| Historical notes: | Originally swampy mangrove land on the banks of the Tank Stream, the colony's first water supply, this site is very significant. In 1792 a path continuing Bridge Street and the carriageway to First Government House met in this approximate spot. This was then close to the foreshore. By then the alignment of lots forming its southern boundary was in existence (Read, 2008,1).
Macquarie Place is shown from 1792 as a triangular area adjoining the garden of the First Government House, near the original foreshore of Circular Quay (then Sydney Cove) and on the eastern bank of the Tank Stream (when it was an open stream into Sydney Cove). The land of Macquarie Place is represented as such in the 1792 Governor Phillip's Survey of the settlement in New South Wales and the 1793 Sketch of Sydney by Ferdinand Brambila. The triangular shape responded to the natural topography of the original shoreline of Sydney Cove and the Tank Stream. The triangular area was formed by the intersection of three early Colonial roads running in direct lines between three important constructions of the colonial period, including the Guard House at the entrance to First Government House at the south-eastern tip of the triangle, the bridge over the Tank Stream at the south-western tip of the triangle, and the 1788 fortifications (replaced by the Dry Store in 1791) beside the Government Wharf at the northern tip of the triangle. Macquarie Place may have operated as a public place of gathering for the early settlement from as early as 1791 alongside the Dry Store, located in the approximate present-day location of Customs House. At least half of the population still depended upon this Dry Store for collecting their food rations by 1801. During this early period before the official gazettal of Macquarie Place, part of the land was leased to Shadrach Shaw. This early lease appears in plans of Sydney of 1800 and 1807 and in no other known plans before or following these years (SCC, 2002).
By 1807 a triangular layout had been formalised (relating to the existing layout of plots) and a guard house had been built next to Government House's main entrance (Read, 2008, 1).
In 1810 Macquarie named the principal roads in Sydney town, envisaging a regular grid, and set aside Macquarie Place as public ground. Roads to Liverpool and Windsor were completed and toll gates built. During his term (1810-21) a network of surveyed new towns (the 5 Hawkesbury towns, Liverpool, Campbelltown) and roads pushed into the interior, well past the 40 miles possible on his arrival. Bathurst Plains were opened up with a road across the mountains in 1814-5. Elizabeth Macquarie advised her husband on creating public spaces - she knew about landscaping country estates - her involvement in creating the setting of her family home Airds House, in Argyle, Scotland had impressed him. She and Francis Greenway had elaborate visions for Sydney. To achieve a picturesque setting, parks were created and buildings carefully designed and arranged to enhance the composition and create vistas. This form of landscaping was often used in English gentry country estates of the era (Read, 2008, 1).
Landscape gardening, in contrast to architecture, was an activity where it was then acceptable for women to participate. Elizabeth was responsible for introducing it into Australia. As the Governor's wife she could and did influence the design of public and military buildings. The Macquaries transformed the Sydney and Parramatta Domains in picturesque style, sweeping away Phillip's more utilitarian, straight lined beds and layout of paddocks (Read, 2008, 1).
Macquarie had unofficially employed convict architect, Francis Greenway from 1814, to inspect works and copy designs from Mrs Macquarie's pattern books; appointing him Acting Government Architect and Assistant Surveyor in 1816. In that year Greenway prepared schemes including Government House and stables, Fort Macquarie and Dawes Pt. Barracks. With these he envisaged landscaped gardens. Of his vision for Sydney Cove only the stables (now Conservatorium) and this obelisk remain. Convict labour cleared and levelled the site (Read, 2008, 1).
The roughly triangular area bounded by the Government Domain to its east, the civil officers' houses to the south, the Tank Stream to the west and the houses of Messrs. Lord, Thompson and Reibey on its north was to be cleared of buildings and enclosures and made into an open area to be named 'Macquarie Place'. There was no reference to access for the inhabitants of the town and its very naming implied posession. Although it was not enunciated in 1810, Macquarie's immediate moves to replace the guard house to the west of First Government, to construct new residences for officials and to enclose Macquarie Place with a dwarf stone wall and paling in 1816, indicated that Macquarie Place was a triangular town 'square' accessible only to the surrounding and sanctioned residents. The Obelisk constructed in 1817-19 was primarily ornamental but given a more functional status, provided a decorative centre piece. The water fountain, demolished before it was completed in its first manifestation under Mrs Macquarie's instructions and replaced with a structure to a design by Francis Greenway, stood at the south-west corner outside the Macquarie Place enclosure, providing a publicly-accessible water source as far removed from Government House as possible while providing a suitable ambience to the approach to First Government House from the the town (Morris, NHL assessment, 2012).
