Waterview Wharf Workshops

Item details


Name of item:	Waterview Wharf Workshops
Other name/s:	Adelaide Steamship Company wharf; Burns timber yard
Type of item:	Built
Group/Collection:	Transport - Water
Category:	Shipyard
Location:	Lat: -33.8549423154 Long: 151.1924799700
Primary address:	37 Nicholson Street, Balmain, NSW 2041
Parish:	Petersham
County:	Cumberland
Local govt. area:	Inner West
Local Aboriginal Land Council:	Metropolitan

Property description

Lot/Volume Code	Lot/Volume Number	Section Number	Plan/Folio Code	Plan/Folio Number
LOT	101		DP	816494
LOT	102		DP	816495

All addresses

Street Address	Suburb/town	LGA	Parish	County	Type
37 Nicholson Street	Balmain	Inner West	Petersham	Cumberland	Primary Address

Owner/s

Organisation Name	Owner Category	Date Ownership Updated
Waterview Wharf Workshops Pty Ltd	Private

Description


Construction years:	1880-1941
Physical description:	Complex: The Waterview Wharf Workships are an attractive, well-proportioned group of purpose-built maritime industrial buildings on the foreshore of Waterview Bay, Balmain. They form part of the few surviving maritime structures which once stretched along the southern shore of the harbour from Balmain to Garden Island and includs the wharves of Pyrmont, Walsh Bay, Circular Quay and Woolloomooloo (Godden, 1988). The Waterview Wharf Workshops site, through erection of the stone sea wall and excavation of the former cliff to provide fill on which the Burns Mill was built, illustrates the importance of the waterfront industrial land in Balmain in the late 19th century (ibid, 1988). The Waterview Wharf Workshops are the last significant remnant of the early 20th century maritime industry which was concentrated in Waterview Bay and included Mort's Dock, West's Sail Loft, the UTA Ferry Workshops and Sydney Slipways (ibid, 1988). The workshops possess sufficient fabric for the site to be adequately interpreted in industrial archaeological terms (ibid, 1988). The workshops are one of the few remaining industrial sites which exhibit, through the wharf access road and the air raid shelter, the effect of the Second World War on the fabric of domestic industrial sites (ibid, 1988). Building 2: (c.1900) Located at the top of the site adjacent to the Zig Zag Reserve. This western-most building was built at the same time as the lower, c.1900 buildings and is very similar in design and construction, albeit of a much-smaller scale. It has a timber frame with walls clad in corrugated iron, a corrugated asbestos cement roof with skylights and timber floors. It is two storeys, with the same type of windows as found elsewhere on site (ibid, 2016, 6). Provides physical evidence of an important historical phase on the site, that of the ship-building years of the Adelaide Steamship Company. It relates to the other Edwardian era buildings on the lower part of the site (ibid, 2016, 6). Its existing corrugated asbestos roof sheeting replaced an original corrugated iron roof c.1940 (ibid, 2016). There is no ceiling lining and the underside of the roof cladding forms the ceiling (ibid, 2016, 8). Building 1 (c.1940) Constructed approximately when the roadway was built to provide office space, amenities and storage. Built variously of brick fibro and corrugated iron, it is (one of a number of) general-purpose personnel-centred buildings built, indicative of the historical decline in the ship-building industry and of Adelaide Steamship Company after the (Second World) war as it provides evidence of the last development phase on the site. It is likely the existing asbestos roof and walls are original fabric. It had ancillary functions and did not play an important role in the industrial use of the site (LouiseThom , 2016, 6).


Former use:	Aboriginal land, Shipping Company workshops

History

Historical notes:

The key periods of significance of the property relate to the late 19th century and early 20th century use of the site (LouiseThom , 2016). There are three distinct historical phases of development on the site. The first relates to the Burns timber yard from 1880-1898. The second (1900-1939) to the outbreak of (World War II) war was the Adelaide Steamship Company. The third is the Adelaide Steamship Company during the (World War II) war years and its subsequent decline until the 1960s (ibid, 2016, 6).

The Waterview Wharf Workships are...purpose-built maritime industrial buildings on the foreshore of Waterview Bay, Balmain. They form part of the few surviving maritime structures which once stretched along the southern shore of the harbour from Balmain to Garden Island and includs the wharves of Pyrmont, Walsh Bay, Circular Quay and Woolloomooloo (Godden, 1988).

This workshops site, through erection of the stone sea wall and excavation of the former cliff to provide fill on which the Burns Mill was built, illustrates the importance of the waterfront industrial land in Balmain in the late 19th century (ibid, 1988).

