Port Authority of New South Wales

Location: Nobbys Road, Newcastle East
Established: Constructed in 1818
Endorsed significance: State (as part of Coal River Precinct SHR 01674)

Statement of Significance:

Macquarie Pier was part of an ambitious public works project undertaken by convict labour, critical in the early development of Newcastle as a working harbour, the city and its economy more generally.  

The pier is associated with the development of Newcastle as a thriving port for the inland river trade and with the development of a substantial coal export market. Macquarie Pier and its beach have been closely associated with the historical and cultural development of Newcastle, and are esteemed by the city’s populace. The pier is a well-known and much-frequented thoroughfare on the approach to Nobbys and is considered an integral part of the local landmark.  

Historical notes:

Constructed between 1818 and 1846 to link Nobbys Island with the mainland, it is Newcastle’s most significant tangible legacy of the convict period. The original pier was not strongly built, and was often breached by heavy seas. Hoping to create a beach by which the convict-built structure would be protected, Merion Marshall Moriarty, Colonial Harbour Master, built two groynes near the centre of the pier but they were partially destroyed in a gale.  

In 1867, the Resident Engineer for Newcastle Harbour Works, Cecil West Darley, Cecil suggested the use of large rocks rather than of ballast to fill the gaps in the pier. The sandstone steps, romantically but incorrectly regarded by some as having been built by convicts, may be associated with this period. Stone was railed from a quarry at Waratah, east of Newcastle, and later from other quarries in that area. Wagons were shunted along a lengthy siding which later served the Nobbys breakwater as well. Its remnants, as well as those of an associated siding at which sand was loaded for public purposes, may still be seen, despite its having been covered by asphalt. The name ‘Macquarie Pier’ fell from general use until the 1990s, when it was revived. 

View the Macquarie Pier State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Nobbys Road, Newcastle East
Established: altered geological feature
Endorsed significance: State (as part of Coal River Precinct SHR 01674)

Statement of Significance:

Nobbys headland, originally an island, is a historically, culturally and aesthetically significant symbol of Newcastle. It is a prominent geological feature with great importance to local Awabakal and Worimi people; its Awabakal name is Whibayganba. The headland has become closely associated with the historical and cultural development of Newcastle and is esteemed by the city’s populace.

Historical notes:

Nobbys Headland is located on the land of the Awabakal people, the traditional custodians of what is now known as the mid-North Coast of New South Wales. It is situated at the entrance to Newcastle Harbour and is recognised both as ‘Nobbys’, due to its resemblance to one of two ‘nobs’ that define the river the harbour was built on, and ‘Whibayganba’, its name in the Awabakal language. Captain James Cook is credited with being the first European to sight Nobbys Headland – Cook’s reaction, recorded in his journal, was somewhat indifferent, describing the site as a ‘small clump of an island’.  In 1790 a party of escaped convicts from the First and Second fleets arrived in the area, with the resulting chase bringing Government officials to the region - who subsequently established a penal colony, primarily for the exploitation of the area’s natural resources.   

Nobbys Headland was joined with the mainland when Macquarie Pier was completed in 1846. A lighthouse with 24 nautical mile range was built in 1858 under the supervision of the then Colonial Architect, Alexander Dawson.  Significant additions to the site occurred during the Second World War when Nobbys Headland was controlled by the military, with one of the three cottages built on the site hit by a shell fired from a Japanese submarine which failed to explode.  When the military vacated the site in 1945 the cottages were occupied by signal staff who operated lighthouse until the late 1990s. 

Nobby’s Headland is owned by Port Authority of NSW with the Lighthouse and Signal Station on separate lots and owned by the Commonwealth (AMSA). 

View further Nobbys Headland State Heritage Inventory information

Location: 100 Wharf Rd, Newcastle East
Established: 1866
Endorsed significance: State (as part of Coal River Precinct SHR 01674)

Statement of Significance:

The stone-built Pilot Station Boat Harbour comprises a place significant for its historical role in the development and operation of the port of Newcastle and the protection of its shipping from 1866 to the present. The place has aesthetic significance because of the materials and built attributes of the boat harbour itself. The place is rare as a comparatively early stone boat harbour and as the only surviving example of one of several such boat harbours around the port. As such, the place has archaeological potential.

Historical notes:

The boat harbour dates from 1866, when a stone boat harbour was constructed. It eventually featured a pilot station building, with a house for the pilot boat boatswain. The stone boat harbour was commenced in 1866, to provide a protected berth for the pilot boats. 

Initially only part of the western wall of the boat harbour was constructed of masonry, with a timber wharf forming the front section. In 1882 the sea walls at the western side of the entrance to the dock, as well as part of the western wall inside the dock, were reconstructed in stone. Stone steps and the southern retaining wall were also built. The boat harbour, which remains largely unaltered, has a high level of historic significance, being one of only a few such facilities known to exist on the eastern seaboard, that at Tahlee, Port Stephens, being another. Most of the original buildings on the site have, however, been gradually replaced in response to changing needs and as a result of physical deterioration.  Original buildings on the site included a pilot station and accommodation for Pilots, and a tide gauge.  

By the 1930s, buildings included Boatswain’s Quarters, Pilot Station and Assistant Harbour Master’s Office. These early buildings were replaced by a cottage (c.1940) and a new Pilot Station, constructed in 1959 and modified between 1987 and 1988. In conjunction with the construction of the new Pilot Station, the old tide gauge and recorder were replaced.

View further Stone Boat Harbour State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Bradleys Head, Mosman
Established: 1904
Endorsed significance: State

Statement of Significance:

An important harbour navigation light and a landmark at Ashton Park, Bradleys Head. Of significance as part of a collective group of Lighthouse Towers that enable the safe movement of international shipping through Sydney Harbour. Of historical significance for its association with navigation aids employed during the early 20th century and still in use. Of local architectural and aesthetic significance for its functional maritime design and its contribution to the cultural landscape of Sydney Harbour.

Historical notes:

The Harbour Trust Commissioners had been planning the construction of a lighthouse at Bradleys Head since at least early 1904. In January 1905 the Sydney Harbour Trust Office advertised that the new lighthouse at Bradleys Head would exhibit ‘one bright light at the masthead and one rest light at the deck level at each end of plant’ by night, and ‘one red flag at each end of plant’ by day. It sat 22 feet above the high-water mark and was illuminated on 22 April 1905. The engineer-in-chief of the Sydney Harbour Trust, Mr Walsh, described it as a ‘miniature lighthouse’ and the ‘strongest on the harbour’, second only to the lighthouse at South Head. The lighthouse was connected to the mainland by a raised walkway, which was originally powered by submarine cable from the Fort Macquarie Electric light station. 

Bradleys Head Lighthouse was the first pre-cast concrete lighthouse in Australia. It consists of several sections cast to fit each other on site. It provides a beacon for shipping and has remained in good condition since. It has a matching light at Robertsons Point, Cremorne which was built later. The original light was replaced in 1911 with a dioptric lens and acetylene gas plant to provide a powerful 360deg fixed white light (SHT Commissioners’ Report year ended 30th June 1912). This was replaced in 1924 with the current green occulting light. 

On 12 November 1934 the HMAS Sydney memorial mast was unveiled nearby in memory of those who died aboard the ship during its battle with the German cruiser, SMS Emden, in 1914 during World War I. 

View further Bradleys Head Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Inner South Head, Watsons Bay
Established: Erected in 1858
Endorsed significance: State (as part of South Head Cultural Landscape SHR 02071) 

Statement of Significance:  

Hornby Lighthouse is among the oldest extant lighthouses, still in operation in Australia. It is a prominent and picturesque landmark with long historic associations in connection with the operation and management of the Port of Sydney and with important organisations such as the Colonial Architects Office, army and military network and National Parks and Wildlife Service. Hornby Lighthouse is an integral component in a system of lighthouses and other harbour lights that ensure the safe navigation of the Port of Sydney. This system of lighthouses and light towers is collectively of State significance. 

Historical Notes:

Hornby Light Station was constructed in response to the loss of ships ‘Dunbar’, which claimed the lives of all but one of its 122 passengers on 20 August 1857, and ‘Catherine Adamson’ 10 weeks later. It was then known as the Lower Light, South Head to distinguish it from the Macquarie Light, and was constructed between 1857 and 1858. A month prior to the Dunbar shipwreck, the New South Wales Government had established a Light, Pilot and Navigation Board of New South Wales. The board concluded the ‘existing lights’ were ‘not sufficient to guide vessels into the harbour in thick or stormy weather’, and as a result recommended a 30-foot stone ‘tower’ be constructed on the Inner South Head ‘to show a fixed white light’, positioned 60 feet above sea level. It was recommended first-class catoptric lanterns be installed. 

The lighthouse was designed by colonial architect Alexander Dawson and constructed by Mr Donovan. It was named after Admiral Sir Phipps Hornby who was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy’s Pacific Fleet during the 1860s. His daughter, Caroline, was the wife of the Governor of New South Wales, Sir William Denison. Dawson submitted his plans on 28 September 1857 with the cost estimated to be £2,732 and one shilling. Dawson’s letter to the Secretary of Lands also stated the light, ‘now in the colonial store is one purchased in 1853; it is first class catoptric light, and its cost was £2,700’. 

The lighthouse was illuminated for a test experiment for inspection by the Pilot Board on 6 May 1858. It was described as being of a ‘cylindrical’ shape standing 30 feet high with a 12-foot diameter, and was painted in ‘vertical stripes of white and red’. It contained a circular gallery at the top with iron railings and measuring 12 feet in height and 10 feet in diameter.  Two cottages to the west of the light, designed by the colonial architect in 1858, were originally built for the Head Keeper and Attendant (Sheedy 1975). 

View further Hornby Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: South End Eastern Channel, Sydney Harbour
Established: 1880s
Assessed significance: State 

Statement of Significance:

Representative of group of lighthouse towers that together form the core of the navigational system of Sydney Harbour that enables it to operate as a world class port. Of State significance as part of the group. Of significance as a visually prominent, constructed feature defining the shipping channel and forming an important part of the working harbour and contributing aesthetically to the maritime landscape of Sydney Harbour.

