Iron Cove is a bay on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Seco ...

, in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It is approximately due west of Sydney's central business district. It is surrounded by the suburbs of Birchgrove, Balmain,

Rozelle Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Location Rozelle si ...

Lilyfield Lilyfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lilyfield is located 6 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Lilyfield is ...

, Haberfield,

Five Dock Five Dock is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Five Dock is located 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay. Location Fi ...

Rodd Point Rodd Point is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 9 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay. Rodd Point sits on ...

Russell Lea Russell Lea is a small suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Russell Lea is located 8 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay. Rus ...

and

Drummoyne Drummoyne is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Drummoyne is six kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative center for the local government area of the City of ...

. The bay extends from Longnose Point to the south-west and is fed by the

Hawthorne Canal The Hawthorne Canal, a southern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a New South Wales State Heritage Register, heritagelisted canal, artificial waterway located in the western reaches of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, in the Inner West (Sydney) ...

and the

Iron Cove Creek Iron Cove Creek (also known as Dobroyd Stormwater Channel), a southern tributary of the Parramatta River, is an urban stream west of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, located in the Inner West (Sydney), inner-western Sydney suburbs of Croydon, New S ...

History

William Dawes William Dawes Jr. (April 6, 1745 – February 25, 1799) was one of several men who in April 1775 alerted colonial minutemen in Massachusetts of the approach of British army troops prior to the Battles of Lexington and Concord at the outse ...

recorded the name of this place as Go-mo-ra in the language of the local people. In the early days of the colony of New South Wales, the area was sometimes known as Long Cove, presumably for its long narrow shape. The origin of the name 'Iron Cove' is unclear. On the 1822 survey map of Port Jackson (

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

) by

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in t ...

, Lieut. R.N. it is noted as Iron—stone Cove. Iron Cove appears to be a shortening of this name that perhaps referred to the reddy coloured iron oxides in the stone, known as

laterites Laterite is both a soil and a rock type rich in iron and aluminium and is commonly considered to have formed in hot and wet tropical areas. Nearly all laterites are of rusty-red coloration, because of high iron oxide content. They develop by ...

. In his book on Sydney Harbour, P.R. Stephensen suggests that the name is derived from the iron shackles worn by convicts from Cockatoo Island who were forced to work in the area around the bay from 1839. However, he goes on to note that this is merely "a surmise". Another possible explanation for the name is that it was derived from the

Ironbark Ironbark is a common name of a number of species in three taxonomic groups within the genus ''Eucalyptus'' that have dark, deeply furrowed bark. Instead of being shed annually as in many of the other species of ''Eucalyptus'', the dead bark accu ...

trees that used to grow there. The island in the middle of the bay is called

Rodd Island Rodd Island is a island on the Parramatta River in Sydney, Australia. It lies in the centre of Iron Cove, between the suburbs of Drummoyne, Russell Lea, Rodd Point, Haberfield, Lilyfield and Leichhardt. It is located west of the Sydney Ha ...

, in honour of

Brent Clements Rodd Brent Clements Rodd (1809–1898) was a prominent colonial lawyer and landowner in 19th century Sydney, Australia. Rodd Island in Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and th ...

. Iron Cove is crossed by the

Iron Cove Bridge The Iron Cove Bridge is a heritage-listed road bridge that carries Victoria Road (A40) across Iron Cove, linking the Sydney suburbs of Drummoyne to Rozelle in the City of Canada Bay local government area of New South Wales, Australia. Current ...

, which was first opened in 1882 and links Rozelle and Balmain to Drummoyne. The original bridge was replaced in the 1950s. The Australian warships HMAS ''Ballarat'' and HMAS ''Goulburn'' were broken up for scrap in the bay in 1953. There are a number of smaller bays with Iron Cove, such as Sisters Bay and Half Moon Bay on the northern shores. The concrete channelised

runs into the western end of the bay, and

runs off the southern part of the bay. The land around the bay is mostly made up of publicly accessible foreshore or parkland. This forms a jogging circuit known as

The Bay Run The Bay Run is a 7-kilometre-long pedestrian and cycling circuit around Iron Cove passing through the suburbs of Rozelle, Lilyfield, Haberfield, Five Dock, Rodd Point. Russell Lea and Drummoyne. in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wal ...

Pollution

According to the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

's School of Geosciences, this bay and its catchment area are the most heavily polluted in

. In particular, very high levels of copper, zinc, and lead have been detected in the bay. Some of this pollution is contained in road dust, which is washed into the bay in stormwater.

(Dobroyd Canal) also suffers from organic and hydrocarbon pollutants. A proposal has been put forward for a water filtration device to be installed at Iron Cove Creek. According to Professor Gavin Birch from the University of Sydney's School of Geosciences, "This device is specifically designed to stop those contaminants eavy metals, organic pollutants and hydrocarbonsactually reaching Sydney Harbour."Berick, Dave. ''Dobroyd test for filter of future''. The Inner West Courier, Tuesday 6 December 2005. Volume 121 No 49. Page 3.

Gallery

Image:Iron Cove from Francis Street, Lilyfield.JPG, Dobroyd Point, Iron Cove from Francis Street, File:Iron Cove 3.JPG, View of Iron Cove from King George Park, Image:Rodd Island, Iron Cove.JPG,

looking north from Rodd Point Image:Iron Cove Bridge.JPG,

with Lilyfield in background, taken from

Birkenhead Point Birkenhead Point is a Peninsula, point in Port Jackson, in the suburb of Drummoyne, New South Wales, Australia. The area was once largely industrial but it is now the home to Birkenhead Point Outlet Centre, marina and apartment complex. Birken ...

File:Iron Cove at dusk.JPG, Looking over Iron Cove from

Callan Park Callan Park, with the heritage listed name Callan Park Conservation Area & Buildings, is a heritage listed site in Lilyfield, a suburb in the Inner West Council in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Calla ...

at dusk File:Head of Iron Cove and Cockatoo Island.JPG, Looking towards the head of Iron Cove with Cockatoo Island in the distance

History

Pollution

Gallery

References

Further reading