I I I ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT I NORTH SYDNEY OLYMPIC POOL I I MILSONS POINT I I I I I I I I I I For Brian McDonald and Associates I On Behald ofHassell Pty Lt,! Architects I WendyThorp Cultural Resources Management I I I ! I i I ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT I NORTH SYDNEY OLYMPIC POOL I I MILSONS POINT I I I I I I I I February 1999 I I For Brian McDonald and Associates I On Behald ofHassell Pty Ltd Architects I WendyThorp I Cultural Resources Management I I I I Archaeological Assessment: North Sydney Olympic Pool I CONTENTS OF THE REPORT I I 1 I 1.0 Precis of the Report . 1 I 1.1 The Investigation ... 1 1.2 Historical Framework. 1 I 1.3 The Archaeological Resource 2 I 1.4 Cultural Significance 2 1.5 Management ... 2 I 2.0 The Investigation 3 I 2.1 The Study Area and Subject 3 I 2.2 Consent Condition 3 2.3 Status of the Site 3 I 2.4 Methodology .. 4 I 2.5 Objectives and Tasks. 4 2.6 Authorship,, Client and Acknowledgements 4 I 3.0 Historical Context . ....... ..... 6 I 3.1 The Pre-Settlement Environment. 7 3.2 James Milson and Domestic Settlement 8 I 3.3 Ferries and Trains 9 I 3.4 The Harbour Bridge . 10 I 3.5 The North Sydney Olympic Pool 11 I I I I Archaeological Assessment: North Sydney Olympic Pool I 4.0 The Archaeological Resource 12 I 4.1 Pre-Existing Features. 12 4.2 Conclusions. ..... 12 I 5.0 Cultural Significance 13, I 5.1 Evaluation Criteria .. 13 5.2 Assessment of Significance 14 I 6.0 Management . ...... 15 I 6.1 The Proposal . 15 6.2 Management of the Archaeological Resource 15 I 7.0 Documentation ...... 16 I 7.1 Endnotes .. 16 7.2 Bibliography 'I I I I I I I I I I I I I ." I Archaeological Assessment: North Sydney Olympic Pool I SECTION 1.0 I IPRECIS OF THE REPORT I 1.1 The Investigation I The sUbject of this investigation is the archaeological resource which may be contained within the area of the North Sydney Olympic Pool and Olympic Place. The report has been prepared to meetthe conditions ofNorth Sydney Council with respect I to improvements being made to this site. Its principal objectives are to determine if there are archaeological issues to be addressed in the course of the current development and, if so, the most appropriate means of managing them. No I archaeological assessment or investigation has been made of this site to date. I 1.2 Historical Framework North Sydney Pool is founded on land that, prior to European settlement, would have been characterised by exposed sandstone outcrops and thin sandy soils which I supported a landscape dominated by stands of Eucalypts giving way to a heath of banksias on the more exposed part ofthe headland. The study area was,first alienated for European purposes iri a grant made to Robert Ryan in 1800. It was again granted I as a permissive occupancy in 1806 to James Milson. Milson's home and principal improvements were located to the east of the study area which is not known to have been improved in any way up to the 1820s. A dispute brought about by Robert I Campbell in the later 1820s over Milson's legal right to the land was resolved by subdividing the original grant between Milson, who acquired the land furthest to the I north, and Campbell who gained the promontory containing the study area. The latter was subdivided in the 1830s. The study area was bisected by a road, Western Wharf Road, and to the south of this thoroughfare were two allotments and to the north five I others. The first occupants were watermen and a dairyman. At least some buildings were erected on these lots but the extent of these works is unknown. The further subdivision ofthe area up to the 1860s was accompanied by excavation and levelling I of the underlying sandstone. By the later 1860s the southern part of the study area had been further subdivided to provide for four allotments and a survey ofthis period I shows buildings on almost all the allotments. By the second half of the nineteenth century Milsons Point had become one of the most vital points in the transport network leading from the city to outlying suburbs. Its I position in this network was consolidated by the construction ofthe first tram in NSW in 1886 and a railway station in 1893. The latter was built on land resumed by the Railways Department including those allotments which encompass the study area. I The station remained in use until the site was resumed for bridge works in the 1920s. After extensive quarrying and levelling part of the study area became the site of one I of the fabrication shops and the rest remained vacant. Work on the bridge was completed in 1932 and the workshops then lay vacant. The site was selected as the I venue for a modern Olympic Pool and was then subject to massive excavation