Historical notes:

The Eastern Channel Lighthouse is situated in a rocky reef known as the Sow and Pigs; a dangerous area of Sydney Harbour since the early days of the colony. The August 1834 wreck of the ‘Edward Lombe’ barque was one of the worst maritime disasters in Sydney’s waters at the time, and prompted the commissioning of a lightship, known as ‘Rose’, in 1836 (image 5). The Rose marked the rocks of the Sow and Pigs as a guide to navigation and was replaced in 1856 by the cutter, HMS Bramble. HMS Bramble was then replaced in 1877 by another lightship, also known as Bramble, and then in 1912 by acetylene gas light buoys. 

The Eastern Channel Pile Light was first constructed in the 1880s. Two leading light towers were built on the Vaucluse shore about 1881 (4560003, 4560007) and about the same time a pile beacon was built on the southeastern corner of the Sow and Pigs Shoal exhibiting an orange light to denote the southern end of the channel.  

After a gale swept through Sydney on 5 July 1900, the Eastern Channel Pile Light was reportedly destroyed by a passing steamer called ‘Greyhound’, which had a garbage punt in tow and struck the piles, toppling the light. It was described as the first pile light to be erected inside Sydney Heads, and was used ‘not only as a “friendly beacon” on a dark and stormy night, but also in connection with sailing races in the harbor [sic].’ The Daily Telegraph described it as fixed on the ‘south-eastern corner of a sand bank in 27 ft of water.’ A temporary light was then erected and in August 1900, Messrs D Sheehy and Son commenced construction of a new pile light. 

The Sydney Harbour Trust annual report for the period ending 30 June 1908 notes the Commissioners had ‘reconstructed in reinforced concrete [‘Monier structure’, named after its French inventor Joseph Monier] the pile beacon at the southern end of the Eastern Channel, and a Cole acetylene plant and a fifth order dioptric light [lens]’ was installed. From 1 October 1908, the light colour was changed from orange to green. Expenditure on the pile light for that year amounted to £427, 17 shillings and eight pence. 

It was rebuilt in 1946 and in 1947 the light was changed from fixed to occulting (Ward 1951 p84, 114, 117). This change was to conform to the International System of Lighting (MSB Annual Report 1947 p11). 

In 1982 several articles in the Sydney Morning Herald published proposals, including one suggesting an obelisk-like structure standing 60 to 90 metres high in the form of a cathedral spire or ‘Excalibur’ sword, for a monument at the Sow and Pigs to commemorate the arrival of the First Fleet for the 1988 Australian Bicentenary. Instead, more modest navigational markers were installed at each corner of the Sow and Pigs by the former Port of Sydney in 1988 at a cost of $30,000.

View further Eastern Channel Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: 80 Wentworth Road, Vaucluse
Established: 1880s
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

Significant as part of a group of lighthouse towers and leads that together form the core of the navigational system of Sydney Harbour that enables it to operate as a world class port. The collection of lights which form this system are together of State significance in that they have facilitated the operation of Sydney Harbour as a World Class Port and so have been instrumental in the development of the City of Sydney. The Eastern Channel Front Lead is also aesthetically significant due to its landmark value, as well as having historical significance as evidence of differing approaches to lighthouse and lead design throughout Sydney’s maritime navigational history.  

Historical notes:

In May 1881 the Office of Engineer-in-Chief for Harbours and Rivers, Sydney published a call for tenders for the ‘erection of two leading towers in connection with the navigation of the Harbour, on the Vaucluse Estate’ which were to replace ‘temporary beacons’ in the channel. By December 1881 the Evening News noted the ‘leading light towers, Eastern Channel’ would be exhibiting a red light from 20 December from sunset to sunrise. According to R G Fenn, electrical engineer for the former Maritime Services Board, the two identical leading lights at Vaucluse had a ‘chromium-plated parabolic reflector and red window’. 

In 1910 additional land was purchased by the Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners in connection with the lighthouse for £579, five shillings and five pence. In June of that year, the illuminant for the light was changed from oil to gas. In 1916 it was converted to the AGA system (Dalén light), which was a method for the automation of lighthouses incorporating acetylene gas and a sun valve, invented by the Swedish engineer, Nils Gustaf Dalén. 

View further Eastern Channel - Front Lead State Heritage Inventory information

Location: 12A Wentworth Avenue, Vaucluse
Established: 1880s
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

Representative of a group of lighthouse towers and leads that together form the core of the navigational system of Sydney Harbour that enables it to operate as a world class port. The collection of lights which form this system are together of State significance in that they have facilitated the operation of Sydney Harbour as a World Class Port and so have been instrumental in the development of the City of Sydney. The Eastern Channel Rear Lead is also aesthetically significant due to its landmark value, as well as having historical significance as evidence of differing approaches to lighthouse and lead design throughout Sydney’s maritime navigational history.

Historical notes:

In May 1881 the Office of Engineer-in-Chief for Harbours and Rivers, Sydney published a call for tenders for the ‘erection of two leading towers in connection with the navigation of the Harbour, on the Vaucluse Estate’ which were to replace ‘temporary beacons’ in the channel. By December 1881 the Evening News noted the ‘leading light towers, Eastern Channel’ would be exhibiting a red light from 20 December from sunset to sunrise. According to R G Fenn, electrical engineer for the former Maritime Services Board, the two identical leading lights at Vaucluse had a ‘chromium-plated parabolic reflector and red window’. 

In June 1910, the illuminant for the light was changed from oil to gas. In 1913 a red sector light was installed to enable vessels to clear the Bottle and Glass Reef. In 1916 it was converted to the AGA system (Dalén light), which was a method for the automation of lighthouses incorporating acetylene gas and a sun valve, invented by the Swedish engineer, Nils Gustaf Dalén. 

View  further Eastern Channel - Rear Lead State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Cremorne Reserve, Cremorne Point
Established: 1910
Assessed significance: State

Statement of Significance:

The Robertsons Point Lighthouse is of State significance as an integral component of the navigational system which ensures the safe operation of Sydney Harbour. It is an important harbour navigation light which is a minor landmark on the tip of Roberstons Point. It is one of the early examples of the use of re-enforced concrete in maritime situations and uses both in-situ and pre-cast sections. 

Historical notes:

The Sydney Harbour Trust’s annual report for the period ending 30 June 1909 stated a concrete ‘light will shortly be provided on Robertson’s Point, Cremorne, to facilitate the navigation of that part of the Harbour’ and would be of ‘similar design and material to that of Bradley’s Head’ (the first pre-cast reinforced concrete lighthouse in Australia). The report further noted a contract had been let for the construction of ‘the Monier tower’, which was ‘Monier’ reinforced concrete (named after its French inventor, Joseph Monier).  

In November 1909 it was reported the excavations were complete and work was commencing on the cement foundations of the lighthouse. The lighthouse was completed in 1910. Expenditure on the lighthouse for the period ending 30 June 1910 was reported to be £750, 13 shillings and four pence (Sydney Harbour Trust annual report, 1910).  

View further Robertsons Point Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Southwest End Western Channel, Sydney Harbour
Established: 1924
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

Representative of a group of Lighthouse Towers that together comprise the core of the navigational system for Sydney Harbour. It has significance as part of the group. A visually prominent manmade feature defining the shipping channel and thus forming an important part of the working harbour.

Historical notes:

The Western Channel Lighthouse is situated on the western side of the rocky reef known as the Sow and Pigs; a dangerous area of Sydney Harbour since the early days of the colony. The August 1834 wreck of the ‘Edward Lombe’ barque was one of the worst maritime disasters in Sydney’s waters at the time, and prompted the commissioning of a lightship, known as ‘Rose’, in 1836 (image 5). The Rose marked the rocks of the Sow and Pigs as a guide to navigation and was replaced in 1856 by the cutter, HMS Bramble. HMS Bramble was then replaced in 1877 by another lightship, also known as Bramble, and then in 1912 by acetylene gas light buoys. 

In March 1924 it was reported a lighthouse was being constructed ‘similar in character to what is known as the pile lighthouse in the eastern channel. This lighthouse will be painted white, and will show at night, at a height of 31 ft, a red fixed light.’

View further Western Channel Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Lighthouse Track, Balgowlah Heights
Established: 1911
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

Grotto Point Lighthouse - Front Lead is of State significance as an integral component of the collection of harbour lighthouse towers that ensure the safe navigation of Sydney Harbour by local and international shipping. It is of architectural and aesthetic significance as a rare and notable example of a purpose-built structure housing a navigation aid and it is a visually prominent landmark at the entrance to Sydney Harbour.

Historical notes:

The Sydney Harbour Trust’s annual report for the year ended 30 June 1909 noted there were discussions about constructing leading lights for the entrance to Port Jackson for the previous three years. The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners hosted a conference to gather the feedback and perspectives of the industry’s leading shipping companies and their master mariners on 26 July 1909, and it was decided to erect leading lights at Spit Road (Rosherville also known as the Parriwi Head Leading Light) and Grotto Point (The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners’ Tenth Report being for the year ended 30 June 1910, page 6). ‘Leading lights’ said one mariner, ‘would be an improvement, and they would also be of great assistance. Navigation at Sydney Heads very often is risky…’ (Evening News, 29 July 1909). 

Plans were prepared by mid-1910, and it was reported the works would commence as soon as the ‘necessary appliances, which were ordered April last, shall have come to hand’ (The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners’ Tenth Report being for the year ended 30 June 1910, page 6). The local newspapers reported on the new scheme, devised by the Sydney Harbour Trust, in February and March 1910 (Australian Town and Country Journal, 2 February 1910, page 29 and The Daily Telegraph, 27 July 1910, page 10). The white-painted masonry and brick tower featured a domed roof, adjoined by two barrel-vaulted sections and surrounded by a white picket fence (Grotto Point Lighthouse, Manly Library Local Studies). The works were completed by the end of year report dated 30 June 1911. 

Despite this, a scheme developed by the Irish master mariner, Maurice Festu (1865-1941), drew much media attention in July 1910 and was deemed superior to that of the Sydney Harbour Trust. Although Festu is often credited as the architect of the Grotto Point Lighthouse, and other navigation aids in Sydney Harbour, there is no evidence to suggest the mariner played any role in the design or construction of any of the leading lights. 

