit by descendants of these convicts wanting to erase
their history. All that survived were the gates, still standing near
Mitchell Library.
On the corner of Bridge Street is the Treasury Building and Colonial
Secretary’s Office (now the Inter-Continental Hotel), built 1849–51.
The Treasury was designed by Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis, with
additions by W.L. Vernon in 1896. Built of sandstone, these two are
quintessential examples of colonial Classical Revival style. The Gold
Room in the Treasury, now the hotel’s restaurant, was used during the
1850s gold rush to receive gold from the New South Wales goldfields.
On the south side of Bridge Street is the Colonial Secretary’s Office,
now the Chief Secretary’s Department, designed in 1878–80 by Colonial
Architect James Barnet. Influenced by the French Second Empire style,
Barnet covered the building with stone figures, copper towers and
cupolas. The three foyers are open to the public on weekdays; at the
entrances one can view three statues by Italian sculptor Giovanni
Fontana. They represent Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales, as well
as a young girl symbolising the spirit of New South Wales.
History House, at no. 133, is the headquarters of the Royal Australian
Historical Society. Built in 1872, the building had many owners,
including the surgeon William Bland, who had been transported in 1814
for duelling. Bland was pardoned in 1815, and became one of the most
eminent doctors in the colony. Macquarie Street was long associated
with the medical profession, as many doctors established practices in
its buildings. The Historical Society acquired the building in 1969; it
now houses their library. Several historical tours originate from the
building.
BMA House, nos 135–137, was built in 1929, and is one of the few
skyscraper examples of the adaptation of Australian motifs to Art Deco
design; its façade includes wonderful renditions of koalas (the
only
examples on a façade in Australia), as well as the traditional
symbol
of snake and staff. It is now part of the Australian Medical
Association’s quarters, despite the entryway’s statement to the
contrary.
Royal Australasian College of Physicians, no. 145, was once the
residence of John Fairfax, founder of the Sydney Morning Herald;
today’s media corporation, the Fairfax Corporation, is an outgrowth of
this family’s contribution to Sydney’s publishing history. The building
is described in Joseph Fowles’ Sydney in 1848, an invaluable source on
the architectural history of the city. One of the last Georgian
buildings of its type, it is notable for the four-storey timber
verandah with box-frame windows on the ground floor and French
casements on the upper floors.
Outside the Mitchell Library across the street at Shakespeare Place is
a monument to Governor Richard Bourke, governor of New South Wales
1831–37, and responsible for enlightened reform measures concerning
emancipated convicts and education.
State Library of New South Wales ~ the Mitchell Library
At this point you will find the entrance to the State Library
of New South Wales, often referred to as Mitchell Library,
although the
Mitchell Library only occupies one wing of the building. The library
itself was founded in 1845 by members of the Australian Subscription
Library, who erected a building on the corner of Macquarie and Bent
Streets. The organisation was taken over by the State Government in
1869 to become the New South Wales Public Library. In 1899, the library
incorporated the collection of David Scott Mitchell in order
to receive an unprecedented bequest of Australiana.
Another collection, containing even rarer items pertaining to the South
Pacific and Australia, was accumulated by William Dixson (1870–1952), a
Sydney bachelor who offered his works to the library in 1919. To
accommodate the collection, the Dixson Wing of the library was built
adjacent to the Mitchell Wing. Upon his death in 1952, Dixson
bequeathed the rest of his rarities, along with an endowment of
£100,000 for additional purchases, and for the publication of
manuscripts and reprinting rare books.
David Scott Mitchell
David Scott Mitchell (1836–1907) was born in Sydney, the son of the
Chief Surgeon of Sydney Hospital. One of the first graduates of the
University of Sydney, Mitchell devoted his life and his considerable
inheritance to the collection of anything relating to the history of
Australia. Legend has it that he became a recluse when he was spurned
in love; by all accounts he was an eccentric figure, dressed entirely
in black and with an ever-present bowler hat. Mitchell’s initial
bequest to the Library consisted of 10,000 volumes and fifty pictures,
donated to make room in his home for more of his collection. In order
to house the rest of his donation, Mitchell wanted a separate building
to be constructed; the Mitchell Wing began to be built in 1906, and was
not completed until after Mitchell’s death. At that time the Library
received the entire bequest of some 61,000 volumes, papers,
manuscripts, and paintings, along with an endowment of £20,000.
The
collection was stored in bank vaults until the Mitchell Wing was opened
in 1910. The Library has continued to grow by purchase from this
endowment.
Recently, Mitchell’s excellent collection of 19C erotica has finally
been opened for public view.
The Mitchell Wing is an architectural delight; on the floor of the
foyer is a mosaic rendering of the Tasman map, a copy of the original
17C hand-drawn map from the voyages of Abel Tasman in 1642 (the map
itself was given to the Mitchell Library in 1933 by Prince George of
Greece). The mosaic was completed by the Melocco Brothers in 1941; they
are also responsible for the mosaic in the crypt of Sydney’s St Mary’s
Cathedral. The interior of the Library itself includes a stained-glass
dome. While the entire holdings of the Mitchell library are not open to
the general public, anyone with a serious scholarly purpose may obtain
permission to use the collection. The Dixson Wing also holds regular
exhibitions pertaining to Australian history and culture. For
information on exhibitions, call the State Library, t
02 9230 1414, open various
hours.
The State Library itself is housed in a 1960s building connected to the
Mitchell and Dixson wings. It contains a two-level reference library
and collection of books and serials. Film screenings and poetry
readings are regular events. An excellent shop containing items
relating to Australian history and literature is located on the ground
floor.
On the Macquarie Street side of the Mitchell Library stands a
memorial statue to the explorer Matthew Flinders and his cat,
‘Trim’ 
(1996, bronze, John Cornwell). Flinders praised the cat in
his
essay A Biographical Tribute
to
the Memory of Trim
Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders (1774–1814) is one of the most intriguing naval
explorers associated with the early Australian expeditions. Born in
Lincolnshire, England, into a family of surgeons, he took to sea after
reading Robinson Crusoe. He joined the Royal Navy in 1789 and sailed
with Captain Bligh’s second voyage in 1791. He sailed to Sydney with
Captain Hunter aboard the Reliance in 1795; it was on this voyage that
he met George Bass, the ship’s surgeon. They struck up an alliance that
led to their joint explorations of the Georges River and the south
coast of Sydney. In 1798, the pair, in command of the Norfolk,
circumnavigated Tasmania by passing through the Bass Strait, which Bass
had explored in 1797. They returned to Sydney in January 1799, having
made some of the first detailed surveys of the Tasmanian coast and
establishing Flinders’ reputation as a superb cartographer. After a
return trip to England in 1800 where he married, Flinders received
command of the Investigator with instructions to explore the entire
coast of New Holland, as it was still called. He completed this
circumnavigation on 6 December 1803, completing records so accurate
that they are still used by the Royal Australian Navy. He was the first
person on record to apply the term ‘Australia’ regularly to the
continent.
Remarkable also on this voyage was the botanical and biological work
carried out by the expedition’s appointed draughtsman, the Viennese
Ferdinand Bauer (1760–1826). Bauer made over 1000 drawings,
meticulously rendered and later hand-coloured according to an elaborate
colour gradation system devised by the artist. His publication in 1815,
Illustrationes Florae Novae Hollandiae, was not a financial success but
his works are now recognised as the most precise and aesthetically
pleasing examples of natural history painting ever produced. Flinders
named Cape Bauer on the South Australian coast in his honour, and his
name is perpetuated in several Australian plants.
Upon his return to England in 1803, and unaware that war had broken out
between England and France, Flinders called in at Mauritius (then known
as Ile de France) to make repairs on his ship, only to be imprisoned
for almost seven years. He finally returned to London in 1810, where he
completed his remarkable A Voyage to Terra Australis at the end of
1813. His health had been ruined in captivity, and he died on 18 July
1814, only 40 years old, before he saw the first copy of his beloved
book.
The inclusion of Flinders’ cat in the memorial is an appropriately
affecting one. Trim was born a seafaring feline in 1799 aboard the
Reliance, when Flinders commanded a supply ship to South Africa. He
accompanied his master on the voyages of the Norfolk and the
Investigator, thus circumnavigating the world. In 1809, Flinders wrote
an affectionate and delightfully informative ‘Tribute to Trim’,
describing his unique qualities as a feline sailor. During Flinders’
detention on the Ile de France, Trim disappeared without a trace;
Flinders wrote, ‘My sorrow may be better
Across Macquarie Street in this block is St Stephen’s Church,
built
in
1935 on the site of Burdekin House, reputedly the most significant
Regency-style building in Australia. The Presbyterian Church purchased
the site in 1933 for £50,000; the present structure, now a part
of the
Uniting Church, houses a congregation of over 600 and offers special
services and musical recitals during the week. From 1952 to 1965, the
church was the domain of Reverend Gordon Powell, the first
Australian-born minister of the church who gained international renown
as a preacher, writer, and supporter of Billy Graham Crusades.
The now demolished Burdekin House was built in 1841 for Thomas
Burdekin, an ironmonger from England who came to Sydney in 1826. Built
by architect James Hume, also responsible for the National Trust
property Lindesay on Darling Point, the three-storeyed mansion included
colonnades and fretted stonework on the façade and offered some
of the
most richly and elegantly appointed interiors in the colony. It was
inherited by Thomas’ son, Sydney Burdekin, born in the city; he became
a Member of Parliament and Mayor of Sydney. From the 1860s to the
1890s, Burdekin House was the centre of élite social life in the
city,
as well as a meeting place for politicians from Parliament House across
the street.
State Parliament House is still located in one of the wings of the
famous ‘Rum Hospital’, so called because it was paid for by giving the
rum monopoly to the builders (‘rum’ referring to all alcoholic
spirits). The hospital was built from 1811 to 1816, allegedly to a
design by Mrs Macquarie herself. This wing has served as Parliament
House for the State of New South Wales since 1829, making it the oldest
Parliament House in the world. In 1843 the Legislative Assembly
Chamber, designed by Mortimer Lewis, was added on to the wing; the
Legislative Council Chamber is made of a pre-fabricated cast-iron
building, which had been shipped from England to serve as a church on
the Victorian gold-fields. In 1856, it was dismantled and sent to
Sydney when the state legislature expanded.
Parliament House is open to the public on weekdays 09.00–16.30 when not in session, and until 19.00 when in session. If Parliament is in session, visitors can view the proceedings from the upper galleries. The sessions are often quite raucous and pugnacious affairs, for Australian politicians love a good shouting match. Excellent exhibitions and historical displays are housed throughout the building, and informative brochures are available. Bookings for viewing of sessions can be made on t 02 9230 2111; bookings for visits during Question Time (Tuesdays) are advised.
Next to the Parliament House, on the site of the original Rum Hospital, is Sydney Hospital, built in 1894. The Rum Hospital itself had been structurally unsound since it was built; the builders had been eager to get the rum monopoly, and were not necessarily competent workers. Early stories of the horrors of the hospital itself were rife: unsanitary surgical conditions (operations often occurred on the kitchen table), no facilities or adequate food, inadequate and untrained staff. By the 1860s, improvements had been made, including the beginnings of a nurses’ training school approved by Florence Nightingale. By 1879, the structure was considered so dangerous that it was demolished; the new hospital’s design, attributed to architect Thomas Rowe, dates from that time, but was not finished for 15 years. The entrance hall stands as an elegant example of late Victorian style, with a grand staircase and stained glass windows. Frequent attempts have been made to close the facility, so far without success. Outside the hospital is a replica of Il Porcellino, the famous fountain statue of Florence. The boar collects money for the hospital, as all wishing coins thrown into the fountain benefit their activities.
Next to the present-day hospital is the Mint Museum (t 02 9217 0311; open daily 10.00–17.00), originally the southern wing of the Rum Hospital. In response to the discoveries on the goldfields, the building served as a branch of the Royal Mint from 1854 until 1926, when a new mint was opened in Perth. It served a variety of governmental functions until 1982, when it was salvaged from further dereliction and opened as a Museum of Colonial Decorative Art. The displays reveal a remarkable array of Australian-made furniture, clocks, pottery and other artefacts, as well as historical exhibitions of Australian currency. Most interesting is the ‘Holey Dollar’, an example of coinage created 9225 1700during Macquarie’s term when legal tenure was scarce; a circle was stamped out of the middle of Spanish coins, counterstamped as New South Wales coinage as fifteen pence for the circle and five shillings for the Holey Dollar. These remained in circulation until 1829.
Continue south on Macquarie Street; next to the Mint is Hyde
Park
Barracks (t 02 8239 2311; open daily 10.00–17.00). Designed
for
Governor Macquarie by Francis Greenway between 1817 and 1819, the
barracks provided the first permanent lodging for convicts, who until
this point were allowed to roam free. Described by architectural critic
J.M. Freeland as ‘just a barn—but a very handsome barn’, this
three-storey sandstone construction could sleep 600 convicts; it is
considered one of Greenway’s most successful and elegant buildings.
After transportation ended, it was used for a variety of purposes,
until it was restored as a museum in 1984. The museum shop is an
excellent source for books on Australian history and culture. Tours
include one that allows the visitor to spend the night in the barracks
as a convict would.
Walk 2 Hyde Park and surroundings
At Hyde Park Barracks, cross Macquarie Street at Queen’s Square. In the centre of the Square is a statue of Queen Victoria, the work of English sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm. It was originally presented to Australia for its centenary in 1888 and has experienced a number of locations throughout Sydney.Now proceed to St James Church, another of Greenway’s achievements, built 1819–22. Originally designed as a courtroom, the plans underwent a change when Macquarie requested a church instead. Built of characteristically red-brown local brick, the building’s design is admired for its simplicity and balanced proportions. The only exterior ornamentation is the inclusion of pilasters of a different colour. The current building includes numerous additions and alterations, including the spire, probably added in 1824 by Greenway’s successor, and eastern porches by John Verge. The opulent interior furnishings were created in the Edwardian era by Anglican Diocesan Architect, J.H. Buckeridge. The basement houses church offices, as well as a delightful Children’s Chapel, decorated in the 1930s by a group of women artists known as the Turramurra Painters, led by Ethel Anderson and Grace Cossington Smith. The frescoes depict biblical stories transposed to a Sydney setting, a rare example of what art historian Joan Kerr calls ‘Early Christian Australian Nationalism’.
Hyde Park
Cross St James Road to enter Hyde Park itself, a cosmopolitan oasis of
greenery that also houses several architectural monuments and is
surrounded by some of the most elegant buildings in town. Situated in
the park between Elizabeth and College Streets is the Archibald
Memorial Fountain, erected in 1933 at a cost of £12,000 from the
bequest of Jules François Archibald. The fountain
commemorates Franco-Australian cooperation in the First World War. In
keeping with Archibald’s wishes, it was designed by a French sculptor,
François Sicard, and represents mythological personifications of
the
Arts, Beauty and Light.
Jules François Archibald
Jules François Archibald (1856–1919) was an important figure in
Australian cultural life. Christened John Feltham by his
Irish-Australian parents, his romantic flair for all things French led
him to adopt a French name. He was in 1880 one of the founders of the
Sydney Bulletin, a weekly newspaper which helped to define a national
Australian character. Appealing to the native-born Australian, the
Bulletin conveyed a distinctive mixture of idealism, republicanism,
racism, and vulgar humour; it was particularly well-known for its
editorial cartoons, the artists of which contributed to an illustrative
style known as ‘The Black and White School’. Archibald was responsible
for the cultural aspects of the paper, and it was in this capacity that
he supported and encouraged a group of young Australian writers and
artists, including Henry Lawson, A.B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson, and Norman
Lindsay. Upon his death in 1919, his will specified not only the
Memorial Fountain, but an amount for an annual prize of £156 for
the
best portrait painted by an Australian; today, the Archibald Prize has
grown to $20,000, making it one of the most lucrative art prizes in the
world.
Also in Hyde Park is the Anzac War Memorial, an impressive Art Deco
structure designed in 1934 by a local artist, C. Bruce Dellit, with
sculpture by Rayner Hoff (1894–1937). At a height of 33m (100 feet),
the memorial contains a circular Hall of Memory above a circular Hall
of Silence which incorporates a group of statuary symbolising
Sacrifice. The walls of the Hall of Memory include the names of those
who fell in the Great War.
Recently, some Sydney politicos have sought to turn much of Hyde Park
into an aquatic centre, to the dismay of heritage activists and
environmentalists. At the time of writing, final plans were still being
debated, although renovations appear to have won out; the section next
to St Mary’s Cathedral is to become an aquatic centre.
On the College Street side of Hyde Park is St Mary’s Catholic
Cathedral, designed in 1865 by William Wilkinson Wardell, who had
earlier designed St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne. Modelled on
Lincoln Cathedral, St Mary’s is probably the largest church erected in
the British colonies and appears, according to Jan Morris, as a ‘kind
of standard Gothic cathedral, such as you might order from an
ecclesiastical catalogue’. The interior is rich in dark stained-glass
windows, and also includes a majestic mosaic floor in the crypt by
Peter Melocco, who also produced the Tasman map mosaic at the Mitchell
Library. Currently the cathedral is carrying out a massive fund-raising
campaign, highlighted by concerts and operas performed on site.
At the corner of William and College Streets, south of the Cathedral,
is The
Australian Museum (t 02 9320 6000; open daily
09.30–17.00); the
street façade is of Neo-Palladian design, constructed by James
Barnet’s
office between 1861 and 1866.
The original museum building, evident in the first rooms of the interior, was built by Mortimer Lewis between 1846 and 1852; it was opened to the public in 1857. The museum was founded in 1836, and supported by Alexander Macleay (1767–1848), then Colonial Secretary and an enthusiastic scientist. The original specimens were from his own collection; subsequently government funding allowed the museum to grow into one of the most important collections of Australian zoology, mineralogy, palaeontology and ethnology. The institution has an illustrious history, with many famous scientists and cultural figures serving as directors and curators. The present museum has expanded in a variety of directions, allowing for numerous exhibition spaces, as well as the display of the original 19C holdings. The museum also houses a large reference library and publishes several scientific and popular journals. Regular lectures and gallery talks are scheduled, and the museum is one of the most popular venues for Sydney school children, particularly drawn to the dinosaur collection.
Next door to the museum on College Street is Sydney Grammar School, now a conglomeration of many buildings in various styles. The school itself has great historical significance, as one of the oldest educational institutions in the colony and as the focal point of many public meetings in Sydney’s formative years. The earliest buildings here were erected between 1831 and 1835 by Robert Cooper as part of a neo-Classical block of the old Sydney College (from which College Street derives its name). The college closed in 1847. The buildings were next to the University of Sydney which was inaugurated in 1850. After years of financial vicissitudes, the school became Sydney Grammar, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1854 and opened in 1857. While the buildings of the school are of modest sandstone, the school’s status as the longest continuous home of an Australian educational institution gives them a special significance.
On the other side of Hyde Park is Elizabeth Street, named for
Governor Macquarie’s wife; it is the longest and straightest street in
central Sydney, beginning at Hunter Street and extending to the Central
Railway Station. At the head of the park is the Old Supreme Court
Building group, originally designed by Francis Greenway, but
substantially altered by the addition of a stone colonnade in 1868 by
Colonial Architect James Barnet. The interior, with its cedar
staircase, gives some indication of Greenway’s gracious design,
although additional elements appeared in the 1890s, giving a more
opulent Edwardian atmosphere to the chambers.
Further south on Elizabeth Street is the Great Synagogue.
Opened in
1878, the building was designed by Thomas Rowe and constructed of
Pyrmont sandstone. Intende9225 1700d to accommodate two previous Jewish
congregations, the ground floor seats 1600 people. Considered one
of the major monuments to Australian Jewry, it still holds services,
although larger congregations exist in Bondi and elsewhere in the city.
Special admission and tours can be arranged through the synagogue’s
offices; regular tours occur at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays (t 02
9267 2477).
The first Jews in Australia
Jews arrived in Australia with the First Fleet; at least one, James
Larra, eventually became an innkeeper in Parramatta. By 1817, 20 Jews
formed a burial society in the colony and from 1828 prayers were held
regularly at the home of P.J. Cohen in Jamison Street. By 1835, the
Jewish population in Sydney was 345. The first minister, M.E. Rose,
arrived in this year. By 1862, under the leadership of senior minister
Alexander Davis, Jewish education and philanthropy became organised;
Davis presided over the community for 40 years, and was instrumental in
the merger of the two congregations that culminated in the erection of
The Great Synagogue. The Sydney Jewish
Museum, which holds regular
exhibitions and illustrates the entire history of Australian Jewry, is
located at 148 Darlinghurst Road and very near to Kings Cross (t 02
9360 7999, open Sun–Thurs 10.00–16.00, Fri 10.00–14.00).
Walk 3 The Domain, Botanic Gardens, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales
The central park area known as the Domain is integral to Sydney city life. It was part of the original government reserve set aside by Governor Phillip. Under Macquarie it acquired the official title ‘Government Domain’ and was enclosed by stone walls, but it seems to have been accessible to all sorts of citizens from the beginning. By the 1860s, the Domain Gates were opened to the public, and by the 1890s it had become the site for public speakers and political demonstrations. Huge crowds demonstrated against conscription in 1917, and protests here accompanied the dismissal of Premier Lang in 1931 and Prime Minister Gough Whitlam’s sacking in 1975. Today the Domain is still a site for public gatherings, including concerts during the Festival of Sydney in January and carols at Christmas time, as well as what appears to be regular lunch-hour cricket games.Woolloomooloo
From the Domain one looks out over Woolloomooloo (yes, eight ‘o’s!), once the busiest industrial dock area, now occupied by the navy. Still in operation as a popular public swimming pool and accessible from the Domain is the Andrew (Boy) Charlton Pool, which juts into Woolloomooloo Bay; it is named after a great Australian swimmer of the 1920s. The pool is now the site of the annual Gay Swimming Carnival.
The district itself long held a reputation as a tough tenement for sailors and dock-workers; today it has lost some of that image, housing great pubs and entertainment venues. At the time of writing, Harry’s Cafe de Wheels, a Sydney institution since 1945, was still stationed on the wharf of Woolloomooloo; you go there for late-night ‘pies and peas’, as you would for a cheese-steak in Philadelphia—definitely not haute cuisine, but a fun stop for visitors. The van has photographs of celebrity customers pinned on its walls.
