Houseboats at Pearl Bay
Nestled in the protected waters of Pearl Bay is one of the few remaining houseboats moored in Sydney Harbour, and a remnant of what used to be a significant flotilla of Mosman residences. Houseboats began emerging here in Pearl Bay since the early 1900s, and these early houseboats were weekend homes for Mosman’s wealthier residents. A 1909 Mosman houseboat was described in a newspaper advertisement as ‘most beautifully furnished…the whole scheme is luxuriant in the extreme.’[1]Houseboats became more numerous during the 1920s as they were used by fisherman and during the 1930s due to financial hardship and the arrival of the Great Depression. By 1938, there were nine boats recorded at Pearl Bay.[2] This flotilla was a concern for local residents and Mosman Council, who ‘regarded them as marine versions of gypsy caravans.’[3] The Mayor, senior council members and the Maritime Services Board inspected the area in 1941, ‘following complaints to the Mosman Council about the mooring of houseboats in Pearl Bay,’ as the Sydney Morning Herald reported in June 1941.[4] Later in 1941, as a result of this inspection, the Maritime Services Board agreed to longer issue houseboat licenses for the area and went on to create extra rules and requirements for accepted license renewals in 1952.[5] The number of houseboats in Pearl Bay dwindled down to four in the early 2000s, then to three, and since 2020, only one currently remains. The current remaining houseboat was previously owned by Australian businessman John Singleton and was nominated for the Heritage Conservation category of the 2017 Mosman Design Awards.[6]The impacts of the Great Depression during the were also evident at Pearl Bay on the grass flats. A cluster of ‘ramshackle shacks’ were erected around the area, beginning with eight in 1930, and increasing to twenty-four by 1934.[7] A water supply and sanitation services were supplied to the area by Mosman Council in 1931, to ‘safeguard the health not only of the campers but of the community.’[8] [1] “Houseboats for Sydney Harbour,” Claremont and Richmond Examiner, February 27, 1909, p. 3, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61536962>, accessed 11 October 2021.[2] “Mosman’s Houseboats,” Mosman Historical Society, February 17, 2021, <https://mosmanhistoricalsociety.org.au/blogs/mhs-blog/mosmans-houseboats>, accessed 21 November 2021.[3] Souter, Mosman, p.290.[4] “Peal Bay Houseboats,” The Sydney Morning Herald, June 11, 1941, p. 8, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17753839>, accessed 19 October 2021.[5] Mosman’s Houseboats,” Mosman Historical Society[6] “2017 Heritage Conservation Nominations,” Mosman Design Awards, <http://mosmandesignawards.com.au/2017/nominations>, accessed 21 November 2021.[7] Souter, Mosman, p. 193.[8] Souter, Mosman, p. 193.
Aboriginal activity at Pearl Bay
The rocks and inlets around Pearl Bay, as with much of those around Middle Harbour, or Warringa as it was known to the Indigenous people, were important sites of Aboriginal activity. The rocks and caves adjacent to the water are reminiscent of shelters and middens further around in Quakers Hat Bay, where there are seventeen recorded sites of Aboriginal artefact evidence, such as the image below of an eel rock engraving in Beauty Point.[1]Coastal groups were described by British marine officer Lieutenant Tench as ‘wholly dependent for food on the fruit they gather, the roots they dig up in the swamps and the fish they pick up along the shore, or contrive to strike from their canoes with spears.’[2][1]Mosman Municipal Council, and Australian Museum Business Services, Aboriginal Heritage Study of the Mosman Local Government Area, p. 81.[2] Tench W, Sydney’s First Four Years, being a reprint of A Narrative of the Expedition to Bottany Bay and A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson, Fitzhardinge, LF (ed). (Library of Australian History in assoc. with Royal Australian Historical Society, Sydney): p. 80-81; Cited in Mosman Municipal Council and Australian Museum Business Services, Aboriginal Heritage Study of the Mosman Local Government Area, p. 25.
