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Sydney sandstone is the common name for Sydney Basin Hawkesbury Sandstone, one variety of which is historically known as Yellowblock, and also as "yellow gold" a
sedimentary rock Sedimentary rocks are types of rock that are formed by the accumulation or deposition of mineral or organic particles at Earth's surface, followed by cementation. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause these particles ...
named after the
Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...
north of Sydney, where this
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
is particularly common. It forms the bedrock for much of the region of Sydney, Australia. Well known for its durable quality, it is the reason many Aboriginal rock carvings and
drawings Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, c ...
in the area still exist. As a highly favoured
building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-ma ...
, especially preferred during the city's early years—from the late 1790s to the 1890s—its use, particularly in
public buildings A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fu ...
, gives the city its distinctive appearance. The
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
is notable for its geological characteristics; its relationship to Sydney's vegetation and
topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sc ...
; the history of the
quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
that worked it; and the quality of the buildings and sculptures constructed from it. This bedrock gives the city some of its "personality" by dint of its meteorological,
horticultural Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
, aesthetic and historical impact. One author describes Sydney's sandstone as "a kind of base note, an ever-present reminder of its Georgian beginnings and more ancient past." Sydney sandstone was deposited in the
Triassic Period The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
probably in a freshwater delta and is the
caprock Caprock or cap rock is a more resistant rock type overlying a less resistant rock type,Kearey, Philip (2001). ''Dictionary of Geology'', 2nd ed., Penguin Reference, London, New York, etc., p. 41.. . analogous to an upper crust on a cake that is ha ...
which controls the erosion and
scarp retreat Scarp retreat is a geological process through which the location of an escarpment changes over time. Typically the cliff is undermined, rocks fall and form a talus slope, the talus is chemically or mechanically weathered and then removed through ...
of the Illawarra escarpment. Sandstone
escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''esca ...
s box in the Sydney area on three sides: to the west the Blue Mountains, and to the north and south, the
Hornsby Plateau The Hornsby Plateau is a dissected sandstone plateau lying to the north of Sydney Harbour that rises 200 metres. The plateau is a part of the larger Sydney Basin structure. Geography The North Shore and the Berowra Valley National Park are loca ...
and Woronora Plateau. These escarpments kept Sydney in its bounds and some people still regard the spatial boundaries of the city in these terms.


Geology

Six kilometres of sandstone and shale lie under Sydney. In Sydney sandstone, the ripple marks from the ancient river that brought the grains of sand are distinctive and easily seen, telling geologists that the sand comes from rocks formed between 500 and 700 million years ago far to the south. This means that the highest part of the visible lines almost always faces approximately south. It is a very porous stone and acts as a giant filter. It is composed of very pure
silica Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is ...
grains and a small amount of the iron mineral
siderite Siderite is a mineral composed of iron(II) carbonate (FeCO3). It takes its name from the Greek word σίδηρος ''sideros,'' "iron". It is a valuable iron mineral, since it is 48% iron and contains no sulfur or phosphorus. Zinc, magnesium and ...
in varying proportions, bound with a clay matrix. It oxidises to the warm yellow-brown colour that is notable in the buildings which are constructed of it. The sand was washed from Broken Hill, and laid down in a bed that is about 200 metres thick. Currents washed through it, leaching out most of the minerals and leaving a very poor
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
that made an insipid
soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt Dirt is an unclean matter, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debri ...
. They washed out
channels Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
in some places, while in others, the currents formed sand banks that show a characteristic current bedding or cross-bedding that can often be seen in cuttings. At a time in the past, monocline formed to the west of Sydney. The monocline is a sloping bend that raises the sandstone well above where it is expected to be seen, and this is why the whole of the visible top of the Blue Mountains is made of sandstone. From the beginnings of the colony in 1788, settlers and convicts had to work with the stone, using it for building and trying to grow crops on the soil over it. The sandstone had a negative effect on farming because it underlay most of the available flat land at a very shallow depth. In the late 19th century, it was thought that the sandstone might contain
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
. Some efforts were made at the
University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
to test this idea. Reporting on them in 1892, Professor Liversidge said "The Hawkesbury sandstone and Waianamatta shale was, of course, derived from older and probably gold-bearing rocks hence it was not unreasonable to expect to find gold in them." The sandstone is the basis of the nutrient-poor soils found in Sydney that developed over millennia and 'came to nurture a brilliant and immensely diverse array of plants'. It is, for example, the "heartland of those most characteristic of Australian trees, the
eucalypts Eucalypt is a descriptive name for woody plants with capsule fruiting bodies belonging to seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australasia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', '' Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...
". As plants cannot afford to lose leaves to herbivores when nutrients are scarce so they defend their foliage with toxins. In eucalypts, these toxins give the bush its distinctive smell.


