Old South Head Road is a road in Sydney which goes from the suburb of
Bondi Junction to
Watsons Bay
Watsons Bay is a harbourside, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Watsons Bay is located 11 km north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. ...
. It also passes through
Bondi,
Bondi Beach,
North Bondi
North Bondi is a coastal, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 7 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council.
North Bondi is a mostly residentia ...
,
Rose Bay and
Vaucluse
Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.[local government areas
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory.
The phrase i ...]
of
Waverley Council
Waverley Council is a Local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. First incorporated on 16 June 1859 as the Municipality of Waverley, it is one of the oldest-surviving local government ...
and the
Municipality of Woollahra
Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Sydney Harbour in the north, Waverley Council in the east, ...
. It is 6.8 kilometres long.
Description
Old South Head Road passes through predominantly residential areas, with sizeable shopping centres around the intersections with Towns Road and Dover Road. Housing varies from detached homes to blocks of flats and units. The style of housing includes
Federation
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
homes,
Victorian homes and
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
blocks of flats towards Bondi Junction.
History
The colony at Sydney began on 21 January 1788, when the
First Fleet arrived in
Sydney Harbour and Captain
Arthur Phillip went ashore at what is now known as Camp Cove. The settlement itself was set up in Sydney Cove, at the spot now known as Circular Quay. One of the reasons for the choice of that location was the desire to be safely out of range of hostile artillery. The colony needed to keep watch on the seas for potentially hostile ships or the
Second Fleet, which meant that South Head became important as an observation post. The outer edge of South Head became a signal station from which ships could be seen; their approach could then be signalled with flags. The ships could then be met by pilots who were camped at Camp Cove (so named for that reason).
A proper signal station was established in 1790; it was supplied by boat until a bridle trail was created along the ridge to South Head. Construction of a road followed and it was completed in 1811. A lighthouse was built just south of the signal station in 1816-18, to a design by
Francis Greenway
Francis Howard Greenway (20 November 1777 – September 1837) was an English-born architect who was transported to Australia as a convict for the crime of forgery. In New South Wales he worked for the Governor, Lachlan Macquarie, as Australia' ...
, the first notable architect in the colony. A semaphore system replaced flags at the signal station in the 1840s and the present building was constructed to a design by Colonial Architect
Mortimer Lewis
Mortimer William Lewis (1796 – 9 March 1879) was an English-born architect, surveyor and public servant who migrated to Australia and became New South Wales Government Architect, Colonial Architect in the colony of New South Wales (now a state ...
. It has been in continuous use since then and is now heritage-listed. In 1858, the first telegraph line in New South Wales was used to connect the signal station with the Royal Exchange in
Bridge Street.
Points of interest
(RNE) indicates that the structure or site is listed on the
Register of the National Estate.
[The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Publishers, 1981, pp. 2/136-138]
* St Peter's Anglican Church, Watsons bay, designed by
Edmund Blacket
Edmund Thomas Blacket (25 August 1817 – 9 February 1883) was an Australian architect, best known for his designs for the University of Sydney, St. Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney and St. Saviour's Cathedral, Goulburn.
Arriving in Sydney from Engl ...
and built in 1864 (RNE)
* Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Watsons Bay, built 1909-1910, with later additions in 1929, 1940 and 1966 (RNE)
* Scout hall, Watsons Bay, formerly a school, designed by George Mansfield and built in 1876 (RNE)
* A former school residence, next to the scout hall, designed by George Mansfield and built by George Murray circa 1876 (RNE)
* Sandstone obelisk, Robertson Park (not situated in Old South Head Road), commemorating building of Old South Head Road in 1811 (RNE)
* Signal Station, still functional and run by
Transport for NSW
Transport for NSW, sometimes abbreviated to TfNSW, and pronounced as Transport for New South Wales, is an agency of the New South Wales Government established on 1 November 2011, and is the leading transport and roads agency in New South Wales, ...
(RNE)
![Signal hill battery vc](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Signal_hill_battery_vc.jpg)
*
Signal Hill Battery is situated between Gap Park and Signal Station. The site includes two gun emplacements that are connected to underground bunker complexes.
*
Macquarie Lighthouse: the present lighthouse is a replica of Greenway's original building, which was demolished because it was in bad repair. The current building was built in 1883 to a design by
James Barnet
James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890.
Early life
Born the son of a ...
. The group also includes the keeper's cottage and an earlier cottage by Greenway (RNE)
* Gap Park is situated between Old South Head Road and the cliff, and leads to the Gap, a notorious suicide spot
* Coastal Cliff Walk is a walking trail that goes from Clarke Street to South head.
* Christison Park is situated south of Macquarie Lighthouse
*
South Head Cemetery. Situated at the juncture of Old South Head Road and
New South Head Road
New South Head Road, is a major road in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, linking the inner-eastern suburb of Rushcutters Bay to the southern reaches of the South Head peninsula.
Route
New South Head Road runs north-east from Rushcutters Bay t ...
, this cemetery was established to service the growing
Vaucluse
Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.[Sir John Robertson John, Jon, or Jonathan Robertson may refer to:
Politicians United Kingdom politicians
* J. M. Robertson (John Mackinnon Robertson, 1856–1933), British journalist and Liberal MP for Tyneside 1906–1918
*John Robertson (Bothwell MP) (1867–1926) ...]
, the
Packer family, the
Fairfax family
Members of the Fairfax Family were prominent as Australian media proprietors, especially in the area of newspaper publishing through the company John Fairfax and Sons (later known as Fairfax Media, although the Fairfax family no longe ...
,
Juanita Nielsen and Sir
Walter Edward Davidson
Sir Walter Edward Davidson, (20 April 1859 – 16 September 1923) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served periods as Governor of the Seychelles, Governor of Newfoundland and as Governor of New South Wales, where he died in o ...
.
* Former Methodist Church, built 1924, currently houses Magnolia Healing Centre. It is located at the corner of Old South Head Road and Dover Road,
Rose Bay, and is supported by Bondi Beach Chapel by the Sea and Rose Bay/Vaucluse Uniting Church.
*
Royal Sydney Golf Course is situated between Old South Head Road and New South Head Road, Rose Bay.
* Architecture: examples of
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
blocks of flats, single-storey Federation homes and Victorian-style cottages can be seen between Victoria Road and
Bondi Road
Bondi Road is a road in the Sydney suburb of Bondi, Australia. The road traverses east from Syd Einfeld Drive in Bondi Junction to Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach. It is 1.8 kilometres long and is located in the local government area of Waverley ...
.
* A two-storey Victorian terrace home near Bondi Road now houses the Mahasiddha Kadampa Buddhist Centre, which holds meditation courses and drop-in classes.
Image:WatsonsBay1.JPG, Scout hall, formerly a school, Watsons Bay
Image:Former school residence Watsons Bay.jpg, Former school residence, Watsons Bay
File:House on old south head road.JPG, Federation homes, Bondi Junction
Image:1_Art_Deco_flats.JPG, Art Deco flats, Bondi Junction
File:Signal hill, old south head road.JPG, Signal Station
Image:1_Lighthouse_keepers_cottage.JPG, Lighthouse keeper's cottage
Image:1_St_Peters_Church3.JPG, St Peter's Anglican Church, Watsons Bay
Image:Our Lady Star of the Sea Church Watsons Bay.jpg, Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Church, Watsons Bay
See also
References
{{Streets of Sydney Australia
External links
Magnolia Healing Centre
Streets in Sydney
Vaucluse, New South Wales