The Grotto Point Lighthouse featured a fourth order fixed catadioptric lens and reflector, while the window had red, white and green sectors, with the white sector being in the centre. As a result, if a ship were in the red or green sector, it would change course so that it would enter the white sector (R G Fenn, Port of Sydney Journal, page 249). The 1913 Harbour Trust handbook notes the ‘white tower’ was 61 and a half feet in height and operated via acetylene gas (The Port of Sydney NSW: Official Handbook, 1913, page 67). It was first illuminated on 1 September 1911. 

The ground level chamber attached to the tower was used for generating acetylene gas for the light and it was noted that ‘the lights can be so arranged as to burn continuously for 60 days.’ In the Harbourmasters’ report for 15 August 1916, it was stated ‘the Aga system of lighting was applied during the year’, which appears to refer to the replacement of on-site generation of acetylene with the supply of the compressed gas in cylinders.  

In more recent years the light has been converted to electricity from the suburban grid. Vessels approaching Sydney by night usually make their landfall by the Macquarie Light, check with the Hornby Light and enter on the line-up of the Grotto Point and Rosherville Lights which leads clear of all dangers until the channel lights are picked up. The red and green sectors on either side of the white give good warning of deviations from course. Access for servicing was originally by water, from the more sheltered Western side of the Point (Tranter: 1986). 

View further Grotto Point Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Shark Island, Port Jackson
Established: 1913
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

Shark Island Lighthouse is an integral part of a collective group of lighthouses and beacons which together are of State significance as the system that enables the safe movement of international and domestic shipping through Sydney Harbour. It is of architectural and aesthetic significance as an example of its type and for its contribution to the cultural landscape of Sydney Harbour. 

Historical notes:

The first light constructed in the shoal extending from Shark Island was a white pile light built on a wooden platform in 23 feet of water, and first exhibited on 15 November 1890. Tenders for construction of a ‘stage to carry a light’ at Shark Island were called by the Office of the Engineer-in-Chief for Harbours and Rivers, Sydney in May 1890. The pile light was switched to acetylene gas plant in lieu of kerosene in 1904.  

Tenders for a ‘reinforced concrete light tower’ at Shark Island were called by Harold F Norrie, Secretary of the Sydney Harbour Trust in September 1911. The Sydney Harbour Trust’s report for the period ending 30 June 1912 notes work on a ‘new structure’, a ‘light tower’, was nearing completion to a cost of £742, 19 shillings and nine pence. The structure was to replace the former pile light and the lightship known as ‘Bramble’, which was decommissioned.  

The 1913 Sydney Harbour Trust report described the ‘new reinforced concrete light tower, fitted with a fourth order dioptric lens and lighted with acetylene gas, was erected in lieu of the old wooden structure on the north-west side of Shark Island’ at a cost of £606, and ten pence.  The Sun newspaper reported the structure was being improved by the Harbour Trust to ‘resemble the one at Robertson’s Point (Cremorne)’, while the Daily Telegraph reported the ‘novel lighthouse’ was being constructed of ‘reinforced concrete, in six sections’ by Messrs Stone and Siddeley, engineers and architects. 

In 1911 he entered a partnership with Ernest J Siddeley, who managed many of the firm’s projects, and registered as a limited company on 6 October 1915 with capital totalling £50,000. Their offices were at 11 Moore Street, Sydney and the firm worked on other Harbour Trust works including a reinforced concrete pontoon at Circular Quay in 1914, purportedly the first of its kind in Australia and largest in the world. They also worked on the sewerage aqueduct over the Barwon River in Geelong, Victoria in 1913-15. 

Initially it had a fixed white light which was changed to a flashing white light in 1924, and in 1947 it was changed to red group flashing light every eight seconds.  The lighthouse was extensively refurbished in 2003. 

View further Shark Island Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Henry Head, Botany Bay National Park
Established: 1955
Endorsed significance:  State (as part of Kamay Botany Bay National Park and Towra Point Reserve SHR 01918)

Statement of Significance:

This important navigational light is an integral part of the safe navigation system for the State significant Port of Botany. The lighthouse is evidence of the growing importance of the Port of Botany as the major commercial port of Sydney and NSW. The lighthouse also demonstrates evolving approaches to lighthouse design with its simple functional appearance a contrast with the more decorative designs seen in the early twentieth century.

Historical notes:

Imports of bulk oil to Botany Bay increased rapidly in the early 1950s. A refinery with jetty and berthing facilities for the largest bulk carriers was installed on the Southern side of the bay.  

To facilitate the expected increase in shipping into Port Botany the MSB announced the provision of navigation aids for the harbour in the 1953-54 Annual Report. These included a red occulting light on Henry Head with a white sector to indicate the approach to the entrance and fixed green leading lights and day marks for the dredged channel to the jetty. Henry Head Light was built during the 1954-55 financial year.  

In the 1960s to 1970s an extensive development of Botany Bay was undertaken to create a major port inside the north headland (4560022) This necessitated a reorganisation and upgrade of the navigational aids in the Port.  

The major light for entrance to Port Botany is the direction light exhibited from the south end of the west airport runway extension; this is used with positions from (when passing) the Endeavour Light (Sailing Directions 1999). 

In 2021, the lighthouse tower was converted to solar power with the replacement of its existing main electrical supply power support pole, with a new fixed pole supporting solar panels.  

View further Henry Head Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Brotherson House, Port Botany
Established: 1866
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

The tide gauge is significant as the first of several gauges which have collected critically important data for over 150 years for use in navigation, engineering, surveying and oceanography. The original gauge was used for 44 years. Unique as the first automatic tide gauge established in Sydney and from which an important body of data was recorded which has shaped the development of Sydney and the operation of the Harbour. Mean sea level on the gauge was adopted in 1897 as the standard datum for levels in NSW. This datum is still used for levelling purposes via the datum (brass plug) embedded in 1897 in the wall of the Lands Department Building (Bridge Street) based on a fixed height above the Fort Denison level calculated through the measurements collected by this original tide gauge. 

Historical notes:

An accurate knowledge of the movement of the tide is necessary for the calculation of certain surveying and engineering problems (e.g. shoreline boundaries) as well as for safe navigation and oceanography; therefore tide gauge records have been kept over long periods. 

Mean Sea Level on the gauge was adopted at a Conference of Representatives of Government Departments in 1897 as standard datum for levels in NSW. The level of this datum adopted was 2.525 feet above gauge zero. This value having been computed by Mr H.C. Russell, the Government Astronomer, from the Gauge for the 13 years prior to 1897 (Ward 1949:199). While this standard datum is still in use for levelling purposes the term 'mean sea level' has been discarded in reference to this datum as it was later discovered that there was a gradient between the Heads and Fort Denison.  

For the standard to be permanently accessible to surveyors, the height of a brass plug set in the wall of the Lands Department building in Bridge Street was carefully determined by the 1897 Conference by precise levelling from Fort Denison as 28 feet 11 and 1/4 inches above standard datum (Ward 1949:200). The first tide gauge at Fort Denison was established in 1866 by the then Government Astronomer G R Smalley on the southwest corner of the island (Ward 1949:198). Tide gauge operations were moved to a small room close to the Martello Tower on the north end of the island in 1923. 

Management of the gauge was taken over by the Sydney Harbour Trust in 1901, then by the Maritime Services Board in 1936. The tide measurement at Fort Denison is used to define the Australian Height Datum for survey purposes and its constant location has enabled shifts in sea level over time to be monitored. The first gauge was replaced in 1910 and is now housed in a glass case at Port Authority of New South Wales office space at Brotherson House in Port Botany.  

View further Automatic Tide Gauge State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Solomons Way and Somerville Rd, Rozelle
Established: 1974
Assessed significance: State

Statement of Significance:

Glebe Island Grain Terminal was a seminal site in the development of the bulk wheat storage and export industry in Australia. As such it has a pre-eminent position in the historical development of one of Australia's most important primary industries. It was the first and most important of the port terminals and encompassed technologies that were specific to the industry and influential in the development of that industry throughout the country. The first construction phase, now demolished, was particularly noteworthy because of the circumstances of its wholly imported design and technological expertise. The existing 1974 silos are a tangible representation of the site’s history and are the most visible and easily interpreted elements of that former use and form a powerful and well known landmark. The site’s significance also relates to its current function as storage silos continuing on from its original purpose.  

Historical notes:

From 1912, further reclamation of the Glebe area was undertaken and wharves were built by the Railways Commissioners to facilitate wheat and coal handling. By 1916 the need to replace shipment of wheat in bags with bulk handling was urgent. Plans for a scheme of bulk handling grain involving elevators and storage were prepared by the Canadian firm, John S Metcalfe and Company Ltd, in 1916. There were 143 cylindrical bins (silos), of whom 72 were circular and 71 interspace. The bottom of the bins were cone-shaped which allowed heat to be discharged via a valve to a chute leading to a conveyer belt for shipment. A working house was also constructed, which featured unloading machinery, grain elevators, weighing hoppers, cleaning machinery, drying equipment, a dust collection plant and power station. 

The first phase of construction on the Glebe Island silos commenced in late 1918 and was completed in 1921. Under the supervision of Public Works engineer, Robert Kendall, the contract for its construction was awarded to Henry Teesdale Smith, timber merchant, railway builder and former politician. The Sun newspaper called it the ‘cubist castle’ and ‘futurist fortress’ towering up to 120 feet with flat roof covering two acres. The Bulletin magazine noted 250,000 bags of Kandos Cement, manufactured by NSW Cement, Lime and Coal Company Ltd were used in its construction. 

Between 1921 and 1932 the Glebe Island bulk handling facilities were significantly expanded. By 1925, 63 silos were built as well as associated services including building stock, rail and road links and handling facilities. The depression slowed development although the number of country plants increased to 181 by 1939. 

During World War II, Glebe Island was used as a major armament supply depot and troop embarkation area for the United States Army. By the 1950s horizontal storage facilities were replacing vertical ones and the Grain Elevators Board was established. Record wheat harvests and the post war growth led to further expansion in the 1960s and in the 1970s other grains were also handled and capacity was doubled.  

