King's Dockyard, Sydney
Initially, the Colony of NSW was not permitted to have a dockyard, but this was found to be impractical for an island colony that depended substantially for support from England on the other side of the world, and so work commenced on the King's Dockyard in 1797. By 1802 about 28 men were regularly employed in the dockyard. Along with the lumberyard on the corner of High (George) and Bridge streets, the dockyard became one of the two biggest centres of convict employment in the early days of Sydney. Governor Macquarie considerably enlarged and improved the dockyard, including construction of Cadman's Cottage - the barracks for the Coxswain and crews. In 1833 after 36 years of operation and as the era of wooden ships was beginning to come to an end, the King's Dockyard in Sydney Cove was closed down. In the mid-2000s, needing additional space, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) proposed building over the adjacent car park, below which were the remains of the dockyard. Archaeological work established the remains of the dockyard, including the locations of three of the four docks established by Governor Macquarie. These were covered over and the new building was designed to avoid them. The remains are protected as part of the Sydney Cove West Archaeological Precinct which is on the State Heritage Register. Unfortunately, a conscious decision was taken not to display the relics following considerations of cost, architectural implications and other difficulties. However, a feeble attempt at interpretation was made by inserting the following in the outside pavement: In the loch blood stricken time hidden lay lost under this place of birth under your mind – lies a tunnel under this stone salty darkness forgotten place of docks and ships, with an arrow on an adjacent wall pointing down to something below.
In the loch
blood stricken
time hidden lay lost
under this place of birth
under your mind – lies a tunnel
under this stone salty darkness
forgotten place of docks and ships
References:
1. Clarke, Michael, Proposal to Nominate as Item of Engineering Heritage Interest, November 2023.
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Cove_West_Archaeological_Precinct
