Pittwater is a semi-mature

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

dominated

drowned valley A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ca ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

, located about north of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from the Central Coast. Pittwater has its origin from the confluence of McCarrs Creek, to the west of Church Point and a number of smaller estuaries, the largest of which is Cahill Creek, that joins the Pittwater north of Mona Vale. The Pittwater is an open body of water, often considered a bay or harbour, that flows north towards its mouth into Broken Bay, between West Head and Barrenjoey Head, less than from the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...

. The total area of the Pittwater is and around ninety percent of the area is generally administered by the Hawkesbury–Nepean Catchment Management Authority, in conjunction with

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warring ...

. The land adjacent to the Pittwater was occupied for many thousands of years by the

Kuringgai Kuringgai (also spelled Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) (,) is an ethnonym referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the Gamila ...

peoples, an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

grouping of uncertain origin. They used the river as an important source of food and a place for trade. Pittwater was named ''Pitt Water'' in 1788 in honour of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt the Younger (28 May 175923 January 1806) was a British statesman, the youngest and last prime minister of Great Britain (before the Acts of Union 1800) and then first prime minister of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Ire ...

, the then

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Geography

Pittwater extends from Mona Vale and

Warriewood Warriewood is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warriewood is located 26 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Warriewood is par ...

in the south, along the eastern ridge of the Barrenjoey Peninsula leading to Palm Beach and along the western ridge of the Lambert Peninsula leading to West Head. The eastern parts of the catchment are largely urbanised whilst the western parts are primarily

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, sout ...

. Within the Pittwater lies Careel Bay, Refuge Cove, Saltpan Cove, Horseshoe Cove, Crystal Bay, McCarrs Creek, Browns Bay, Elvina Bay,

Lovett Bay Lovett Bay is a suburb and adjacent bay in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 36 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Lovett Bay is i ...

, Towlers Bay, Portuguese Bay,

Coasters Retreat Coasters Retreat is an offshore suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 42 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Location Coaste ...

and The Basin.

Scotland Island Scotland Island is an island and suburb on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Church Point, Scotland Island's major mainland service locality, is located 32 kilometres north of the Sydney central b ...

is located within the estuary. Pittwater contains a diversity of estuarine habitat types including

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

saltmarsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is dominated ...

sand flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s and

seagrass meadow A seagrass meadow or seagrass bed is an underwater ecosystem formed by seagrasses. Seagrasses are marine (saltwater) plants found in shallow coastal waters and in the brackish waters of estuaries. Seagrasses are flowering plants with stems and ...

s, including threatened areas of coastal saltmarsh. Pittwater sunset

History

Aboriginal history

The Dharug peoples were the traditional inhabitants of the land and waterways north and south of Sydney Harbour, from Botany Bay in the south, inland along the Parramatta River and through the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding thro ...

and across Broken Bay and beyond to

Brisbane Water Brisbane Water is a wave-dominated barrier estuary located in the Central Coast region, north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Brisbane Water has its origin at the confluence of the Narara and Coorumbine Creeks, to the south–east ...

. Amongst the Dharug there were many smaller units called clans, of which the Garigal were most prominent in the area surrounding Pittwater and the Northern Beaches. During 1789 the impact of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

on aboriginal peoples led to extensive mortality, with the death rate estimated at somewhere between 50% and 90%. Conservatively, between 500 and 1000 Aboriginal people died on the coastal strip bounded by

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

and Broken Bay. A significant proportion of these were Garigal.

European history

The waterway was surveyed by crew members of in 1788, and named Pitt Water after William Pitt the Younger, the then Prime Minister of Great Britain. The first regular water transport across Pittwater was the cutter ''Francis'' which carried settlers and farm produce from Sydney between 1793 and 1800. By 1803 a fleet of privately owned coasters had begun operating between Pittwater,

Cowan Creek Cowan Creek is located in New South Wales, Australia. It is a tidal subcatchment of the Hawkesbury River. Almost all of the catchment lies within Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the north ...

and

Berowra Waters Berowra Waters is an outer suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Berowra is located 40 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Hornsby Shire. Berowra Waters is ...

, usually travelling in convoy to reduce the risk of piracy by escaped convicts living along the shore. These vessels were generally built on

and were not sufficiently seaworthy to leave Broken Bay. A customs house operated from Pittwater between 1843 and 1900, and a government-built sandstone lighthouse was completed at Barrenjoey in 1881. Both the Old Customs House and the lighthouse are listed on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

. Shipping declined as a transport medium following road and rail construction through the region between 1850 and 1890, especially the construction of a rail bridge over the waterway in 1899. The last locally constructed shipping vessel was launched from a shipyard at Blackwall in 1912, and scheduled shipping services ceased in 1914. However, since the 1950s, Pittwater has become predominantly residential in character and is a suburban region of Sydney. The greater Sydney metropolis has extended to Palm Beach, Church Point and offshore communities in Pittwater, however its early character has been largely retained.

Current use and activities

Pittwater from Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park

Today, the Pittwater is a popular water recreation, such as

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cou ...

and

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

. The area is an important natural heritage area that comprises

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a whole mythology evolving ...

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

s, a

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

, rock platforms and

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

es. The Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Yacht Race is held in January annually, and has been since 1981. However, in 2016 the race was held as Pittwater to Southport (in Queensland) since the facilities at Coffs Harbour had been badly damaged by East coast storms. The area gives its name to: * The former

Pittwater Council Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about north of the Sydney central business district. The area is named ...

* The Electoral district of Pittwater * Pittwater High School * Pittwater Park * Little Pittwater Bay, in

Hornsby Shire Hornsby Shire is a local government area situated in Northern Sydney ( Upper North Shore), as well as parts of the Hills District, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The shire stretches from the M2 Hills Motorway in the south to the ...

Notable people

Chef

Pamela Clark Pamela Clark (born 1944) is an Australian chef, cookbook author and food presenter, and has been associated with ''The Australian Women's Weekly'' for 50 years. Early life Clark spent her preschool years living on Aneityum, Vanuatu, due to ...

resides in Pittwater.

References

local church website
{{Rivers of New South Wales , state=autocollapse Rivers of New South Wales Hawkesbury River Central Coast (New South Wales)