Old Rocks Convict History

The sandstone cottage on George Street holds a jagged, sloping roof and a heavy, timber-framed door that dates back to eighteen sixteen. John Cadman, a former convict who eventually became the superintendent of government boats, lived here…

The sandstone walls of Campbell's Stores stretch along the water with heavy timber beams and iron columns clearly visible through the ground floor windows. These warehouses date back to eighteen thirty-nine, when Robert Campbell, a wealthy…

The grassy knoll at Dawes Point sits directly beneath the massive southern arch of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. In seventeen eighty-eight, Lieutenant William Dawes built a small observatory here to track the passing of a comet. He refused an…

The Hero of Waterloo Hotel features rough-hewn sandstone walls that have stood in Millers Point since eighteen forty-four. Its first landlord, George Cribb, oversaw its construction using labor from convicts assigned to the colony. A heavy…

The Garrison Church at the edge of Dawes Point features a steeply pitched roof and heavy stone walls constructed from yellow block sandstone. Soldiers from the imperial regiments stationed in Sydney commissioned this building in eighteen…

The Argyle Cut is a deep, jagged chasm carved directly through the sandstone ridge that separates The Rocks from the rest of Sydney. Its walls still bear the deep, vertical grooves left by the iron chisels of convicts in the eighteen…

The four terrace houses of Susannah Place hold a row of mismatched paint colors and uneven rooflines against the grander sandstone of The Rocks. Built in eighteen forty-four by Irish immigrant Edward Riley, these homes stayed in continuous…

The Big Dig Archaeology Education Centre sits behind a modern facade, identifiable by the large, glass-covered archaeological excavation pit visible right on the site. Beneath this floor lie the remnants of houses and shops from the…