Land reclamation at Spit West Reserve
The land at Spit West Reserve was obtained through reclamation practices, which begun in the 19th century when European settlers began developing the built environment. It was significant extended in the 1920s to widen the newly built Spit Road.[1] Additional reclamation also took place in 1961, when Municipal Engineer Brian Leckey began widening the lower part of Spit Road from four lanes to six, extending the original sea wall which had been constructed during reclamation in the 1920s, and backfilled ‘to reclaim about eight acres of recreational open space in a continuous strip of foreshore.’[2][1] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, 2010, PDF file, p. I, <http://mosmanplanning.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/The_Spit_Reserves_Plan_of_Management_Exhibition_Draft_August_101.pdf>, accessed 3 October 2021.[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 290.
Captain Arthur Phillip monument
Exploration of the Spit by Europeans in 1788 was led by Captain Arthur Philip, commander of the First Fleet and eventual first governor of the Colony of New South Wales.[1] In Spit West Reserve, a memorial stands, created in October 1988 to commemorate the two-hundred-year anniversary of Phillip’s exploration. It is constructed from a display of bricks from Vernals Farm in Hampshire, England, where Phillip lived before venturing to Australia. It can be found by venturing down the path to the left of the rowing sheds.[1] Captain Arthur Phillip monument, 1988. Inscription carving. Spit West Reserve, Spit Road, NSW, accessed 24 November 2021.
Spit Road
Spit Road that travels adjacent to Spit West Reserve is one of Sydney’s major arterial traffic routes. Construction of the present Spit Road began in 1924, as one of the first concrete roads in New South Wales Designed and project managed by Jack Tonkin, Municipal Engineer from 1919 to 1926.[1] Excavation and the blasting of sediment from the western side of Parriwi ridge, to achieve a gentler gradient, was completed by December 1924 and the newly completed road opened to the public in 1925.[2] Construction of a new Spit Road was necessary, as the original Spit Road built in 1862 was of such a steep slope that it was difficult for vehicular access. Additionally, it was made of tarmac, which was suitable for horse drawn carriages of the mid nineteenth century but could not suffice for high-speed motor vehicles of the twentieth century. Much of the labour was carried out by men provided by the Council, many of whom were returned soldiers and unexperienced in construction projects of Spit Road’s scale. Tonkin wrote that ‘Spit Road was a huge undertaking to carry through with unskilled labour. The men, generally speaking, had no idea of rock work. In total, Tonkin estimates there were ‘40, 524 cubic yards of rock cutting, some 50 feet deep, and 29, 706 cubic yards of filling in the main road, with a 29 feet high retaining wall.’[3][1] Souter, Mosman, p. 186.[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 186.[3] Souter, Mosman, p. 186.
The Lucinda Memorial Sculpture
Middle Harbour and the waters around the Spit have hosted important events in Australian history throughout the last few centuries. In the middle of Spit West Reserve, between the playground and playing field, is the Lucinda Memorial Sculpture, designed and built by Haydn Wilson and unveiled on October 27, 2000. This unique piece of public art commemorates the Centenary of Australian Federation on January 1, 1901. The paddlewheel steam yacht Lucinda carried delegates to the 1891 National Australasian Convention around Broken Bay, the Pittwater, and Middle Harbour near the Spit. Delegates to the Convention revised a draft Constitution bill, among whom was Australia’s first Prime Minister, Edmund Barton.[1] The frame contains 2001 rocks sourced from across Australia, to symbolise the amalgamating and uniting nature of Australia becoming a Commonwealth.[1] Lucinda Memorial Sculpture, 2001. Public art display. Spit West Reserve, Spit Road, NSW, accessed 24 November 2021.
The Spit Punt
Spit East has always been an important side for transportation over to the northern side of the Spit. In 1949, Peter Ellery launched crossing services across the Spit in a small rowboat.[1] In 1862, Ellery launched a hand operated cable punt in 186.[2] Ellery’s important role in the local community and entrepreneurial ventures led to the naming of Ellery’s Punt Reserve, on the north side of the Spit, in his commemoration in 1939.[3]In 1871 the Government proclaimed a public toll ferry, and in 1888, Ellery’s punt was ultimately replaced by a larger steam-operated version.[4] A new punt was installed on the sand spit by the Public Works Department for the transport of trams from Middle Harbour to Manly in 1912, and this this service continued until the opening of the first Spit Bridge in 1924.[5], [6][1] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, p. 16.[2] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, p. 16.[3] “Reserve at the Spit,” The Sydney Morning Herald, November 8, 1939, p. 14, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17634914>, accessed 25 November 2021.[4] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, p. 16.[5] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, p. 18.[6] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, p. 21.
