Page 73 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Sydney

THE ROCKS AND CIRCULAR QU A Y  71

for morning prayers until 1870. q Hero of Waterloo
Henry Ginn designed the church 81 Lower Fort St, The Rocks.
and, in 1840, the foun dation Map 1 A2. Tel 9252 4553. @ 311.
stone was laid. In 1855, the Open 10am–11pm Mon & Tue,
architect Edmund Blacket was 10am–11:30pm Wed–Sat, 10am–
engaged to enlarge the church 10pm Sun. Closed Good Fri, 25 Dec.
to accommodate up to 600 7 ground floor only.
people. These extensions, minus
the spire that Blacket proposed, This picturesque old inn is
were completed in 1878. welcoming in the winter, when
Regimental plaques, hung along its log fires and cosy ambience
interior walls, recall the church’s offer respite from the chill
military associations. outside. Built in 1844 from
Other features to look sandstone excavated
out for are the brilliantly from the Argyle Cut,
coloured east window this was a favourite The corner façade of the Hero of Waterloo
and the carved red drinking place for hotel in Millers Point
cedar pulpit. The the nearby garrison’s
window was donated soldiers. Unscrupulous at Walsh Bay, reminders of
by a devout parish­ sea captains were said the time when this was a
ioner, Dr James to use the hotel to busy part of the city’s
Mitchell, scion of a recruit. Patrons who maritime industry.
leading Sydney family. drank themselves The site fulfilled the Sydney
Display cabinets at the East window, into a stupor were Theatre Company’s need for
back of the church house Garrison Church pushed into the a base large enough to hold
a few early Australian cellars through a two theatres, rehearsal rooms
military and historical items. trapdoor. From here they were and administration offices. The
carried along under ground ingenious conversion of the
0 Sydney tunnels to the wharves nearby once­derelict heritage building
into a modern theatre complex
and onto waiting ships.
Observatory is recognized as an outstand ing
architectural achievement.
Watson Rd, Observatory Hill, w Wharf Theatres
The Rocks. Map 1 A2. Tel 9921 3485. Since then, the main theatre
@ Sydney Explorer, 311. Open 10am– Pier 4, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. (Wharf 1) and the smaller
5pm daily. Night viewings Mon–Sat: Map 1 A1. Tel 9250 1700. @ 324, 325. second theatre (Wharf 2)
phone to book. Closed Good Fri, Box office: Tel 9250 1777. Open 9am– have hosted many of the
25 & 26 Dec. & 7 8 ∑ maas. 7pm Mon, 9am–8:30pm Tue–Fri, company’s productions. They
museum/sydney-observatory 11am–8:30pm Sat. 7 phone in have seen premieres of plays
advance. ∑ sydneytheatre.com.au from leading Australian play­
In 1982, this domed building, See Entertainment: p210. wrights such as Michael Gow
which had been a centre for and David Williamson, as well
astronomical observation and In 1984, the then recently as international productions.
research for almost 125 years, formed Sydney Theatre At the tip of the wharf, the
became the city’s astronomy Company took possession of bright and breezy bar area
museum. It has interactive this early 20th­century finger commands superb harbour
equipment and games, along wharf at Walsh Bay. Pier 4/5 views across to the Harbour
with night­sky viewings; it is is one of four finger wharves Bridge (see pp72–3).
essential to book for these.
The building began life in
the 1850s as a time­ball tower.
At 1pm daily, the ball on top
of the tower dropped to signal
the correct time. A cannon
was fired simultaneously at
Fort Denison. This custom
continues today (see p109).
In the 1880s, some of the first
astronomical photographs of
the southern sky were taken
here. From 1890 to 1962, the
observatory mapped 750,000
stars as part of an international
project that produced an atlas
of the entire night sky. The Wharf Theatres, on a former finger wharf, jutting onto Walsh Bay

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