The Royal Botanic Gardens
The Royal Botanic
Gardens (t 02 9231 8111, daily sunrise until sunset)
are accessible through several entrances on each side of the Domain.
The 1889 entrance across from the Shakespeare monument in front of the
State Library is often considered the main entrance, although the
‘official’ entrance is across the street from the Art Gallery of New
South Wales.
The gardens were originally the site of Government Farm, established by
the First Fleet from seeds brought with them; the settlers were able to
raise nine acres of corn at what is now called Farm Cove. When barren
soil caused the main farm to be moved to Parramatta, Phillip declared
this area for the government; hence its earlier name of Phillip Domain.
The Botanic Gardens proper date from 1816, when Mrs Macquarie’s Road
was completed. This road in the Gardens and along the harbour marks the
favoured excursion route of Elizabeth Macquarie, culminating in Mrs
Macquarie’s Chair, a stone bench where she allegedly sat to enjoy the
view.
From here one can look out into the harbour to Fort Denison, more
popularly known as ‘Pinchgut’ Island, supposedly referring to the fact
that in the early days repeat offenders were sentenced to stay here on
a diet of bread and water; a more likely reason is that it is at this
point that the harbour narrows around it. The island still bears guns
and defence towers, evidence of early attempts to defend the harbour
from invasion. In 1942, when a Japanese midget submarine entered the
harbour, an American cruiser attacked, hitting the fort’s tower; the
submarine was hit, and its remains can be seen today outside Canberra’s
Australian War Memorial.
You can also see across to Garden Island, now the site
of the Royal Australian Naval base. Here First Fleet sailors grew
vegetables. It is also the site of Australia’s first known graffiti,
and the oldest evidence of white settlement: carved in rocks on the
former island are the initials ‘F.M.’ for Frederick Meredith, a steward
on the Sirius.
Sydney Harbour islands
Sydney Harbour originally contained 13 small islands, some of them,
like Pinchgut, now accessible to the public for tours or just
picnicking; some of them, like Garden and Bennelong, were filled in and
are now part of the mainland. Some of the most delightful islands are
on the ‘other side’ of the Harbour Bridge, and can be seen when taking
the ferries upriver. In most cases, individual transport (with harbour
taxis or private boats) must be arranged. Most fascinating is Goat
Island, seen on the ferry en route to Balmain. It was the site of one
of the most bizarre examples of colonial punishment: in the 1830s, a
recalcitrant convict named ‘Bony’ Anderson was chained to a rock on the
island for two years, and fed like an animal; he regularly swore at
passing ships, and became such a moral embarassment to decent colonists
that he was eventually released and sent to Norfolk Island. Goat Island
still has a quarry and remnants of a convict-built village. Other
islands worth visiting include: Shark, once the quarantine station;
Clarke; Rodd, terminal of the Sydney Rowing Club’s river course, and
site of the laboratory where Pasteur experiments were carried out; and
Spectacle, including a Naval depot with a small museum. Tours of the
islands are provided by Banks Marine, Island Events, 81 Grove Street,
Balmain, t 02 9555 1222
Governor Macquarie appointed the first Colonial Botanist,
Charles Fraser, in 1816; by 1825 some 3000 specimens were growing in
the garden. Continuous expansion and botanical accumulation continued
under a series of innovative directors, most notably Charles Moore, who
ran the gardens for nearly 50 years, from 1848 to 1896. His successor,
Joseph Henry Maiden, founded a National Herbarium with a collection of
botanical specimens and a substantial botanical library.
The gardens themselves offer a number of delightful walks,
incorporating native and introduced species. Fruit bats hang in
abundance in the palm groves. Ornate statues of all sorts, including
replicas of Canova’s Boxers on the Main Walk, dot the gardens. In the
middle of the gardens is a refreshment kiosk, including a highly-touted
restaurant above and a cafeteria-style facility below; a visitor’s
centre also provides brochures and books on natural history and
gardening.
Most spectacular is the walk along the Harbour around Farm Cove which
ultimately leads out of the gardens and to the Opera House. Of special
interest is the Pyramid Glasshouse near the Macquarie Street entrance,
containing rare and endangered species and other tropical plants.
In the middle of the gardens, near Farm Cove Crescent, you can see Government House (t 02 9931 5222; open Fri–Sun 10.00–15.00). It was designed by Edward Blore, an English architect who had designed Sir Walter Scott’s estate, Abbottsford. The foundation stone was laid in 1837, and Mortimer Lewis became supervising architect. It was officially opened on 26 June 1845. The design, with its crenellated turrets and porte-cochère entrance, complements Greenway’s earlier stables, and marks the rise of the popularity of Gothic Revival style in the colony. Built of Australian cedar, Pyrmont stone and native marble, the structure included cloisters that form a covered verandah comprised of Gothic arches. First occupied by Governor Gipps, the colonial chronicler Joseph Fowles described it in 1848 as: ‘an elegant stone edifice in Tudor Gothic... It is one of the most imposing buildings we have; and whether viewed from the adjacent Domain, the Harbour, or the City, its tall chimneys of elaborately carved stone, white turrets, and numerous windows, render it a conspicuous ornament to our metropolis’. It now houses a collection of 19C and 20C decorative art and furniture.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales
To get to the Art
Gallery of New South Wales (open 10.00-17.00)
, enter the Domain after
Hyde Park Barracks on Macquarie Street and you come to Art Gallery
Road. Three hundred metres from here is the art gallery.
The gallery dates from 1871, when the New South Wales Academy of Art
was formed; it was formally initiated in 1874, when the directors of
the Academy formed a Board of Trustees entrusted with the task of
purchasing artworks in London. Several temporary locations existed
before the gallery moved to its present site. In 1883 it officially
became the National Art Gallery of New South Wales, although the
‘National’ was dropped in 1958. (Note that Melbourne’s gallery is still
called the National Gallery of Victoria, despite the fact that the
National Gallery of Australia is now in Canberra—evidence of the
continuing cultural competition between the two states.)
The gallery also
includes two restaurants, a coffee shop on Level 3 with a delightful
terrace and interesting view into the naval base at Woolloomooloo Bay,
and a more elegant restaurant on level 5 which overlooks the entrance
lobby.
The original building of 1885 was designed by John Horbury Hunt. Always considered a temporary building, it was concealed in 1895 by the classically designed façade of Colonial Architect W.L. Vernon. It is Vernon’s plan that still constitutes the main floor galleries, including the Roman-style entrance completed in 1909, and the grand oval lobby of 1902. Vernon envisioned large bronze reliefs on the exterior walls, only four of which were completed. The building had fallen into disrepair by the 1960s, when the government agreed to rebuild the site as part of the Captain Cook Bicentenary projects. Architect Andrew Andersons completed the new building in 1972, demolishing the original Hunt structure at the rear and doubling exhibition space. Andersons was also responsible for the newest extension at the east end, which opened for the Bicentenary in 1988.
By far the most impressive part of the gallery’s collections
is its holdings in Australian art. As early as 1875, the gallery
committed itself to the purchase of local artists’ work, an admirable
decision at a time when culture was widely believed to originate in
Europe alone. The collection, then, is strongest in works after 1875,
with earlier works acquired at a much later date.
On entering the gallery’s foyer, you step through the oval lobby and
into the central hall, where the information desk is located to the
left; admission is free except to special travelling exhibitions, which
are charged separately.
On the right are the European galleries. The current design of these
exhibition spaces consciously alludes to 19C academic practices, with
richly-coloured walls and paintings hung densely on the walls.
Fittingly, the two middle galleries on this side, including the large
central gallery, concentrate on 19C Australian paintings; the small
holdings of early European art are in the first gallery off to the left
of the first of the Australian rooms, and 18C century and 19C European
works in the gallery behind them.
The first gallery of Australian art includes works painted before 1875,
including John Glover’s Natives on the Ouse River, Van Diemen’s Land,
one of the artist’s interesting depictions of Tasmanian Aboriginals;
several works by Conrad Martens, often considered the ‘Turner of
Australia’ for his wispy seascapes; and a characteristic landscape by
Victorian artist Eugène von Guerard.
In the central gallery the most famous works appear: those of the
so-called Australian Impressionists, the artists of the late 19C, whose
works are now known as near icons of national identity, popularly
accepted as having created a distinctly Australian style. Ironically,
many of these artists were either foreign-born or lived extensively as
expatriates abroad. Included here are Charles Conder’s atmospheric
Departure of the S.S. Orient-Circular Quay, painted in 1888 and
purchased by the gallery in the same year; Arthur Streeton’s ‘Fire’s
on!’ (Lapstone Tunnel) (1891), probably his most famous narrative
landscape; Frederick McCubbin’s On the Wallaby Track (1896), redolent
of the plein-air techniques of Belgian painter Bastien-Lepage; and Tom
Roberts’s Shearing at Newstead (The Golden Fleece) (1894), establishing
the iconography of the Australian shearer.
Dominating the room’s walls, however, are the enormous canvases of
Rupert Bunny (1864–1947) and George Lambert (1873–1930), two expatriate
Australians who concentrated on figurative painting in the grandest and
most elegant European tradition.
The galleries to the rear and at the far side, painted in the original
deep red, house a considerable number of late Victorian and Edwardian
British painting, including Frederic Leighton’s voluptuous Cymon and
Iphigenia (1884) and Ford Madox Brown’s Chaucer at the Court of Edward
III. Other works by the Pre-Raphaelite School demonstrate the strong
British concentration of the gallery’s early acquisitions.
To the left of the central hall on the main floor are the works of 20C
Australian art, intelligently arranged to present an overview of the
country’s more recent aesthetic development. Of special interest are
the works of the Early Moderns, most particularly the progressive
paintings of the women painters Margaret Preston (1875–1963), Thea
Proctor (1879–1966) and Grace Cossington Smith (1892–1984), who are now
seen as the most accomplished modern painters of the 1920s and 1930s.
The contribution of Melbourne artists to Australian modernism is also
recognised with works by the social-realists Josl Bergner and Noel
Counihan. Works by Sydney artists Russell Drysdale (1912–81) and
William Dobell (1899–1970) are especially well-represented, indicative
of the Australian directions in portraiture and landscape in the 1930s
and 1940s.
No Australian collection would be complete without examples by Sidney
Nolan (1917–92), probably the most internationally recognised
Australian artist; his Burke (c 1962) and Pretty Polly Mine (1948) are
representative of his mythologising of Australian history.
Abstraction enters Australian art in the 1950s and 1960s, in the works
of painters such as John Olsen, Peter Upward, and Fred Williams.
Williams’ You Yangs landscape (1963) is exemplary of his abstracted
approach to the Australian landscape.
Next to these galleries is one of the spaces for travelling and/or project exhibitions, of which the gallery has had many of international stature. The ‘blockbuster’ mentality has invaded the Australian art world as it has in every other country, and great competition arises among the leading galleries for the shows that will bring in the largest crowds. Important regular shows occurring here are Perspecta, held inFebruary to March of odd-numbered years, and the Sydney Biennale, held in July to August of even-numbered years. Both exhibitions focus on Australian and international contemporary art.
Take the escalator to Level 3, which has space for
temporary
exhibitions as well as housing the permanent collections of Asian,
Aboriginal and Melanesian art. The gallery began collecting Aboriginal
art in the late 1950s under the enlightened curatorship of Tony
Tuckson, himself an artist who believed that such works belonged in art
galleries rather than ethnographic collections. Its new Aboriginal
gallery, called Yiribana, brings together these holdings for the first
time; changing exhibitions include video displays about the artists and
Aboriginal culture. Central to the collection is a set of seventeen
grave posts from Snake Bay, Melville Island, which form a sculptural
grouping that inspired Tuckson’s own work.
Asian art holdings have grown substantially in the last decade, as
increased recognition of Australia’s presence in an Asian context leads
to greater awareness of these cultures. The holdings are varied and
eclectic, although concerted effort is being made to enhance the
collections of South East Asian art.
Level 2 includes rooms concentrating on the gallery’s substantial
holdings of prints and drawings, as well as contemporary art and a
small collection of 20C European works. Descending ever further, Level
1 provides a space for photography exhibitions.
Walk 4 The Rocks
Immediately below the Harbour Bridge to the west of Circular Quay is the area known as The Rocks, today the most frequented tourist destination in Sydney, and historically the most significant. The name ‘The Rocks’ was applied to the quarter as early as 1803, when newspaper articles complained of its lack of proper streets. Here you will find more than 100 of Sydney’s oldest buildings, all carefully preserved and serving as shops, galleries, and restaurants. As recently as the 1970s plans were afoot to demolish the area to replace it with skyscrapers—confirmation of its lingering reputation as an impossible slum. It was only through the efforts of the Sydney Cove Redevelopment Authority, aided by the ‘Green Bans’ of the Builders Labourers Union led by Jack Mundey, that the area survived, standing as an architectural reminder of Sydney’s historic mixing of the genteel and the disreputable. Today the ‘renovation’ is so complete—even feisty union man Mundey has been thanked by the government!—that The Rocks’ earlier character can only be described, not experienced, as it becomes the city’s leading tourist attraction.History of The Rocks
Amidst the boulders and cliffs of this sandstone outcropping the first
convicts built their huts, and eventually created in the section
closest to the harbour one of the Pacific’s toughest seaports, where
whalers and sailors filled the narrow alleyways to carry out every form
of vice and mayhem. As many as 20 pubs existed here by 1813 (along with
the illegal ‘sly-grog’ shops and brothels), with 37 by 1855; two pubs,
The Lord Nelson on Argyle Street (1834) and The Hero of Waterloo on
Lower Fort Street (1843), survive from the era.
In the 1850s the area also filled with Chinese who had arrived during
the gold rush; they established opium parlours, fantan gambling shops,
and vegetable hawkers, creating a Chinatown that added to the general
cacophony of The Rocks. Chinatown moved to the Haymarket district, near
Darling Harbour, in the 1890s.
Long after the penal system ended, this section of The Rocks continued
as a filthy, overcrowded slum; sailors’ anecdotes maintained that you
could hear the noise from The Rocks a mile out to sea and smell it for
two miles. In the 1890s, The Rocks ‘Pushes’ were notorious for their
gang-style streetfighting; these are brilliantly described by Henry
Lawson in his poem ‘The Captain of the Push’.
‘Then his whistle, loud
and piercing, woke the echoes of “The rocks”,
And a dozen ghouls came
sloping round the corners of the blocks.’
As late as 1900, a major
epidemic of bubonic plague broke out here, leading to the first
systematic ‘cleansing’ through demolition. Further destruction occurred
in 1927 when the most elegant of the upper streets of The Rocks,
Princes Street, disappeared as the Harbour Bridge was built, and again
in 1957, to make way for the Cahill Expressway.
While housing such seamy elements of life, The Rocks also became the
site of reputable establishments and genteel neighbourhoods: the first
hospital and cemetery were here, and it was the home of the earliest
wharves and commercial warehouses. The neighbourhood along the ridge at
present-day Argyle Place became by the 1850s the location of neat
bourgeois houses, with pleasant greens and elegant terraces. This area
was known as ‘Bunker’s Hill’, reputedly in honour of American sea
captain Eber Bunker, who arrived in Sydney in 1791 with a convict ship
and subsequently became one of the first whalers in the colony. Bunker
participated in the arrest of Governor Bligh and was given 1500 acres
at Liverpool by Governor Macquarie.
Tours of The Rocks and a self-guided tour map are available
from The Rocks Visitor
Centre, no. 106–108 George Street (t 02 9255
1788).
On the west side of Circular Quay, just below The Rocks proper, is the
Museum of Contemporary Art (t 02 9245 2400, open daily
10.00– 18.00), which opened in 1993 in the former Maritime Services
Board Building. The structure itself, built in 1949, appears almost
Stalinesque in its solidity and functional severity, but the interiors
include elegant marble fittings. The transformation of the rooms has
created appropriately expansive spaces for the presentation of
contemporary art. Along with travelling exhibitions, the museum also
houses the Power Collection, a bequest of John Power, and some of the
first modern art collected in Australia. By the time this collection
was transferred from its old home at the University of Sydney in 1991,
it contained works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Christo and Hockney. Along
with displays of the permanent collection, the musem mounts exhibitions
of the most contemporary art, including video, holography, and
multi-media presentations.
As seems to be required of all Sydney facilities these days, the museum
has an excellent restaurant (one of Neil Perry’s creations) and the
hippest art-bookshop in town—a welcome change from the duty-free
tourist shops littering the rest of The Rocks.
On the George Street side of the museum at no. 119 was the Julian Ashton Art School. Ashton (1851–1942) was a significant figure in Sydney’s art life, gaining fame as one of the ‘Black and White’ illustrators of The Bulletin and in the production of the immense Picturesque Atlas of Australasia (1888). His school was one of the most progressive in the city, and many of the early modern artists of Sydney began their careers here.
Now walk north up Lower George Street. The first
street in
Sydney, it originated as a track from the Tank Stream’s spring at
present-day Martin Place. Originally called Spring Street, it was
renamed in honour of King George III by Governor Macquarie in 1810.
Orient Hotel, no. 89 Argyle Street, was built in the 1850s as a sailor
hotel, with a rounded corner façade typical of colonial Georgian
style.
Across the street, at no. 91, is the Rocks Police Station, formerly the
Victorian ASN Hotel, a three-storey structure in an elaborate
Italianate style noted for its unusual garland decoration below the
parapet.
From here look across towards Circular Quay c 200m to see Cadman’s
Cottage, 110 George Street off Circular Quay West. Sydney’s oldest
extant building, it was built in 1815–16 for John Cadman, pardoned
convict and official government coxswain for Governors Macquarie,
Brisbane, Darling, Bourke and Gipps; he was Superintendent of Boats
1827–45. Cadman lived in the cottage until 1845; his diminutive size
explains the height of the doorway. It was subsequently the
headquarters of the Sydney Water Police and, until 1965, part of the
Sailors’ Home. It was rebuilt and renovated in 1972 and is now the
information centre for the New South Wales National Parks &
Wildlife Service (t 02 9247 8861; open Tues–Sun
11.00–16.30).
No. 106–108 George Street, as just mentioned now the Rocks
Visitors
Centre, was originally The Sailors Home (the name still appears in blue
letters on the façade facing the harbour). The home, which dates
from
the 1860s, provided room and board for sailors as a more comfortable
alternative to the rowdy inns of The Rocks. One can still look up to
three floors of cubicle-rooms and see the pressed-tin roofs. A
permanent exhibition on the history of The Rocks is on the second
floor. Tours of The Rocks begin here, and self-guided tour brochures
are available.
The Australian Steam Navigation Company Building, 1 Hickson Road, was
designed by William Wardell in 1884; it clearly mimics Flemish
mercantile buildings. It stands on the site of Robert Campbell’s first
home and overlooks his warehouses. It is now
occupied by the Ken Done Galleries. Now take Customs Officers’ Stairs
down to the warehouses.
Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell (1769–1846) built a wharf here in 1800–03, becoming the
first private import-export merchant in the colony; he is quaintly
referred to as the ‘Father of Australian Commerce’, or ‘Merchant
Campbell’, renowned for his part in breaking the Rum monopoly. He later
settled at Duntroon, today the Australian Military Academy in
present-day Canberra, where he died in 1846. The warehouses were
expanded in the 1840s and again in the 1890s, when the third floor and
slate roofs were added.
Campbell’s Stores occupy 7–27 Circular Quay West/11–31 Hickson Road. Now a row of restaurants with marvellous views of the harbour at Campbell’s Cove, these sandstone warehouses include remnants of the original 1820s Campbell’s Stores.
You might now decide to go back south to Upper George Street, to examine several restored terraces and sandstone hotels, including the interesting houses on Atherden Street, Sydney’s shortest street. For a longer walk, you can continue down Hickson towards Harbour Bridge to Miller’s Point. You will pass the entrance to the new Hyatt Hotel, which faces out onto Campbell’s Cove. The hotel was built in the booming 1980s, in attractive sandstone to blend with the other buildings. Under the bridge is Dawes Point, which has a marvellous view of Luna Park and Lavender Bay on the North Shore.
Miller’s Point
Walking under the Harbour Bridge, you enter the original wharf district
of Miller’s Point. The first wharves have now become restaurants and
shops. Further on, the old passenger terminal is now home to the Sydney
Dance Company (t 02 9221 4811) and the Sydney Theatre
Company (t 02 9250 1777), two of the city’s premier
cultural institutions with active
and innovative programmes throughout the year.
At Pottinger Road, walk up the steep incline to reach The
Upper Rocks.
At the top, turn left on Windmill Street towards Lower Fort Street. At
no. 73 Windmill Street is the Stephens Building. Built for J.M
Stephens, a well-known musician and publican, at a cost of £4000,
it
opened in 1900 as Sydney’s first walk-up block of flats. It represents,
along with the other terrace houses on the streets, a typical housing
form of the early 20C.
At the corner of Windmill and Lower Fort Streets is the Hero of
Waterloo, (t 02 9252 4553) licensed in 1845. A simple
three-storey
stone building, the inn must have been one of the toughest of The
Rocks’ pubs—its cellar was used to store drunks until press gangs could
shanghai them for ship’s crews. It still maintains an air of
rowdiness—it has not been entirely gentrified for tourists.
Continue down Lower Fort Street to Holy Trinity Church (The Garrison Church) on the corner of Argyle and Lower Fort Streets. Built in 1840–44 to the design of Henry Ginn, the building was enlarged between 1855 and 1874 by prominent Gothic Revival architect Edmund Blacket. Still known as Garrison Church, it served as the chapel for the British Regiment stationed at Dawes Point Battery until 1880. The east window of the church was donated by Dr James Mitchell, father of David Mitchell of the Mitchell Library. Next to the church is the old church school, dating from the 1850s, and last used as a school in 1942; it is now the parish hall.
William Dawes
William Dawes (c 1758–1836) was the son of an admiralty official at
Portsmouth. He joined the Royal Marines in 1779, and distinguished
himself as a scientific observer and astronomer. He volunteered to sail
with the First Fleet to New South Wales, and was put in charge of
astronomical observations. He built the first observatory at this site,
which was then known as Point Maskelyne in honour of the Astronomer
Royal. He also worked as a surveyor, laying out many of the streets of
Sydney and Paramatta. A man of great intellectual energy, Dawes came
into conflict with Governor Phillip when he refused to join a party
sent to track down an Aborigine who had wounded his convict ‘master’.