The Glebe Island Container Terminal was officially opened by Premier Robert Askin on 22 February 1973. It was constructed on an area of just under 24 acres adjacent to the grain handling facility by the former Maritime Services Board (MSB) at a cost of $13 million and based on plans prepared in 1970. It quickly drew criticism for its inefficient operations and harbour congestion. This terminal, along with another constructed at White Bay and opened in March 1969, became the focus of cellular container shipping operations in the Port of Sydney until the early 1980s. Glebe Island ceased operation as a grain storage terminal in 1984, when a new facility at Port Kembla became the major grain export site for NSW. 

On 9 December 1974, 30 additional grain silos (38.4 metres high) were officially opened by the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Roden Cutler. Each bin had a capacity of 2,400 tonnes and there were also 14 star-shaped inner bins constructed with a capacity of 550 tonnes. The extant silos [item 4560016] doubled the storage capacity for wheat at the island, from 163,000 tonnes to 245,000 tonnes, and cost approximately $4 million to construct. The chairman of the NSW Grain Elevators Board, Peter Deuce, noted an ‘important feature’ of the new silos included the ‘provision for recirculatory fumigation of the stored grain’ to guard against insect infestations. 

On 21 May 1992, the then Minister for Planning granted development consent to an Olympic Games 2000 Mural and the addition of sponsor advertising structures and lighting on the Silos. The consent for advertising was originally limited to a 10-year period. A reported 2,000 litres of paint were used to display the Sydney Olympics logo across the façade of the former wheat silos. In 1993, the Sydney Olympic Committee requested a new mural be painted on the 1974 Wheat Silos, with the concept of the mural was to see the painting of the silos to mimic Grecian columns, with different figures on each individual silo representing different sports (GML, 2011).  In 1994 part of the silo complex was modified for cement storage.  

View further Glebe Island Silos State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Monument Lookout, Sommerville Road, Rozelle
Established: 1973
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

The plaque is of local historical significance as it commemorates the opening of the Container Terminal at Glebe Island. The Container Terminal was an important innovation in the operation of the port and was a direct response to changes in international shipping.

Historical notes:

The Glebe Island Container Terminal was officially opened by Premier Robert Askin on 22 February 1973. It was constructed by the former Maritime Services Board (MSB) at a cost of $13 million but quickly drew criticism for its inefficient operations and harbour congestion. The Glebe Island Plaque was unveiled by Askin during the official opening of the Container Terminal. 

The ports under Maritime Services Board administration handled record tonnages. Ship design was improved to cope with the growth in sea trade and they increased in size allowing for increases in bulk cargoes. Improvements included containerisation, roll-on, roll-off vessels, side loading ships and special purpose carriers. These innovations required changes to port facilities to facilitate the handling of containers and other bulk cargo. The construction work for the new container terminal once again dramatically altered the face of the island.  

During further remodeling and development at the port in 2004 the plaque was moved to a more prominent site and interpretation was provided. 

View further Glebe Island Plaque State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Monument Lookout, Somerville Road, Rozelle
Established: 1870
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

Of local significance in illustrating the range of early industries that once occupied Glebe Island and surrounding areas, especially sandstone quarrying, which was an important local industry. 

Historical notes:

The rocky outcrop known as Glebe Island was originally accessible from the Balmain shoreline only at low tide until a causeway was laid in the 1840s (Peter Reynolds, ‘Glebe Island’, Dictionary of Sydney). The quarrying of sandstone, boatbuilding and iron foundries were among the earliest industries in the area. From the 1840s until the end of the nineteenth century, quarrymen hewed down the isolated western half of the nearby Pyrmont peninsula for sandstone. Uncounted tons of Pyrmont 'yellowblock', as it was known, were carted into the city to build the great public buildings which remain the signature of Sydney's nineteenth-century built form. The quarries were known locally as 'Paradise', 'Purgatory' and 'Hellhole', in recognition of the difficulty of working the stone (Shirley Fitzgerald, ‘Pyrmont’, Dictionary of Sydney). 

In the early years of quarrying the softer accessible sandstone was able to be easily quarried with picks and hand tools. As the years progressed these deposits were exhausted, and new technology was required to economically extract the stone. The sample found in 2003 (item 4560014) shows evidence of hand picks on its surface rather than the more modern techniques involving abrasion saws and blasting. 

View further Glebe Island Sandstone State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Glebe Island, Rozelle
Established: 1903
Endorsed significance: State (as part of Glebe Island Bridge SHR 01914)

Statement of Significance:

The Glebe Island Bridge approaches while of limited significance themselves are associated with and directly affect the viability of the Glebe Island (Historic) Bridge which is an item of State significance. 

Historical notes:

The rocky outcrop known as Glebe Island was originally accessible from the Balmain shoreline only at low tide until a causeway was laid in the 1840s (Peter Reynolds, ‘Glebe Island’, Dictionary of Sydney). The quarrying of sandstone, boatbuilding and iron foundries were among the earliest industries in the area. In 1861 the first timber bridge across the channel was opened. Known as Blackbutt Bridge, because it was constructed out of Tasmanian blackbutt logs, the bridge included a hand-cranked manual lift-span, opening to allow shipping to pass through to the bays. The Blackbutt Bridge remained in service until replaced by the second Glebe Island Bridge in 1903. 

The origin of the second bridge came from the proposal in the 1880s for the Five Bridge Route, to facilitate traffic flow from the city to the developing northern and western suburbs. Bridges were to be replaced at, or built across, Pyrmont Bay, Glebe Island, Iron Cove, Gladesville and Fig Tree. The five bridges were constructed between 1881 and 1901. 

The new Glebe Island Bridge was designed by Percy Allan. Allan was a leading engineer for the Department of Public Works and had been appointed as engineer-in-charge of bridge design in 1896. Allan's design for the new Glebe Island Bridge (he also designed the new Pyrmont Bridge) utilised the new technology for electrically operated swing spans, with Glebe and Pyrmont claimed to be amongst the largest of their type then constructed and among the first in the world to be electrically operated. Power for the bridge came from the nearby Ultimo Powerhouse, with the swing span operated from a control room located in the centre of the bridge. The swing span allowed for the inward and outward passage of two ships simultaneously. 

In 1933 the bridge underwent a major upgrade with underpinning to replace decayed piles. The bridge remained in operation until 1995, with little work other than regular maintenance being carried out. In December 1995 a new Glebe Island Bridge was opened, as part of freeway developments for westbound traffic. The new bridge is a major departure from the low level decks of the earlier crossings. It was renamed Anzac Bridge on Remembrance Day 1998.

View further Glebe Island Bridge Approach State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Monument Lookout, Somerville Road, Rozelle
Established: 1946
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

The monument commemorating the first landing of the United States armed forces at Glebe Island and the subsequent role of the Port authorities in moving personnel and supplies as part of the War effort is of local significance. It is a physical reminder of a brief but important period in the history of Glebe Island. It provides a reminder of the role that the Port of Sydney and the NSW rail network played in the disembarkation and distribution of personnel and equipment during World War II (Susan McIntyre-Tamwoy 2003:6). 

Historical notes:

The monument commemorates the first landing of United States Armed Forces at the Port of Sydney on 28 March 1942 and the subsequent movement of one million personnel and 500,000 tons of materials through the Port of Sydney by the NSW Department of Railways and Maritime Services Board (MSB) during the war.  

The monument was erected in 1946 and became the focus of annual wreath laying ceremonies for almost 40 years. Initially ceremonies were held around the 4 July (American Independence Day).  

The memorial, which was described as an obelisk in newspapers at the time, was officially unveiled on 26 November 1946 by the Premier of New South Wales William John McKell. The memorial was maintained by the MSB. The president of the MSB, G H Faulks, also announced at the unveiling that the organisation would ‘beautify the site with lawns and trees’. Memorial ceremonies ceased in about 1984. By that time Port development had left the Monument on a rather desolate concrete roadside verge.  

In 2004 during further remodeling and extension of the Port facilities, the Monument was relocated to a more prominent site (current location) and interpretation was provided to ensure that the important contribution of the troops and the departments involved could be remembered.

View further Glebe Island World War II Monument State Heritage Inventory information

Location: 4 Towns Place, Millers Point
Established: 1837
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

Of historical significance for its association with the waterside warehouse activities of the early 19th century that has made an important contribution to industrial settlement and establishment of storage facilities at Walsh Bay in the Port of Sydney (Anglin 1990:1048). 

Historical notes:

A group of 3 storey sandstone walled waterfront warehouses built by Captain Robert Towns in stages from the early 1830's to the late 1840's. Captain Towns commanded emigrant ships to Australia in the 1820's building up a fast fleet of clippers and his ship "The Brothers" was the first to carry a full cargo of wool to England. He married the sister of the late W C Wentworth in 1833 and about this time began establishing himself in Sydney. By 1842 his firm was fully established at Millers Point and in 1844 he entered the whaling industry and Pacific and China cargo trades. He later did much to open up North Queensland and the city of Townsville was named in his honour (D Sheedy 1976). From the mid-1860s Towns was involved in the importation of South Sea Islander labour, an event synonymous with the practice of ‘Blackbirding’ for which Towns is also associated with.   

The Moore's Wharf Store was built of local sandstone (quarried on - site) in 1836 -37 by William Long and James Wright, it was sold to Captain Joseph Moore and his son Henry who, in the early 1840's, added a fourth segment at the western end of the store to accommodate their expanding business as the colony's first P&O agents. During the 19th century the store was the scene of many first occasions. In 1851 the clipper "Phoenician loaded the first shipment of Australian gold to England from Moore's wharf. In 1852 the first P&O screw steamship to arrive from England, the "Chusan" berthed there with the first mails brought out under contract. The colony's first rail locomotive was unloaded there in 1855.(MSB Brochure 1981) For over 60 years Moore's wharf was one of the busiest on The Point and it was not until the early 1900's that Moore's Road was renamed Dalgety Road. (S Fitzgerald& C Keating 1991).  

In 1978 redevelopment plans at Darling Harbour necessitated the move of the building. MSB let a contract for $680,000 to take down the building stone by stone, and reconstruct it 50 yards west across the dock facing Walsh Bay. It was reopened in 1981 and currently houses a marine operations base for Port Authority of NSW as well as office space.

