Extract from article by Craig Burton “Nature as Culture: Sydney Harbour and Water as Place”, Landscape Australia, 4-2000, pp 302-307
Sydney Harbour, also referred to as Port Jackson and a myriad of indigenous names, has been a focus for Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal occupants of the Sydney region and the subject of artworks for millennia. It has been associated with the resources of the natural environment, fishing, safe anchorage, port facilities, defence, real estate values, transportation, recreation and spectacle.
As a major landscape element of the Sydney Region it has been both a visually unifying element and a physically dividing element.
Aboriginal cultures of the Ku-ring-gai to the north and the Eora clan of the Dharug to the south were separated by the estuarine waterbody of Sydney Harbour. The European colonisation of the same place has resulted in cultural shifts oriented to the north and south, together with the dramatic differences between east and west.
The extent of the tidal waterbody and its freshwater catchment, feeding essentially three main estuarine arms, is comparatively small in area when considering the global context. Despite this, a relatively large length of shoreline exists because of the indented nature of long ridgelines and correspondingly deep coves that characterises the structural pattern of the harbour.
Biophysically the harbour and its catchment comprise three different places: the marine, the estuarine and the terrestrial.
The marine place is that extent of the harbour that is directly influenced by the adjacent Tasman Sea, the pattern of waves, currents, onshore winds and associated climate. The estuarine place comprises the remaining tidal extent of the waterbody with an ever increasing sense of spatial enclosure, so that the waterbody can be mistaken for a river, as in the case of the Parramatta River Valley, the Lane Cove River Valley and the Middle Harbour Valley These three drowned valleys form the main arms of the Harbour. The terrestrial place is the land area forming the freshwater drainage into the harbour. Both the estuarine place and the terrestrial place have a variety of geological, soil and vegetation formations and a climate ranging from the coast to the hinterland.
Available freshwater and potentially arable soils have influenced terrestrial development, with a complex pattern of settlement and land-use originating in the colonial settlements overlying the indigenous paths and sites within the harbourside valley of Sydney Cove and at the tidal extent the estuary at Parramatta. Access between sites was firstly by water and later by road, as subsequent sites for agricultural pursuit were removed from the ports. Roads often followed logical pathways formed from patterns of Aboriginal occupation of the land of broken topography along the ridges and plateaux of the high ground and terminating at the points of land or the indented coves. Both points and coves have been exploited by development for access and crossing places, views, port settlement, open space or strategic defence locations.
Agricultural soils were scarce on the coast. From the outset of colonial settlement, Governor Phillip attempted to conserve the coastal heath and the headlands east of Sydney Cove and demarking the convict, military and civil establishment at Sydney Cove from the vice-regal domain and government reserves to the east. This division is still evident today and has resulted in the identification of different parts of the harbour. The Outer Harbour was identified as east of Sydney Cove; the Inner Harbour as west of Sydney Cove; and the riverine environment as the Parramatta River and Lane Cove River further west of 'Watersmeet' (Moocooboula), an area at the junction of these former rivers and Iron Cove (formerly Long Cove). To the north were Middle Harbour
click on each to enlarge
Within the Outer Harbour and between Sydney Cove and its entrance-the Heads-points of land not suitable for agriculture or possessing a strategic location overlooking the Harbour were reserved for military defence. Successive colonial governors arranged for the siting and building of forts, gun emplacements and military establishments to protect Port Jackson from invasion. Often points of land were reserved for an unknown use, due to their inability to support a northern hemisphere concept of agriculture, and remained as bushland. Charles Darwin makes reference to these lands in a description of first arriving at Sydney by ship in 1836:
Early in the morning a light air carried us toward the entrance of Port Jackson. Instead of beholding a verdant country, interspersed with fine houses, a straight line of yellowish cliff brought to our minds the coast of Patagonia. A solitary lighthouse, built of white stone, alone told us that we were near a great and populous city. Having entered the harbour, it appears fine and spacious, with cliff-formed shores of horizontally stratified sandstone. The nearly level country is covered with thin scrubby trees, bespeaking the curse of sterility. Proceeding further inland, the country improves: beautiful villas and nice cottages are here and there scattered along the beach. In the distance stone houses, two and three stories high, and windmills standing on the edge of a bank, pointed out to us the neighbourhood of the capital of Australia At last we anchored within Sydney Cove (Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle, London,1839, reprinted, J.M.Dent & Sons, 1979).