He returned to England in 1791, and eventually became Governor of
Sierra Leone. He spent the last years of his life in Antigua, West
Indies.
Across from the church to the west is Argyle Place, a village green surrounded by houses dating as early as 1830. The name Argyle refers to the Scottish birthplace of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, that inveterate bestower of place-names. The houses here are perfect examples of the colonial style of architecture, with stone walls, wooden columns, and iron lace work. At 50 Argyle Place is Undercliff Cottage, built in 1840; it was the home of James Merriam, who was Lord Mayor of Sydney in the mid-1840s.
Continue west up Argyle Street to Kent Street; on the
northwest corner
is the Lord Nelson. Built in 1834, it is the oldest operating hotel in
Sydney. Originally a private home for ex-convict William Wells, it
became a licensed pub in 1842, and now serves its own brand of beer.
Return along Argyle Street, continuing east to the Argyle Cut; above,
on the south side, is Observatory Park.
Argyle Cut itself was the work of convicts from Hyde Park Barracks, who, in 1843, began to hack through solid rock using nothing but pick and hammer. Since transportation had ended in 1842, work had to be completed in 1859 under the direction of the Municipal Council using free labourers. The Cut provided quick access from Sydney Cove to Miller’s Point and the wharves of Watson’s Bay. The tons of rock excavated was used to form a sea wall at Semicircular Quay. Old photographs, most notably by Harold Cazneaux, make the Cut appear like a scene from the Old World. In the middle of the Cut, a plaque states simply ‘Charles Moore Mayor 1867–1868’.
At the top of Argyle Stairs entering into The Rocks by the
Cut, you will find the entrance to the Pylon Lookout, at the top of the
southeast pylon of the Harbour Bridge. Climb the 200 stairs for a
spectacular view of the harbour and the surrounding area. At this point
it is also possible to reach the pedestrian footpath which leads across
the bridge to North Sydney, about a 20 minute walk one way.
After the Cut to the north is Argyle Arts Centre, 18–20 Argyle Street
at Playfair Street. Formerly Mary Reibey’s Argyle Bond
Stores, this conglomeration of shops represents a variety of
architectural periods, most prominently the 1880s, but with some
sections dating from as early as 1828. It is now the home of crafts
shops aimed at the tourist market.
Mary Reibey
Mary Reibey (1777–1855) was one of the most remarkable figures in early Australian history; she is currently immortalised on the $20 note. Transported in 1792 for horse theft (she maintained she had only borrowed it), she was only 15 when she arrived in the colony. In 1794 she married Thomas Reibey, a ship’s officer. They settled on a farm on the Hawkesbury River, and began to purchase schooners; by 1803, Thomas owned several vessels and ran a coastal trade. In 1809 he received an appointment as a ship’s pilot and sailed to China and India, where he died of heat stroke in 1811, aged 42. Mary, now with seven children, had already established businesses and acquired properties in The Rocks, among them the Argyle Bond. She continued to act as a merchant and to manage her late husband’s shipping concerns. She increased her land holdings through judicious investments and government grants, and soon established her sons on property in Tasmania, where her grandson Thomas would become Premier. In 1820, she visited England with her daughters, and was greeted as a celebrity; she further solidified her business interests with London firms. She was instrumental in the establishment of banking concerns in the new colony. She worked tirelessly to expand her investments and property, which included a house at Hunter’s Hill and many substantial buildings in the centre of town around Macquarie Place; the Bank of New South Wales was one of her tenants. She was a well-known figure in Sydney, accompanied by her enormous Fijian woman bodyguard, Feefoo.
At 13–15 and 17–31 Playfair Street is Argyle Terrace,
originally a row of workers’ cottages dating from the 1870s; they now
house more shops and cafés. At George Street, between the Argyle
Tavern
(built 1830) and the Argyle Cut, are the Argyle Stairs, leading to
Cumberland Street. These stairs were cut by convicts to a height of 9
metres (30 ft) to provide access to Bunker’s Hill and Miller’s Point.
At Nurses Walk and Globe Street is the New South Wales State Archives,
a good source of information on early settlement and family history.
Observatory Hill
From York Street, walk through the pedestrian walkways to Kent
Street
and the Bradfield Highway. From Argyle Place in The Rocks use the steps
to Watson Road, or climb the steep Argyle Stairs to Gloucester Street,
then take Bridge Stairs to Observatory Road. The area near Bridge
Stairs is one of the most pleasant and calmest parts of Old Sydney,
evoking some sense of the old neighbourhoods here near the harbour.
At the base of the Hill, at 120 Kent Street, is the Richmond Villa, now
home of the Australian Society of Genealogists. Originally located in
The Domain on Hospital Street, the villa was the home of Colonial
Architect Mortimer Lewis, who designed it in 1849. An elegant example
of ‘Carpenter’s Gothic’, with pointed parapets and bay windows,
Richmond Villa remained in a row of villas behind the State Parliament
and served a variety of uses until it was moved, stone by stone, to its
present site in 1975.
Next to Richmond Villa is Glover’s Cottage, the only remaining house of
those built in 1820 on the original land grant by stonemason Thomas
Glover.
Observatory Hill stands 44 metres (144 feet) above the
harbour; since
settlement, it has been a major landmark, and was originally the site
of the colony’s first windmill (hence its earlier name of Windmill
Hill). In 1804, Governor King began construction of a citadel to be
named Fort Phillip; it was never completed, but remnants of the
original stone wall surround the Observatory. The hill was also known
as Flagstaff Hill, since Governor Phillip erected a flagpole here in
1788, and a later Signal Station (1825) served the same purpose for
incoming ships. In 1848, Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis built a
second Signal Station, which remains as the hill’s oldest building.
The Observatory (t 02 9921 3485, open daily 10.00–17.00,
2-hour evening
sessions include a lecture and view through the telescope but must be
booked about two weeks in advance) itself was designed by Colonial
Architect Alexander Dawson and built between 1857 and 1859. From 1858,
a time ball on the weather vane dropped daily at 13.00 to signal that a
gun be fired at Fort Denison in the Harbour to indicate the correct
time; the practice ceased during the Second World War, but was revived
in 1987. The copper-domed observation chambers with telescopes were
added in 1877, and served as the official astronomical observatory
until the 1980s; it is now a marvellously informative museum, offering
many hands-on displays and evening observation times.
Immediately to the south of the observatory is the National
Trust
Centre, headquarters of the New South Wales Branch of the
National
Trust of Australia (t 02 9258 0123, open Tues-Fri 11.00-17.00). Part of
the present building
includes the remains of the original Military Hospital, built in 1815
for Governor Macquarie by John Watts; the hospital was moved to
Victoria Barracks in 1848, and the structure was significantly altered
in 1849 by Mortimer Lewis, who replaced the elegant Doric columns
around the verandahs with the heavier Corinthian columns of the Classic
Revival Style. From 1850 until 1974 the building was the home of Fort
Street School, one of the most prestigious schools in the colony; when
the boys were moved in 1916, it became Fort Street Girls’ School. The
first kindergarten in New South Wales was opened here in 1856; many of
Sydney’s most prominent citizens were graduates of the school.
Along with the offices of the National Trust, the building’s brick
extension now houses the S.H.
Ervin
Gallery (t 02 9258 0123, open
Tues–Sun 11.00–17.00), named for the
businessman who donated his collection of Australian paintings and
established the gallery; changing exhibitions are usually devoted to
retrospective exhibitions of contemporary Australian artists.
A pleasant way to descend from Observatory Hill is down Watson
Road into Lower Fort Street, proceeding north down the street itself
from Argyle Place. The entire length of the street is known as Regency
Row, and contains a variety of restored houses from all periods of the
19C. This was considered Sydney’s most fashionable neighbourhood by the
mid-19C, an indication of how closely housed were the most divergent
elements of society, with squalid settlements only a few blocks below.
At no. 53 Lower Fort Street is the Colonial House Museum, maintained as
a typical Victorian terrace house. The Regency townhouses at nos 39–41
are some of the only remaining examples of the elegant work of
architect John Verge (1782–1861). Bligh House at no. 43 (closed to the
public) was the mansion of Robert Campbell Jr, son of the merchant
Robert Campbell, and a leading campaigner for the end of convict
transportation. Constructed of local sandstone bricks, the mansion has
a verandah supported by Doric columns and beautiful cedar joinery in
the interior.
To enter back into The Rocks at George Street, continue down to the end
of Lower Fort Street, known as Milton Terrace, site of some of the best
examples of High Victorian domestic architecture in Sydney. At the end
of Hickson Terrace are the Hickson Steps leading down to Hickson Road
and a return to The Rocks under the Harbour Bridge.
The Harbour Bridge
From the earliest days of settlement, contemplation of a
bridge from
Dawes Point on the South Shore to Milson’s Point on the North Shore was
on the minds of Sydneysiders. The first serious proposal was made to
Governor Macquarie by Francis Greenway in 1815, although there is no
record of its actual plan. Many proposed schemes followed throughout
the 19C, but no practicable solution could be found, because the depth
of the water and the need to maintain access to upstream wharfage for
large ships necessitated a high bridge. Finally, in 1912, Dr J.J.C.
Bradfield (the Bradfield Highway is named in his honour), Chief
Engineer of the Public Works Department, designed a single-arch steel
bridge which was accepted. The First World War delayed action, but
construction was finally implemented with the selection of architect
Sir Ralph Freeman of Dorman Long & Co., England, who received
the contract in 1921. Estimated cost was £4,217,721; the final
cost was
£6,250,000, paid off in 1988.
Work began 28 April 1923, with the excavation of sandstone beds 12m
deep, filled with concrete. The bridge took nine years to build,
employing some 1400 workers during the worst years of the Depression.
Sixteen workers were killed; one wrote on seeing the first die: ‘I
remember I was standing there with one hand on the wire rope, and I had
to prise my fingers off it with my other hand. I was quite safe where I
was. But it was the shock—it was just seeing him go down, I knew he’d
be killed.’
Constructed as two halves on both shores, the bridge was finally joined
in the middle, as cantilevered arches held in place by cables connected
to tunnels in the subterranean granite were stretched over the water.
The height at the top of the arch is 134m (439ft) above water level, at
the deck 59m (194ft); the entire span is 503m (1650ft). Clearance for
shipping is 53m (172ft). The bridge’s weight is 65,000 tonnes, all
pivoted on six small pins and held together by 6 million rivets.
Its construction generated unprecedented excitement, as a symbol of
Australia’s modernity and sophistication, and a linking of the north
and south. It has served as a source of inspiration for artists,
writers, and photographers. Grace Cossington Smith’s painting The
Bridge in Curve (1930) in the Art Gallery of New South Wales is a
stunning example; she called the Bridge ‘Te Deum in progress’. Max
Dupain, David Moore and Harold Cazneaux all made photographic studies
during and after construction.
Opening ceremonies were planned for 19 March 1932, and thousands lined
the harbour shores to witness the event. As New South Wales Premier
Jack Lang began the official opening speech, a Captain Francis de
Groot, member of the extreme right-wing New Guard opposed to Lang’s
socialist policies, rode up on a horse and cut the ribbon before he was
dragged away by the police. The ribbon was restored and Lang officially
opened the bridge. The scissors used for the ‘real’ opening are now on
display at the State Parliament House on Macquarie Street.
The bridge is part of Australian folklore, known affectionately as The Coathanger. On a sombre note, it has been the site of at least 200 suicides, despite extensive security; 60 jumps occurred in the first seven months, until protective barriers were erected, which, unfortunately, block the harbour view for passing motorists or train passengers. Automobiles crossing the bridge from north to south pay a $2 toll. Walking across the bridge takes about 20 minutes and offers exhilarating views.
Darling Harbour
For generations, Darling Harbour (first called Cockle Bay, as it still
is at its southern end) was the leading cargo facility of the port, the
centre of dockside activity. There were berths for 40 deep-sea vessels,
with additional wharves for smaller ships. In 1815, the harbour was the
site of the assembling of the first steam engine in Australia, brought
from England by engineer John Dickson and used to crush grain. Governor
Macquarie was so impressed with Dickson’s enterprise that he gave him
16 acres of land around Darling Harbour as far as George Street;
Dickson eventually became a prosperous brewer and miller, with
substantial land holdings throughout the country. Dickson sold his
brewery in the 1840s to the Toohey Brothers, who established the most
enduring of Sydney beers, Toohey’s.
The bay acquired the name of Darling Harbour in honour of Governor
Darling (1825–31), who, despite the plethora of places named after him,
was the most detested of all colonial governors. By the 1890s, the
harbour had an enormous iron wharf with six cargo cranes and a goods
yard that covered some 56 acres (22 ha).
Such a thriving industrial port brought with it the inevitable problems
of pollution and filth: abattoirs were blamed for luring the rats which
led to the outbreak of bubonic plague in The Rocks. During the
Depression of the 1930s, the wharves were known as The Hungry Mile, as
desperate men queued in their thousands for the few jobs available. As
maritime industry dwindled in significance, the harbour became more
derelict; by the 1970s, the old wooden wharves were filled in with
sterile concrete ones to accommodate container shipping.
In 1984, Premier Neville Wran spearheaded a reclamation programme for
the harbour, conceived as a Bicentennial gift to the city. The current
entertainment extravaganza is the result of this enormous project. The
Harbour is now home to the National Maritime Museum, the National
Aquarium, the Sydney Entertainment Centre, and a Chinese Garden which
links Chinatown to the harbour.
Pyrmont Bridge
While today the Pyrmont Bridge seems an inconspicuous span across a bit
of the Darling Harbour entertainment complex, its initial construction
was heralded as a major engineering achievement. Completed by bridge
designer Percy Allan and opened in 1902, it is today the world's oldest
electrically operated swingspan bridge; the central gates, which open
for ships going up to Cockle Bay, are still driven by the original
motor. At the time of its construction, as the second Pyrmont Bridge,
the harbour was a bustling industrial area, filled with warehouses and
shipping terminals; the first bridge had already provided the
thoroughfare enabling industrial expansion to the other side of the
bay. The bridge is 1200 feet (369m) long, with 14 spans, the middle
ones made of steel and the rest of Australian ironbark. Allan's great
innovation was the use of electricity for the bridge's opening
mechanism—this accomplished at a time before Sydney streets were fully
electrified, and made possible by power generated from the Ultimo
station, now the site of the Powerhouse Museum.
Cockle Bay Wharf, at the southern end of the harbour, has now been
restored and is filled with sparkling restaurants and al fresco cafes,
including Ampersand, chef Tony Bilson’s latest extravagana. The
building, designed by award-winning architect George Freedman, seats
enormous numbers inside and out.
A monorail loop from the city crosses Pyrmont Bridge, stops
near the Powerhouse Museum, and ends at the harbour. The monorail
system, costing more than $60 million, was vehemently criticised at the
time, as evidence of the government’s desire to turn Sydney into
‘Sydneyland’, and it is easy to agree with those critics. The monorail
serves little public purpose except to bring tourists to the harbour
without the necessity of looking at many of the historic buildings and
streets of the city; it does not run from Circular Quay, which would be
the most logical starting-point if it were really meant to provide
convenient transportation. But children like it, and it does prepare
the visitor for the carnival-like atmosphere that permeates Darling
Harbour’s activities. Tickets are purchased from machines at the
stations, the main one being on Pitt Street. Darling Harbour can also
be reached by the ferry leaving from Circular Quay Wharf 5.
This is not to denigrate any of the Darling Harbour venues, which are all well worth a visit; both the Maritime Museum and the National Aquarium receive top honours for presentation and educational effort. The Sydney Aquarium (t 02 8251 7800, open daily 09.30–22.00) allows visitors to walk through an acrylic tube to view the sea life above (no performing seals here). The National Maritime Museum (t 02 9298 3777, open daily 09.30–17.00) houses, along with fascinating displays of historical artefacts, actual ships, from the famed America’s Cup winner Australia II to the sad little Vietnamese refugee boat Tu Do. The museum’s design, by leading contemporary architect Philip Cox, consists of a steel-roofed structure that sets the architectural tone of Darling Harbour.
Powerhouse Museum
One of the stops on the monorail is the Powerhouse Museum,
Harris
Street, Ultimo (t 02 9217 0111, open daily 10.00–17.00). The largest
museum in Australia, the Powerhouse is one of the best museums of its
kind in the world. Covering more than 35,000 square metres (376,750 sq
ft), the comprehensive nature of its collections is reminiscent of The
Smithsonian Institution in Washington. Situated in a converted power
station (hence the name) with a tasteful addition of barrel-vaulted
glass designed by Lionel Glendenning(the addition is named in honour of
former New South Wales Premier Neville Wran), the museum contains
exhibitions on everything to do with Australian culture, as well as
substantive displays on science and technology, and decorative arts.
The exhibitions are state of the art, using computers and videos and
other ‘hands on’ methods to enlighten and entertain; locomotives and
aeroplanes can often be climbed on, and scientific apparatus sampled.
Changing exhibitions range widely, from the history of television
commercials to Australian furniture designers. A favourite permanent
display presents the history of the Australian pub and brewing, with
films describing the infamous days of the ‘pub-push’, or ‘the swill’,
when all drinking establishments were frantically full before they had
to close at 6pm. The restaurant in the museum has murals designed by
Ken Done.
Set aside a good amount of time to take in all the museum’s floors; it
is an absolute must for any Sydney visitor, especially those with
children.
The lovely Chinese Gardens (open daily 09.30–17.00) sit on the northern side of Pier Street, c 250m from the Powerhouse Museum. Known as the Garden of Friendship, the design was a gift of Sydney’s Chinese sister city, Guangdong, in 1987. The gardens offer a tranquil spot in the middle of the area’s bustle, with a small lake, Chinese pavilion, and tea house. Appropriately, the gardens lead into Sydney’s Chinatown.
Chinatown
While not as colourful as the Melbourne version, this Chinatown is
certainly thriving, with restaurants, Asian food markets and shops, as
well as legitimate practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine.
Chinatown is definitely the place to go for authentic and reasonably
priced Chinese food. Originally, the centre of
Chinatown was the area around Dixon and Hay Streets; it is now
expanding into the Haymarket District, west to Harris Street, south to
Broadway, and east to Castlereagh Street. Dixon Street is still its
main thoroughfare.
The Chinese in Australia
Large numbers of Chinese first came to Australia after the cessation of
transportation in the 1840s, when they were imported as cheap labour.
The discovery of gold in the early 1850s resulted in a mass exodus to
the gold fields in Victoria and New South Wales. In Melbourne, many of
the Chinese remained to establish a still-thriving community (see
Melbourne). In New South Wales, the situation was a bit different.
Lambing Flat near the town of Young was the site in 1860 of one of the
worst aggressive actions against Chinese miners, when 3000 whites
stormed their camps and demanded that they leave. In all, some 1200
Chinese fled and hid in the countryside, saved from starvation only by
the aid of a station-owner, James Robert, who fed them. In the end, the
Lambing Flat incident saw the curtailing of Chinese immigration;
indeed, the incident is considered the impetus for the infamous White
Australia policy.
On the other hand, individual Chinese gained influence and prosperity
in colonial Australia. The most noted figure was Quong Tart
(1850–1903), a Cantonese who came to New South Wales in 1859. He
managed to acquire an interest in a gold mine in Braidwood, and
eventually became a wealthy man. He acted as an interpreter and
mediator among the white and Chinese communities. Quong Tart was quite
fond of Scottish culture, learning to recite in correct accent the
poems of Robert Burns. He acted as the first Chinese member of the
Oddfellows’ Lodge in Australia. In 1874, he moved to Sydney and became
a tea and silk merchant with headquarters eventually in the Queen
Victoria Building. He married a Scottish woman, and became the
unofficial Chinese Consul-General of the colony. In 1902, he was
attacked by a robber in his shop. The citizens of Sydney gave him a
testimonial at the Town Hall and presented him with a cheque for 300
guineas. He did not fully recover from his injuries and died in 1903,
at which time some 1500 people attended his funeral.
Haymarket
From Chinatown, to the south of Hay Street, is the area known as the
Haymarket, for it was traditionally the home of the grain and hay trade
and businesses. Into the early 1900s, the area was the main
working-class shopping district; Ruth Park describes a Saturday night
here at Paddy’s Market in her book, The Harp in the South (1948).
Paddy’s Market, which opened as early as 1869, lives on today, a bit
smarter, but still a good place for bargain-hunting, good produce, and
some atmosphere. The markets are open on weekends, and are now located
on the corner of Thamos and Hay Streets.
At 13 Campbell Street is Capitol
Theatre (t 02 9320 5000), in the 1920s
a grand movie house. The theatre has recently been reopened as a venue
for musical theatre.
Sydney Fish Market
About 15 minutes’ walk from Darling Harbour to Blackwattle Bay one
finds the Sydney
Fish Markets; access to the markets by water taxi is a
more exciting way to get there. The markets provide a fascinating, very
Sydney, experience, and also some of the best seafood restaurants in
the city (of the buy-and-cook-on-the-spot sort).
Walk 5 Pitt Street and George Street
From Circular Quay, walk south on Pitt Street. Past Reiby Place, c 150m, is Bulletin Place. In one of the commercial warehouses here, Sydney’s most important early literary journal, the Bulletin, was first published in the 1890s (see entry on Jules Archibald above). Contributors included Henry Lawson, ‘Banjo’ Paterson, and a host of cartoonists and ‘Black and White’ artists.Walk another 100m to Bridge Street, the main east-west link in central Sydney. At the corner of Bridge and Loftus Streets (west) is Macquarie Place, still a delightful little patch of green with great Moreton Bay fig trees. It first served as Governor Phillip’s vegetable garden. Governor Macquarie, with his ever grandiose visions, planned it as the centre of Sydney at the time when it was much closer to the waterfront. Located here are two monuments of interest: the gun and anchor from the Sirius, Governor Phillip’s ship in the First Fleet; and Macquarie’s Obelisk, designed by Greenway in 1816, and intended to serve as the measuring point for all roads leading out of Sydney.