View further Moore's Wharf State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Port Botany, Banksmeadow
Established: 1880
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

The wharf was an important structure in the early years of industrial development in the Botany area. However, the integrity of the site has been compromised by years of neglect and partial demolition. Only minimal interpretive and archaeological potential remains.

Historical notes:

In 1880 the Government Pier or Long Pier was built at Banksmeadow as ‘a considerable amount of departmental material was being landed at the wharf for the Sand, Lime and Brickworks, and it was considered desirable that such material should be free from wharfage rates’ (Cooper 23/8/1920). Its principal purpose was to unload coal from Newcastle to supply the needs of the burgeoning industries established in the area. A tramway associated with the pier was opened in May 1882 (Jervis 1938:98). This tram ran along Botany Road right past the Sand, Lime and Brickworks, down Pier Road and onto the Government Pier (Jervis 1938:238).  

On 18 February 1921 the Government Pier was ‘denationalised’ and handed over to the Botany Municipal Council (Cooper 4/3/1921). Under Council control, nine coal bins were purchased, from Howard Smith’s Wharf, Darling Harbour, and re-erected on the Government Pier. Not long after, another two bins and seven hoppers were erected on the pier. Between 1921 and 1937 the revenue from the wharf exceeded £21,000, whilst expenditure was less than £6,000.  

The pier was still in use when the Bunnerong Power Station was built by the Sydney Municipal Council (later known as the Sydney County Council) in about 1929 (the year that Bunnerong A unit was installed). Coal to supply the power station was unloaded from steamers onto the jetty and taken by train to the power station (Larcombe nd:119). At its peak, the coal trade amounted to 15,000 tons a year (MSB 1979:2). Generally, the development of port facilities for industry before 1950 was on a relatively small scale when compared with modern operations. The developments carried out before 1950 were designed to utilise the naturally deeper waters of the northern foreshore (MSB 1976:36). These naturally deeper waters explain in part the occurrence of early industry in the area.  

By 1961 the jetty was being used by the firm R C Bradshaw Pty Ltd. For sand-dredging operations. The coal bins were being used in the operations to store sand (SPA - Wharf Inspector 2/3/1966). By this stage the condition of the wharf was starting to deteriorate and Bradshaw had taken some measures to strengthen the piling by dumping ballast under the jetty (SPA - Harbour Master 9/8/1961). An inspection of the wharf made on 22nd February 1966 found that a substantial area at the outer end of the stone pier had been washed away. The Wharf Inspector reported:  

‘For the greater part of its length, this jetty is constructed in stone and it is extended at the outer end by a substantial timber wharf structure. This timber section contains large ‘hopper’ bins, which it is assumed were formerly used for coal storage. The bins on the eastern side are in a state of partial collapse, but some of those on the western side are presently in use for sand storage…  

The timber structure at the outer end is very old and weathered and in very poor general condition. The piles, some of which are eaten off, are at 10’ centres transversely and 16’ centres longitudinally. These are spanned by 12” x 6” cap wales at 16’ centres, which in turn support 12” x 12” girders at 5’ centres. These sub-structure timbers are in poor condition. The original decking is of 9” x 4” timber and is so old and weathered as to be practically useless. In order to in some way stabilise the structure, R. C. Bradshaw Pty Ltd. Have tipped a large quantity of stone around the piles and up the underside of the girders, this treatment being confined to those sections of the structure which they use and over which their trucks pass. In addition, 9” x 4” decking has been laid at right angles to the original decking, to accommodate the wheels of the trucks’ (SPA - Wharf Inspector 2/3/1966).  

During the construction of the Port Botany Expansion (PBE) 2008 – 2014, the adjacent Penrhyn Estuary underwent a rehabilitation and expansion program funded by the former Sydney Ports Corporation. The program featured several key works including the construction of a saltmarsh habitat, public lookout, bird roosting islands and bird hide. This public lookout approximately 65 metres from the Old Government Wharf, is currently the only publicly accessible location from which to view the item.

View further Port Botany Old Government Wharf State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Circular Quay, Sydney
Established: 1960
Assessed significance: Local 

Statement of Significance:

The Overseas Passenger Terminal is a significant building on the shores of Sydney Harbour. The site is important for its ongoing historical use as a commercial and passenger shipping facility and its early role as a public gateway to the city.  

The building displays a twentieth century approach to adaptive re-use in response to changing community needs and, in its fabric, illustrates layers of its own history and use.  The original building constructed in 1958-60 has historical associations with the changing needs of international travel. As the first point of entry for many immigrants during the post-World War II period in Australia, the building also possesses social value. The architecture of the building is representative of the utilitarian approach to terminal design at the time with its 'functionalist' character influenced by international trends.  

The 1988 modifications to the building by Lawrence Nield and Peter Tonkin form part of the Bicentennial works that focused on improving the urban design character of Sydney Cove. The building responded to a desire for increased public access to the foreshore and an enhanced interrelationship with open spaces including First Fleet Park and Campbells Cove Plaza. The architecture is of aesthetic significance for its successful adaptive re-use and reductionalist approach and reinterpretation of the robust steel portal frame structure. With its maritime imagery and use of strong visual devices, including the northern tower, the building is of landmark value from Sydney Harbour.  

The site has archaeological potential arising from the likely subsurface presence of remains of early wharfage, the nineteenth century seawall and the original shoreline deposits. The building is also important for its ability to demonstrate an early use of concrete caisson technology as foreshore reinforcement. 

Historical notes:

The Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal was constructed by the MSB for a reported £1.75 million and opened on 20 December 1960 by the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, John Brophy Renshaw.  

Until World War II passenger traffic in the port of Sydney had stabilised at 20,000-30,000 arrivals and departures each year. Following the war, a combination of high immigration, increased tourism and short cruises instigated by shipping lines lifted arrivals and departures to 160,000 in 1962. By then larger ships with associated needs for customs clearance and visitor facilities had prompted development of specialised facilities, initially at Pyrmont by the early 1950s, then at Woolloomooloo in 1956. The MSB recognised this as a stop-gap measure and had already investigated Sydney Cove as the site of a third passenger terminal.  

The location was ideal due to its proximity to public transport, its situation in a bustling commercial centre surrounded by stately buildings, and as an area with a rich history. A further impetus to development came when P and O Line built two super liners ‘Oriana’ and ‘Canberra’ for the Australian route.  

Following extensive research and investigation to determine the most satisfactory form of construction, the MSB commenced work, to designs by MSB architects R Appleton, A Buck and K Brown, on the new facility at Sydney Cove in 1958. Wharves and sheds were demolished, and a seawall was constructed using reinforced concrete caissons (constructed at the MSB’s Rozelle Bay depot) to enclose solid fill reclamation. This method had the advantages of being cheap, easy to construct and practically free of maintenance problems. The wall was 720 feet long. Behind a 40-foot apron the building extended 625 feet north south and was 111 feet wide. The ground floor was taken up with cargo handling and the first floor catered for passengers and customs facilities (Port of Sydney: 1960). The Sydney Morning Herald reported the terminal would have ‘the largest snapped ribbed aluminium roof in Australia’ (Sydney Morning Herald, 21 April 1959, page 21). 

The new 625-foot long terminal was opened on 20 December 1960 and 10 days later the SS Oriana on her maiden voyage berthed at the terminal, the largest ocean liner to arrive in Australia since World War II. Over the next two decades the terminal was the arrival point of many newcomers and played an important role in Australia’s migration story.  

In the 1990s substantial planning took place for the East Rocks and Foreshore areas and in response to the ‘Sydney Cove Waterfront Strategy’ prepared in 1997, the former Sydney Ports Corporation proposed further changes to increase both public access and efficiency of functions within the building. 

Since the major redevelopment of the terminal in the late 1980s, the OPT has undergone a number of alterations and upgrades to cater for the continued growth of the cruise ship industry within NSW, allowing the facility to successfully operate in keeping with the standards of a major cruise ship destination.  

View further Overseas Passenger Terminal State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Circular Quay, Sydney
Established: 1963
Assessed significance:  Local

Statement of Significance:

The Overseas Passenger Terminal Mural was displayed at the first point of entry for immigrants into Australia arriving by ship to Sydney from the 1960s. Due to its position in the customs hall of the Terminal the mural would have social significance to the people arriving. The mural also has an association with its creator, Australian painter and Archibald Prize winner, Arthur Murch, as a major work of the artist. 

Historical notes:

The Overseas Passenger Terminal was constructed on the western side of Circular Quay by the Maritime Services Board (MSB) and opened on 20 December 1960 by the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, John Brophy Renshaw.  

The Maritime Services Board commissioned Australian artist, Arthur James Murch (1902-1989), to paint a mural for the new Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal in 1960. The mural, ‘Foundation of European Settlement’, depicts events connected with the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove. It is a symbolic portrayal of two episodes, the flag raising ceremony held on 26 January 1788 and the subsequent landing of the women, children, baggage and farm implements. On the subject matter, Murch wrote: ‘The early designs for the mural explored the suitability of the chosen wall area to the subject – the flag-saluting ceremony of the 26th January 1788 at Sydney Cove. One design included convicts, the other none’ (Michelle Murch, ‘Mural – The Foundation of European Settlement Overseas Terminal, Circular Quay’, 2016). 

The Sydney Morning Herald reported the mural ‘would make the terminal something of a show place’ (21 July 1962, page 14). It noted Murch worked on the mural at the back of his home in Avalon, in a studio he had constructed of timber, reinforced wire and fibreglass, nicknamed ‘The Cathedral’ (Michelle Murch, ‘Arthur Murch’, 2016). He was assisted by artists, David Schlunke, Helga Lanzendorfer and Julian Hall, and produced a 50-foot-long oil painting comprising 13 panels of compressed pine board joined together on a timber framework. The mural was unveiled on the northern wall of the Customs Hall at the terminal 1 February 1963 by W D Donaldson a Nominated Commissioner of the Maritime Services Board.  