Macquarie Place was the first planned town square in Sydney, as well as the geographic centre of the early Colony, marked by the erection of the Obelisk at the centre of this park in 1818. Macquarie Place was the first formally laid out public space in Sydney and thus in Australia. Governor Macquarie was responsible for its formal layout, befitting its important situation at the centre of the colony. The park and the memorials standing in this park outline the development of Sydney since its foundation (SCC, 2002).
Macquarie Place separated the town from the Governor's private domain, including the First Government House and its grounds extending into and including the present day Domain. Macquarie Place thus marked the boundary between the grounds of Government House and the surrounding residential allotments owned by the elite and leading Colonial officials of the early colony, including the Colonial Judge's residence and offices, Colonial Secretary's residence and offices, Simeon Lord, Andrew Thompson and Mary Reiby. The park containing the Obelisk formed the main town square of Sydney and both were popular subjects for many artists in the early days of the colony, including Conrad Martens, Joseph Fowles, Thomas Watling and Major James Taylor. This parcel of land was gazetted as Macquarie Place in 1810 (SCC, 2002).
The western side of the reserve was available for private purchase, while the south side was occupied by Government buildings and the east by the Governor's Domain. Significant emancipist traders such as Mary Reiby and Simeon Lord bought land on the west and Lord's prominent 3 storey mansion occupied the site of today's (1931) Kyle House (Read, 2008).
Macquarie Place is now the oldest town square in Australia. Together with Hyde Park, it is also the oldest urban park in Australia and has been in continuous operation as a public space for at least 195 years. The Obelisk is the oldest surviving milestone built to mark the place from which all public roads in the Colony were to be measured, and is the second oldest known European monument in Australia. The oldest known monument is the 1811 obelisk also erected by Macquarie's Regiment at Watsons Bay to commemorate the completion of construction of the road to South Head (SCC, 2002).
An obelisk could be used to mark a point from which a view could be obtained and could form an element in a vista to draw the eye. It is assumed this one was designed not only to enhance the entrance to Government House but also the vistas from it and the Government Domain / Governor's Pleasure Garden (to the east and south). The scale of Sydney has much changed but the obelisk was once clearly visible from the ridges above Sydney Cove, the front of Government House and the North Shore. The park in which it was built was divided into segments by paths leading to the sandstone obelisk. A low wall surrounded the reserve (Read, 2008, 1).
Obelisks originated as Egyptian sacred symbols to sun God, Heliopolis. Pairs flanked temple entrances. Many were transported to Rome by emperors and erected in public squares. Adding a cross on top turned them into Christian symbols. Renaissance designers used them singly to mark particular points, such as the Piazza in front of St. Peter's, Rome. Gardens such as the Villa Lante, Bagnaia and Pitti Palace, Florence also used them.
These inspired many English gentlemen on the 'Grand Tour', and were widely published, probably finding their way into private libraries such as those of Elizabeth Macquarie and Francis Greenway. She brought pattern books with her here. He had to sell his library to pay creditors and relied on memory, and her books. Lord Burlington erected an obelisk in the gardens of Chiswick House, London (c1724) and they became a very fashionable element, especially after one was erected, with pyramid, in Bath, by Richard (Beau) Nash (1734). Elizabeth Macquarie and Greenway may both have visited, or at least seen drawings of Bath.
The obelisk's form seems to be directly influenced by Georgian examples rather than Egyptian: Greenway is reputed to have based his design on that of Nash in Bath. It is also possible the source of the Macquaries' fancy may have been the pair of obelisks in the Passeio Publico overlooking the harbour in Rio de Janeiro, which they visited in August 1809 (Read, 2008, 1).