At Bond Street, 100m south, between George and Pitt Streets is Australia Square, completed in 1967 by Harry Seidler, controversial Bauhaus-trained architect credited with bringing International Style architecture to Australia. At the time of its construction, it was the first substantial skyscraper in Sydney, with 50 floors reaching a height of 171m (560ft) and a diameter of 41m (135ft). Of greatest interest was the building’s surrounding plaza, similar to those created in New York City by Phillip Johnson and Mies van der Rohe; it created an open space amidst the cramped quarters of lower George Street. While in the 1960s its pre-cast concrete construction was revolutionary by Sydney standards, today its emphatic rendering of International Style modernism is dated and predictable. Its limited ornamentation and severe forms places it firmly in the context of its time; its influence on subsequent building in the city is apparent in the many other ‘glass and steel’ constructions that followed. Housed in the Australia Tower are numerous shops, as well as restaurants and other tourist venues.
Harry Seidler
When Harry Seidler (b. 1923) arrived in Sydney in 1947, via his native
Vienna and after training with Walter Gropius in the US, ‘International
Style’ architecture had made no appearance on the Australian landscape.
His first construction here, a house for his mother completed in 1951,
caused immediate controversy as being ‘too European’; it is still
referred to as ‘the white box’ by many who object to its incongruous
placement in the Australian bush. Uncompromisingly Bauhausian with
glass walls, flat roof, open planning and minimal colouring, the Rose
Seidler House, 71 Clissold Road in Wahroonga at the edge of
the
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, is now a property of the Historic
Houses Trust and is open to the public (t. 02 9989 8020; Sundays
10.00–17.00). Seidler
remains an important figure in Sydney, still fighting the modernist
fight against the onslaught of post-modernism and any architectural
ornamentation.
Surry Hills
To the south of Hyde Park and east of Central Station is the
traditionally working-class suburb of Surry Hills. The best way to get
there is to take a train to Central Station, then walk into the
neighbourhood; bus nos 302, 303 and 304 also travel from Elizabeth
Street down Bourke Street through Surry Hills, and bus nos 372, 393 and
395 traverse Elizabeth Street to Cleveland Street at the edge of the
suburb. This area was the location for Ruth Park's vivid depictions of
desperate slum-dwellers in her brilliant novels, Harp in the South
(1948) and Poor Man's Orange (1949). While some gentrification is
currently taking place, Surry Hills is still pretty grotty in places,
but there are good cheap restaurants here, mainly Turkish and Lebanese,
around Elizabeth and Cleveland Streets. Once the city's garment
district, the area also has some good factory outlets and alternative
fashion shops at the Oxford Street end of Crown Street.
Of most interest here are two 'cultural' sites: the excellent Belvoir
Theatre, 25 Belvoir Street (t 02 9699 3444), home of Company B,
sometimes described as Sydney's hottest and most creative theatre
company, with plays
regularly featuring the best actors in Australia (Nicole Kidman chooses
to appear here when she can, and Geoffrey Rush, Ruth Cracknell, and
Hugo Weaving make regular appearances); and the Brett Whiteley Studio,
2 Raper Street (t 02 9225 1881; call for hours of opening), the late
artist's studio that is now a public gallery and museum.
Walk 6 Darlinghurst and Paddington
Starting from Elizabeth Street, walk past Hyde Park to Liverpool Street and turn left (east)—buses no. 380 and 381 proceed along Oxford Street from here. At the end of the Park, Liverpool veers right to become Oxford Street, now a lively centre of gay culture. It is also a well-known place for bistros, bars and restaurants. Some parts of it have become decidedly seedy of late, although the area is still worth a visit for shopping, bookstore browsing, and dining. The main interstate bus depot is located around the corner from Taylor Square, so for many visitors, this is their first view of Sydney. \Mardi Gras
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is held on the first weekend in
March. In 1978, when homosexuality was still illegal in New South
Wales, a group of some 1000 gays marched from Oxford Street to King’s
Cross in protest against hostile police. This event marked Sydney’s
first homosexual Mardi Gras, which is now an enormously successful
international event, drawing crowds of more than 500,000 to watch what
has become one of the world’s most outlandish parades. The event is now
televised and even the police force sends a contingent of officers to
join the gay marchers. The post-parade all-night party at the Royal
Agricultural Showgrounds is by ticket only. They sell out two months in
advance. Foreign visitors with passport identification can purchase
them from the Mardi Gras offices, although it is becoming increasingly
difficult to obtain them.
Proceed along Oxford Street past the five-street hub, Taylor Square (600m). Continue on Oxford Street; on the left at Darlinghurst Road (200m) behind Darlinghurst Court House is East Sydney Technical College, whose imposing sandstone walls betray its earlier function as Darlinghurst Gaol, Sydney’s main prison from 1841 until 1914. Some of the walls date from as early as 1822, and architects included Francis Greenway and Mortimer Lewis. The grass outside the main gates was once the public gallows, where many of Sydney’s most notorious criminals were hanged before large crowds.
Back on Oxford Street, proceed southeast to Glenmore Road,
about
500m
from Taylor Square. On the right is the entrance to Victoria Barracks
(t 02 9339 3170, open Thurs 10.00–13.30 with guided tours featuring the
Australian Army Band, Sydney), once the centre of Paddington and home
to the British garrison regiments in Sydney from 1848 until 1870.
Designed by Lt-Col George Barney of the Royal Engineers, this enormous
building was constructed between 1841 and 1848 by convicts and free
stonemasons. At 220m (740ft), the main building is one of the longest
buildings in Australia and is considered to be one of the finest
British imperial barracks in the world.
When it was built, Paddington was a backwater, described as ‘the
saddest heath, the most melancholy swamps’, surrounded by desolate sand
dunes. Soldiers’ pay was so poor that for many years, soldiers’ wives
sold cabbage tree hats made of cabbage tree fronds outside the gates.
Guided tours are available regularly, including the Changing of the
Guard ceremony (the barracks is now the permanent headquarters of the
Eastern Command); a view of a museum examining Australia’s military
history; and a visit to Busby’s Bore, the famous water-tunnel that
brought water from present-day Centennial Park to Hyde Park.
Immediately south of Victoria Barracks at Moore Park Road is the Royal
Agricultural Society Show Grounds. Home of the annual Royal Easter Show
for more than 100 years, the grounds are also home to the Sydney
Football Stadium and the Sydney Cricket Ground, both hallowed shrines
to Sydneysiders’ obsession with sports. The notorious entrepreneur and
ex-Australian Rupert Murdoch has turned the grounds into a movie
production lot, making Sydney a down-under Hollywood (George Lucas is
filming his Star Wars sequels here). The Royal Easter Show, after 120
years on the site, was moved to the new Homebush Stadium in 1998.
Centennial Park
About 1km east at the junction of Moore Park Road and Oxford
Street
is
the entrance to Centennial Park. Opened in Australia’s centennial year,
1888, the park comprises some 220 ha and includes 12 lakes. It is
Sydney’s only English-style park, and its popularity with city dwellers
is comparable to Central Park in New York City. In the centre is
Lachlan Swamp, origin of Busby’s Bore, the tunnel which provided water
for the city in the 1820s. The swamp remains essentially untouched,
with prolific birdlife and numerous native species. At Hamilton Drive,
where the road turns into Grand Drive and overlooking the playing
fields, is a wonderful sculpture honouring Rugby League football;
called ‘We Won’, it was designed in 1893 by Tommaso Sani.
Immediately south of Centennial Park on Alison Road is Randwick
Racecourse, site since 1833 of some of Australia’s most exciting horse
races.
Horse-racing
As the Australian Encyclopedia wrote in 1956, horse-racing ‘might
almost be called the Australian national sport’. While today’s
Australians are less devoted to the sport than past generations, it is
still true that any town of any size has a racecourse, and betting on
the horses is a major business, aided by an Australian invention, the
automatic totalisator. Racing began in the earliest days of the colony,
although the first recorded event dates from 1810, when officers held
three days of races at Hyde Park. As early as 1802 Robert Campbell
brought from Calcutta Arab Hector, who remained the most important sire
until 1823. Horse-breeding has been given serious attention since that
time, and today’s Australian horses rank among the healthiest and most
beautiful in the world.
The Australian Jockey Club was founded in 1842, and the Australian Stud
Book appeared in 1878. In the 1880s it was agreed that all racehorses
in Australasia would take their ages from 1 August, thus marking the
beginning of the racing season. Many trainers and owners will have a
Horses’ Birthday Party on that day, when the public can visit the
horses in their quarters at the race-tracks. Legendary trainer Gai
Waterhouse has her stables at Randwick.
The degree to which horse-racing is part of the Australian psyche is
indicated by the significance placed on the annual Melbourne Cup in
Melbourne. First held in 1860, the Cup is held on the first Tuesday of
November at Flemington Racecourse; the entire country virtually stops
for its running, with factories and businesses halting for its three
minutes’ run. The event regularly attracts 80,000 viewers to the track,
and includes traditional accoutrements, such as elaborate hats and
formal dress, roasted chicken, strawberries, and champagne (see
Melbourne). In 1998, more than $80 million in bets were placed on that
single race.
In 1973 the author Ruth Park, in her guide to Sydney, observed that the area had become ‘so picturesque that it makes me feel as though I’ve been belted over the head with a teddybear’. Its current state is somewhat self-congratulatory, although grimy spots remain.
Return to Oxford Street and continue to Oatley Road/Ormond Street. On the southwest corner is the Paddington Town Hall, the epitome of Victorian Classic Revival style, built in 1891 at tremendous cost and on what was then a grandiose scale for the area; particularly impressive is its colonnaded balcony rounding the corner of the street. Its tower, at one time a major landmark in the area, houses a clock with an inscription to King Edward VII in place of the numerals. The building is now the location of Chauvel Cinema, run by the Australian Film Insitute, as well as the Paddington Library.
Directly across the street on the northwest corner is the Paddington Post Office, a great example of Late Victorian design. Opposite, on Ormond Street, is Juniper Hall (t 02 9258 0123), the most important historical structure in Paddington. Built in 1824 as the residence of ex-convict and gin distiller Robert Cooper, another of Sydney’s fascinating early characters, its generous proportions were no doubt necessary because Cooper had 23 children. For years the house served as an institution for children, including an orphanage and a children’s court. In the 1920s it was turned into flats, but was finally purchased by the National Trust, which restored it to its present state. For a while, a Museum of Childhood occupied the space; that museum is now housed at another National Trust property, Merchant House, in George Street. The Hall is currently a French antiques store. Tours occur about twice a year at various times; check with National Trust office for times.
Walk north on Ormond Street for excellent examples of Paddington’s terrace houses, with their impressive cast iron work of Australian motifs, decorative balconies and varying entrance levels depending on the topography. Views to Rushcutters Bay appear occasionally, especially at nos 32 and 34.
Down the hill to Olive Street is Olive Bank Villa, mansion of Alderman John Ely Begg, built in 1869. The last of the great Paddington mansions, the property’s acreage was quickly subdivided in the 1870s along with the rest of the large properties.
Glenmore Road developed from the bullock tracks determined by
the carts carrying Robert Cooper’s gin from Rushcutters Bay to what is
now Oxford Street. The consequent street arrangements were haphazard,
leading to the present-day web of narrow alleys and hilly lanes. On
these streets are examples of a variety of architectural styles, from
the blue-brick 1920s flats near Ormond Street, to the Victorian villas
at Cooper Street a few blocks west on Glenmore and down a short
Paddington laneway.
At Cooper Street walk west past the Scottish Hospital, original site of
The Terraces, one of Paddington’s finest mansions. Parts of the
original buildings have been incorporated into the hospital, and
special care was taken to preserve a remnant of The Terrace’s
magnificent gardens. At the entrance, at Cooper and Brown Streets, you
can still see a near rainforest landscape amidst the urban surroundings.
Turn left (south) on Brown Street to MacDonald Street, noting on the
left four Edwardian terrace houses, some of the last of their type
built in Paddington about 1910. At Macdonald continue west c 200m to
Cutler Footway, and walk down towards Campbell Avenue, getting a
remarkable ‘backyard’ view of terrace house chimneys, parapets, and
rooftops.
On the corner of Campbell and Hopewell Streets note a Paddington corner
shop, exemplary of the establishments that were so essential in
Paddington’s early ‘commuter suburb’ days. The second-storey balcony
would have originally been part of the shopkeeper’s living quarters.
Continue to Glenmore Road, turn right (south) to Gipps Street, turn
left at the Rose and Crown, a traditional Victorian hotel. At Gipps and
Prospect Streets are Paddington’s earliest cottages, sandstone
single-storey buildings from the 1840s. These would have been
constructed for the stonemasons and carpenters working on the nearby
Victoria Barracks.
Meander north again to Glenmore Road, past the Royal Hospital
for
Women
and continue east to Fiveways, Paddington’s major intersection. The
hospital served as the main hospital for women for 100 years, until it
was closed in 1997 and moved to the outer suburbs. At Fiveways is the
Royal Hotel, a beautiful corner hotel from the 1880s, complete with
ironwork balconies and decorative moulding. At this point, you can
continue northeast down Gurner Street to Cascade Street (c 300m),
admiring the harbour views and fine terrace houses. (At the corner of
Windsor and Cascade Streets is ‘Warwick’, a castellated wonder built in
1860 in what is affectionately referred to as ‘King Arthur’ style.)
Alternatively, continue south on Heeley Street from Glenmore Road and
return to Oxford Street and its many alluring shops.
From Cascade Street (the original stream for Cooper’s distillery was
located here), turn right (south) to Paddington Street, then left
(east) past Victorian and Edwardian terraces, many of which are now art
galleries and boutiques. Some of these terrace houses are as little as
4.5m (15ft) wide. At Elizabeth Street, turn right (south) and return to
Oxford Street. Proceed left (southeast) down Oxford Street c 300m to St
Matthias Anglican Church, a Gothic Revival church designed in 1859 by
Edward Bell that long served as the Victoria Barracks’ garrison church.
Paddington Markets
Proceed back up Oxford Street (northwest) to Newcombe Street, where the
Paddington Markets take place every weekend, with some 250 stalls
selling clothing, books, antiques, jewellery and great take-away food.
It is one of the oldest Sydney open-air merchandise markets, and quite
beloved by locals.
Kings Cross area
At Queen Street, Paddington merges into the suburb of
Woollahra, a
very
upscale neighbourhood marking the beginning of the exclusive eastern
suburbs. Queen Street itself is filled with genuine antique shops,
exclusive galleries, and fashionable boutiques.
From Queen Street, you can connect with Edgecliff Road, which leads
into Old South Head Road, the route across the eastern suburbs to
Vaucluse and Watsons Bay. Alternatively take Old South Head Road along
the Royal Sydney Golf Course to Newcastle Street, and connect with New
South Head Road to travel to Watsons Bay on the ‘bays side’ of the
harbour.
From the city, the main bus route from Circular Quay along New South
Road to Watsons Bay is no. 324, with connections to no. 325; a ferry
also leaves Wharf 4 that stops at Darling Point, Double Bay, Rose Bay
and Watsons Bay.
Kings Cross
At the top of William Street, where Darlinghurst Road, Victoria Street
and Bayswater Road intersect, is Kings Cross. Named Queen’s Cross in
1897 in honour of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee, it was renamed when
Edward VII took the throne in 1904. Touted rather proudly as Sydney’s
red-light district, it will appear rather tame to most seasoned
travellers.
‘The Cross’ has been the centre of bohemian Sydney since the
beginning of the century, and it was the home of many authors, actors
and writers, including the poet Dame Mary Gilmore, now on the $10 note,
and Kenneth Slessor, who in 1965 wrote Life at the Cross. London-based
film producer Robin Dalton, née Eakin, has written a delightful
account
of growing up in the genteel era of ‘the Cross’ surrounded by eccentric
Jewish relatives in Aunts Up the Cross (1965, 1997).
Dulcie Deamer, ‘Queen of Bohemia’ in the 1920s, wrote of its ‘impulse
towards Lawsonian mateyness [referring to poet Henry Lawson’s famous
larrikinism], but rather more sophisticated’. By 1946, the writer
George Johnson, who lived here with his wife, author Charmian Clift,
described it as ‘a coarse, tougher city, poised on the edge of
violence. A cocky, callous place’.
It gained its sleaziest reputation after the invasion by American
troops on leave during the Second World War and especially those on ‘R
and R’ (rest and recreation) during the Vietnam War. At night the area
does fill with street life, taking in strip shows, nightclubs, and many
fine restaurants, and drug dealers are apparent. In the daytime,
however, it appears as a pleasant village, with cheap tourist hotels
and backpacker hostels, good coffee shops, and even some interesting
architecture on the side streets.
At the end of the Darlinghurst Road strip in Fitzroy Gardens
is El Alamein Fountain. Installed in 1961 as a memorial to the
Australian soldiers who fought in North Africa during the Second World
War, the design of the fountain has prompted such nicknames as the
Dandelion Fountain or, more rudely, the ‘elephant douche’. The
fountain’s designer was Robert Woodward, who was also responsible for
The Tidal Cascades fountain in front of the Convention Centre at
Darling Harbour.
At Fitzroy Gardens, Darlinghurst Road becomes MacLeay Street, which
leads into Potts Point and Elizabeth Bay, an area recently rated in the
Sydney Morning Herald as containing one of the most pleasing
streetscapes in the city, especially the stretch from Macleay Street to
St. Neot Avenue. This was originally the land grant of that remarkable
scientist and politician Alexander Macleay. Indeed, here are three of
the best remaining Georgian Regency houses by John Verge.
John Verge
John Verge (1782–1861) came from a family of Hampshire stonemasons and
worked in London as a builder during the Regency period. In 1828 he
left his wife to settle in Australia, bringing along sheep and salt to
sell; he was given a large land grant on the Williams River. His
agricultural pursuits failed, and he returned to Sydney to set up as an
architect. Along with many shops and dwellings in the city, now
destroyed, Verge designed mansions for the city’s wealthiest
landowners. His graceful renderings of Greek Revival and Regency ideas,
and his attention to elegant interior details make his works the most
beautiful of Colonial architectural monuments.
At Macleay and Manning Streets is Verge’s Tusculum, now
administered by the New South Wales Chapter of the Royal Australian
Institute of Architects. Built as an investment property for the banker
Alexander Brodie Spark (Verge also designed Spark’s mansion Tempe), the
first tenant was the Bishop of Australia, William Grant Broughton, who
lived here from 1836 to 1851. Later owners, after Spark’s bankruptcy,
included Sir William Manning, Lord Mayor of Sydney. The building is of
stuccoed brick and includes a colonnaded two-storey verandah on three
sides, added in 1870. Fittings include cedar from Lebanon and marble
from Tusculum in Italy. Its history is a typical one: a private
residence until 1927, it then went through several institutional hands,
falling eventually into total dereliction until it was taken over by
the state government in 1983.
Further down Macleay Street at Rockwall Crescent (c 200m) is Rockwall,
designed by Verge in 1830 for John Busby, engineer of ‘Busby’s Bore’,
Sydney’s source of water. Over the years, quite glaring alterations
were made, and it was in great disrepair when the site was purchased by
an Asian company for a shopping complex. They were required to repair
the villa as part of the agreement for purchase.
Elizabeth Bay House
At Onslow Avenue, across Macleay Street, is the most stunning of the
area’s 19C mansions, Elizabeth Bay
House (t 02 9356 3022, open Fri–Sun 9.00–16.00). Described at the
time of its construction as ‘the finest
house in the Colony’, Elizabeth Bay House was designed in 1838 by John
Verge for Colonial Secretary and renowned scientist Alexander Macleay
and his large family. Fortunately for posterity, one of John
Macarthur’s granddaughters married a grandson of Macleay; the house
thus remained in the family which owned the other great Verge
masterpiece, Camden Park.
Now a property of the Historic Houses Trust, the house’s
crowning
glory
is its stair hall, with a cantilevered winding staircase and domed oval
ceiling. The rooms are superbly restored with Regency period furniture
(1835–50). Understandably, for one so interested in science and botany,
Macleay’s original property of 23 ha (56 acres) included magnificent
gardens of rare and native plants which stretched to the harbour’s
edge; the grounds were the talk of colonial society. Unbelievably, the
house itself was subdivided into flats during the 1940s; the artist
Donald Friend lived in what was the morning room, and from here watched
in 1942 the Japanese torpedo bombing of the ferry Kuttabul. The house
fortunately came into the hands of the Historic Houses Trust in the
1970s, and was opened to the public in 1977. Along with providing
regular tours, the Historic Houses Trust also mounts occasional
exhibitions here on architectural themes.
The novelist C.J. Koch, who lived in Elizabeth Bay in the 1950s,
described its scenery in The Doubleman (1985) as ‘inviting as a dream
of pre-war Hollywood, from which it took its style, with its white
Spanish villas, gardens on the harbour, and apartment towers’. Koch may
have been referring here to apartment buildings such as Del Rio, on
Billyard Avenue just across the road from Elizabeth Bay House. Built in
the 1910s, the building demonstrates the influence of Spanish Mission
style architecture that had by this time filtered over from California.
Eastern suburbs
Returning to Kings Cross Road, continue east c 1.5km, when the road
becomes New South Head Road at Darling Point. At this point, take New
Beach Road north around Rushcutters Bay Park to the Cruising Yacht
Club, where the magnificent sailing boats that participate in the
Boxing Day Sydney-to-Hobart Race converge before the start at 13.00.
To the south side of New South Head Road at Glenmore Road and Alma
Street, nominally in Rushcutters Bay Park and Paddington, is the famous
‘White City’, the city’s beloved monument to Australia’s golden era of
tennis. Founded in the 1920s on the site of an amusement park, the
courts now have grass courts next to Ace Rebound ones. White City’s
greatest moment of glory was the 1954 final of the Davis Cup between
Australia and the United States, when some 25,578 spectators showed up
to cram the stands of the centre court; the US players Victor Seixas
and Anthony Trabert defeated the Australians Lew Hoad and Ken Rosewall.
The Garden Enclosure, the second ‘stadium’ court seating 1500, is
considered by many to be the best place to watch tournament play in
Australia.
Back on New South Head Road heading east, you now enter the Eastern
suburbs, or in typical Sydney real-estate talk, ‘the status suburbs’.
At Darling Point, take a detour by turning left (north) onto
Darling Point Road, passing Ashcam Girls School, traditionally the most
exclusive girls’ school in the city. At the end of the road is McKell
Park, a lovely spot directly on the harbour; a small pier makes it
possible to reach the water and take a swim if feeling daring.