Darwin's description moves from the exposed nature of the marine place through to the enclosed, protected nature of part of the estuarine place. The dominant geological formations of the Triassic sediments of Hawkesbury Sandstone and overlying Quaternary sands coupled with the invasive nature of Jurassic and Tertiary volcanics has resulted in the characteristic landscape character that Darwin was experiencing in the Outer Harbour. The weathered geological formations, with uplifted northern shore and long points of land with sites of resistance to climatic forces and long indented coves with sandy embayments, supported an indigenous vegetation type known as the Sydney Sandstone Complex (Benson). Local variation was according to microclimate and soil depth ranging from Coastal Heath and Eastern Suburb's Banksia Scrub to Open Forest formations, depending on location.
The apparently natural waterforms, landforms and vegetation formations have been altered by the transition from predominantly Aboriginal cultures to Non-Aboriginal cultures and the quest for permanent settlement as part of a multicultural society The development of the terrestrial place: ridges, slopes and valleys of the harbour catchment, as part of the culture of greed associated with a real estate approach to the land, has severely degraded the natural environment. It has created a fragmented landscape dominated by built form and engineering structures, where a view of water has become a desirable and highly valued commodity.
The concept of freshwater supply to permanent settlement sites has had a large impact on the biophysical environment of the harbour catchment area, by altering the natural flow regime in the terrestrial place to either increase or decrease the volume of freshwater entering the estuarine place. This has changed the nature of the vegetation formations and types throughout the catchment. Once influenced by the Aboriginal practice of fire use, the vegetation has further adapted to a Non-Aboriginal cultural concern for fire and its impact on property, together with the introduction of reticulated watering systems, altered landforms, exotic organisms, increased nutrients and urban runoff.
The present indigenous vegetation formations and types are in a fragmented state within the Sydney Harbour catchment area. Very few areas adjacent to the harbour waterbody remain completely intact as an interconnected ecosystem. The unifying element remains the waterbody of Sydney Harbour. Despite its environmental condition, its presence as a borrowed landscape element is central to the identity of Sydney
Within this context are the military reserves and open space within the harbour catchment, which contain some of the best remnants of the indigenous landforms and vegetation types, together with built and archaeological items of cultural significance. Part of these lands make up Sydney Harbour National Park, which was formed in the 1970s. The Park's lands comprise a further layer of fragmentation, including part of former defence lands at North Head, South Head, Dobroyd Head, Middle Head, Georges Head, Bradleys Head, Laings Point, Nielson Park (including Vaucluse Point to Hermit Point), and Fort Denison, together with Shark, Clark, Goat and Rodd Islands. They are not only associated with defence, but are also part of the Aboriginal history, colonial and convict history, maritime and navigational industrial history, quarantine, health and recreational use history.
Bradleys Head
Bradley’s Head is a prominent and elongated point of land that helps to define the marine place from the estuarine place of Sydney Harbour. The space of the main arm of the Outer Harbour hinges around this landform. Its eastern slopes are constantly battered by prevailing strong onshore salt-laden south-easterly winds, which penetrate into the harbour space by way of the Bondi depression and by north-east onshore winds in summer from the Lion of the harbour entrance between the Heads and the Gap depression at Watson's Bay. Its exposed western slopes receive the winter offshore westerly winds but are protected during the seasons.
Bradleys Head was named by Governor Hunter to commemorate .the assistance given by William Bradley, First Lieutenant of the First Fleet ship Sirius, in the surveying of the harbour. Aboriginal culture called the landform Burrogy and/or Tal-le-ongi-i. with the equivalent expression in English as 'watch out' or 'look out'. This emphasizes its prominent position in the spatial structure of the harbour.
Burrogi was developed by the colonial establishment as a fort in 1840s and 1870s, incorporating a variety of defensive installations. It was also used as an animal quarantine station at the end of the nineteenth century to relieve the pressure placed on the original animal quarantine station at Shark Island. A sandstone jetty built in 1870 allowed access by water to the point and the Military Road running from Blues Point and along the ridges of the then St Leonards (Hunters Hills), now North Sydney, Neutral Bay and Mosman down the spur to Bradleys Head to provide land access. This road also connected Middle Head and Georges Head by way of the high ground.
A distinctive navigational marker was erected on rocks off the point at Bradleys Head. This was a solitary Doric column, originally one of six columns forming the portico of the old George Street post office in Sydney. The placement of the column in the mid-1870s marks the terminus of one nautical mile measured from Fort Denison.