The workshops are the last significant remnant of the early 20th century maritime industry which was concentrated in Waterview Bay and included Mort's Dock, West's Sail Loft, the UTA Ferry Workshops and Sydney Slipways. They represent the importance of maritime trade to the development of Sydney in the early 20th century. They are one of the most tangible remnants of the Adelaide Steamship Company which for decades was the largest shipping company in Australia. The siting of the Company's workshops in Waterview (Mort) Bay was a major event in the maritime history of Sydney. The workshops are directly associated with Thomas Elder and Robert Barr Smith who were two of Australia's most prominent 19th century entrepreneurs (ibid, 1988).

The Waterview Wharf Workshops were one of the principal employers of labour in Balmain in the early 20th century. Like Mort's Dock, the Adelaide Steamship Company used casual labour rather than permanent labour and was responsible, in part, for the entrenching of union values in the suburb (of Balmain)(ibid, 1988). The Waterview Wharf Workshops had the reputation for being the finest-equipped repair facilities of medium size in Sydney (ibid, 1988).

Building 2 is from the 1st phase of the Adelaide Steamship Company development on the site between 1900 and 1939. It was built in the final phase of the company('s occupation)(ibid, 2016, 6). It originally had a corrugated iron roof that was replaced with a corrugated asbestos roof c.1940 (ibid, 2016, 3).

Building 1 was originally constructed c.1940, likely of asbestos roofing and walls (ibid, 2016, 3). This building is indicative of the historical decline in the ship-building industry and of Adelaide Steamship Company after the (Second World) war as it provides evidence of the last development phase on the site. It had ancillary functions and did not play an important role in the industrial use of the site (LouiseThom , 2016, 6).

The substantial site works and construction of new buildings on the site in the 1940s coincided with the increasingly widespread use of asbestos as a building material at this time (ibid, 2016, 6).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)	New South Wales theme	Local theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Cultural - Coasts and coastal features supporting human activities-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments	Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures.	Changing the environment-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Maritime industry shipyards timber yards-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Commerce-Activities relating to buying, selling and exchanging goods and services	Transport-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings	Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Forestry-Activities associated with identifying and managing land covered in trees for commercial purposes.	Transporting timber and forest products-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Forestry-Activities associated with identifying and managing land covered in trees for commercial purposes.	Coastal timbergetting-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Wharf and shipping history-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Wharf and shipping history-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies	Transport-Activities associated with the moving of people and goods from one place to another, and systems for the provision of such movements	Building and maintaining boats-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal	Changing land uses - from rural to suburban-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Shaping coastal settlement-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Developing towns in response to topography-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	20th Century infrastructure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	19th Century Infrastructure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities	Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages	Creating landmark structures and places in suburban settings-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Wharfside and Port Work Culture-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Working on the waterfront-
5. Working-Working	Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour	Working in ports and on shipping-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Robert Barr Smith, prominent 19th c. Entrepreneur-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life	Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups	Associations with Thomas Elder, prominent 19th c. Entrepreneur-

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management Category	Description	Date Updated
Recommended Management	Produce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP)
Recommended Management	Prepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines
Recommended Management	Carry out interpretation, promotion and/or education

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of act	Description	Title	Comments	Action date
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Heritage Act	See File For Schedule Order Under Section 57(2) to exempt the following activities from Section 57(1): (1) The maintenance of any building or item on the site where maintenance means the continuous protective care of existing material; and (2) Garden maintenance including cultivation, pruning, weed control, the repair and maintenance of existing fences, gates and garden walls and tree surgery but not extensive lopping;	Dec 8 1989
57(2)	Exemption to allow work	Standard Exemptions	ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) OF THE HERITAGE ACT 1977 Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977. I, the Hon James Griffin MP, Minister for Environment and Heritage, pursuant to subsection 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales do by this Order, effective at the time of publication in the New South Wales Government Gazette: 1. revoke the order made on 9 November 2020 and published in the Government Gazette Number 318 of 13 November 2020; and 2. grant the exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 that are described in the attached Schedule. The Hon James Griffin MP Minister for Environment and Heritage Signed this 2nd day of June 2022. To view the standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 click on the link below.	Jun 17 2022

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage Listing	Listing Number	Gazette Date	Gazette Number	Gazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage Register	00687	02 Apr 99	27	1546
Heritage Act - Permanent Conservation Order - former	00687	08 Dec 89	119	1063
State Environmental Planning Policy		25 Mar 94
National Trust of Australia register		31 Dec 88

References, internet links & images

Type	Author	Year	Title	Internet Links
Tourism	Attraction Homepage	2007	Waterview Wharf Workshops	View detail
Written	Godden, Don	1988	Conservation Policy for Waterview Wharf Workshops

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.

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Data source


The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name:	Heritage NSW
Database number:	5045695
File number:	S90/04354 & HC 87 1978

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