Governor Macquarie caused the sandstone Obelisk to be erected in the (then) centre of Macquarie Place in 1818 to mark the place from where all public roads were to be measured for the expansion of the colony into the interior on New South Wales. It was erected near the carriageway into the first Government House. "New South Wales" at the time was mapped as covering two-thirds of the continent, excluding only the territories now known as Western Australia. The distances and other Colonial centres inscribed on the Obelisk show the actual extent of the still tiny colony in 1818 despite its vast extent shown on maps at the time. Mileage is given only for Bathurst, Windsor, Parramatta, Liverpool, South Head and the North Head of Botany Bay. This was nevertheless the first major expansion of Sydney town into the interior of New South Wales, compared to when Macquarie first became Governor when he described the poor state of the colony, noting that the roads only penetrated forty miles into the interior (SCC, 2002).
Built between 1816 and 1818, the obelisk before the Dept. of Lands Building is literally the 'hub' of NSW, the datum point from which all distances in NSW were measured from Sydney. Its inscriptions record the extent of the road network in 1818 (Read, 2008, 1)
The Obelisk operated as the "zero point" for measuring the distance of roads from Sydney from 1818. It played a central role in the subsequent surveying, mapping and planned expansion of the Colony from the early 1800s beyond the current extent of New South Wales. Surveyors measured and laid out the line of many roads. Distances in the County of Cumberland were measured from this Obelisk. Those distances were also recorded at the side of the road on milestones or other distance markers. Road plans prepared by surveyors show these distances as well. Public works officers and workers were responsible for forming and making the roads, but it was the surveyors who laid them out, thus providing a direct link to the Macquarie Place Obelisk. The early surveyors of the Colony at the time of the erection of the Obelisk for this purpose included John Oxley, who was appointed by Governor Macquarie as Surveyor General in 1812, and James Meehan, who was appointed by Governor Macquarie as Deputy Surveyor General from 1812 to 1822 (SCC 2002).
Much of the time of John Oxley was devoted to journeys of exploration into the interior of the colony rather than in ordinary survey work. The duties of surveying land were largely performed by James Meehan, who produced the 1807 Plan of the Town of Sydney. In addition to his surveying duties, Meehan carried out considerable journeys of exploration, a matter largely ignored by his predecessors. As a result of the recommendations of Commissioner Bigge additional surveyors and draftsmen were appointed in an attempt to overcome the arrears of survey work in the colony. In very many instances land had been occupied without any proper survey having been carried out. T L Mitchell was the Surveyor-General from 1828 to 1855, and was also responsible in the early 1830s for road building. In that role, he laid out the main Northern, Southern and Western Roads, undertaking major works such as the Victoria Pass works at Mount Victoria. The distance of these roads laid out by T L Mitchell and other major nineteenth century roads for the expansion of the Colony were measured from the Obelisk. With few exceptions, roads emanating from Sydney, in particular the historic "Great Roads" continue to be measured from the Macquarie Obelisk. The RTA "ROADLOC" distance measurement system is also measured from this point (SCC 2002).
The Obelisk was designed by Francis Greenway, one of the most celebrated architects of early NSW with strong influence from Elizabeth Macquarie, and was built by the stonemason Edward Cureton in 1818-20. It was one of the first works of the former convict, Francis Greenway, formed part of a group of civic adornments designed by Greenway, but was the only one built due to the intervention of Commissioner Bigge. Greenway is reputed to have based his design on the influential 1734 Georgian Obelisk erected by Richard (Beau) Nash in Bath, England, more so than the Egyptian prototypes. While the stone used to construct the Obelisk would have been quarried locally near Sydney Cove, the exact location of the quarry is not known. There are no other structures in Sydney that are built from this particular fine grained white sandstone. Unusually for obelisks, this needle was constructed of ashlar blocks of sandstone because, despite the availability of a convict labour force, the technology for excavating a single block of sandstone was not available in colonial Sydney at the time (SCC 2002, amended by Stuart Read, 11/1/2010).