Immediately above the park you can glimpse ‘Lindesay’, I Carthona
Avenue, a Gothic Revival mansion built in 1834 and home of many famous
figures of the colonial era. The house’s design is attributed to Edward
Hallen and James Hume, with sympathetic additions in the 1910s by
Robertson and Marks. Owned by the National Trust, the house is
currently available only for special events.
One of the most delightful views of this urbane neighbourhood and out
to the harbour and beyond can be had by returning on Darling Point Road
to Marathon Avenue; walk down the beautiful Marathon Steps all the way
to Double Bay itself.
Return to New South Head Road, and drive past Double Bay, Point Piper,
and Rose Bay, the most upmarket neighbourhoods for shopping and dining;
properties here are among the most valuable in Sydney (and that makes
them very valuable indeed), and many elegant historic mansions can be
glimpsed on the side streets. Rose Bay was also the site of Sydney’s
first airport, and seaplanes still land here regularly.
The Royal Sydney Golf Course is also located on Rose Bay, in what was a
scallop-shaped swamp. The club first played at Concord in the western
suburbs, then moved to the dunes and scrubland at Bondi in what had
been mixed pasturage between Ben Buckler Fort and the Ostridge Farm on
South Head. These moves all occurred between founding in 1893 and the
building of the current clubhouse just after the turn of the century,
giving an indication of the contemporary nature of Sydney’s social
establishment.
Vaucluse
Continue on New South Head Road, to reach Vaucluse, c 3km. Vaucluse
House (t 02 9388 7922; open Fri–Sun 9.30–16.00) is the largest
property administered by the Historic Houses Trust.
Vaucluse was first built and named by Sir Henry Brown Hayes
(1762–1832), an eccentric Irish ‘Gentleman Convict’ transported for
kidnapping an heiress and subsequently involved in all kinds of mayhem
and political intrigue. He named it Vaucluse because it reminded him of
Fontaine-de-Vaucluse in France. He bought 100 acres on this site in
1803 for £100, and built a stone cottage. In the belief that
Irish soil
would deter snakes, Hayes imported barrels of it and had a trench dug
around the house by convicts, in which the soil was placed. His
original cottage provided the walls of the living room for present
Vaucluse, so in part this structure is the oldest house in Sydney.
The house was acquired by the notorious John Piper in 1822, he who made
and lost a fortune through the Sydney rum trade and other activities.
Piper sold it in 1827 to William Charles Wentworth (1790–1872, see box,
p 151), a remarkable man and important early figure in Australian
history.
The house and grounds are extraordinarily well done, presented
as a ‘living house’ rather than a museum. Some of the furniture is
original, dating from the 1840s, and donated by the Wentworth family,
who remain an eminent Sydney name. The house is impressive in its
rusticated ‘Georgian Romantic’ style. It includes one of the best
verandahs in Australia. Especially fine are the meticulously restored
wallpapers and floor coverings.
Immediately west of Vaucluse House is Nielsen Park, originally part of
Wentworth’s estate and now part of the Sydney Harbour National Park (t
02 9977 6522). The park is frequently voted the most popular beach and
picnic spot in Sydney. The views are spectacular, the swimming
tranquil, and you can picnic in the shade of trees—a rarity at Sydney
beaches. In the middle is Greycliffe House, built in the 1840s by
Wentworth as a wedding present for his daughter. The house was gutted
by fire in the 1890s, and has been completely restored. It now serves
as a national park information centre.
William Charles Wentworth
William Charles Wentworth was the son of D’Arcy Wentworth (1764–1827),
Assistant Surgeon with the Second Fleet and Catherine Crawley, a
convict on the ship transported for stealing clothes. Wentworth, always
filled with bitterness at the scorning of his father by Sydney
‘society’, determined to become a significant and prosperous pillar of
society. A solicitor and statesman, he married Sarah Cox, herself the
child of two convicts. Despite this ‘mismatch’, they were apparently
quite happy and had ten children on whom he doted. Wentworth was with
the first group to cross the Blue Mountains in 1813 and was
instrumental in the establishment of New South Wales self-government in
1854; he is often referred to as the ‘Father of the Constitution’.
Wentworth lived at Vaucluse from 1827 to 1853, and in brief periods
thereafter. Upon his death in 1872, the house was inherited by his wife
and children, but had several other tenants. The house fell into
disrepair until it was taken over by the New South Wales government in
1910.
Watsons Bay
Drive or take bus no 324 or 325 from Circular Quay, no. 387 from Bondi
Junction to Watsons Bay. The bay is named after Robert Watson, who came
as quartermaster of the Sirius with the First Fleet, and was harbour
master in 1811. Along the way, on Old South Head Road, is St Peter’s
Church of England, designed by Edmund Blacket, completed in 1864. The
church houses an organ, which, according to a plaque on the church,
purportedly belonged to Napoleon, and was built by Robert and William
Grey in London 1796.
Watsons Bay has always been a fishing harbour, as well as a base for
pilot boats, which it still is. It is also the home of the original
Doyle’s Restaurant, a seafood restaurant, established over 100 years
ago and situated directly on the water with a stunning view of the
harbour and city skyline. The walk around the town gives evidence of
its earlier origins in the many small cottages which are now, of
course, entirely gentrified and outrageously valuable on the real
estate market.
Walk along the beach to reach the small stretch of sand called Camp
Cove. This was where Captain Phillip first stopped with the First Fleet
on 21 January 1788 before landing at Sydney Cove; a marker commemorates
the fact. However, because the land was swampy, they went on to Port
Jackson.
A walk along the cliffs, part of the Sydney Harbour National Park,
leads past Lady Bay with Lady Jane Beach below, one of two or three
official nude beaches (today largely gay), and on to the South Head and
Hornby Lighthouse.
The lighthouse was completed in 1858 after the tragic wreck of the
Dunbar (see below). The lighthouse is named after Sir Phipps Hornby,
Commander in Chief of the British Pacific Fleet at that time. Evident
around the point, along with stupendous views of the harbour entrance
(it is a great place for watching sailboat racing), are several old
fortifications spanning the 1870s to the Second World War.
Further along from the lighthouse is the Gap Park, where 50m cliffs
have made it the traditional site for suicide jumps. Nearby is a
monument to the wreck of the Dunbar, an immigrant ship which crashed
onto the rocks here on 20 August 1857, with all but one of the 122
passengers lost; a remarkable photo of this survivor by Sydney’s
greatest daguerreotypist, T.S. Glaister, still exists in the Mitchell
Library collection.
Along the descending path in the Gap Park you find the anchor of the
Dunbar, set in concrete as a monument. At the southern end of the park
is a dangerous break in the cliffs called Jacob's Ladder, whence the
Dunbar survivor was hauled to safety. From here you can keep walking
along the cliffs c 300m to the Signal Station, built in 1848, on the
site, Dunbar Head, where a flagstaff had been manned since 1790.
Whenever a ship was sighted, a flag was raised to warn the colony.
Another 300m south along the cliffs brings you to Macquarie Lighthouse,
an 1883 replica (by James Barnet) of the colony's first lighthouse,
built in 1818 by Francis Greenway. Legend has it that Governor
Macquarie was so pleased with Greenway's 'noble magnificent edifice'
that upon seeing it for the first time, he granted Greenway his pardon
on the spot. Robert Watson, for whom Watsons Bay is named, was the
first lightkeeper. From the Lighthouse Reserve, it is possible to catch
bus no. 324 back into central Sydney.
Bondi to Bronte
While no train currently reaches Bondi, plans are afoot to extend the
links to the beach, but are vigorously opposed by some locals; the
well-known bus lines from the city are nos 380, 382, 389, and 321.
A right turn (south) on Ocean Street to Oxford/Einfeld Drive, which
becomes Bondi Road, leads to Sydney’s most famous beach, Bondi
(pronounced BOND-eye; purported to mean in Aboriginal ‘water breaking
over the rocks’). From the central business district (CBD), a most
popular drive is the ‘Bays to Bondi’, taking New South Head Road
through Double Bay, Rose Bay, and Watsons Bay, then back turning on Old
South Head Road to Military Road, through Dover Heights and into Bondi.
Sydney is justly known for its many accessible beaches, and despite the fact that Bondi is no longer the cleanest or most inviting among the many along the shoreline, it is still worth a visit. Here you will find that most Australian of institutions, the Bondi Lifesaving Association, as well as the Bondi Icebergs, a group of older stalwarts who swim daily, even in winter. Also of interest are the Esplanade and Bondi Pavilion, where jazz concerts and exhibitions entertain the throngs of sunbathers. The cafes and bars on the streets near the beach have now become a real haven for the trendy and cosmopolitan, especially for breakfasts and brunches. During Christmas/New Year’s holidays, the beach and surrounding pubs swarm with foreign tourists, celebrating the warmth of the season. Recent outbreaks of violence and pandemonium have made the New Year’s event less enjoyable of late, with police crackdowns on rowdiness and drunken behaviour. Visitors are advised to investigate the current situation and alcohol regulations before venturing forth.
Waverley
Bondi is in the municipality of Waverley, which itself contains several
locations of historical interest. The name itself comes from the area’s
first (now demolished) estate, so named by the original landowner
Barnett Levey. Levey was the colony’s first theatrical entrepreneur,
operating the Theatre Royal in the 1830s; he named his estate in honour
of Sir Walter Scott’s novels.
Directly south of Bondi Beach is Tamarama, site of a
turn-of-the-century amusement park mentioned in Ethel Turner’s famous
Seven Little Australians (1894). It is now a patrolled beach, with good
surf. Continuing around Tamarama Bay, you come to Bronte Park, site (at
470 Bronte Road) of Bronte House, one of the colony’s oldest surviving
homes. Begun in 1836–38 by Colonial Architect Mortimer Lewis as his
home, it was soon sold to famous barrister Robert Lowe, who named it
Bronte in honour of Admiral Nelson’s title (he was named the Duke of
Bronte by the king of Naples). The house was originally so isolated it
required shuttered windows for protection from bushrangers. Recently
the house has been completely restored and is occasionally opened for
public viewing by heritage activist and cultural guru Leo Scofield (he
has a regular column on things cultural in the Sydney Morning Herald,
and has run both the Sydney and Melbourne Festivals).
If you continue south on Bronte Road, Waverley Cemetery
appears on a bluff looking out to the sea. Described in 1973 by Ruth
Park as ‘ugly as sin’, the cemetery has been restored somewhat, and
contains the graves of many important figures in the country’s history,
including the poets Henry Lawson and Henry Kendall; Dorothy Mackellar,
author of the poem ‘My Country’ (‘I love a sunburnt country...’); and a
monument to US Civil War Veterans. Also buried here are Fannie Durack,
first woman Olympic champion in swimming in 1912, and the first to swim
the Australian crawl; and Lawrence Hargraves, pioneering aviator.
Manly
An old saying (coined in 1940 by the Port Jackson and Manly Steamship
Co. to foster tourism) claims that Manly is ‘seven miles from Sydney
and a
thousand miles from care’. This beach suburb, located on the inner
harbour side of the North Head, is most easily (and happily) reached by
ferry, from Wharf 3 (Jet Cat from Wharf 2), Travelling by car involves
a tortuous drive through North Sydney and over the Spit Bridge (often
closed to traffic as it opens to allow boats through). Manly has a
great Visitor’s Centre on North Steyne, providing information on North
Shore walks and tours (t 02 9977 0078).
The most famous Sydney beach after Bondi, Manly was named by Governor
Phillip, in honour of the local Aborigines: ‘their confidence and manly
behaviour,’ he wrote, ‘made me give the name of Manly Cove to the
place’. It is a sad irony that one of these same Aborigines,
Wil-ee-ma-rin, speared Governor Phillip after a misunderstanding, an
event graphically described in Watkin Tench’s account of the early
colony.
Despite its famed long beach, it may disappoint, as it is a bit
polluted and the famous line of Norfolk Pines along the beach wall is
dying. But the ferry trip from Circular Quay across the harbour to
Manly is certainly worth the trip; unless you are in a great hurry,
take the old-fashioned ferry rather than the JetCat. The ferry lands in
the same place where it has been landing since 1855.
Manly became famous because of its Victorian gentility, and one can
almost imagine the old bathing houses. In 1852, English entrepreneur
Henry Gilbert Smith envisioned here a resort such as that in Brighton;
the location quickly became the elegant, if chaste, place to holiday.
Indeed, it was here in 1902 that newspaper editor William Gocher
challenged the laws that until that time forbade daylight swimming in
New South Wales; he won, and Sydneysiders have been swimming ever since.
Along the Corso at Manly, where the ferry and Jet Cat dock, is
a small aquarium, quite fun for children, as well as the Datillo Rubbo
Art Gallery and Museum (it is usually called simply Manly Art Gallery
and Museum).
Rubbo (1871–1955) was an Italian artist who arrived in Sydney in 1897;
he was an influential teacher of new art methods for decades,
introducing Australian artists to Post-Impressionism. The museum
contains works by him and some of his students, as well as small
exhibitions on cultural history, such as the development of the bathing
costume and other events in Manly’s history.
Balmain
Take the ferry from Bay 5 (Circular Quay) to Balmain; this is by far
the most appropriate way to visit this harbourside suburb, which is
about 2km west of the centre of the city. Comprehensive walking tours
are available through the Balmain Association at the Watch
House, 179
Darling Street (t 02 9818 4954; open Sat 11.30-15.00), and in such
publications as Joan
Lawrence’s Exploring the Suburbs series.
No Sydney suburb has experienced as profound a demographic
transformation in the last few decades as Balmain. The suburb derives
its name from William Balmain, surgeon of the First Fleet who was
granted the land in 1800. Long the centre of marine industry, Balmain
was traditionally the home of sea-captains, as well as a distinctively
‘larrikin’ working class. Now its crooked streets and cramped little
houses, as well as its ostentatious homes, have become gentrified, many
of them owned by well-known artists and writers. For many years, Peter
Carey, author of Oscar and Lucinda (much of which is set in Balmain),
lived here, as did the playwright David Williamson.
The most poignant indication of this gentrified change is that in 1994,
the Balmain Rugby League team, once the pride of the suburb’s dockies
and wharfies, moved to Parramatta (it has since returned to its old
home at Leichardt Oval). Balmain High School, which had historically
produced several of the game’s scrappiest and most revered players,
could no longer man a team.
Neville Wran, Premier in the 1980s and the quintessential Balmain Boy,
made a famous remark in a case concerning the Rugby League chairman,
Kevin Humphreys: ‘Balmain boys don’t cry. We’re too vulgar and too
common for that and probably vote Labor anyway.’ The New South Wales
Labor Electoral League, forerunner of today’s Australian Labor Party,
was founded here in 1891. Sydney policemen, who traditionally came from
Balmain, were purported to say ‘there are only two kinds of
people—those born in Balmain and those who wish they were’. The loyalty
of Balmain locals is evident in the naming of the suburb’s swimming
pool near Elkington Park after Balmain girl and swimming great Dawn
Fraser, whose larrikin behaviour endeared her to the hearts of her
hometown fans.
With its long history of mercantile development, shipbuilding,
and cheek-by-jowl living, the area has numerous sites of architectural
and cultural interest, the most remarkable being its amazing variety of
domestic dwellings. The best way to arrive at the suburb is,
predictably, by sea; the ferry to Balmain goes under the Harbour
Bridge, past Ball’s Head and Goat Island; it then lands at Darling
Street Wharf, the base of the main street.
Immediately to the right of the landing is Thornton Park, once owned by
the Russell family, foundry owners; the expatriate painter and friend
of Van Gogh John Peter Russell (1858–1930) owed his fortune to the
family’s business.
At 12 Darling Street is Waterman’s Cottage. Built in 1841 by John Cavill, it was home from 1880 to 1907 of the waterman Henry McKenzie who rowed passengers after ferry hours to Miller’s Point. The entire street, as well as the closest side streets, contain stone cottages and Victorian terrace houses built between the 1840s and 1900.
At Darling and Duke Streets is St Mary’s Anglican Church, the first Anglican church in Balmain. It was also one of Edmund Blacket’s first buildings, begun in 1845; Blacket himself lived in Balmain, at 393 Darling Street, at the end of his life. While the original minister, a Mr Wilkinson, wanted a Norman church, Blacket, predictably, based his design on 13C Gothic.
Turn north (right) at The Avenue and walk down to Mort Bay.
Named
for
the great wool magnate and Balmain resident, Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, the
bay was the site of some of the earliest docks, and also the most
militant workers’ strikes of the 19C.
Return to Darling Street, and proceed to Ewenton Street, on the south.
At no. 6 is Ewenton house. Begun in 1854 by Robert Blake, it was
consequently named Blake Vale. In 1856 the house was bought by Major
Ewen Wallace Cameron, a partner of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. Cameron added
an extra storey, a porch, and, in 1872, an additional wing with views
of Sydney; at this time, it acquired its name of Ewenton. Despite
numerous vicissitudes and threats of demolition, the property survived
and was tastefully restored in the 1990s. The many additions to the
original structure make it a showcase of various eclectic styles, not
always harmoniously coordinated.
Return to Darling Street and proceed to no. 179. This is the Watch
House, built in 1854 by Edmund Blacket. The structure served as the
suburb’s police headquarters until 1887, after which time it fell into
disrepair. It narrowly escaped demolition in the 1950s, but managed to
be salvaged by the Balmain Association in 1970, which is now using it
as their headquarters. It is rumoured to be haunted.
Balmain Market
St Andrew’s Congregational Church at the corner of Darling and Curtis
Road, is a Gothic Revival sandstone church built in 1855, reminiscent
of an English village church. On Saturdays, the church’s yard is the
location of the Balmain Market, considered by many to be the best
market in the city, specialising in antiques, arts and crafts and
jewellery. Further along Darling Street are the remains of the many
famed pubs of the suburb (in the 1880s, there were 41 pubs, or one for
every 360 Balmain citizens). Local historian Kath Hamey organises ‘pub
crawl’ tours, as well as more historic walks around Balmain; t 02 9818
4954.
Hunter’s Hill
Take the ferry from Bay 5 Circular Quay to Hunter’s Hill. Hunter’s Hill
Peninsula lies across the harbour to the northwest of Balmain. The
Aborigines called it ‘Moocooboola’, or ‘meeting of the waters’ (note:
many translations of Aboriginal names may be viewed with some
scepticism, since many of the true meanings have been lost; the
majority of them seem to be translated as having something to do with
water, when it is just as likely that they originally meant ‘white man,
go away!’).
First settled in the 1830s, the peninsula is one of the few on
the harbour that runs west to east. Mary Reibey settled
here near the present-day Fig Tree Bridge, living in a house with
sheet-iron shutters to protect against bushranger attacks. In 1838, the
artist and writer Joseph Fowles, who wrote the invaluable illustrated
history Sydney in 1848, leased this property.
In 1847, this undesirable area was transformed when two wealthy French
brothers, Jules and Didier Joubert, purchased land here. Dubbed ‘the
first large-scale speculative builders in Sydney’ by writer Ruth Park,
the Joubert brothers began in 1848 the first of 200 elegant stone
houses, complete with European tiles and fittings and finished by
French and Italian masons. By 1860, the Jouberts operated a ferry, and
when the municipality was incorporated in 1861, Jules was the first
chairman of council; Didier became mayor in 1867.
In recent times, Hunter’s Hill has been the residence of many authors
and playwrights. Author Kylie Tennant lived here for twenty years, and
her novel Tantavallon (1983) alludes to the peninsula in her
descriptions of the fictitious ‘Balm Point’.
The remaining houses and streetscapes offer charming sights
for strollers. Many of the original stone cottages appear surprisingly
French on narrow streets with lovely gardens. Of special interest are
Passy, off Passy Avenue, built by Joubert in 1854 for the French Consul
and later occupied by Sir George Dibbs, Premier of New South Wales; the
Garibaldi Inn, on Alexandra Street, built in 1861 by the same Italians
who built many of the neighbouring stone cottages; and Carey Cottage,
18 Ferry Street. On Yerton Street is the only survivor of four German
prefabricated houses brought from Hamburg in 1854, and assembled by
German workers. Also of note are the 1866 Town Hall at Alexandra and
Ellsmere Street, which houses an historical museum, and Vienna Cottage,
built in 1871 and now a National Trust property open to the public
(open on the second and fourth Sunday of each month). Detailed
brochures for walking tours are available from the Town Hall museum.
Glebe and the southern suburbs
South of Darling Harbour and west of Central Railway Station at the
point where Broadway turns into Parramatta Road is the historic
neighbourhood of Glebe. The University of Sydney is immediately south
of Glebe on Parramatta Road. Glebe can be reached from central Sydney
on bus nos 431 and 433.
The word ‘glebe’ traditionally referred to land given to the
church and its officials. Sydney’s Glebe was the area allotted by
Governor Phillip to the colony’s first chaplain, Richard Johnson; a
piece was also laid out for a schoolmaster, although none existed at
the time of the First Fleet. By 1828, this land was subdivided into
estates by the Anglican diocese to raise money for the church, and
prosperous merchants began to build substantial residences on the most
elevated sites to avoid the noxious odours of nearby Blackwattle Bay.
Edmund Blacket lived here as early as the 1850s, when the area was
still remote enough to be the haunt of bushrangers in the thick
forests. By the 1890s the suburb had been further developed to
accommodate growing numbers of immigrants; thus, the plethora of
Victorian row-houses, with minuscule gardens, tile-work, and
stained-glass windows.
The suburb’s ethnic diversity dates from this period, although now
gentrification is again transforming this colourful mix. Old Glebe
nearly fell entirely to the wrecking ball in the 1960s, when it was
planned to extend the expressway through the district. Fortunately,
preservation efforts were successful and in 1976, with the support of
Premier Neville Wran’s Labor Government, the entire suburb was declared
a conservation area by the National Trust and National Estate.
Glebe Point Road is now filled with trendy restaurants, health
food stores, and excellent bookshops catering to the nearby university
crowd. Weekends bring a colourful market to the yard of the Glebe Point
School, Glebe Point Road at Derby Street, which rivals the more famous
one at Paddington.
