The Brickpit Ring Walk is an urban

nature park A nature park, or sometimes natural park, is a designation for a protected natural area by means of long-term land planning, sustainable resource management and limitation of agricultural and real estate developments. These valuable landscape ...

and walkway that serves as a water storage and frog habitat, located in the Bicentennial Park, in the

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...

, in western

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales, Australia. Once a

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

manufacturing site, the land was to be redeveloped as part of the site for the 2000 Sydney Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

, however the 1992 discovery of the then endangered Green and Golden Bell Frog (''Litoria aurea'') placed a hold on developments. The urban nature park and walkway was established in 2006.

History

The site of the Brickpit Ring Walk is on the traditional lands of the Wann clan, known as the Wann-gal. Physical evidence of the usage of the Homebush Bay area by Aboriginal people has been found in the form of stone artefacts located nearby. Aboriginal shell

midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...

s (campsites where shellfish and other foods were consumed) were known to have lined

Homebush Bay Homebush Bay is a bay on the south bank of the Parramatta River, in the west of Sydney, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official suburb of Sydney, a ...

and the Parramatta River but were destroyed in the limekilns in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and subsequent alterations to the shoreline.

State Brickworks

Following a NSW Government inquiry into the monopolistic control of brickyards by the Metropolitan Brick Company, in 1911 the NSW Minister for Public Works resumed of

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

from the adjacent State Abattoir for the State Brickworks, and by 1925 the site comprised . There were difficulties in constructing the first kiln at the Brickworks, caused by the refusal of private manufacturers to sell their bricks for this purpose. Bricks made during the early years of the site were transported by barge to a depot in Blackwattle Bay from where they were loaded for road transport to building sites. Trading operations of the

state-owned State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownersh ...

State Brickworks commenced on 1 November 1911 and the output for the first trading period was wholly absorbed on Government works. During the economic depression of the 1930s, the brickworks operated at a significant loss. In 1936, they were sold to private enterprise and closed in 1940. A train station for workers to use opened on the site in December 1939. After World War II, the Government re-established the State Brickworks due to a shortage of bricks. Reformulated in 1946 as an agency within the NSW Department of Public Works, two large pits were created to provide the clay to make the bricks and the bricks were also shipped to country areas of New South Wales as the State Brickworks grew to acquire 7 percent of the brick market in New South Wales. The State Brickworks acquired used by the State Timberworks at and built new facilities on this site. The first pit was closed and filled in during the 1960s. In 1988, the NSW Government announced plans to close the operations at Homebush and to sell the Blacktown site as a going concern.

Popular culture

During the 1960-80s the Brickworks was known as "Brickies" a popular place for drag racing on a Friday or Saturday night. Drivers set off from the Big Chiefs (Beefy's) burger joint on Parramatta Road, racing up Underwood Road towards Brickies Hill. This circuit can be seen in the 1977 film ''

The FJ Holden ''The FJ Holden'' is a 1977 Australian film directed by Michael Thornhill. ''The FJ Holden'' is a snapshot of the life of young teenage men in Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia in the 1970s and deals with the characters' difficulty in reconc ...

''. The Brickworks was also used as a filming location for Bartertown scenes in '' Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''.

Brickpit Ring Walk

Following cessation of quarrying, the Brickpit developed in a freshwater wetland. In 1992 approximately 300 (then) endangered Green and Golden Bell Frogs were located in the wetlands as part of an Environmental Impact Statement for the 2000 Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games. The site was proposed to be redeveloped as a tennis centre; however was halted on discovery of the frogs. The remaining brick pit is now an adopted home of the Green and Golden Bell Frog. Above the brickpit is the ''Brickpit Ring Walk'', a elevated walkway and outdoor exhibition, sited above the brickpit floor. The walkway allows visitors to view the nature park, water storage facility, and frog habitat without causing damage to the Green and Golden Bell Frog. Designed by Durbach Block Architects in 2005, in 2006 the walkway was featured in the Venice Biennale, and won the RAIA (NSW) Lloyd Rees Civic Design Award, the ASI Architectural & Engineering Innovation Steel Design Award (NSW), and the National Trust Heritage Award.

Gallery

Brickpit Ring Walk Bicentenial Park (401739071).jpg, Brickpit Ring Walk, Bicentennial Park Litoria aurea green.jpg, '' Litoria aurea'' (Green and Golden Bell Frog) State Brickworks, Homebush A2020002h.jpg, State Brickworks, Homebush in 1911 State Brickworks, Homebush A2020006h.jpg, Workers at State Brickworks, Homebush in 1911

References

External links

* * {{Parks in Sydney, state=collapsed Olympic Parks Parks in Sydney Sydney Olympic Park Cumberland Council, New South Wales Brickworks Brick manufacturers Manufacturing plants Bricks Elevated parks Pedestrian bridges in Australia Tourist attractions in Sydney 2005 establishments in Australia Parks established in 2005