Macquarie Place and the Obelisk provide evidence of Governor Macquarie's vision for the planning of the Colony and its future. This far exceeded the views of the British Government at the time which considered NSW to be a gaol outpost of the British Empire, and as such did not warrant the substantial public buildings, monuments and public investment by Macquarie. This was embodied in the reaction of Commissioner Bigge to the Obelisk when he travelled from England to investigate the Colonial management and convey this British view. Bigge found even this simple monument too grand for a penal settlement. Governor Macquarie defended with indignation the expense and design describing it as a "little unadorned Obelisk... rendered at a trifling expense, somewhat ornamental to the Town..." which did not, in his view, "merit any censure" (SCC 2002).
The erection of features like the Obelisk that were completed before British criticism became too severe are also remnant evidence of the attempts by Governor Macquarie and his wife to construct Sydney City as a Georgian town with a regular planned layout and elegant buildings, set within picturesque landscaped grounds . The Hyde Park Barracks, St James Church and the First Government House stables (now the Conservatorium) are other rare surviving remnants of Macquarie's Georgian town plan for Sydney. Macquarie Place and the Obelisk therefore provide a rare record of the transition of the early town from a rough penal settlement to a planned city under the direction of Governor Macquarie (SCC 2002).
The Obelisk also demonstrated the potential for success in the Colony and the abundant opportunities even for ex-convicts like Francis Greenway. Francis Greenway was convicted of forgery in 1812 and sentenced to death. This sentence was commuted to transportation to New South Wales for 14 years. In 1816 Greenway was appointed by Governor Macquarie to the position of the first Colonial Architect and became one of the most important architects of the colonial period (SCC 2002).
As the Colonial Architect from 1816, Greenway prepared elaborate schemes for Sydney Cove including a series of castellated buildings, Government House, Government House Stables, Fort Macquarie and the Barracks on Dawes Point, plus landscaped gardens and an Egyptian styled monument on Garden Island. Only the Stables (now converted and altered for the Conservatorium of Music), St James Church, Hyde Park Barracks and the Obelisk remain of Greenway's work on implementing Macquarie's vision of the early 1800s for Sydney township (SCC 2002).
In 1819, Macquarie also commissioned Greenway to design the Doric fountain which was located at the western corner of the Park in the location of the present statue of T. S. Mort. (SCC, 2002). It was outside the fenced triangle so that the general public could have access and at the furthest point from Government House. Macquarie Place today is approximately half its original size (Morris, pers.com., 2012). A path system was developed to encircle the Park and these paths led to the central obelisk, as seen in 'Harper's Plan of Sydney, 1822' (SCC 2002).
The public were not allowed into the Governor's Domain, however they were permitted to promenade in front of it, along the eastern foreshore of Sydney Cove. Macquarie Place separated the town from the Domain, it was the main square at the time and would have been the site for many events. The Inner Domain at the time included Bennelong Point and Sydney Cove down to Loftus Street and south to the intersection of Bent and Macquarie Streets.
Elizabeth Macquarie was influmental in the fountain's design and construction, having a large section of its stonework pulled down and rebuilt after its niches were originally omitted. It was 'still unroofed' in 1820. Controversy surrounded its erection: Bigge questioned both the contractor and Mrs Macquarie. She sent him haughty replies. Politicians hurled charges of extravagance at Macquarie, with such sarcastic phrases as 'temples round pumps'. Macquarie defended it vigorously.
James Broadbent and Joan Kerr in a book 'Gothick Taste in the Colony of NSW' noted
'...her Gothick buildings were meant to be seen as objects in a great landscape garden, and Lord Bathurst had some justification in resenting the fact that the British Government was footing the bill for these expensive ornaments - especially when the garden was a whole colony'.
During the Macquarie era the nature of Sydney changed and elegant structures often with associated courtyards or squares were built, e.g.: the Military Barracks (demolished) and Hyde Park Barracks. Macquarie introduced building regulations though they were much ignored. Buildings like the obelisk show attempts to create a Georgian town with elegant buildings and regular layout. Macquarie resigned his post before Bigge arrived but remained in office until 1821 (Read, 2008, 1).
Macquarie Place also retains evidence of the first defences of the Colony taken from the warship of the First Fleet. The salvaged anchor and canon of the "Sirius" are still mounted in Macquarie Place. The "Sirius" was the man-of-war flagship which escorted the First Fleet to Australia. The "Sirius" sailed from England with the First Fleet on 13 May 1787, arrived in Botany Bay on 20 January 1788, and anchored at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. The "Sirius" was wrecked on the coast of Norfolk Island in 1790.