One example of the district’s cultural diversity is the presence here,
off Victoria Road on Edward Street, of the Sze Yup Temple, a Chinese
joss house. Glebe was an early residence of the Chinese vegetable
gardeners who arrived in Sydney as early as the 1840s. It is estimated
that half of the city’s market gardeners before the 1940s were Chinese,
many of whom had been in Australia for generations. The current temple
dates only from 1955, but replaced a joss house that had been on the
same site since 1893. The temple is still actively attended, and
visitors are able to view its incense-filled interior.
At the intersection of Glebe Point Road and Parramatta Road is a
monument to Dave Sands, Aboriginal boxer of the 1940s, who was killed
in a car crash in 1952.
Along Glebe Point Road and on the side streets, especially Toxteth and
Avenue Roads and Allen Street, are lovely examples of Victorian
cottages with cast-iron lacework and decorative plaques using native
species as motifs.
At the corner of Avenue and Victoria Roads is St Scholastica’s College,
the main building of which was Toxteth House, built by John Verge
1829–31 for George Allen, the first Australian-trained solicitor.
Toxteth refers to the home in England of the Allens’ benefactor, Sir
Robert Wigram. An elegant Regency stone house, a third storey of
Italianate style was added in 1877–81 by architect George Mansfield for
Allen’s son, George Wigram Allen, also a prominent civic leader. The
home was purchased in 1904 by the Roman Catholic Church.
The grounds of the original Toxteth estate, which included a cricket
ground and acres of orchards, extended to the area now occupied by the
Harold Park Raceway; at Avenue and Arcadia Streets, turn right into
Arcadia, then left at Maxwell to see the Raceway. Named after Childe
Harold—not Byron’s hero, but a famous American racehorse—it has had a
trotting course since 1902 and a greyhound track since 1927.
Walk back to Toxteth Road, turn left, noting the iron work and
decorative plaster of the terrace houses; at The Avenue is The Lodge,
originally the gatekeeper’s house for the Toxteth Estate. It was built
in a Gothic Revival style in 1877 by George Mansfield, who subsequently
lived here. Note the asymmetrical house at no. 27 Mansfield, with
wooden verandah and stone and iron fence.
From Mansfield Street, walk to Wigram Road, turn left (north) and
return to Glebe Point Road; turn right (south) and proceed to Hereford
Street. The street is named for the original Hereford House, an elegant
early mansion that stood at the corner of Glebe Point Road and Bridge
Road; it was demolished in the 1960s. At no. 53 is another Hereford
House, built in 1874, and now part of the New South Wales College of
Nursing. Glebe’s most famous son, tennis star Lew Hoad, learned to play
on the now demolished courts behind this building.
‘Kerribee’, no. 55, built 1889 by James Fitzpatrick, is one of the last
of the large houses on impressive grounds built in the Glebe.
Proceed south to Bridge Street, turning east past Glebe Point Road to Bridge Street (c 600m) to reach ‘Lyndhurst’ at 61 Darghan Street. Along with Toxeth, which has been extensively altered, this is the only surviving Regency building in Glebe, built at the centre of Lyndhurst Estate in 1833–36 by John Verge. The owner was John Bowman, John Macarthur’s son-in-law and Principal Surgeon at Sydney Hospital. Overlooking Blackwattle Bay and with lavish fittings, the home’s design greatly resembled Verge’s work at Camden Park for the Macarthur family. By 1842, financial hardship forced the Bowmans to leave Lyndhurst, and it passed through several hands. In the 1850s and 1860s it housed St Mary’s College; run by English Benedictines, the school was renowned for its rigorous classical education. By 1877, the school had lost favour, and the college was closed, the land subdivided and the estate sold. At this time, its verandah and additional wings were demolished. After serving various functions, from a lying-in hospital to a laundry and broom factory, the house was by the 1970s nearly declared uninhabitable. A campaign spearheaded by the National Trust and supported by Premier Wran saved the building, which has now been fully restored to its original form. It serves as the headquarters of the Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales (t 02 9692 8366, open Mon–Fri 09.00–17.00; no tours), and includes a resource centre for the conservation of historic houses. In many ways, this house is the most enjoyable reminder of Verge’s great designs.
University of Sydney
At the beginning of Glebe Point Road and across Broadway to the south
are the gates to the grounds of the University of Sydney. Founded in
1850 and opened in 1852, it is Australia’s oldest
university; today it boasts some 30,000 students. The older buildings
of the main quadrangle, designed by Edmund Blacket and completed in
1857, certainly mimic Victorian Gothic ‘Oxbridge’ style, while the
additional structures over the years have created a mishmash of
institutional architecture. The Chancellor’s Committee souvenir shop
under the clock-tower is manned by volunteer guides who can answer
questions and provide a free map of the campus (t 02 9351 4002).
Of interest on campus are the Nicholson
Museum and the Macleay Museum
(t 02 9351 2274). The Nicholson contains archaeological artefacts
collected by the university faculty on digs all over the world. These
include the Jericho Head, a rare skull from Joshua; Egyptian sculpture;
and glass and sculpture from Roman times.
The Macleay is a biological collection displayed in cluttered profusion
in a delightful 19C room with cast-iron stairs and arches. The museum
includes a stuffed example of a Tasmanian tiger and the best collection
of foreign insects in Australia. Its Aboriginal bark paintings are
believed to be the oldest known specimens, and its collection of
photographs of pioneer Australia numbers 700,000.
In Clive James’s Unreliable Memoirs, he describes his days at Sydney
University in the late 1950s: ‘the place where all the half-worlds met
was the Royal George Hotel, down in Pyrmont. The Royal George was the
headquarters of the Downtown Push, usually known as just the Push. The
Push was composed of several different elements. The most prominent
component was, or were, the Libertarians—a university free-thought
society consisting mainly of people who, like the aesthetes, failed
Arts I on a career basis, but in this case as a form of political
protest against the state...Here was Bohemia.’ The Push also included
Germaine Greer and Margaret Fink.
Newtown
To the southwest of the campus, on the other side of Missenden Road
(the site of The Royal Prince Alfred and King George V Hospitals), is
Camperdown and Newtown, two of the oldest inner-city suburbs and still
filled with tiny 19C rowhouses now eagerly gobbled up by gentrifying
buyers. In the middle of the district, at Church Street, is St
Stephen’s Church and cemetery. Designed and built by Blacket in
1871–74, the church is an excellent example of Gothic Revival style,
and the cemetery contains the graves of some of Sydney’s earliest
settlers.
Immediately south of the church is King Street, a bustling and grimy
thoroughfare serving the nearby university community, as well as a
decidedly multicultural and gay population. An enormous number of good,
inexpensive restaurants of all ethnic stripes line the street, along
with great bookstores and secondhand shops. Continuing west, King
Street turns into Enmore Road, then into Stanmore Road, and finally
Canterbury Road, which leads to the western suburbs and also the M5
Tollway to Canberra. On Enmore Road, just off King Street, is the
Enmore Theatre, a good venue for new plays, musicals and alternative
comedy shows.
Despite the congestion which often makes for slow going, Enmore to
Stanmore Road is a fantastic reminder of Sydney’s ethnic diversity. One
sees—along with one of Sydney’s most exclusive schools, Newington
College—Portuguese butchers, Lebanese funeral parlours, Korean
furniture stores, and even a Greek doctors’ roller-skating rink! You
pass through Marrickville, the suburb most affected by the aeroplane
noise from Sydney Airport’s new runway. The neighbourhood has coalesced
into massive demonstrations to force the government to do something
about the situation; at the time of writing, some compensation has been
considered, but nothing substantive has yet been accomplished.
Redfern
To the south of King Street is the suburb of Redfern, locally
considered one of Sydney’s roughest neighbourhoods, primarily because
the city’s largest population of Aborigines live here in neglected
poverty. As a centre for the Aboriginal community, Redfern houses some
excellent Aboriginal community centres and performance venues. In the
1960s the dispersed Aboriginal people living in urban centres of New
South Wales and Victoria began calling themselves ‘Koori’, a term
meaning ‘people’ in a number of related languages in the area. (‘Murri’
is the equivalent word in Queensland, ‘Nunga’ in South Australia and
‘Nyungar’ in Western Australia.) While anyone with an Aboriginal
affiliation can identify themselves as a Koori, a degree of political
engagement accompanies the term.
Redfern is also the first train stop out of Central Station, and
consequently has a large rail interchange. Immediately south of the
Redfern station is the Eveleigh Railway Workshops, an enormous 19C
complex where trains were built and serviced. Ambitious efforts are now
being made by the Australian Technology Park, a consortium of
university interests along with the National Trust, to conserve a
portion of this extraordinary site as a monument to early technology.
The US Smithsonian Institution has declared Eveleigh ‘the most
important historic railway workshops remaining in the world’, with its
unparalleled collection of 19C equipment and machinery. Sydney
photographer David Moore has completed a spectacular photo-essay of the
buildings and machinery, instrumental in the drive to preserve this
unique piece of Australian history.
Leichhardt and Haberfield
Leichhardt can still be described as an inner-city suburb, although it
is off the Parramatta Road that leads to the unending western suburbs.
It is the traditional ‘Little Italy’ section of town, where Italian
migrants first settled and mingled in the 1950s, bringing cappuccino,
focaccia and soccer to the city. Leichhardt also refers to the
municipality which administers this district of the city, as anyone who
saw the fascinating 1996 documentary film, Rats in the Ranks, will
know.
A visit to Leichhardt must involve food: restaurants, bakeries, and
classic Italian cafes. the Leichhardt Hotel, on Balmain Road and Short
Street, also demonstrates the suburb’s new face as a centre for
artists, as well as an active lesbian community. It is from here that
the Dykes on Bikes take off for their ride in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi
Gras each March. The Leichhardt Festival in May is a real old-fashioned
block party, when the length of Norton Street is filled with food
stalls and cultural activities.
Some of these suburb communities did not just grow like topsy, but were planned as a whole, and many offer interesting examples of experimentation with planned residential living. Haberfield exemplifies this trend. Described by Jan Morris as ‘the Sydney suburb in excelsis... one of the most truly Sydneyesque places in Sydney’, it was created by developer Richard Stanton and architect J. Spencer-Stanfield in the early 1900s as the ideal urban environment. ‘Slum-less, Lane-less, Pub-less’, every house had a bathroom and every home was owned. It is a town of bungalows, most of them designed on 200 acres, by Spencer-Stanfield, in what is known as the ‘Federation Style’, a reference to their appearance at the time of Australia’s Federation in 1901. Morris’s description of this style is perfect:
It has a touch of Prairieism from the United States, and a hefty dose of Arts and Crafts from England...It is a Queen-Anne-ish Tudory, semi-countrified, sometimes whimsical sort of style, with eaves often, and fancy chimneys, and ornamental ridge cappings, and much woodwork. Stained-glass windows goes well with the Federation style, and tiled floors, and bargeboarding, and a verandah is almost essential.
Still referred to as the Federation Suburb, it is now largely
inhabited by Italian immigrants. Every single house is different, with
lots of stained-glass and tiles of Australian natives; there are no
back alleys, no slums and still no pubs.
Other good examples of such suburban planning can be seen in Croydon,
Burwood, and elsewhere.
The western suburbs
Sydney is, perhaps more than any other city outside Los Angeles, a city
of suburbs. These residential neighbourhoods extend for astonishing
distances; the area loosely labelled as ‘Sydney’ certainly rivals that
of Los Angeles in size, covering some 12,500 sq km, twice the size of
Beijing and six times the size of Rome. It continues, chock-a-block, in
a seemingly unending and for the most part monotonous expanse of small
lots with brick and fibro houses in all directions. (‘Fibro’ is a
fibrous-plaster sheeting material much favoured in Australia for quick
and inexpensive construction, as was needed in the 1950s housing boom.)
‘The West’ encompasses the entire region from about Strathfield all the
way to the Blue Mountains, north to Richmond and Windsor, and south as
far as Liverpool and Campbelltown. In truth, this is Sydney, since 80
per cent of the population lives in these municipalities.
While the planning for the 2000 Olympics in Homebush includes massive
attempts to improve traffic patterns leading to the Games site,
travelling on the Great Western Highway, which is the Old Parramatta
Road, still remains nightmarish at times, crowded and unattractive. One
constantly thinks there must be a better driving route to take; so far,
there isn’t, at least not in this direction. Taking the train is
probably the best bet as it provides a service all the way to Penrith
and on to the Blue Mountains, is quicker and relatively inexpensive.
Check at Central Station or the Circular Quay exchange for schedules
and ticket prices.
The Glebe Island Bridge, opened in December 1995 at a cost of $170
million, is set to become a Sydney landmark. It crosses the mostly
industrialised areas of old shipping docks and warehouses, to lead to
the Western suburbs through Rozelle, Drummoyne, and over the
Gladesville Bridge towards Gladesville and Ryde, the real multicultural
heart of ‘Westie’ land. A ‘Westie’ is stereotyped as a car-loving
larrikin of any of a variety of ethnicities, loyal to the Wests (or
Penrith) Rugby League team and prone to playing the ‘pokies’ and
drinking beer at the casino-like RSL (Returned Servicemen’s League)
Clubs that dot the western landscape. The Rooty Hill RSL (t 02 9625
5500), in one of the area’s least desirable suburbs, is a stunning
example of Westie suburban culture: an eight-storey hotel with Las
Vegas-style entertainment, near the Eastern Creek Grand Prix Raceway,
site of regular motor-racing events, and Australia’s Wonderland
amusement park. Take the Rooty Hill Road exit off the M4.
If driving from the city, you can also follow the old route along
Parramatta Road. Take George Street to Broadway, which becomes
Parramatta Road, now marked as M4, the Great Western Highway.
It was possible to walk from Parramatta to Sydney in eight hours along this 25km length of bad road which opened in about 1790. By 1835 the trip took two hours by coach. In the old days, carriages and wagons were required to stop at Brickfield Hill brickworks for a load of broken bricks to fill in potholes along the route from Sydney westward. The ferry service to Parramatta was a week-long round trip. By the end of the 1790s, Parramatta was the real centre of the settlement, while Sydney itself was simply a port with a few governmental buildings. The next section of the road was from Parramatta to the farming area around Windsor and eventually to Wiseman’s Ferry across the Hawkesbury River. A public ferry still crosses the Hawkesbury at Wiseman’s Ferry (established in the early 1820s) and Peat’s Crossing (established in 1844 as part of the infrequently used Sydney-to-Newcastle road); a small ferry also crosses the Berowra at Berowra Waters. The first train out of Sydney went to Parramatta in 1855.
At Strathfield, you join the Western Motorway (still M4), which is a real freeway. From Strathfield or Burwood Train Stations, you can at the moment take an Explorer Bus (nos 401, 402, 403, or 404) for a tour of the Homebush Olympic site.
Homebush
As sports commentators and comedians Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson are
quick to point out, Homebush was originally the site of an abattoir in
an industrial part of town. Much of the Olympic village is being built
near Bicentennial Park, initiated in 1988 as a study centre for the
area’s ecological environment. The Bell Frog has been identified as
indigenous to the area, and will no doubt be highlighted in Olympic
coverage.
Still, residential areas here were part of the sprawling western
suburbs from the beginning of the 1900s. Writer Thomas Keneally, author
of The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith (1972) and Schindler’s Ark (1982)
(source for Stephen Spielberg’s Schindler’s List), grew up here and
writes about its Roman Catholic insularity, its great remove from
cosmopolitan Sydney, in Homebush Boy: A Memoir (1995).
Parramatta
About 20km west of the centre of Sydney, Parramatta has a population of
140,000. Its tourist
information
office is on the corner of Church and
Market Streets, t 02 8839 3311. The spot where the First Fleet
finally
found arable soil, Parramatta’s history goes back to the earliest days
of white settlement. While many of the most historical structures have
been tragically lost to mindless development, recent efforts have led
to the permanent preservation of those few remnants of the colonial
days.
By far the most enjoyable and convenient way to reach Parramatta is by
taking the River Cat ferry from Wharf 5 at Circular Quay, a delightful
ride up the ‘other side’ of the Harbour Bridge onto the Parramatta
River. The trip takes about an hour to Parramatta Wharf. From here, you
can take an Explorer Bus to visit all the historic sites of the town,
or can walk into Parramatta’s centre.
You can also take the train from Central Station to Parramatta/Harris
Park Station. From the station, walk south on Station Street, turn left
(east) on Bridge Street to Wigram Street; turn left (north) and walk
(700m) to Una Street. Turn right (east) and walk (500m) to Experiment
Farm Cottage.
If driving on the Western Motorway, exit at James Ruse Drive (route
55); drive past the Rose Hill Racecourse, on the site of Rose Hill,
where swarms of parrots, subsequently named rosellas, were first seen
by colonialists. Turn left at Hassall Street (1.5km), then left on
Alfred Street (400m). At Alice Street (300m), turn left to find
Elizabeth Farm
(t 02 9635 9488, open Fri–Sun 9.30–16.00).
Elizabeth Farm
Elizabeth Farm was the original homestead of John and Elizabeth
Macarthur, established in 1793, although its main period of habitation
was in the 1820s–30s. The original site consisted of 250 acres (100
ha), set on the first arable land discovered by the First Fleeters in
1789. Using all his famous manipulative skill, John Macarthur was able
to have as many convicts as he wanted sent up to work the land; Greek
pirates even arrived to make the first wine in the colony, and later
Germans were employed.
The remarkable Elizabeth Macarthur lived here for 50 years, including
the period of her husband’s exile to England and finally during the
years of her husband’s madness. Before being sent to his property at
Camden Park, he was confined to Elizabeth Farm’s library, alienated
from his family and convinced of innumerable conspiracies against him.
Miraculously, six acres of the original homestead have survived intact
due to the foresight of the purchasers in 1904, William Swann and his
family, who lived in the house until 1968. When originally purchased,
Swann paid only the price of the land because the house was deemed
uninhabitable; it had at one time been used as a glue factory.
Fortunately, the Swanns recognised the structure’s historical
importance.
The buildings were also lucky to survive the wreckers’ ball which was
so enthusiastically utilised in the 1960s throughout Sydney. When
restoration began in the 1970s, the structure itself was remarkably
intact, and so provides an excellent example of colonial architectural
techniques. Run by the Historic Houses Trust, every attempt has been
made at authenticity. The furniture, as an example of the restorers’
craft, was reproduced to include the ‘mistakes’ made making
Macarthur’s. One bed, for example, is made with three mattresses: the
first of straw, the second of horse-hair, and the top of feathers; as
the mercurial John shot 300 wild duck at an outing, they were not
without materials. The rooms include kangaroo rugs and lovely oil-cloth
floor coverings. Excellent models depict the progressions of the
house’s development, showing for example that no verandah existed until
1826.
The volunteers and guides who work here are particularly dedicated; the
farm even has school groups come to perform ‘convict’ tasks. A
10-minute video presentation tells the history of the Macarthurs,
rightly giving most of the credit for the farm’s success to Elizabeth.
The gardens include some of Macarthur’s original exotic plants, such as
olive trees; the banana plants are not original, although bananas were
grown from the early days.
The farm is now completely encompassed by the suburban sprawl
of multicultural Sydney; a wonderful example of this new diversity can
be seen immediately across the street on Alice Street, where there are
some extremely garish houses. At the time of writing, most of this
neighbourhood appeared to be Lebanese, as is evidenced in Our Lady of
Lebanon Church also in Alice Street, the church of the Diocese of St
Maroun, Lebanese Christian Church.
From Alice Street, follow the road down the hill towards Hassell Street
and Hambledon Cottage (t 9635 6924; open Thurs–Sun 11.00–
16.00), an easy walk to the flatlands of the Parramatta River. Built in
1824, it was originally occupied by Miss Penelope Lucas, the governess
who became Mrs Macarthur’s dearest friend and confidant. Described by
Ruth Park as a ‘charmer’, with its lovely courtyard and iron roof, the
cottage has been lovingly restored.
Now turn left (west) into Harris Street and left again (south) into
Ruse Street, to find at no. 9 Experiment
Farm
Cottage (t 02 9635 5655,
Tues–Fri 10.00–16.00, Sat-Sun 11.00–15.30). This property is under the
auspices of the National Trust. The cottage was restored in the 1970s
to emulate the period 1798–1840.
Governor Phillip, impressed by the character of convict James Ruse,
provided him the land and some basic implements as an experiment to
determine how long it would take a hard-working man to become
self-supporting. Remarkably, it took him only about two and a half
years to become thoroughly independent; in his account of the early
settlement, Watkin Tench meticulously describes Ruse’s efforts.
Before moving to a farm in the Hawkesbury river district, Ruse sold the
land to surgeon John Harris who in 1798 built the house which is
supposed to be the second oldest building in the country. Purchased in
1960 by the Trust for £9000, the restoration focuses not only on
the
history of the house itself, but on the remarkable story of James Ruse
and his agricultural achievements.
City of Parramatta
To explore Parramatta itself will take a whole day. If coming from the
centre, take the train from Central Station to Parramatta Station to
begin this exploration of the city. A detailed walking guide can be
obtained from the Tourist Bureau on the corner of Macquarie Street and
Church Street Mall.
From Harris Street at Experimental Farm Cottage (described above) walk
north c 100m to Macquarie Street and turn left (west). At Smith Street,
turn left (south) c 100m to Lancer Barracks, across from the train
station, a Macquarie-era building still used by the army; a military
museum is open to the public at odd hours. Back to Macquarie Street,
continue west; at Church Street, now a pedestrian mall, note the Town
Hall, built in 1883. Across the Church Street Mall at this point stands
St John’s Church, site of an Anglican Church since 1803; here the first
colonial chaplain, Sam Marsden, preached for 40 years. The current
structure theoretically dates from 1855, when the dilapidated old
church began to be rebuilt, but it is essentially a hodgepodge of
styles and subsequent renovations; the twin steeples are said to have
been donated by Mrs Macquarie, modelled on a church in Kent.
Of greatest interest in connection with the church is St John’s
Cemetery; from the church itself, walk west on Macquarie Street to
O’Connell Street and one block south to Aird Street. Many of the most
famous early colonists are buried here: Australia’s first farmer Henry
Dodd, who died in 1791; Baron von Alt, Governor Phillip’s surveyor;
D’Arcy Wentworth, father of William Charles Wentworth (see Vaucluse,
Sydney); Reverend Marsden; and Robert ‘Merchant’ Campbell.