The painter, sculptor and teacher, Arthur Murch, was born in the Sydney suburb of Croydon on 8 July 1902. He attended Sydney Technical High School in Ultimo before being apprenticed to John Heine and Son Ltd, Leichhardt, manufacturers of sheet-metal-working machinery in about 1917. From 1920 he studied part time at the he studied part time at the Royal Art Society of New South Wales and joined the sculpture classes at East Sydney Technical College under Rayner Hoff. After spending time abroad in Europe, he became assistant to the prominent Australian painter, George Lambert. He made at least four trips during his lifetime to Central Australia and painted several portraits of Aboriginal residents of Ntaria in the Northern Territory. In 1949 Murch won the Archibald Prize for his portrait of Bonar Dunlop. Other works by Murch included a mural for the university of Queensland (1950s) and a 150-foot-long mural at the Glasgow Trade Fair (1938). 

The mural reflects attitudes towards Australian history and culture at the time of the mural’s construction and lacks acknowledgment of the First Nation’s history of the site and the events portrayed in the mural. Subsequently, the mural could be considered problematic in relation to contemporary understandings of Australian history and culture, magnified by its significant position at the first point of entry for many visitors to Australia.

View further Overseas Passenger Terminal mural State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Circular Quay Way, Sydney
Endorsed significance: State (as part of SHR 01860)

Statement of Significance:

The Sydney Cove West Archaeological Precinct is a site of exceptional archaeological significance as evidence of some of the earliest colonial and maritime infrastructure of the convict settlement of Australia. (Heritage NSW, State Heritage Inventory)

Historical notes:

Sydney Cove is situated on the border of the Eora nation, in the country of the Gadigal people, who, before the arrival of Europeans, knew the site as ‘Warrane’.  The traditional custodians of the place now known as Sydney are the Gadigal people, who are part of the 29 clan groups of the Eora Nation. Warrane / Sydney Cove (today’s Circular Quay) is a place of historical significance, both as a site of early contact between the Eora and the Berewalgal (people from a distant place, that is, the Europeans), and locus for the colonial settlement after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. 

The topography of Sydney Cove determined the command structure of the new settlement, with civil authorities settled to the east of the water tributary known as the Tank Stream and military authorities and convicts to the west. Sydney Cove’s first market place was erected in 1790, and in 1800, work was completed on a dockyard.  Private homes were also built with noted emancipists Isaac Nichols and Mary Reiby among the first to build residences.  

From the mid-nineteenth century an increasing number of commercial ships began to visit Sydney Cove and in the 1870s passenger ferry services were established. Extensive foreshore redevelopment commenced in the 1950s, work which resulted in the final shoreline reclamation to its current configuration.  Notable late 20th and early 21st century work to Sydney Cove includes First Fleet Park and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA). 

View further Sydney Cove West State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Victoria Road, Rozelle
Established: 1917
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

The significance of the canal is derived from the significance of the White Bay Power Station complex. The canal is an integral part of the White Bay Power Station and its cooling system. The canal now also forms part of the ecosystem of the White Bay and Black Wattle Bay areas (for the Statement of significance for White Bay Power Station see SHR listing #01015 on State Heritage Inventory Database).  

Historical notes:

Construction of the White Bay Power Station (Outlet) Canal began in 1912 as part of Phase 1 of the construction of the White Bay Power Station Complex. The site for the power station at White Bay was chosen partly because it had unlimited circulation water access with the possibility of separating inlet and outlet, thus avoiding local heating problems. Two cooling water canals were cut to White Bay Power Station—the inlet canal entering from White Bay and the discharge canal (the Outlet canal) emptying into Rozelle Bay. 

The NSW Railway Commissioners constructed the first Power Station at Ultimo in 1899. This was followed by Sydney Municipal Council’s (SMC) Pyrmont Power Station in 1904 and the Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation’s (ELPC) Balmain Power Station in 1909. These four power stations formed the backbone of the Sydney electricity supply system until 1930 when the SMC completed the first stage of the Bunnerong Power Station. Until 1950 these power stations remained largely independent.  

The formation of the Electricity Commission of NSW (ECNSW) in 1950 united NSW’s electricity supply system and over the next 6 years the ECNSW took control of all the existing Sydney Power Stations. Pressure to close the Sydney power stations because of pollution grew and in 1983 Pyrmont and White Bay were the last of the original five to be decommissioned. White Bay was the longest serving power station in Sydney having 70 years’ continuous generation within one building.  

The cooling water system was an integral part of the power station operating complex where exhausted steam was converted to water in the massive cast-iron condensers. Cooling water may have been taken directly from the canal or the canal could have discharged into a tidal pool adjacent to the power station from where it was pumped into the condensers. It was normal practice for either static or dynamic screens to be constructed to prevent the ingress of any solid material, and it is possible that White Bay had an electrically powered rotating screen or bucket screen similar to the ones employed at Ultimo or Balmain Power Stations, but no evidence of the original screen remains.  

According to the ‘White Bay Power Station Conservation Management Plan’ (2004, volume 5, page 32), the water entered the inlet conduit through a fixed grill screen to filter large materials, then through a set of revolving screens to filter any other materials: ‘The conduits included silt wells and control valves. In the Turbine Hall, a Circulating Water Pump for each condenser drew water from individual pump section wells fed from the Inlet Conduit and pumped it through the body of the condenser, the outflow dropping into the Outlet Conduit.’ 

View further White Bay Power Station Outlet Canal State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Robert Street, Rozelle
Established: 1917
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

The significance of the canal is derived from the significance of the White Bay Power Station complex. The canal is an integral part of the White Bay Power Station and its cooling system. The canal now also forms part of the ecosystem of the White Bay and Black Wattle Bay areas (for the Statement of significance for White Bay Power Station see SHR listing #01015 on State Heritage Inventory Database).  

The White Bay Power Station is listed on the State Heritage Register and the White Bay Power Station (Outlet) Canal running from the Power Station to Rozelle Bay is listed on the Port Authority of NSW S170 Register. Together with the White Bay Power Station (Inlet) Canal they form the critical components of the White Bay Power Station’s cooling system, as the choice of site for the power station depended on the supply of water for cooling of the steam condensers. 

The White Bay Power Station (Inlet) Canal has historic significance at a State level, and associational significance at a State level, as an integral element critical to the operation of the White Bay Power Station. The existence of the canal is rare, especially in the context of the intact qualities of the surviving White Bay Power Station and the White Bay Power Station (Outlet) Canal. Any potential aesthetic significance of the White Bay Power Station (Inlet) Canal is not known, as the structure is not accessible or visible. 

Although not visible, the inlet canal (technically a conduit) is an integral part of the White Bay Power Station and as such exhibits the technical significance of this station. The canal is likely to possess archaeological features which will add to our understanding of the site.

Historical notes:

Construction of the White Bay Power Station (Inlet) Canal or Cooling Water Conduit began in 1912 as part of Phase 1 of the construction of the White Bay Power Station Complex.  The site for the power station at White Bay was chosen partly because it had unlimited circulation water access with the possibility of separating inlet and outlet, thus avoiding local heating problems. Two cooling water canals were cut to White Bay Power Station—the inlet canal entering from White Bay and the discharge canal (the Outlet canal) emptying into Rozelle Bay. 

The NSW Railway Commissioners constructed the first Power Station at Ultimo in 1899. This was followed by Sydney Municipal Council’s (SMC) Pyrmont Power Station in 1904 and the Electric Light and Power Supply Corporation’s (ELPC) Balmain Power Station in 1909. These four power stations formed the backbone of the Sydney electricity supply system until 1930 when the SMC completed the first stage of the Bunnerong Power Station. Until 1950 these power stations remained largely independent.  

The formation of the Electricity Commission of NSW (ECNSW) in 1950 united NSW’s electricity supply system and over the next 6 years the ECNSW took control of all the existing Sydney Power Stations. Pressure to close the Sydney power stations because of pollution grew and in 1983 Pyrmont and White Bay were the last of the original five to be decommissioned. White Bay was the longest serving power station in Sydney having 70 years’ continuous generation within one building.  

The cooling water system was an integral part of the power station operating complex where exhausted steam was converted to water in the massive cast-iron condensers. Cooling water may have been taken directly from the canal or the canal could have discharged into a tidal pool adjacent to the power station from where it was pumped into the condensers. It was normal practice for either static or dynamic screens to be constructed to prevent the ingress of any solid material, and it is possible that White Bay had an electrically powered rotating screen or bucket screen similar to the ones employed at Ultimo or Balmain Power Stations, but no evidence of the original screen remains.  

According to the ‘White Bay Power Station Conservation Management Plan’ (2004, volume 5, page 32), the water entered the inlet conduit through a fixed grill screen to filter large materials, then through a set of revolving screens to filter any other materials: ‘The conduits included silt wells and control valves. In the Turbine Hall, a Circulating Water Pump for each condenser drew water from individual pump section wells fed from the Inlet Conduit and pumped it through the body of the condenser, the outflow dropping into the Outlet Conduit.’ 

The full extent of the alignment of the original canal and the replacement conduit is shown on plans at images 12 and 13. The section of the cooling water conduit adjacent to Roberts Street was initially cut as an open canal but appears from photographic evidence to have been covered over in the 1930s or 40s. The conduit leading from White Bay is believed to have been constructed to allow for the erection of the coal storage platform and conveyers which were constructed in the early 1960s. At this time, it is most likely that new screens were erected in a screen house of which some evidence exists today at the edge of White Bay. 

View further White Bay Power Station Inlet Canal State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Middle Head, Mosman
Established: 1859
Endorsed significance:  State (as part of Middle Head Military Fortifications SHR 00999)

Statement of Significance:

Of significance as a pair of two obelisks located in visually prominent positions at the entrance to Sydney Harbour, and for their associations with the navigation aids employed during the 19th century, still in use today (Anglin 1990:3005).

Historical notes:

Erected 1857-59. Probably erected at the suggestion of Captain Denham to Marine Board September 4, 1857. They appear on his chart of the Harbour published in 1859. These are the two white obelisks above Obelisk Bay which, in-line, clear the end of South reef. (Pilotage Service P 151-152) In 1909 the decision was made to erect lights at Grotto Point (No 4560006) and Rosherville (No.4560030, Spit Lighthouse) to facilitate the increased amount of night sailings into the Port. The introduction of these lights lessened dependence on the Obelisks however they continue to be used by commercial shipping.