In 1908 the Military Reserve and the adjoining hotel and pleasure ground, Athol Gardens, were incorporated into AshtonPark, in order for the public to view the arrival of the American Naval Fleet: the Great White Fleet. Ironically, the 1840s defensive installations were established to defend Sydney from the perceived threat of invasion by the USA.
Ashton Park was named to commemorate the Hon. James Ashton, Minister for Lands from 1904 to 1907. The Ashton Park Trust eventually established walking tracks (utilising depression labour in the 1930s) linking Taronga Park Zoo entrance and the harbour foreshore along to Chowder Bay by way of Taylors Bay and Point to the north-east.
Bradleys Head became a popular site to view sailing races and one could follow the progression of skiffs and yachts by following the contour around the headland. Under the care of the Trust, the point of the headland was cleared of some of the previous military buildings and expansive grassed areas were cultivated for public recreation and to achieve easy visual access to the water plane of the harbour from the land. Extensive clearing had previously taken place by the military to achieve the all important cannon trajectory towards any invading vessels.
In 1934, Mosman Council contributed to the erection of a mast to commemorate HMAS Sydney: the first engagement of an Australian warship in war with a disastrous outcome. The mast was dedicated by H.R.H. the Duke of Gloucester on 24 November 1934, whilst on board a vessel standing off Bradleys headland. Further accretions were made during the Second World War in the form of anti-aircraft guns. In the 1960s, the Military Road (Bradleys Head Road) was extended to the lower fortifications close to the HMAS Sydney mast and terminated in a carpark. The new road edge had incorporated sandstone steps, as long tiers, along the road edge to cater for sailing enthusiasts to view the races on the harbour Fig (Ficus rubiginosa) and Brush Box (Lophostemon confertus) trees were planted at this time to commemorate the Australian World War Two Navy fleet.
In 1975, Ashton Park was handed over to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, to form an important part of Sydney Harbour National Park. Exotic trees associated with the Athol Gardens pleasure grounds were removed, along with surviving military buildings and public toilets. A further monument to HMAS Sydney and crew was sunk into the ground at the point in 1992.
Recent Works
The most recent works at Bradleys Head were undertaken in 1998 following design proposals developed in the previous year as a response to improving visitor facilities in respect to anticipated increase of visitors generated by the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Sydney Harbour is associated with the yachting events and Bradleys Head is an ideal vantage point to view the harbour spectacles.
CAB CONSULTING PTY LTD was engaged to prepare design proposals for the headland and a collaborative team was assembled to prepare design proposals. The consultant team comprised: Richard Leplastrier, Ian Martin and Craig Burton. Four separate sites were identified for design intervention arising from a previous Bradleys Head Precinct Plan prepared by Stephen Gorrell and the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1996.
The four main projects were: Athol Entrance and carpark off Bradleys Head Road; Wharf Area tracks, amphitheatre and carpark; Upper Terrace Viewing Area; and Lookout Viewing Platform off the existing western walking track.
Only part of three of these projects were to be documented and implemented: the Athol Entrance carpark with detail design and supervision by Craig Burton, excluding the arrival and interpretative terrace; the Wharf Area amphitheatre and associated tracks linking the existing parking and toilet facilities, and access tracks to the previous HMAS Sydney monuments and the 1840s fortifications as an extension to the Wharf Area amphitheatre project. The detail design and documentation for Wharf Area was carried out by Ian Martin and Craig Burton, with advice from George Proudman. The implementation of this project was a collaboration between CAB Consulting Pty Ltd, Patonga Design, George Proudman, Tracks Pty Ltd, and NSW National Parks Service staff. Richard Leplastrier prepared detailed designs for the lookout structures along the western pathway and unfortunately these were not implemented to his original design, due to changes made by the Parks Service without his agreement.
Due to the fragmented nature of the Sydney Harbour National Park, the design team felt that a common language of sandstone as the main material could be used to conceptually link the different sited projects and a similar expression could be adopted for new works throughout the Park to create a distinctive identity. An exception to this was the lookout structure. This was intended to be as minimal and lightweight as possible, so that it could easily be carried on-site in modular parts and erected with minimal disruption to the bush; and so that it would appear to float amongst the bushland without much visual impact when viewed from the harbour. It was thought that this type of lookout could be employed on other sites around the harbour once the system was developed to a more sophisticated level.
In some ways, the stonework was consciously designed to be expressed as essentially horizontal elements, to reflect the horizontal stratification of the bedrock. When it came to documentation. George Proudman joined the team and gave advice on suitable stone sources and detailing, to harmonise with the scale and character of the nineteenth century stone fortifications yet not compete with them, and to allow the new work to express its own contemporary character. George was a central figure in the supervision of the amphitheatre and attention to detail and gave his time most generously despite his failing health.
