Old South Head Road is a road in Sydney which goes from the suburb of

Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of Waverley. Bondi Junction is a largely comm ...

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 Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Easter ...

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 residential ar ...

, 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 phra ...

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-gover ...

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 Unit ...

blocks of flats towards Bondi Junction.

History

The colony at Sydney began on 21 January 1788, when the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

arrived in

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane Cove and Parramatta River, Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or harbor, natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. T ...

and Captain

Arthur Phillip Admiral Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Greenwich Hospital School from June 1751 until ...

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. 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 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 Herita ...

.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 Eng ...

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 The Signal Hill Battery was constructed in 1892–3 at Watsons Bay and is adjacent to the Signal Hill Lighthouse on Old South Head Road. History and description The Battery was one of a set of three coastal defence fortifications in Sydn ...

is situated between Gap Park and Signal Station. The site includes two gun emplacements that are connected to underground bunker complexes. *

Macquarie Lighthouse The Macquarie Lighthouse, also known as South Head Upper Light, is the first, and is the longest serving, lighthouse site in Australia. It is located on Dunbar Head, on Old South Head Road, Vaucluse in the Municipality of Woollahra local gover ...

: 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. 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 The South Head General Cemetery is a heritage-listed cemetery located at 793 Old South Head Road, Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1845 to 1950. It is also known as Old South Head Cemetery and the South Head Cemetery. The ...

. 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

Packer family The Packer family has played a significant role in the Australian media, political and social sphere since the beginning of the twentieth century. The family has had numerous interests in Australian business, most notably in media, property ...

, the Fairfax family,

Juanita Nielsen Juanita Joan Nielsen (; 22 April 1937 – disappeared 4 July 1975) was an Australian homicide victim, who was a newspaper owner, publisher and journalist, a model, businesswoman, urban conservationist, and heiress. She was notable for her advo ...

and Sir Walter Edward Davidson. * 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

blocks of flats, single-storey Federation homes and Victorian-style cottages can be seen between Victoria Road and Bondi Road. * 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

References

{{Streets of Sydney Australia

External links

Magnolia Healing Centre
Streets in Sydney Vaucluse, New South Wales

Description

History

Points of interest

See also

References

External links