View further Obelisk Bay State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Hickson Road, Dawes Point
Established: 1948
Assessed significance: Local 

Statement of Significance:

The Dawes Point Fog Signal and Navigation Light is of significance as part of an integral component of the navigational system which ensures the safe operation of Sydney Harbour. While not part of the core grouping of lighthouses constructed at the turn of the century, the structure is a unique example of approaches to aid to navigation design in the post-war period reflective of the architecture of its time (1948).

Historical notes:

In March 1904 Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners decided to place a bell, powered by electric motors, at Dawes Point, which had long been identified a hazardous zone for vessels plying the harbour, in particular ferries. A steam punt service operated between Dawes Point (neighbouring the present Dawes Point Fog Signal and Navigational Light) and Blues Point from the 1860s until about 1932 (image 5 and 6).

By April 1905 ‘three large bells’ weighing over 150 kilograms each were ‘being made’ and were intended as fog signals for Bradleys Head, Fort Denison and Dawes Point. The bell was installed at Dawes Point and commenced operations on 6 May 1905 with a signal of three strokes of the bell with an interval of eight seconds between each stroke, followed by an interval of 14 seconds. In September 1906, the signal made was changed to a continuous bell sound.

In 1904 a red, fixed pile beacon, 14 feet in height, and powered by electricity was placed in the reef on the western side of the entrance to Sydney Cove (Circular Quay) at the ‘end of Horse Ferry Wharf’ (image 7-10). In 1906, a red, fixed, electric light was constructed on a 39 ½ foot pole at the end of Dawes Point.

View further Dawes Point Fog Signal & Navigational Light State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Parriwi Road, The Spit
Established: 1911
Assessed significance:  State

Statement of Significance:

The light is of State significance as part of a group of navigational lights and beacons that collectively form the core of the navigational system for Sydney Harbour which enable it to operate as a world class port. The Lighthouse is of architectural significance as a notable example of a purpose-built structure housing a navigation aid (Anglin 1990:3011). The tall imposing tower has architectural quality and is a dominant feature of the maritime landscape of Middle Harbour, particularly when viewed from the direction of the Heads. It has visual unity with Grotto Point Lighthouse (Hunt 1988).

Historical notes:

The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners hosted a conference to gather the feedback and perspectives of the industry’s leading shipping companies and their master mariners on 26 July 1909, and it was decided to erect leading lights at Spit Road (Rosherville also known as the Parriwi Head Leading Light) and Grotto Point (The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners’ Tenth Report being for the year ended 30 June 1910, page 6). ‘Leading lights’ said one mariner, ‘would be an improvement, and they would also be of great assistance. Navigation at Sydney Heads very often is risky…’ (Evening News, 29 July 1909).

Land was purchased near Spit Road and plans prepared for the Light Tower by mid-1910 (Engineer in Chiefs report appended to The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners’ Tenth Report being for the year ended 30 June 1910, page 11). The local newspapers reported on the new scheme, devised by the Sydney Harbour Trust, in February and March 1910 (Australian Town and Country Journal, 2 February 1910, page 29 and The Daily Telegraph, 27 July 1910, page 10).

Despite this, a scheme developed by the Irish master mariner, Maurice Festu (1865-1941), drew much media attention in July 1910 and was deemed superior to that of the Sydney Harbour Trust. Although Festu is often credited as the architect of the Grotto Point and Spit lighthouses, and other navigation aids in Sydney Harbour, there is no evidence to suggest the mariner played any role in the design or construction of any of the leading lights. The works on the leading lights were completed by the end of year report dated 30 June 1911. The Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioner's Report for the Year ending June 1912 noted:

'A considerable improvement has been made within the year in the matter of lighting the Port. Since 1st September 1911, the Commissioners have established leading lights to mark the entrance to Port Jackson. These lights are shown from towers, one of which has been erected on the high lands south of The Spit, and the other on Grotto Point. A red light is shown from the upper Tower (Spit) and a white light with coloured sectors, from the lower (Grotto Point). The illuminant used is acetylene gas, and the lights can be so arranged as to burn continuously for 60 days'.

By 1918, the light was converted to the AGA system (Dalén light), which was a method for the automation of lighthouses incorporating acetylene gas and a sun valve, invented by the Swedish engineer, Nils Gustaf Dalén (Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners' Eighteenth Annual Report for Year ending 30th June 1918, page 17).

View further The Spit Lighthouse State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Port Authority of NSW Corporate Office, 20 Windmill Street, Millers Point 
Established: pre-1900
Assessed significance: Local 

Statement of Significance:

This fourth order lighthouse lens was manufactured before 1900 by the English firm, Chance Brothers and Company, and likely served as a harbour light at Shark Island Lighthouse from at least 1912 and then at Hornby Lighthouse from 1948 until 1995.  The history of the lens reflects the changing needs of shipping in the port and traces the evolution of the modern port operation system. The lens is also a good example of a fourth order fixed lens made of crown glass of some aesthetic significance.

Historical notes:

This beehive lighthouse lens was manufactured before 1900 by the English firm, Chance Brothers and Company, based on concepts developed by the French engineer and physicist, Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827). Chance Brothers were a pioneering glass manufacturing firm first established near Birmingham, England in 1822 and in 1851, the firm began manufacturing lighthouse lenses. The lens is a fourth order fixed lens surrounded by sets of concentric annular prisms in the general shape of a beehive. It features crown glass, which was not used after 1900 (information supplied by Tim Nguyen of Chance Brothers). It operated on the catadioptric system, where both refraction and reflection were used to reflect light.

According to the 1902 publication The lighthouse work of Sir James Chance, Baronet, two fourth order lenses were manufactured by Chance Brothers for ‘New South Wales’ in 1871. One of those lenses was probably installed at the Wollongong Breakwater Lighthouse which was completed in August 1871, as an article in the Australian Town and Country Journal noted the light was ‘a fixed one’ of the ‘fourth order, constructed on the cata-dioptric principle’ and ‘manufactured by Chance and Co.’ It went on to describe the lens as containing ‘prismatic rings’ and placed in a ‘gun-metal frame’ with the entire apparatus ‘fixed on a cast iron column, secured on the lantern floor’.

It is unclear where the other lens was installed and if this lens was item 4560032. According to an article by J Hoey (Engineering Branch) for the Port of Sydney Journal (January 1950), this lens (item 4560032) was installed at Hornby Lighthouse at Inner South Head in November 1948 and ‘given an occulting characteristic and equipped with a lamp-changer which, on failure of one lamp, automatically brings a new one into focus’.

Prior to its installation at Hornby Lighthouse, Hoey claims the lens was originally in the lightship ‘Bramble’ and moored off the Sow and Pigs Shoal near the entrance to Sydney Harbour. There is no evidence this lens was used for this purpose, and it is unlikely it was adopted on a lightship as it operated as a fixed lens and was therefore unsuitable for a vessel (information supplied by Tim Nguyen, Chance Brothers).

According to Hoey, after the lightship was decommissioned in 1912 the lens was then installed in Shark Island Lighthouse. The Sydney Harbour Trust report for the year ending 30 June 1913 possibly refers to item 4560032. It reported a ‘new reinforced concrete light tower, fitted with a fourth order dioptric lens and lighted with acetylene gas, was erected in lieu of the old wooden structure on the north-west side of Shark Island’ at a cost of £606, and ten pence.

The lens was operative at Hornby Lighthouse from 1948 until 1995, when it was removed and placed in storage at Port Authority of NSW.

View further Chance Brothers Lens State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Blues Point Reserve, McMahons Point
Established: 1904
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

The Blues Point Light Structure is of significance for its historic use as a navigation aid employed in Sydney Harbour during the early 20th century. During its use it was an integral component of the navigational system ensuring the safe operation of the harbour. The structure was likely introduced to its original location in Millers Point as a direct response to boat collisions in the area.

While removed from its original location in Millers Point, the structure provides an example of the different types of navigational structures installed as part of the wider push to increase navigational aid in Sydney Harbour at the start of the twentieth century. Particularly as a representation of the growing utilisation of steel lattice or truss structures in public infrastructure works at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.

Historical notes:

Photographs dating from the 1870s indicate a structure was present at Blues Point, which may have operated as a navigational marker (image 6). Later photographs dating around the 1920s indicate a cylindrical light structure was present on the point (image 8) which may have been altered to feature a light structure of boxy appearance pictured in images 9 to 12. The site was described in the North Shore Historical Society Journal as originally featuring a ‘rather appealing lattice-work wooden tower’ which was replaced by item 4560034 in 1977-78.

The first light at Millers Point was constructed in 1904. To facilitate the navigation of the port, eastward of Dawes Point a redlight has been erected on that point and two fixed green leading lights on Goat Island and a white light with a red sector to mark the turning point to Darling Harbour at Millers Point' (Sydney Harbour Trust Commissioners Annual Report 1904).

The current structure was moved from Millers Point to Blues Point in 1977-78 during reconstruction of the wharf at the Northern end of Darling Harbour on Millers Point (this is now Known as No 3 but was formerly No 1 Darling Harbour). See image 14 which possibly shows item 4560034 at Millers Point prior to its relocation to Blues Point.

Further research is recommended to ascertain the construction of item 4560034 prior to its installation at Millers Point in 1904.

View further Blues Point Light Structure State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Solomons Way, Glebe Island, Rozelle
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

The Great Sydney Dyke, although extensive with a length exceeding 10km, has only been sampled in the subsurface part as a part of geotechnical investigations for engineering projects. The exposures at Glebe Island provide a rare opportunity to examine the dyke at the surface level.

Historical notes:

The Great Sydney Dyke has been traced discontinuously across the suburbs from the coast to Rozelle. The only exposure of the dyke not covered by urbanisation is at Glebe Island. Here it is visible on both sides of Victoria Road. The southern exposure has largely weathered to a clay slope. The best exposure is on the north side of the road where the exposure is about 7m high.

The dyke in the railway cutting is 5.1 to 5.95 m wide, is essentially vertical and has a strike of between 115 degrees (True) to 120degrees (True). The dyke appears to be formed by three different stages.