The "Sirius" cannon and anchor have been mounted at Macquarie Place for nearly a century or longer, according to different accounts. The iron cannon mounted at Macquarie Place was originally manufactured between 1767 and 1786 at the Calcutts Foundry in Shropshire, England, based on its marking with the cast founder's mark of George Matthews from this foundry, and the Royal cipher of George III whose reign was from 1760-1820. The cannon was landed from the "Sirius" shortly after the foundation of the Colony, either in 1788 or 1796 as part of one of two groups of cannons taken from the vessel, and was used on shore for defences and signalling the arrival of vessels to the isolated community.
The first group of 10 iron six-pounder cannons (plus 2 brass six-pounders and 4 twelve-pounders) were offloaded from the "Sirius" in 1788 to defend the new Colony. The second group of 10 cannons was salvaged from the wreck of the "Sirius" in 1791-1796 under the direction of Governor Hunter when he was concerned for the security and defences of the Colony against a rebellion by Irish convicts and attack by the French or Spanish warships. Most historical records indicate that the subject cannon formed one of these 10 salvaged cannons.
The location of the subject cannon before 1810 is not known, although it is possible they formed part of the first fortifications at Dawes Point or Port Phillip (now Sydney Observatory) where the iron six-pounder cannons were placed in 1788, or later positions established by Governor Hunter and Governor King for the salvaged cannons at Bennelong Point, Garden Island, Windmill Hill, and unidentified positions described by Governor Hunter as "the most commanding eminences which cover the town of Sydney". It is known that after 1810 the subject cannon was stationed at the Macquarie lighthouse at South Head as a signal gun by Governor Macquarie, together with three other salvaged cannons. The cannon was moved to Macquarie Place in the 1880s. In 1905 the anchor of the "Sirius" was salvaged from the wreck and mounted in this location with the cannon at Macquarie Place in 1907 (SCC 2002).
Macquarie Place and the surrounding area is also the site of the first constructed defences of Sydney Cove when the First Redoubt was built near its northern end as the first fortification of Sydney from 1788-1791. A redoubt is a temporary, stand-alone, fully enclosed fortification, generally constructed of earth walls. The 1788 redoubt at Sydney Cove was square in shape. Two cannons taken from the "Sirius" in 1788 were located at this Redoubt from 1788 to 1791, however, they were the two brass cannons, and therefore not the existing iron cannon (SCC 2002).
Macquarie Place took on its current size during the 1830s. During the 1830s, the relocation of Government House and extension of Castlereagh Street (now Loftus Street) through the original extent of Macquarie Place reduced the park to its present size from a public square to a small park, with the Obelisk situated near the boundary of Loftus Street (SCC 2002).
The park around Macquarie Place was reduced between 1836 and 1843 and Loftus Street was created. This may've coincided with constructing Semi-Circular Quay, the Customs House and Alfred Street in the 1850s. Joseph Fowles in 1848 made drawings of Sydney's highlights including this obelisk and fountain. Warehouses were built facing Loftus Street (Read, 2008, 2).
The park contains many mature trees with fig trees remnant of the street planting scheme of the 1860s (SCC 2002).
Farrer Place dates to 1865 as, first Fountain Street (1871)(NB: suggesting it led to the c.1820 fountain), Raphael St. (1880) after a Councillor; Raphael Place and Raphael Triangle (1902+).
In 1935 the Minister for Agriculture requested that it and the triangular plantation space fronting the building housing the Dept. of Agriculture (the southern part of today's Education Building) be renamed 'Farrer Place'. This commemorated William J. Farrer (1845-1906) a noted wheat breeder whose work had incalculable benefit to the wheat industry, as he selected strains suitable for Australian conditions (Read, 2008, 2).
A Mayor of Sydney left his memorial with the 1869 stone gate posts facing Bridge Street marked with the words "Walter Renny, Esq., Mayor 1869" (SCC 2002).
In the 1880s large Government buildings (Lands; Education; Chief Secretary's) were built along Bridge Street. Macquarie Place had become enclosed with a palisade fence. The fountain appears to have been demolished in c1887 to make way for the statue of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort.