Parriwi Park
Nestled between Parriwi Road and Spit Road is a sandstone sign welcoming visitors to Mosman. Directly above this sign, a viewing platform and rail from Parriwi Park can be seen. This bushland park and the beautiful lookout, offering views over the Spit and Middle Harbour can be accessed from a set of stairs, approximately halfway along Parriwi Road. Additionally, the remaining alignment of the original nineteenth century Spit Road can be seen in Upper Spit Road, which extends out of Parriwi Park.
Commemorative Grove & Spit Diggers' Amateur Swimming Club
Directly behind the Mosman sign are ten cabbage palm trees, which were planted in 1999 to represent the ten members of the Spit Diggers’ Amateur Swimming Club who lost their lives during active service in World War II.[1] The ten club members were:· Flying Officer F. B. Beale RAAF, died Australia, 23.5.43· Stoker G. H. McCredie RAN, Burma, 15.1.43· Pilot Officer H. E. Beale RAAF, Gibraltar, 21.1.43· Pilot Officer M. O. Merrett RAAF, China Sea, 7.3.34· Flight Sergeant D. D. Benson RAAF, Darwin, 20.5.45· Pilot Officer S. G. Thornton RAF, Hodeige, Belgium, 13.5.40· Seaman P. Watt-Seng, Merchant Navy. New Guinea, 14.4.43· Flight Sergeant J. H. Dyson RAAF, over Germany, 25.2.42· Flight Sergeant R. W. D Weekes RAAF, England, 9.4.44The Club was founded in 1917.[2] They held regular meets and competitions at the Spit Baths, which were opened in 1901 below Parriwi Road, is the site that the Middle Harbour Yacht Club now occupies. The Club still operates in the present day, however, they moved location to Balmoral Baths in 1962. Former notable members include Olympians Edna Davey and Kim Herford.[1] Commemorative Grove, 1999. Inscription carving plaque. Parriwi Road, NSW, accessed 24 November 2021.[2] “About Us,” The Spit Amateurs Swimming Club, <https://spitswimclub.org/about-2/>, accessed 23 October 2021.
Parriwi Road Tram
Parriwi Road was constructed in 1887, in preparation to accommodate the extension of the tramline from Spit Junction down to the Spit in October 1900.[1] The tram track was a single lane which followed the cliff cut down to the water.O-class trams travelled to the Spit Terminus, where passengers would alight, complete a short walk across the Spit Bridge, while the tram was ferried across, and then re-board to venture onwards to the Northern Beaches. The last trams ceased operations in October 1939.[2][1] Mosman Municipal Council, Parkland Environmental Planners, and Philips Marler, The Spit Reserves Plan of Management: Public Exhibition Draft, p. 18.[2] John Cowper, “Remembering Sydney’s Trams: The Spit Terminus, Manly Lines,” Flickr, November 11, 2011, <https://www.flickr.com/photos/johncowper/6333789981>, accessed 13 November 2021.
A 1930s debate
The beautiful view and outlook offered from Parriwi Road faced a threat in 1932, when the Mosman Council favoured Parriwi Park as a site for the installation of a garbage incinerator, replacing the site which was at the time used as a quarry. A January 1933 article in The Daily Telegraph emphatically stated that ‘the projected erection of a garbage incinerator at The Spit is an outrage… [we] cannot understand anybody picking such a beauty spot, one known all over Australia.’[1] A refusal from the Minister for Lands to provide permission to build on the site fortunately saved Parriwi.[2] In June 1934, the Council purchased a site at Balgowlah after negotiation with Warringah Shire Council and Mosman’s garbage incineration plant opened at this location in December 1936.[3][1] “Mar Beauty of Spit: Objections to New Incinerator,” The Daily Telegraph, January 20, 1933, p. 9. Trove, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article247113968>, accessed 8 October 2021.[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 209.[3] Souter, Mosman, p. 209.