A critical design principle was the establishment of a strong visual link between the sites and the water plane of the harbour, to minimise the visual impact of the designs as viewed from the harbour. This was a controversial approach as far as National Parks were concerned, as it necessitated removal of existing vegetation Since taking over the park in 1975 the nature conservation objective of NSW National Parks Service of removing exotic vegetation and structures was pursued, to allow for regeneration of indigenous species, except for those introduced species that were deemed to be of cultural significance. Even the suggestion of removal of indigenous species was unacceptable.
The design proposals recognised the need to borrow the landscape of Sydney Harbour as a waterbody. This was both for the viewer to see the water surface as the place spectacle and to orient themselves with such landmarks as the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge - both built elements helping to locate Sydney Cove. The proposed vegetation removal at Athol Entrance was to allow a vista through to the harbour, with more extensive planting either side of that vista to reinforce it and compensate for the loss by regenerating bushland on an existing grassed area (part of the former Athol Gardens site).
Elsewhere the removal was contemplated as a selective process of removing sections of the understorey where many weed species were evident, to create more panoramic views closer to the level of he water plane. This was designed to follow the yacht racing as it had been in the past and to appreciate the scenic qualities of the harbour. This did not happen.
photos: CAB Consulting
Polarisation
The design team considered the remnant bushland as part of Sdney's urban garden and any new planting proposed was of indigenous species, with the exception of new grassing around the wharf area and the lower fortifications where visitation is and will be most intensive. Buffalo grass was chosen and it is contained by paving and wall elements.
The Wharf Area amphitheatre is a sandstone, exposed aggregate and grassed area, with an integrated spinal curved stairway linking the 1870s stone and concrete jetty and reconstructed sea wall with the upslope sandstone fortifications, walking tracks, commemorative installations, carpark and toilets. An upper paved terrace allows access for disabled persons to take in the dramatic views to the city and a lower paved surface adjacent to the sea wall not only copes with high tide surges and wave action but acts as a focus for possible outdoor performances. This space attracts weddings, picnics, corporate functions and, at one time, a set for Mission Impossible 2.
Its location within one of the former sandstone quarries on the headland has a strong visual and spatial link with Sydney Harbour and the urban context of Sydney city. Its design, with a spine of stone steps, providing access to the foreshore, and integrated arcing stone ribs dissolving into the grassed slopes and floor of the former quarry, also allows a harbourside slope planted with species native to Bradleys Head. It is intended that the plants increase in height progressively away from the curving edge of the stairway so as not to reduce the sense of borrowed harbour space and city views.
The design proposals polarised the Park's Service. There were those who supported a degree of artful urban intervention and the need to integrate the Sydney Harbour National Park into the fabric of the living city. Others felt that the human should be excluded from such areas, to conserve the fragment of surviving nature because of the fragility and rarity of the Sydney Sandstone Complex vegetation type (and associated fauna) on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour. The cases for both points of view are compelling.
The detailing of the projects, particularly that of the amphitheatre at the Wharf Area, was developed so that non-skilled labour could implement the project in the hope that the Service could apply sandstone as a material for built works elsewhere within Sydney Harbour National Park. This has happened elsewhere within Bradley's Head and also at South Head, but without design advice, which suggests that some recognition has been made to include humans within these invaluable urban bushland areas, where nature is included as culture rather than excluded. However, the vision of the Service and the consultant designer are not always the same.
Critical Issues
Some critical issues are raised in the form of the following questions:
- How do the Sydney Harbour National Park's fragments of urban bushland integrate with other fragments in the care of the Commonwealth and local government, in order to weave the natural and built fabric of the city together to the benefit of all?
- Who cares for the harbour as a place when there are already a number of established authorities dealing with the foreshore, waterways, planning and design regulations of the mosaic of local government areas bordering the waterbody, and the catchment (focussed on water quality in the terrestrial place).
- Who can't see the water for the harbour and vice versa?
Client
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
Project Team
CAB Consulting Pty Ltd (Craig Burton) with Patonga Design (Ian Martin), Richard Leplastier, George Proudman and Professor Max Irvine.
Wharf Area Construction: NSW NPWS and Tracks Pty Ltd
Contact
Craig Burton, CAB Consulting Pty Ltd, PO Box 277
Church Point NSW 2105
Tel: 02 9997 1060 Fax: 02 9997 1050
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