The development of commerce and industry in Sydney is represented in Macquarie Place by an imposing bronze statue of Thomas Sutcliffe Mort, who died in 1878. He was "A pioneer of Australian resources, a founder of Australian industries, one who established our wool market" states the inscription on the plinth. He was one of the first in Australia to make the export of perishable food possible by refrigeration, and to provide docks for the reception of the world's shipping. Mort was also a major founder of the ship building and repair industry in Australia. His statue represents the evolution of a new Sydney - a city conscious of its dignity as the nucleus of a self-supporting and expanding colony within the Empire (SCC 2002).
The statue was erected in this location in 1883. It replaced the earlier Doric Fountain of 1819-1820. Archaeological remains of the fountain may survive below ground beneath the footings of the statue (SCC 2002). The Governor's unveiling of the statue was witnessed by hundreds of workers who had voluntarily forfeited a day's pay in order that they might be present for this final tribute to their late employer (Parsons/RHS NSW, 2012, 25).
Mort (1816-78) emigrated to NSW in 1838, setting up as an auctioneer in 1843, becoming an innovator in wool sales. His wealth facilitated his considerable horticultural ambitions, realised at Sydney's then-finest garden, Greenoaks (now Bishopscourt), Darling Point, which set the tone for villas in this fashionable Sydney resort. He employed gardeners Michael Guilfoyle, Michael Bell and George Mortimore, creating a celebrated landscape garden. President of the NSW Horticultural Society in from 1862-1878, he maintained enthusiasm for horticulture over 30 years, first as an exhibitor and top prize winner in the Society's shows, and later as an administrator. At Greenoaks he hosted some of the Society's shows and grew an array of plants, including orchids and pursuing the hybridisation of cacti (Parsons/RHS NSW, 2012, 23 & Read, 2008, 2).
By the 1890s mature trees dominated: the obelisk was obscured. In c1917 a staircase on either side was built; Loftus Street was now higher. By the 1930s it was re-landscaped as an urban park flanked by warehouses and offices. Further schemes occurred in c.1970 & 1980 (Read, 2008, 2).
Around 1910 changes to the park included removal of an enclosing wrought iron fence and reduction in the number of fig trees from fifteen to four. During WWI the area around the obelisk was altered. The level of Loftus Street appears to have been raised at this time and a new staircase and retaining wall were built adjacent to the Obelisk. Gravel was installed between the outer fence and the Obelisk (SCC 2002).
Two of the London Plane trees in Macquarie Place were planted in 1954 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, during the first visit to Australia by a reigning monarch. These trees commemorate the royal visit, mark the beginning of the Remembrance Driveway to Canberra, and recreate the site's original function of being the starting point for main roads from Sydney (SCC 2002).
Further 19th and early 20th Century public memorials of exceptional quality and design which were relocated or erected in the park included an 1857 drinking fountain (relocated to this position in the 1970s) and the 1908 domed lavatory (now partly an archaeological site) (SCC 2002).
In 1960, a small bronze fountain was added to the park designed by the renowned sculptor, Gerald Lewers, in remembrance of an Australian sculptor, Lieutenant John Christie Wright, who was killed at age 28 during service in France in 1917. The current wall and steps surrounding the Obelisk were also constructed at this time (SCC 2002).
According to (former Professor of Architecture at Sydney University and former Government Architect) Peter Webber, the obelisk at Macquarie Place was damaged when a truck careered into its base in about 1970; the incised lettering on the replacement panels to the eastern side is crude by comparison with that on the undamaged surviving original panels (Thalis & Cantrill, 2013, 206).
In 1976 several alterations were made including an extension of the western corner of the park, and alterations to pathways, Macquarie Place was closed to motor traffic, the iron drinking fountain was relocated, and plantings & paving were altered. (SCC 2002).
The park though somewhat reduced in size has continued to operate as a public space since 1810. Its landscaping and levels have changed but the obelisk remains in its original location and form. Towering buildings and trees now dominate the site. Sydney City Council allocated $450,000 for obelisk conservation works in 2006 (Read, 2008, 2). |