Government Domain
From O’Connell Street walk north to Macquarie Street, turn left to
enter Parramatta Park, the original government domain. Old
Government
House (t 02 9635 8149; open Tues–Sun 10.00–16.30),
built in 1799, is the oldest public building in Australia, and always
filled with visitors. Operated by the National Trust, the building has
been beautifully restored, with guided tours and extensive historical
material available on site.
Exit through the Tudor Gatehouse; the present structure replaced the
original Macquarie gatehouse, and was erected in 1885 to a design of a
local architect, Gordon MacKinnon. Just before leaving the park is the
Fitzroy Tree with a memorial obelisk alongside, commemorating the spot
where, in 1847, Governor Fitzroy’s wife was killed when her carriage
overturned against the oak.
On exiting the park, you will find yourself on George Street; walk east
one block to Marsden Street; on the corner is the Medical Museum, in
one of the oldest Parramatta houses. It was built in 1821 for
emancipated convict John Hodges; a diamond design in the back wall
commemorates Hodges’ winnings at euchre (a card game) with an eight of
diamonds. Formerly known as Brislington, it was for nearly 100 years
the ‘doctor’s house’, owned by the Brown medical family.
Across the street where the Courthouse now stands, was the Woolpack
Inn, dating from 1821 (and the location for Hodges’ game of euchre);
earlier on this site, First Fleet convict James Larra had a hotel.
Larra is often referred to as Australia’s first Jewish landowner.
Across George Street is the Woolpack Hotel, built in 1890 when the
licence was transferred from the old inn, making the hotel that with
the oldest renewed licence in Australia.
Walk north on Marsden Street to Marist Place and St Patrick’s Church
and Presbytery, the site of some of the first Catholic services in the
colony in 1803; there was an uncompleted church structure here in 1828,
a few years before the arrival of the first bishop, Bishop Polding. A
second church built in 1834 was declared unsound by 1853, and a larger
building, designed by James Houison, was erected in 1854–59, with the
spires added in 1878–83. An arsonist’s fire gutted the historic
structure in 1996; parishioners and city officials have begun to
rebuild it.
Around the corner west on O’Connell Street is Roseneath Cottage, a
simple Georgian structure, built in 1837 for Janet Templeton, a
Scottish widow who arrived in the colony with eight children and a
flock of merino sheep. As evidence of the kind of dwellings that once
characterised Parramatta, it is a relief that it has survived the
town’s modern transformations.
One has to search hard now to find these reminders of Parramatta’s
colonial history. As the shopping centre of the western suburbs, this
is perhaps to be expected, but urban sprawl has overwhelmed it almost
entirely.
Towards Penrith
From Parramatta, you might continue on the M4 motorway, zooming past
the fibro-and-brick houses of many suburbs en route to Penrith and then
the Blue Mountains. Or, at Hawkesbury Road west of Parramatta, you can
transfer back to the old Great Western Highway (route 44) to travel
more sedately through the suburbs themselves. It is also possible to
take the train all the way from Central Station to Penrith (and indeed
into the Blue Mountains) with frequent stops.
If driving, when you reach St Mary’s, turn off at Mamre Road to the
south to come to ‘Mamre’ homestead
(t 02 9670 5321), the original
farmhouse of Rev. Samuel Marsden, early Sydney’s ‘flogging preacher’.
Despite his fearsome temper, Marsden was apparently an efficient
farmer, and developed this area, explored by Watkin Tench in 1789, into
good farming and grazing land; Marsden sent the first shipment of
Australian wool to England. The homestead is now open to the public,
run by the Sisters of Mercy, with a craft shop and tea room and
historical displays. The name apparently refers to the biblical ‘Oak of
Mamre’ under which Abraham lived. The house is a two-storey Georgian
structure with verandahs, constructed of sandstone c 1830.
Off the Great Western Highway c 1.5km from Mamre Road, turn north on
Werrington Road; c 3km, near the Werrington train station, is
‘Werrington House’, built in 1829–32 of local stone for the Lethbridge
family. The house’s design is based on the family’s Cornish home. The
land on which the house was built was originally granted to Mary
Putland in the early 1800s; Putland was Governor Bligh’s ‘arrogant’
daughter, who had so vigorously defended him when he was deposed as
Governor.
Near the Werrington train station is a campus of the sprawling
University of Western Sydney, a product of the amalgamation of several
polytechnic colleges. The university, with campuses throughout Western
Sydney, is now concentrating on the arts, and is quickly growing into
one of the state’s most innovative educational institutions.
Penrith
Another 5km west is Penrith (population 150,000), founded in 1789 when
Watkin Tench and his party explored the region and discovered the
Nepean River, which was named after the Secretary of the Admiralty. A
flat, broad river that tumbles into the spectacular Nepean Gorge some
20km upstream, the river is actually a tributary of the Hawkesbury
River. The Nepean Belle, a paddlesteamer boat, takes tourists on trips
from Penrith up to the gorge. The river at Penrith is also to be the
site of the rowing competitions during the Olympic Games. The rowing
sprint course begins at Victoria Bridge, originally built in the 1860s
to bring the railway to the Blue Mountains. Today, Penrith is quite
suburbanised, with the Penrith Panthers League Club on Mulgoa Road a
glitzy centre of entertainment. Still, historic bits remain and
Penrith’s agrarian roots are evident in the landscape around it, with
the sense that the Blue Mountains are very near. The tourist
information office is in the car park of the Penrith Panthers Club
on Mulgoa Road, t 02 4732 7671.
Local heritage is well-presented at the Arms of Australia Inn History Museum, on the corner of Gardenia Avenue and the Great Western Highway in Emu Plains (across the Victoria Bridge; t 02 4735 4394; Mon, Wed, thurs 9.00-14.00, Sun 13.00-16.00); the museum is open to the public on weekends, and the Archives Room, run by the Nepean District Historical Society, is available through appointment for students and interested citizens. The inn itself was built in 1840 by John Mortimer.
North Sydney and the north shore
Crossing the Harbour Bridge by foot or train, or taking one of several
ferries, brings you to Sydney’s North Shore. A harbour tunnel now also
travels under the harbour itself. The city of North Sydney has become a
high-rise commercial enclave of its own, and the suburbs on this side
have a distinct character. Many Sydneysiders would maintain that ‘North
Shore’ types are a breed apart, entirely removed from the more
down-to-earth concerns of those on the south side. The suburbs closest
to the harbour are indeed some of the most exclusive in the city, and
the views across to the Opera and Circular Quay are stunning. The North
Shore is also the site of several inner harbour beaches, including the
quite popular Little Sirius Cove in Mosman.
North Shore’s earliest development was as a residential
settlement. A township site was laid out in 1838, to be known as St
Leonards, but it never materialised as planned, although St Leonards is
today one of the many suburbs along the Pacific Highway north.
One of the first permanent settlers on the shoreline was the artist
Conrad Martens, who in 1844 lived in what is present-day St Leonards.
Here he produced an abundant number of watercolours depicting the
harbour and the town itself. Other pioneers, especially loggers, had
already penetrated the woodlands beyond the bay’s shore, and whalers
established an industry in the area of present-day Mosman. By the
1850s, vast tracts of land were in the hands of a few landholders whose
names have now been given to the suburbs created out of their original
estates. The first white settler was William Henry, who received a land
grant here of 1000 acres (400 ha) from Governor Bligh, to whom he
remained loyal, even after the governor’s ousting in 1808.
The first train stop, and the endpoint after walking across the bridge, is Milson’s Point. James Milson was one of the area’s first free settlers, who ran a dairy here and was one of the founding members of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron.
Kirribilli
At this point, you can either walk east into the commercial centre of
North Sydney itself, or west into the pleasantly undulating streets of
Kirribilli (an Aboriginal word allegedly meaning ‘place for fishing’).
From the shoreline at Kirribilli, there is the most spectacular view of
the Harbour Bridge, the harbour, and across to Circular Quay and the
Opera House at Bennelong Point. The small winding streets of the suburb
also present structures of every architectural style, from elegant
apartment houses to Federation cottages. Many of these houses are now
private hotels, most of them quite inexpensive (and some a bit spooky;
check out the clientele before booking).
Kirribilli Point is the site of Admiralty House, built in 1845 by the
Collector of Customs J.G.N. Gibbes. From the 1880s the house served as
the residence of admirals of the British Fleet; it is now the Sydney
residence of the New South Wales Governor-General. Next door on
Kirribilli Avenue, and joined by extensive gardens, is Kirribilli
House, built in the 1850s in Gothic Revival style for merchant Adolf
Frederick Fez. It now serves as the residence of the Prime Minister
when he is not in Canberra. The current Prime Minister, John Howard,
quite controversially, has chosen to use this as his permanent
residence rather than move to the national capital’s official
residence, The Lodge.
Blue’s Point
At the very tip of McMahons Point on the other side of the bridge is
Blue’s Point, named for a fascinating early Sydney character, a black
Jamaican named Billy Blue who was transported in 1801. Dubbed the Old
Commodore by Governor Macquarie, Blue ran the ferry service from this
point to the other side of the harbour for many years. It is said that
he often had his passengers do the rowing and sometimes changed the
price of the trip in midstream. He fathered a family after he was 70,
two of his daughters marrying other prominent North Shore pioneers,
George Lavender, for whom Lavender Bay is named, and James French of
French’s Forest.
Blue’s Point is now the site of Blue’s Point Tower, one of Harry
Seidler’s early ‘skyscraper’ apartments (1961–62), considered by some a
modernist eyesore along the shoreline. Blue’s Point Road, running into
Miller Street in the congested centre of town, is one of the major
thoroughfares of lower North Sydney.
McMahons Point
The little neighbourhood of McMahons Point is now a tremendously
gentrified location, filled with tastefully renovated period
townhouses. To have a McMahons Point address is to have arrived, an
ironic transformation from its early working-class status. Poet Henry
Lawson lived here with his aunt in 1892, near the present-day approach
of the bridge. He lived in the area again in the early 1900s; a plaque
at 23 Euroka Street, commemorates his residence in 1914.
Lavender Bay and Luna Park
One of the best ways to get to MacMahons Point and Lavender Bay is to
take the Hegarty’s ferry, a private ferry company, from Bay 6 in
Circular Quay; the ride gives a spectacular view under the bridge and
into this unpretentious little bay. Lavender Bay was the site of the
artist Brett Whiteley’s studio in the 1960s and 1970s, when the area
was still rather down-at-the heels and genuine. From here, you can
stroll along the foreshore with great views of the harbour and Sydney
city with the high-rise buildings of North Sydney behind.
Right under the bridge at Milson’s Point on Lavender Bay is Luna Park.
This amusement park has been a much-loved part of Sydney since the
1930s, when it was built on the construction site headquarters of the
Harbour Bridge, prime harbourfront real estate at any time. It has
always been a favoured spot for migrants and American G.I.s on shore
leave. Closed down after a disastrously fatal fire in the 1970s, it was
lovingly restored and reopened with great fanfare, and much state
funding, in 1993. While local residents continually protest about the
Big Dipper’s noise, and threats of funding loss continue, so far it has
managed to remain open. Even if you are not a fan of carnival rides and
greasy food, Luna Park is worth a visit to see the vintage decorations
and billboard paintings.
Just below Luna Park is the North
Sydney
Olympic Pool (weekdays
05.30–21.00, weekends 07.00–19.00), beautifully situated next to the
waters of the harbour, with lovely Art Deco ornaments on its walls.
City of North Sydney
North Sydney itself contains some interesting historical sites amidst
all the new skyscrapers. At Lavender Street and Blue’s Point Road, turn
left into William Street to see Sydney Church of England Grammar
School, known locally as SCEGGS or ‘Shore’, and very prestigious
indeed. Given its current status as a leading institution for the rich
and famous, it is surprising to find that the school was not
established here until 1889.
At Mount Street, turn back towards Miller Street; this small triangle
is known as Victoria Cross, and, as the North Sydney Post Office is
here, it is the centre of town. Designed by James Barnet in 1886, it
also houses the Court House. At the intersection is Greenwood Plaza.
The original building was an Art Deco 1930s structure; a new
post-modernist skyscraper has now been added behind. The Plaza has
become a whole complex, connected to Old School House (1883), and is
now a series of elegant bars, shops and cafes.
Sydney swimming pools
Life in Sydney, especially in summer, understandably revolves
around
water; North Sydney Pool is only one of many splendid pools and ocean
baths in and around the city, each with their own atmosphere and
aesthetic. North Sydney, for example, is known for its intimidating
lane-swimmers; if you are in the Very Fast Lane, watch out. Some others
to consider:
Andrew (‘Boy’) Charlton Pool, Mrs Macquarie Drive, The Domain, t 9358
6686. A beautiful setting if an unattractive pool (chlorinated salt
water, solar heated only); some serious swimming, but given its
location, it’s not surprising that this is the place for gays.
Admission $5.50.
Bronte Baths, south end, Bronte Beach. One of the best of the sea
baths, carved into the cliff face of the beach and flushed by sea waves
that come crashing over the walls. Always open and free. Ever-changing,
totally democratic mixing of swimmers.
Gunnamatta Baths, Nicholson Parade, Cronulla. A netted area in
Gunnamatta Bay surrounded by parkland. Lots of shallow water and shaded
picnic areas, so favoured by families. Sometimes polluted, check
Beachwatch information. t 02 9544 3805.
Heffron Park Pool, Robey Street, Maroubra. A whole complex of pools,
including kids’ waders. Very clean, good for lap swimmers of all
levels, also mums with kids. Admission $4.60, open 06.00–20.30, closes
18.00 Fri and weekends.
MacCallum Park Pool, Milson Road, Cremorne Point. Fantastic views of
Sydney Harbour, beautiful people clientele, not for kids. Water
filtered from harbour. Free and always open.
Mona Vale Pool, Surfview Avenue, Mona Vale. 25m rock baths, wonderful
vistas, camaraderie among the regulars. Free, always open.
Northbridge Baths, Widgiewa Road, Northbridge. In Sailors Bay of Middle
Harbour, tranquil, next to small marina; great for families, with
grassy area. Open until dusk.
Wylie’s Baths, Neptune Street,
Coogee. Built in 1907 as an ocean pool,
but recently renovated; it is still like swimming in an aquarium, with
lichen on the walls and small schools of fish swimming by. No lanes,
just recreational; closed when waves are too high. In December, Wylie’s
is the site of Flickerfest short film festival, when you can watch the
movies and swim at the same time. Call for admission fee 02 9665 2838.
Ladies Baths of Coogee, Grant Reserve, Coogee. Next door to Wylie’s,
women and children only for over 70 years; sand floor, seaweed and
fish, too. Sheltered area for nude bathing. Admission 20 cents.
Continue north on Miller Street, 200m; on the left (west)
is
Monte Sant’ Angelo College. Originally named Ma-Sa-Lou, it was the home
of Francis Lord, son of the Jewish ex-convict Simeon Lord; Francis was
at one time Mayor of St Leonard’s.
On Miller Street, between McLaren and Ridge Streets are the attractive
North Sydney Council Chambers; all kinds of enlightened social services
are available here, from the Baby Health Clinic, to holiday care and
the Stanton Library, an excellent public facility. The council building
itself includes mural-size copies of the harbour panoramas originally
created in 1875 by Bernard Holtermann (1838–85), discoverer at Hill
End, New South Wales, of the largest deposits of gold, quartz and slate
ever mined. In order to create these panoramas, Holtermann constructed
an enormous tower overlooking the harbour and had photographs made of
all angles. The chambers’ photograph is placed next to one made in 1975
of the same view.
Behind the Council Chambers, at McLaren and Church Streets, is St
Thomas’s Church, Church Street. This was the last substantial structure
designed by Edmund Blacket; the final construction was carried out by
his sons, and completed in 1884. An older St Thomas’s was on the site
from 1843, and it is in this church’s cemetery that the painter Conrad
Martens and family are buried. The cemetery includes a pyramidal
monument, commemorating Edward Wollstonecraft (1783–1832) and his
sister Elizabeth Wollstonecraft Berry, cousins of writer and the poet
Shelley’s wife, Mary Wollstonecraft. The monument was erected by
Alexander Berry, Edward’s business partner and founder of the New South
Wales town of Berry (see p 224). Wollstonecraft also established a
500-acre landgrant at Crow’s Nest in North Sydney, and the nearby
suburb of Wollstonecraft was named for him. St Thomas’s first rector in
the 1840s was William Branwhite Clarke (1798–1878), a well-known
geologist who is often called the father of Australian science.
At Ridge and Miller Streets to the east is the entrance to St Leonard’s
Park and the site of North Sydney Oval, a lovely old ground complete
with Victorian stands. It was the home of the North Sydney Bears Rugby
League football team, which, sadly, moved to Gosford in 1999.
St Francis Xavier’s, on McKenzie Street, was built in 1881. The church
contains a massive stained-glass wall, and charming wood-carvings of
the Stations of the Cross, completed by German carver Josef Dettlinger
in the 1880s.
North shore suburbs
Military Road, on the east side of the bridge, is the main thoroughfare
from the Harbour Bridge to The Spit. The road is almost always
congested, filled with shops and an unbelievable range of good
restaurants. Any drive to Manly requires traversing its full length to
Spit Road. Note also that the Spit Bridge has specific opening times;
be sure to check before setting out, so that you can avoid delays (t 02
9194 1018).
The first suburb along Military Road is Neutral Bay, so named by
Governor Phillip, because it was designated as the anchorage for all
foreign ships entering the harbour. In Neutral Bay, at no. 5 Wallaringa
Avenue, is Nutcote, home in
the 1920s of illustrator and children’s
author May Gibbs, creator of the enormously popular Snugglepot and
Cuddlepie stories and The Gumnut Babies. The house is open Wed–Sun
11.00–15.00 (t 02 9953 4453).
On Military Road, Neutral Bay blends into the suburb of Cremorne. At
no. 380 Military Road is the Hayden Orpheum Theatre, a marvellous old
picture house, built in the 1930s; admission to the cinema includes,
before the film, performances on the grand old Wurlitzer organ, mounted
on a hydraulic stage that rises majestically in front of the screen. It
was built by Italian immigrant Angelo Vergona, whose son, Bob, in the
1940s, greeted every guest in the foyer, and sometimes drove home the
last patrons after late-night screenings.
Cremorne leads east into Mosman, named for Archibald Mosman, who in the
1820s established a whaling industry here. Today Mosman is one of the
prestige suburbs. The area along the harbour boasts some of the most
ornate Edwardian houses, complete with copper cupolas and gabled roofs.
The Mosman strip of Military Road is also one of the best places in the
city for upmarket fashion shopping.
Taronga Park Zoo
Mosman is also the site of Taronga
Park
Zoo (t 02 9969 2777, open daily
09.00–17.00, some evenings 17.30–23.30, but telephone first for
details), undisputably the most beautifully situated zoo in the world.
As already mentioned, a ferry from Circular Quay arrives at the base of
the zoo and a lift (when operating) brings you to the top of the hill,
from which the views of the harbour and Sydney are breathtaking. The
city’s first zoo was in Moore Park. When Taronga opened in 1916, all
the animals were conveyed by ferry to the new site, including the much
beloved elephant Jessie, who lived until 1939 and provided Sydneysiders
with the expression ‘a hide like Jessie’s’.
Great attempts have been made in the last few years to upgrade the
animals’ facilities, so that the exhibits are more comfortable for the
enclosed wildlife. The zoo is active in worldwide breeding campaigns of
endangered species, and Australia’s native species receive particular
attention. As the facility is excessively popular with school groups
and other visitors, it is almost always crowded. Admission is
relatively expensive (the zoo depends entirely on private funding),
although family packages are also available.
To the south of the zoo—and, indeed, around nearly every point along this part of the North Shore, all the way to Manly—segments of the Sydney Harbour National Park have preserved bushland for walking and recreation. At the end of Bradley’s Head Road is Bradley’s Head, named for First Fleet cartographer William Bradley; you can see here remnants of fortifications installed around the harbour in the 1870s. Bradley’s Head is a superb spot from which to view the start of the Sydney-to-Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day (26 December). The sight of the yachts lining up in the harbour for the starting gun is one of the most exquisite visions imaginable, not to be missed by any visitor.
Balmoral
Take Bradley’s Head Road back up to Raglan Street and turn west to come
to Balmoral Beach, a lovely inner-harbour spot on Middle Harbour. On
the Esplanade is the beautiful 1930s Bathers Pavilion, considered by
The Sydney Morning Herald to be one of the ‘best places in Sydney for a
lunch or coffee’. The architecture is that of a quasi-Moorish palace.
During the Sydney Festival in January, Balmoral hosts performances,
‘Shakespeare by the Sea’, by the Sydney Theatre Company, and concerts
take place in the Rotunda.
North of North Sydney
If you continue out of North Sydney on Miller Street, it turns into
Strathallen Avenue; when this street ends, turn left (west) to Eastern
Valley Way, and enter Northbridge. This now thoroughly urbanised part
of town is entered through an elaborately crenellated bridge that
appears as if it is part of a medieval castle. It was built in the
1890s by the area’s land developer as a ploy to lure potential buyers.
At Edinburgh Road, turn right (east) to enter Castlecrag, a residential
community planned by Walter Burley Griffin, designer of Canberra.
Several of his houses, all bearing the mark of his teacher Frank Lloyd
Wright, still exist, set back and blending into the craggy cliffs and
twisting roads above Middle Harbour.
Back on Eastern Valley Way, continue north through the suburban sprawl
of Chatswood. This area is named in honour of the wife of Richard Hayes
Harnett, an early settler of land from Willoughby to Mosman. Charlotte,
or ‘Chat’, loved to sketch the wildlife in the forests of the area,
which thus became known as ‘Chat’s wood’.
Northern beaches
Eastern Valley Way will become Warringah Road (Route 29) at Roseville;
continue east to Wakehurst Parkway (Route 22) to Pittwater Road (Route
14), turning east into Barrenjoey Road. This route will pass the
beautiful northern beaches of Bilgola, Avalon, Palm Beach and Whale
Beach, ending finally at Barrenjoey Head, part of the vast Ku-ring-gai
Chase National Park. The no. 12 bus from Manly Wharf also travels along
this coastline to Pittwater, including the popular beaches of Curl
Curl, Dee Why and Collaroy.