The exposures provide excellent examples of differential weathering that has taken place within the outer bounding surfaces and internal sections of the dyke. The lithological spectrum of weathering varies from silty clay to residual 'corestones' of relatively fresh basalt.

View further Glebe Island Dyke Exposures State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Port Access Road, Rozelle
Assessed significance:  Local

Statement of Significance:

The exact provenance of this cabinet is unknown, subsequently no direct historical importance or significant associations with the item have been identified. However, this cabinet may have held a commemorative purpose and subsequent historic importance / association with the relevant department or agency responsible for its early ownership. The date suggested by the paper tag attached to the bottom of the cabinet (106 years old) cannot be verified, however, this could suggest that this cabinet (and the comparable item Timber Cabinet 1, SHI 4560058) had an association for those organisations. Until they are finally identified, however, this can only be an interim assessment.

Historical notes:

While the precise provenance of this item is unknown, a card tag attached to the base states that ‘This cedar sideboard was restored by D. Selmon signwriter and E.T. Buckhorn carpenter’ and painted with satin finish Estapol in 1988-89. A further note in parenthesis states ‘106 years old’ but no further information is given. A patina of use also appears in the framing of the panelled doors and the top and suggests previous use.

Research was undertaken through internal contacts at the former Sydney Ports Corporation and through an inspection of previous Maritime Services Board (MSB) publications such as All A’Board, a quarterly publication of the MSB (1962-1975), The monthly Officers Journal (1925- 1934) and the official history prepared by Edna Carew, First Port Future Port. Celebrating 100 Years (2002). Additionally, the Heritage Assessment for Part of the former Enfield Yard (Otto Cserhalmi & Partners P/L, March 2002) does not make any reference to either timber cabinet. No reference to cabinets constructed for the MSB or its descendants has yet been identified.

View further Timber Cabinet 1, Enfield State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Port Access Road, Rozelle
Assessed significance:  Local

Statement of Significance:

The exact provenance of this cabinet is unknown, subsequently no direct historical importance or significant associations with the item have been identified. However, this cabinet may have held a commemorative purpose and subsequent historic importance / association with the relevant department or agency responsible for its early ownership. Until the item’s provenance is further clarified, this can only be an interim assessment.

Historical notes:

While the provenance is currently unknown, the use of a range of timbers associated with maritime and/or construction use suggests that these two items (Timber Cabinet 2, SHI 4560057) have been constructed from timbers used in a Sydney Ports Corporation-related building or craft. This suggests that these items could have a commemorative purpose or role. A patina of use also appears in the framing of the panelled doors that suggests previous coatings and/or coverings.

Research was undertaken through internal contacts at the former Sydney Ports and through an inspection of previous Maritime Services Board (MSB) publications such as All A’Board, a quarterly publication of the MSB (1962-1975), The monthly Officers Journal (1925- 1934) and the official history prepared by Edna Carew, First Port Future Port: Celebrating 100 Years (2002). No reference to cabinets constructed for the MSB or its descendants has yet been identified.  In addition, the Heritage Assessment for Part of the former Enfield Yard (Otto Cserhalmi & Partners P/L, March 2002) does not make any reference to either timber cabinet.

Stylistically, this cabinet has modest similarities to the Enfield item but both represent office furniture of their era. Their recent restoration and refinishing with Estapol polyurethane suggests that they were restored at the same time, c1988-89 but there was no paper tag on the base or bottom.

View further Timber Cabinet 2, Enfield State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Port Authority Corporate Office, 20 Windmill Street, Millers Point 
Established: 1960
Assessed significance:  Local

Statement of Significance:

The item is considered to be of high significance at the state and regional level as it represents the signatures of a number of internationally significant political and cultural leaders. It also indicates the prestige and status of the former Sydney Ports operations in that it has attracted such a wide range of significant visitors and port authority figures during its 23 years of use. The signatures of international visitors also suggest the central role of Port Jackson and its associated maritime industries in establishing a profile for New South Wales.

Historical notes:

The provenance for this autograph book is well established. It was acquired locally at Swains, an office supply shop as a stock item in the "Leathersmith" line, item number EVB1, M, Morocco. It was manufactured in England.

The first signature in the book is dated 22 October 1966 and the last signature is dated 14 February 1989. Following its last use, the book was apparently retired and/or taken out of service after 23 years.

View further Maritime Services Board Autograph book State Heritage Inventory information

Location: White Bay Cruise Terminal, Robert Street, Balmain
Established: 1968
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

The Bay Class ships have historical significance as the first large cellular container ships to be purpose designed. The propeller itself is of some historical interest as a remnant element of this progressive shipping fleet, but it is not considered to have historical significance in its own right.

The propeller has sculptural and landmark qualities, despite being removed from its context. It was designed and fabricated in Germany and has a high level of aesthetic significance, with its five blades of massive proportion and form which represents over 100 years of refinement of propeller design and manufacture.

The propeller is considered to exhibit a high degree of technical achievement. It is understood that there were only six of these propellers fabricated and it is representative of the evolution of propeller design since the 1870s.That the propeller was salvaged intact and retained is a rare occurrence as redundant propellers are normally melted down and recast.

Historical notes:

The propeller has been identified as being from one of the six Bay Class container ships that entered service in 1968/69. The Bay Class comprised the ‘Encounter Bay’, the ‘Discovery Bay’, the ‘Moreton Bay’, the ‘Botany Bay’, the ‘Jervis Bay’, and the ‘Flinders Bay’, all constructed in Germany. They were the first fully cellular container ships, and the first large container ships to be purpose designed. They travelled the Australian route from 1969.

The Scottish-born Marshall Meek (1925-2013), one of Britain’s leading naval architects, was responsible for the ships’ design. His first ship was the Centaur, which was custom-built to carry 200 passengers, 5,000 sheep and 700 cattle on the Western Australian-Straits service. He was technical director of the British Maritime Technology and served as President of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects from 1996.

The process of manufacture of the propeller would have included a reinforced pattern in which a single casting of bronze was poured. It represents the epitome of the pattern makers and foundryman’s art.

It has not been possible to identify the exact ship from which the propeller originated, although it would appear the inscription ‘OCL 5’ would identify the ship. It is not known how the propeller came to be under the ownership of Port Authority of NSW. ‘Flinders Bay’ was scrapped in 1996, and ‘Encounter Bay’ was in use up to c2000. The OCL ships would not have been broken up in Sydney Harbour as there were no facilities available for such large ships.

A 1973 photo has been located showing a propeller on the deck of the ‘Flinders Bay’ in Sydney Harbour; however, no details are known. The propeller may be a four-blade propeller, in which case it would not be from any of the Bay Class ships. In early 2013 the propeller was moved to a new location in Balmain as part of the development of the White Bay Cruise Terminal. The propeller is now located on display above an open hard landscaped area at the entrance to the cruise terminal.

View further Bay Class Bronze Propeller State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Harbour Masters Office, Port of Eden 
Established: Estimated 1860
Assessed significance: Local 

Statement of Significance:

Telescopes and barometers were key equipment for a harbourmaster and pilot. This telescope and barometer are significant as equipment used in the management of the Port of Eden by the colonial NSW government and later by the State of NSW. The telescope and barometer are symbolic reminders of the long continuous history of the Port of Eden and its management by government.

Historical notes:

The telescope and barometer are believed to have been the property of Captain Bourn Russell, appointed as the Port of Eden’s first Harbourmaster in 1860. Russell was a key government figure in the Port of Eden, also holding positions of Pilot, Justice of the Peace, Assistant Inspector of Fisheries and Acting Officer of Customs. His brother, Henry Chamberlain Russell, was New South Wales’ Government Astronomer and both played key roles in the observation of the Transit of Venus in Eden in 1874.

Captain Bourn Russell was the first and longest serving of 10 permanent Harbourmasters at the Port of Eden from 1860 to 1900 and one of four that held the position for more than 20 years. Several of the harbourmasters were also the pilot.

Retired harbourmaster Allan Sutherland (Harbourmaster 1968-1987) inherited the telescope and barometer from the previous harbourmaster, and it is likely that this equipment has been part of port property since the late 19th century.

View further Eden Harbour Master's Telescope & Barometer State Heritage Inventory information

Location: Moore's Wharf, 4 Towns Place, Millers Point
Assessed significance: Local

Statement of Significance:

Anchor ‘A’ and anchor ‘B’ are good examples of relatively rare, specialised mooring anchors. They are representative of Admiralty pattern mooring anchors used in Sydney Harbour and elsewhere along the New South Wales coast in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Their significance is at a local level.

Historical notes:

The documentation of the deployment or specific history of the two anchors has not been found to date. Their form places them as post 1841, the year the improved Admiralty pattern anchors were introduced. However, they probably date from the late nineteenth century to early twentieth century.

The improved Admiralty pattern became a favourite anchor, particularly on naval ships, and continued to be used into the early part of the twentieth century. In comparison with its predecessor, the anchor was constructed with higher quality iron, an elliptical shank and curved arms. The shank thickened from its narrowest point near the stock to its junction with the arms at the crown of the anchor. The shank kept to the earlier ration of being three times the length of the arms and the curvature of the arms was kept at one third of the distance up the shank from the crown.

It became common practice in harbours to place establish mooring buoys which were anchored in place by purpose-made, permanent, mooring anchors. The anchors for these permanent moorings were designed to remove the threat of the vertical, upper arm. The upper arm could be subjected to intense heat and then bent back onto the shank. Alternatively, an anchor could be cast specifically with just one arm to serve as a permanent mooring anchor. In this case, the crown was typically fitted with a 'fishing shackle or a 'buckle' attached around the shank. These served two purposes. When laying the anchor with only one arm it was essential to ensure that the anchor was set with that arm downwards. This could be achieved by attaching one cable to the buckle and a second to the shackle at the end of the far end of the shank while lowering the anchor to the seabed. When 'fishing the anchor' in the event that the mooring anchor needed to be reset or removed the buckle also acted as a lifting point to extract the fluke and arm out of the sediment. The two anchors at Moores Wharf, Walsh Bay are of this form.

View further mooring anchors State Heritage Inventory information