Rosherville Lighthouse
The Rosherville Lighthouse can be found towards the top end of Parriwi Road, between residential homes. Built in 1911, it is a navigation beacon to guide ships in and out of Sydney Harbour, and serves as the rear range light with the front lighthouse at Grotto Point.[1] Rosherville Lighthouse and Grotto Point Lighthouse, as well as Vaucluse Bay Range Front Light and Vaucluse Bay Range Rear Light were a series designed by Maurice Festu.[1] “Parriwi Head Lighthouse,” Lighthouses of Australia Inc., <https://lighthouses.org.au/nsw/parriwi-head-lighthouse>, accessed 18 November 2021.
Stairs to Cyprian Road
How Chinamans became Chinamans
Previously known as Rosherville Beach, Chinamans Beach gained its name from Chinese market gardens established in the area during the late nineteenth century. Records show a man named Cho Hi Tick created the gardens on land leased from Mary and John Armitage, the inheritors of Captain McLean’s estate in Shell Cove.[1] The Chinese worked their gardens until about 1890, when records of the name Ah Sue disappeared from the Sands Director’s list of residents in Spit Road[2]. It has also been suggested that the name Chinamans was based upon the presence of Solen Correctus shells, known as ‘Chinaman’s Fingernail shells.’ However, prominent Mosman historian Gavin Souter proposes that ‘as these are also found on other Middle Harbour beaches, market gardening seems the more likely origin.’[3][1] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.[3] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.
A 19th century invasion
What was and continues to be a peaceful spot saw some unruly action one May evening in 1882. Mosman’s growing population, the strategic position of Mosman’s fortified headlands and British military conflict in the Asia-Pacific region, resulted in increasing military activity in Mosman and a growing number of militias and troops establishing. However, with little active service opportunities, militias and troops contented themselves with practice shoots and Easter camps, where they would assemble at Middle Head, pitch rows of tents and engage in warlike manoeuvres.[1] During the 1882 camp in May, a group of one hundred men from the Volunteer Artillery Force marched into the bush on Balmoral slopes at 8pm to guard against an invading force of sixty artillerymen.[2] These men embarked from Cobblers Beach, landed at the Spit, and then worked their way through ‘by-paths, the Chinamen’s gardens, and the scrub’ towards the line of defending Volunteer Artillery Force men.[3] Later in the night, another permanent force hid their way through Chinamans and successfully managed to reach Military Road.[4][1] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.[3] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.[4] Souter, Mosman, p. 80.
Chinamans and Mosman Council
Similar to shacks that emerged in Pearl Bay, Chinamans Beach was home to a number of shack communities. Mosman’s shacks were gradually abandoned, and by the end of the 1930s, all had been demolished except an older camp at Chinamans Beach, which could be dated back to around 1912.[1] This was said by some aldermen to be ‘rapidly developing to a permanent slum area’ and in 1939 the shacks were described as ‘minor cottages’ without sanitation[2].Mosman Council assumed ownership of the Beach in 1948 with their purchase of the beach and the grassy flats in front of it, now known as Rosherville Reserve. A Sydney Morning Herald article from 14th April 1948 wrote ‘Mosman Council will buy Chinaman’s Beach, one of the few remaining natural beaches with unbuilt background on the Harbour… the council will maintain the beach in its natural state…cost for the whole area is estimated at £16, 000, of which £12 999 will be spent on land acquisition and £4,000 on completion of roads to serve 15 housing sites on the slopes of the hill.’[3][1] Souter, Mosman, p. 193.[2] Souter, Mosman, p. 193.[3] “Council to Buy Beach,” The Sydney Morning Herald, April 14, 1948, p. 1, <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18067613>, accessed 17 November 2021.
Chinamans Beach
The beach also has important natural history in terms of dune landscape. In 1966, the Municipal Engineer Brian Leckey began a landscaping programme on the land being progressively acquired at Chinamans Beach. Several grassy mounds were created to match those already existing behind the beach’s sand dunes.[1] The dunes at Chinamans Beach are the last remaining dunes in Sydney Harbour. Council manually cleans the beach of litter whilst keeping natural beach wrack, such as seaweed twigs, seeds and shells, in place.[1] Souter, Mosman, p. 209.