At Barrenjoey Head, the view across the Bay and out into the Tasman Sea
is worth the trip. As novelist C.J. Koch describes the Barrenjoey
Peninsula in The Doubleman (1985), ‘the latitude is the South Seas; and
the time, for the Peninsula’s cargo of beachside suburbs, is always
holiday.’
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Encompassing the entire end of West Head Road and across
Pittwater
at
Barrenjoey Headland, Ku-ring-gai
Chase
National
Park consists of 14,712
ha of bushland only 24km from the city itself. It was set aside in
1894, and is one of Sydney’s most popular recreational sites; the name
derives from the Guringai people, the local Aboriginal clan. Damage
from the 1994 bushfires was extensive, but regrowth of natural bush has
been speedy.
To enter the main part of the national park, return via Barrenjoey
Road, turn north into Pittwater Road, and follow around Church Point to
the toll booth at West Head Road; there is an entrance fee.
The park’s main visitor centre is the Kalkari Visitor’s Centre (t
02 02 9472 9301, open daily 09.00–17.00), where brochures and
guided tours
are available; this centre can be reached by taking Ku-Ring-Gai Chase
Road off the Pacific Highway in Mt Colah. The railway also stops at Mt
Colah near the park’s entrance. Shorelink bus no. 577 also leaves from
the Turramurra Station to the Bobbin Head Road entrance of the park.
Perhaps the most enjoyable way to come to the park is via ferry. The
ferry from Palm Beach Wharf will stop at The Basin Entrance to the
park, and provides a marvellous tour of Broken Bay itself.
The park is the site of several Aboriginal carvings which can be
visited, especially along the Basin Trail off West Head Road on the
Lambert Peninsula. This part of the park also offers spectacular views
of Pittwater, Palm Beach, and Warringah Peninsula. A community project
in the park and the rest of the Pittwater region is attempting to
ensure the future of the long-nosed bandicoot, a small native marsupial
once abundant in number and now decimated by feral and domestic animals.
Pittwater
Governor Phillip explored the Pittwater region in 1788, describing it
as ‘the finest piece of water which I ever saw... it would contain all
the Navy of Great Britain’. He named the region after British Prime
Minister William Pitt.
As mentioned above on access to Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park,
exploration of Broken Bay is most enjoyable on the Palm Beach Ferries,
leaving from Palm Beach Wharf. Several boat hire options are also
available from Palm Beach, to explore the bay and on into the
Hawkesbury River. Another exciting possibility is to take the regular
commuter flight of the Sydney Harbour Seaplanes, flying from Rose Bay
along the coastline to Palm Beach.
Palm Beach
That a regular commuter flight is available to Palm Beach gives some
indication of the privileged status of the place. It is home for many
people in the arts and wealthy businessmen. The place has also been
associated in the public eye with shady political doings, as the site
of some famous weekend party deals; writer Peter Corris plays on this
image in his story Heroin Annie (1984), in which his investigator Cliff
Hardy comes here to bust a drug ring and refers to Palm Beach as ‘the
biggest playspot of them all...all chicken fat and pinballs and the
popping of cold, cold cans.’ Recent attempts by beachside landowners to
privatise the beach itself has been greeted with horror; the idea of
owning a beach is seen as completely un-Australian, no matter how
exclusive the area might be.
The ‘Macquarie towns’ ~ Richmond and Windsor
From Penrith, you can take Parker Street/Richmond Road (route
69),
which becomes the Great Northern Road to the twin Macquarie towns of
Windsor and Richmond along the Hawkesbury River, some 55km from Sydney.
From the city, you can take the M2 Motorway. The train also travels all
the way to Richmond, with a stop at Windsor. Many tours to the towns
are organised by the Tourist Information Bureau as well; check at any
of the city offices, particularly at the services at the Circular Quay.
The M2 Motorway is now a completely concealed freeway from Lane Cove on
the north side of Sydney Harbour, zipping past the countryside
northwest to Windsor Road; the old road closely follows the original
Windsor Road of 1794. The Old Windsor Road route will take you through
Ryde, location of the first hops-grower and brewer in the colony, James
Squire. Squire also befriended the famous Aborigine Bennelong after his
return from England in 1794; Bennelong’s grave is believed to be in the
Ryde district.
The Ryde district’s other great claim to fame is as the site where
Maria Ann Smith, better known as ‘Granny Smith’, first cultivated her
famous apples in the 1860s. A small park to her memory exists in nearby
Eastwood, off Abuklea Road on Threlfall Street, the location of her
original orchard.
Today it is hard to imagine that the area along the M2 at Pennant Hills
was in the 19C teeming with bushrangers where the suburban homes are
now thick on the hills looking over the city. Drive through Castle
Hill, site of one of the two armed uprisings in Australia, the Battle
of Vinegar Hill, brought about in 1804 by Irish political prisoners
attempting to escape. The ‘battle’ was quickly quelled by authorities,
leaving 15 dead; nine of the ‘conspirators’ were hanged for their
attempts at insurrection.
Continue along the Windsor Road (route 40 and 2) to Rouse Hill. The
area was named for Richard Rouse, free settler and Superintendant of
Public Works in 1806. In 1813–18, Rouse built Rouse Hill House, now
part of the National Estate. Despite many additions to the original
dwelling, the house still survives intact, as one of the earliest
private country dwellings in the country and with many of the original
furnishings. Of special interest are its outbuildings and the gardens,
still extant in its original design. For 162 years, until taken over by
the New South Wales government in 1979, descendants of Richard Rouse
occupied the property. Access to Rouse
Hill House is by appointment and
requires a modest fee (PO Box 123, Rouse Hill, New South Wales 2155;
t 02 9627 6777, open Wed–Sun 9.30 - 16.30).
The Hawkesbury region was explored by Governor Phillip in his desperate attempt to find farmland for the colony. By 1794, 22 pioneers had settled along the river, and by 1796, some 1000 acres (400 ha) were under cultivation here. Of most importance to the colony was the success of grain farming in the region, but soon all kinds of produce flourished and reached the Sydney markets via the river. The river itself, then, became a centre of great activity, including a vigorous boat building industry.
Windsor
Although it was named Green Hill by the original settlers, Windsor
(population 13,500) was the name given by Governor Macquarie in 1810
when he established the ‘Five Macquarie Towns’; these were Windsor,
Richmond, Wilberforce, Pitt Town and Castlereagh. Macquarie selected
these sites on high land to avoid the river floods which habitually
plagued early settlements, and along with the inveterate architect
Francis Greenway, indulged his passion for town planning and
architectural ambition. The towns today still retain evidence of this
planning and the original buildings—even the street curbs and guttering
are those built by convicts—are still home to the descendants of the
first settlers. Tourist information can be obtained from Hawkesbury
Visitor Centre, Ham Common Bicentary Park, Richmond Road,
Clarendon, t 02 4578 0233; open
Mon–Fri 09.00–17.00, Sat–Sun 9.00–16.00.
Entering Windsor from the M2 at Macquarie Street leads to Thompson Square, the centre of the town. The train stops at Church Street south of the Richmond Road; walk north on George Street to come to Thompson Square. Substantially restored as part of a Bicentennial project, Thompson Square’s numerous colonial buildings now remain as a monument to the Hawkesbury pioneers. The square owes its name to the first landowner Andrew Thompson, an emancipist whom Macquarie so admired for his diligence and ambition that he made him magistrate. Thompson died heroically in 1810, after valiant efforts to save lives and property during one of the Hawkesbury’s many floods.
On the southeast corner of the square is the Macquarie Arms, built to the order of Governor Macquarie in 1811–15. The inn was built and operated from 1815 to 1840 by ex-convict Robert Fitzgerald, who became the richest man in the town. The building includes excellent cedar joinery and stone verandahs. Next door to the Macquarie Arms is the Hawkesbury Museum (t 02 4560 4655; Wed–Mon 10.00–16.00), housed in an 1820s building that was originally an inn. Along with historical displays, the museum is also the Tourist Information Centre. The next structure on the square is a small cottage from the 1850s, privately owned; next to the cottage towards the river is the Doctor’s House, so named because doctors have lived here since the 1870s. The structure itself dates from 1844 and is a great example of a colonial terrace building, with fanlights above the doors and columns flanking the doorways.
Continue to walk towards the river, cross over The Terrace and turn right onto a walkway, which will lead under a bridge to the river. From here you can see Windsor Wharf. Walk up the hill and return to Thompson Square. Houses on this side date from the 1850s and 1860s. Cross George Street to the site of the School of Arts, built in 1861 in an Italianate style; it is now a boot factory. Turn north onto George Street and walk one block to Arndell Street; on the left side of the street is a plaque commemorating the site of Old Government House, built here in the 1790s. Turn into Arndell Street; on the left at North Street are a series of cottages built 1840–60, some of the only examples of this period remaining. On the corner is the Swallows Inn, so named because of the fairy martin nests under the eaves; the building also served as the surgery in the television series ‘A Country Practice’.
Walk down North Street for a view of the farmland near the town; turn right into Palmer Street and continue to a set of buildings called the John Tebbutt F.R.A.S. Observatories (t 02 4577 7306). Here the famous amateur astronomer John Tebbutt (1834–1916) first set up his observatory in 1863; the building now on the site was built in 1879. Here Tebbutt established local mean time, discovered the Comet Tebbutt of 1881, and published some 370 accounts of meteorological observations. Tebbutt was such an important figure in astronomical circles that he appeared on the Australian $100 note in the 1980s. The observatories are still owned by the Tebbutt family; they are now open to the public, particularly for weddings and similar celebrations.
Return via Palmer Street to Pitt Street; turn left and walk to the corner of Court Street. Here is the Windsor Courthouse, built in 1822 by William Cox (of Blue Mountain exploration fame) to the design of Francis Greenway. It is considered by many as Greenway’s most harmonious building and one of the best preserved, built of sandstone bricks with worked stone lintels and sills. The interior includes rough cedar beams; it still serves as the town’s courthouse. In the public gallery is a controversial portrait, believed by many to be of Governor Macquarie, although debate about its authenticity continues.
Off Court Street, turn left onto a footpath leading to the
Tollhouse, a
reminder of the old toll system on the roadways. The current building
dates from the 1880s; its unrestored condition points to the
continuation of flooding along the river. Return to Bridge Street and
proceed into Thompson Square and then right (west) onto Baker Street;
turn left (south) onto The Terrace along the river. Between Kable and
Fitzgerald Streets is Sunnybrae, built in 1875 and still owned by the
same family. Continue on The Terrace, cross the small park by the water
tower, built in 1889. At New Street are two cottages from 1830;
continue down the Terrace to Catherine Street and turn left to Little
Church Street, on the corner of which is the Bell Inn, built c 1845
with an interesting barrelled corner. Walk down Little Church Street
and note St Matthew’s Catholic Church, built in 1840.
At Tebbutt Street turn right and return to The Terrace; on the left, on
what is now Moses Street, is the Rectory and St Matthew’s Anglican
Church, Francis Greenway’s most memorable building. The site was chosen
by Macquarie expressly for building a church; its elevated position led
it to become the district’s most famous landmark, as it could be seen
throughout the Hawkesbury region. The church is built of bricks
produced by William Cox; its most stunning feature is the sculptural
square tower with octagonal cupola. When the foundation stone was laid
in 1817, Governor Macquarie placed a Spanish dollar under the stone; it
was stolen that night. After another ceremony led to the same result,
the stone was quickly laid without the coin and built over. Halfway
through the building, Greenway, angry at the building contractor’s
shoddy workmanship, demolished the entire structure and rebuilt it. It
was consecrated in 1822 by the fiery colonial chaplain Samuel Marsden.
Marsden in fact died here, at the rectory, while visiting a friend in
1858. In the church’s portico is the Bible, along with the clock and
bell tower, presented to the congregation by King George IV.
The rectory was built in 1825 by William Cox; the architect is unknown,
but its Georgian design complements Greenway’s church. The church’s
cemetery contains the graves of Andrew Thompson, for whom Thompson
Square was named, and explorer William Cox, as well as the Tebbutt
family vault.
Past the cemetery is Claremont Crescent; Claremont Cottage was built in
1822 out of stuccoed brick either by John Jones or William Cox.
Return to Moses Street, turn right and cross Richmond Road into Cox
Street; turn right onto Fairfield Avenue to reach the High Victorian
mansion of Fairfield House. The first part was built as early as 1833,
again for William Cox. In 1866, it was acquired by the McQuade family,
who added the two-storey northern wing in the 1880s. William McQuade
was the manager of Her Majesty’s Theatre in Sydney and lived in opulent
style; he even had a private race track here.
From Fairfield, head back to Barbyn Street; turn left into George
Street. No. 394 was built in 1897 as a general store by George
Robertson; the façade includes interesting carved stonework.
Further
along George Street past the Richmond Street crossing is Oxalis
Cottage, between the city council chambers and the library. It was
built in the 1850s by Wesleyan missionary Peter Turner. At no. 312 is
Mrs Cope’s House, a large five-bay Georgian structure with 15-pane
windows; it was once home to one Maria Cope, who apparently owned
extensive grounds here in the 1830s. At no. 266 is the old Royal
Theatre, now the Windsor Antique Markets. George Street soon becomes a
pedestrian mall and ends back at Thompson Square.
Author Ruth Park, in her 1973 guide to Sydney, considered
Richmond
the
prettiest of the Five Macquarie Towns. Only 8km from Windsor, at the
end of the train run, the town used to be the busiest in the area, as
it was at the convergence of the main trading roads. The railway line
was opened in 1864, linking Richmond directly with Sydney. The Richmond
RAAF Base now dominates the road linking Windsor and Richmond, and a
major campus of the University of Western Sydney, emphasising
agriculture and animal sciences, occupies a large expanse of land to
the south of town.
From the train station, you enter Richmond at Richmond Park, once the
town’s market square. To the west of the park is the Post Office, built
in 1875, with a second storey added in 1888. Further west on West
Market Street is St Andrew’s Uniting Church, built in 1845 as a
Presbyterian Church by George Bowman, Richmond’s leading
philanthropist. A memorial to Dr Andrew Cameron in front of the church
demonstrates the significance of the Cameron family to the Richmond
area; James Cameron was the minister of the Presbyterian church in the
1860s, and was married to Bowman’s daughter. Across West Market Street
is the Masonic Lodge, built as the Presbyterian School in the 1860s.
Next door, on the corner of March Street, is the old School of Arts
building, opened in 1866 by politician Henry Parkes. George Bowman was
again involved in the organisation of this public institution. Further
west on March Street are interesting early houses, and in the middle of
the block, the offices of Shaddick Baker and Paul, with fine iron
lacework and a bull-nose verandah; the original structure was built in
1868, with sympathetic additions made in the 1980s.
On the corner of March and Bosworth Streets, turn right and walk to Windsor Street. On the southeast corner is the site of the Black Horse Inn—now only the roof line is visible—once the most famous hotel in the region. The inn opened in 1819 and for years was known for its sign of a black horse in full gallop (now in the Hawkesbury Museum in Windsor). At one time the inn marked the centre of town, and was the finishing post for horse races down the main street. The inn served as the polling place in Australia’s first election in 1843; it was also a popular honeymoon destination until it closed in the 1920s.
Turn left into Windsor Street, the oldest residential section of the town. No. 315, now the Richmond Restaurant, was built in 1865 by the Cornwell family, and was known as ‘the Cottage. Across the street is Bowman Cottage, built 1815–17 by free settler James Blackman; it was acquired by George Bowman in 1820, and was run as the Royal Arrow Inn. Bowman lived here until his death in 1878. Today it is the local headquarters of the National Parks and Wildlife Service (t 02 4588 2400; open Mon–Fri 08.30–16.30).
Towards the end of Windsor Street past Chapel Street is St Peter’s Church of England, a rectangular brick church built between 1837 and 1841 to a design by Francis Clarke, a prominent architect; this is only one of two surviving works by him. The interior is intact, with beautiful cedar work and stained glass windows added in the 1890s. In the churchyard, a small obelisk was made out of the bricks of the 1810 school-church once on the site. William Cox was also involved with the early construction of the church. From the churchyard you have a panoramic view of the Blue Mountains to the northwest, with Pughs Lagoon in the foreground. The church’s cemetery was first laid out in 1811 under Governor Macquarie’s direction, and bears the graves of several prominent pioneers, including the remarkable ex-convict Margaret Catchpole (1762–1819), who served as a midwife in her Richmond years. Catchpole became something of a legend in her native Suffolk (England), with a highly fictionalised account of her adventures made popular through Richard Cobbold’s The History of Margaret Catchpole: A Suffolk Girl (1845). Other graves include those of the Bowman family, and William Cox, Sr.
Back along Windsor Street, turn left at Chapel Street. On the
corner
of
Chapel and Francis Streets is ‘Josieville’, built in the 1830s for
Joseph Onus, a convict who arrived in Australia in 1803 and went on to
become one of the most prosperous farmers in the Hawkesbury region. The
additional storey was added in the 1870s, creating a great two-storey
verandah. Also on Francis Street is Clear Oaks Homestead, also owned by
the Onus family; the two-storey brick farmhouse dates from the 1820s.
Far at the end of Chapel Street is ‘Hobartville’, a fine sandstock
brick mansion built for William Cox Jr, possibly from a design by
Greenway. The property is still in private hands, but you can view the
house with its three-sided verandah bay in beautiful grounds.
Proceed along Windsor Street back into town. On the other side of
Richmond Park, at East Market Street, is Toxana, residence of William
Bowman, George Bowman’s younger brother. It was built in the 1840s and
stood in magnificent grounds. The Cameron family lived here in the
1880s, but by the 1890s, the building had a variety of owners and
lamentable incarnations. It was restored in 1978, and is now used by
the Macquarie Towns Arts Society.
Continue along Windsor Street, turning left into Toxana Street.
On
the
right at Francis Street is Benson House, built in the 1840s by the
shipwright Benson’s. The upper floor was added in 1900, but the bottom
storey and servants’ quarters are original. Continue along Francis
Street c 1km and turn right into Jersey Street; here is the
Presbyterian Cemetery, which dates from the 1860s and includes the
graves of the Camerons and the Bowman family vault.
Going back to Windsor Street, at the corner is a modern Catholic church
on the site of St Monica’s, first consecrated in 1854. Turn right into
Windsor Street; the first cottage on the southern side was the shop and
residence of Bob Eggleton, prominent Richmond wheelwright in the 1860s.
The building is typical of the kind of tradesman shops that existed
here in the mid-19C.
No. 89 Windsor Street is the Manse, an 1890s Presbyterian school. In
the grounds are the incongruous Kamilaroi Gates, all that remain of a
grand house built in the 1890s by Benjamin Richards, one of Richmond’s
wealthiest citizens. The house was used as a school from the 1920s
until 1956, when it was demolished.
At the corner of Windsor and Paget Streets is Andrew Town’s House. It
was from this point that the old horse races to the Black Horse Inn
began. Appropriately, Andrew Town was one of Australia’s most famous
horse breeders and racing figures; in the 1880s, he had the largest
pedigreed stock in the world, until the 1890s depression saw him lose
his properties.
Finally, at no. 126 is ‘Heritage Cottage’, which displays three period
rooms from the 1850s, along with the ever-present tea-room that occupy
nearly every historical venue in the country.
Windsor to Wiseman’s Ferry
To the west of the Hawkesbury River at Windsor, route 69 travels north
to Wilberforce, another of the Macquarie Towns, and now best known as
the home of Bill McLachlan, who introduced water-skiing
to the Hawkesbury. Appropriately, Wilberforce is now home to one of the
world’s leading water-ski speed races, 50km from Brooklyn up to this
point. The town of Wilberforce still has a few old buildings, including
a ‘Macquarie’ schoolhouse, built in 1819 by John Brabyn; it was here
that the famous bushranger Thunderbolt (Fred Ward) went to school.
Edmund Blacket also built a church here, St John’s, in 1856. Nearby to
the west in Freeman’s Reach is ‘Reibycroft’, one of the district’s
oldest farmhouses, built for the ever-acquisitive Reibey family in the
1820s.
From Wilberforce, the Sackville road continues north to a ferry
crossing on the river; at Ebenezer, c 5km, is a rectangular stone
Presbyterian church, built by Scottish farmers between 1807 and 1817
overlooking the Hawkesbury River; it is the oldest extant church in
Australia.
Further north on route 69 is Colo and the Wollemi
National
Park (t 02 4588 2400). Only 100km northwest of
Sydney, the park of
487,648 ha is the state’s largest and most unpolluted wilderness, with
spectacular canyons and gorges. There is an old railway tunnel near the
ruins of the old settlement of Newnes that is filled with glow-worms.
The park is also the location of the recently discovered Wollemi Pine,
the world’s oldest species of tree. These trees are in completely
inaccessible locations. Their whereabouts are carefully guarded from
any human intrusion by the Parks and Wildlife Service, whose rangers
discovered them (as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald, 7 June
1997). The Colo River, reached by following Bob Turner’s Track,
provides swimming possibilities and scenic beaches.
On the eastern side of Windsor, route 65, the Pitt Town - Cattai Road travels through the other Macquarie Town of Pitt Town, a very small village; 6km north is Cattai National Park, a small area which is great for picnics and walks; it surrounds the ‘Cad-Die’ homestead, built in 1821 for Thomas Arndell.
Another 30km brings you to Wiseman’s Ferry, the most historic of the Hawkesbury ferry crossings. Solomon Wiseman (1778–1838) was transported to New South Wales in 1806 for the crime of stealing wood; he was pardoned in 1812 and in 1817 took up 200 acres of land at this site on the Hawkesbury River. He ran an inn here from the 1820s, and had his finger in every sort of industry, legal and otherwise; a contemporary clergyman wrote that Wiseman was ‘deeply read in the corruption of human nature’. He built the imposing Cobham Hall, still standing, and the remains of his inn are still part of the present-day hotel, said to be haunted by his first wife, whom he supposedly tossed down the steps, and perhaps by old Wiseman himself.
Wiseman became a wealthy man once the road from his ferry was continued across the river to the Hunter Valley in 1827; this convict-built Great Northern Road still exists, and was for half a century the main road leading north. Today it continues to the old settlement of St Alban’s, with its church ruins and historic cemetery (the oldest grave dates from 1837); and to Dharug National Park (t 02 4320 4200), named for the local Aboriginal people. This park has many Aboriginal rock engravings believed to be more than 8000 years old.