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I I I ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT I I I PEDESTRIAN MALL I BONDI JUNCTION I I I I I I I I I I I I Cultural Resources Management I I I 1I I I ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT I I I PEDESTRIAN MALL I BONDI JUNCTION I I I I I I I I I I January 2003 I Cultural Resources Management I For Tract Consultants Pty Ltd I I I I I CONTENTS OF THE REPORT 1.0 PRECIS OF THE REPORT .......................................................................... 01 I 1.1 The Work ................................................................................................................. 01 1.2 Historical Context. .................................................................................................... 01 1.3 Archaeological Profile .............................................................................................. 01 I 1.4 Cultural Significance ................................................................................................ 02 1.5 Impact Assessment ................................................................................................. 02 I 1.6 Management ............................................................................................................ 02 2.0 CONTEXT .................................................................................................... 04 2.1 Background .............................................................................................................. 04 2.2 The Study Area and Subject.. .................................................................................. 04 I 2.3 Status of the Site ..................................................................................................... 04 2.4 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 05 2.5 Objectives and Tasks ............................................................................................... 05 I 2.6 Authorship, Client and Acknowledgements ............................................................. 05 Site Location Plan I 3.0 HISTORICAL PROFILE ............................................................................... 06 3.1 The Context of Settlement ....................................................................................... 06 Plan of Subdivision of Southern Side Old South Head Road, 1838 I 3.2' Tea Gardens Hotel .......................... : ....................................................................... 08 Plan of the Mall area in 1889 with duplicated tram lines 3.3 Old South Head Road .............................................................................................. 09 I Detail of 1908 survey 3.4 Trams ....................................................................................................................... ;; I 3.5 Thematic Framework ............................................................................................... 12 4.0 THE RESOURCE ......................................................................................... 13 4.1 Topography and Environs ........................................................................................ 13 4.2 Services ................................................................................................................... 14 I 4.3 Tram Lines ............................................................................................................... 14 4.4 Road and Footpaths ................................................................................................ 14 4.5 Building Elements .................................................................................................... 14 I 4.6 Site Formation ......................................................................................................... 14 4.7 Archaeological Profile .............................................................................................. 15 I Sub-Surface Plan Non-Intrusive Investigation 5.0 CULTURAL SiGNIFiCANCE ....................................................................... 16 5.1 Evaluation Criteria ................................................................................................... 16 I 5.2 Assessment of Significance ..................................................................................... 18 5.3 Statement of Significance ........................................................................................ 18 I View of Bondi Junction in 1925 6.0 MANAGEMENT ........................................................................................... 20 6.1 The Work ................................................................................................................. 20 6.2 Impact Assessment ................................................................................................. 20 I 6.3 Statutory Considerations ......................................................................................... 20 6.4 Protocols and Mitigation Procedures ....................................................................... 21 I 7.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 22 I I I --------------------------------------~-~- - Archaeological Assessment: Bondi Junction Mall January 2003 SECTION 1.0 I PRECIS I I 1.1 The Work I The subject of this report is the sub-surface archaeological resource that may be contained within land encompassed by the Oxford Street pedestrian mall located between Newland Street and Bronte Road, Bondi Junction. The objective of the work I has been to determine the probability of finding archaeological evidence within this property. The report describes the extent, nature, integrity and significance of the resource and the impact of the excavation on archaeological relics. It provides I strategies to mitigate that impact. The work fulfils statutory requirements of Bondi Junction Commercial Centre LEP 1991. I 1.2 Historical Context The development of this site is linked with the expansion east of the main settlement I at Sydney during the early years of the nineteenth century. Old South Head Road began as a track to the Signal Station in 1790. It was improved on several occasions and became a major thoroughfare but was gradually eclipsed .by New South Head I Road. It fell into disiepair and neglect. Nevertheless it remained in uSe as the principal means of access to the slowly developing community at Waverley. Subdivision had commenced here in the 1830s and the nucleus of the present-day Bondi Junction was I formed around the Tea Gardens Hotel established there in the 1840s. The introduction of the steam tram service in the early 1880s was the impetus for a massive wave of development and subdivision of the previously sparsely settled I district. By the later 1880s a duplicate tram line ran down Old South Head Road and both sides of the future mall were lined with buildings. The tram remained in use until 1960. When it ceased to operate the lines were covered with road surfacing. The I present-day mall was formed in 1979 .. I 1.3 Archaeological Profile The land encompassed by the Bondi Junction Mall is likely to contain a fragmented I archaeological resource with some or all of the following archaeological elements: • Some evidence of the pre-settlement environment in the form of preserved , I I micro-flora • Evidence of nineteenth and early twentieth century road surfaces including I formed natural surfaces, gravel, road metal and asphalt. • Possible evidence of kerbing and footpath surfaces I I Cultural Resources Management for Tract Consultants Page 1 I I Archaeological Assessment: Bondi Junction Mall January 2003 I • Intact evidence of the later nineteenth century tram system including track and I sleepers. • Possible evidence of structural elements from commercial development on both I sides of the street. • Numerous services including water pipes that are of significance as relics because of their age. I Generally, it may be concluded that the site is likely to contain archaeological relics and deposits however, in many cases these will have been substantially fragmented. It I will contain intact relics of the tram system and early services to the area I 1.4 Cultural Significance Old South Head Road is the first and oldest European feature associated with this area. It was a significant factor in the development of permanent settlement. The I archaeological profile of the Bondi Junction Mall is likely to provide specific evidence of the development of this road as a formed thoroughfare. There is also the potential to identify some evidence of earlier commercial development along the edge of the I road. The tram system that was established along it in the later part of the nineteenth century was one of the first suburban extensions of the Sydney system and was the I most critical factor in encouraging subdivision and the development of the present-day suburb. The archaeological resources of the Mall will provide explicit evidence of the tram system although this is unlikely to reveal more than is already known about the I technology and relationship of this system to its environs. None of the archaeological material is rare or unusual but it will provide collaborative I evidence and specific demonstrations of what is now only known from archival resources. The ability of the resource to realize this significance is likely to be compromised through the impact of excavation for services. This resource has local I cultural value and is assessed

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