of Wendy Thorp for Brian McDonald and Associates Page 1 I I I Archaeological Assessment: North Sydney Olympic Pool I both the ground and cliff face to accommodate the new work. The pool was opened in 1936. I 1.3 The Archaeological Resource The study area has been alienated for European settlement from 1800 and occupied I from the 1830s, at first with domestic works and then the railway, a workshop and finally the pool. The most outstanding feature of this long period of development is the extreme amount of disturbance and excavation which has characterised each I phase. Excavation in almost all cases has been into the underlying bedrock. It is highly likely that the extent of this work has removed all traces of each preceding phase. It is considered that this site has little or no likelihood of retaining any I archaeological material. I 1.4 Cultural Significance The study area has historical associations with the earliest settlement on the North I Shore and with seminal events in its development, particularly as a transport corridor. It also has associations with the development of the Harbour Bridge. However, the extent of the disturbance to the site which has accompanied each changing use I means that these associations will not be realised in any tangible way through an archaeological resource. The site has no scientific research value for arcaheological I pruposes. 1.5 Management I This analysis has identified that the proposed work is unlikely to disturb any relics. It will not be necessary, therefore, for the proponents of the development to make application to the- Heritage Council for an Excavation Permit prior to the I commencement of the work. It should be noted, however, that should any deposit, feature or relic of substance and significance be exposed during the course of excavation the owners/managers of the site are required to notify the Heritage Office I of NSW. Relics are protected by the Heritage Act of NSWwhich requires responsible I management of them. It is recommended that: I • no further archaeological work be undertaken for this site. I I I I I Wendy Thorp for Brian McDonald and Associates Page 2 ~---- --------~~~-------------------------------, I I Archaeological Assessment: North Sydney Olympic Pool I SECTION 2.0 I ITHE INVESTIGATION I 2.1 The Study Area and Subject I The subject of this investigation is the site of the North Sydney Olympic Pool and Olympic Place. The study area is found within the suburb of Milsons Point and is bound by Olympic Driye and Luna Park to the west, Paul Street to the north and Alfred I Street to the east and south. The facilities of the pool are to be extended by the construction of a lap pool, wading pool, several buildings and landscaping. I The investigation broadly encompasses the European "heritage" values of this site with respect to a possible archaeological resource. Heritage values are understood to mean the appreciation of and value placed upon the resource by contemporary I society in terms of the criteria expressed in the Surra Charter and formalised by the Heritage Office of NSW. Archaeological evidence, or relics, is defined by the Heritage Act of NSWto be physical evidence (structures, features, soils, deposits and portable I artefacts) that provide evidence ofthe development of NSW, of non-Aboriginal origin I and fifty or more years in age. 2.2 Consent Condition I The work has been initiated by a condition of consent for the development required by North Sydney Council. This condition is that, I "A historical archaeologist shall be engaged to carry out an archaeological assessment ofthe likelihood offinding archaeological remains ofsignificance on the subject site in respect to the whole of the site and the most likely location of these I remains... ". I 2.3 Status of the Site The Olympic Pool has been the subject of several heritage reports. A conservation plan in three volumes was prepared in 1994 (Jean, Hill, Spearitt, Alldritt and Sierins, I (North Sydney Olympic Pool Conservation Plan) and a Heritage Impact Assessment in 1998 (Godden Mackay Heritage Consultants, North SydneY Olympic Pool Heritage I Impact Assessment and Statement of Heritage Effects). There has been no archaeological assessment of this site made prior to the work undertaken for this I report and no recognition of archaeological relics contained within it. I I Wendy Thorp for Brian McDonald and Associates Page 3 I I I Archaeological Assessment: North Sydney Olympic Pool I 2.4 Methodology This report has been prepared in accordance with the principles established by the Heritage Office of New South Wales presented in l'Archaeological Assessment I Guidelinesll (Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, 1996).