Other types of sandstone found in Sydney

Other types of sandstone found in Sydney include sandstones in the
Mittagong formation The Mittagong Formation is a sedimentary rock unit in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. Formation Laid down in the Triassic Period, it may be seen as an interval of interbedded fine-grained sandstone and shale between the Ashfield Shale (a ...
, Newport Formation Sandstone,
Bulgo Sandstone Bulgo Sandstone is a sedimentary rock occurring in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. This stratum is up to 100 metres thick, formed in the early Triassic. A component of the Narrabeen Group of sedimentary rocks. It consists of layers of fine ...
, Minchinbury Sandstone, and other sandstones which occur within other layers of sedimentary rocks; such as sandstones within
Ashfield Shale Ashfield Shale is part of the Wianamatta group of sedimentary rocks in the Sydney Basin. It lies directly on contemporaneously eroded Hawkesbury sandstone or the Mittagong formation. These rock types were formed in the Triassic Period. It is nam ...
, Bringelly Shale and
Garie Formation The Garie Formation is a narrow band of sedimentary rocks occurring in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. This stratum is up to 8 metres thick, situated below the sandstones of the Newport Formation. Formed in the mid-Triassic, it is part of ...
.
Bald Hill Claystone Bald Hill Claystone is a sedimentary rock found in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. It is part of the Clifton sub-group of the Narrabeen Group of sedimentary rocks. It was formed by weathering of the Gerringong Volcanics in the early Triass ...
is considered by geologists to be a variety of sandstone. Iron and aluminium oxides are found within laterite, which was formed by the
weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement) ...
of Hawkesbury sandstone.


Testing the stone

Crushing strengths and fire resistance tests carried out on Sydney sandstone showed that the compressive strength was 2.57 tons per square inch, or 39.9 megapascals (MPa). The crushing strength for ashlar masonry and
lintels A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of ...
averaged 4,600 pounds per square inch (31.7 MPa). Recent tests have recorded compressive strengths of up to 70 MPa. In fire resistance tests, designed to assess the resistance to collapse of a building in a fire, the sandstone came through better than some of the very hard stones, especially the
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
s. (The stone was subjected to temperatures approaching 800 degrees Celsius, for 15–30 minutes and plunged into cold water.)


History


Hewing and working the stone

The quality of the sandstone known to Sydneysiders as ''yellow block'' became well known early. Called on by the Colonial Architect, for example, to be used in the main buildings of the University of Sydney, the stone was supplied from the Pyrmont
quarries A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...
where there were at least 22 quarrymen working by 1858. Among them was Charles Saunders, licensee of the hotel 'The Quarryman's Arms' who became Pyrmont's biggest quarrymaster. Pyrmont yellowblock not only had good hardness, texture, and colour, it was also suitable for carving and so it could be incorporated into buildings in the form of sculptures and finely carved details. The sculptor
William Priestly MacIntosh William Priestly MacIntosh (1857 – 9 January 1930) was a sculptor in Sydney, Australia. His works often decorated significant public buildings in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra and major provincial centres. Many of them are now heritage-listed. Ea ...
, for example, carved ten of the explorers statues for the niches in the Lands Department building in "Pyrmont Freestone". Saunders's quarries, known locally as ''Paradise'', ''Purgatory''. and ''Hellhole'', were so named by the Scottish quarrymen who worked there in the 1850s. The names related to the degree of difficulty in working the stone and its quality. The best stone was 'Paradise', a soft rock that is easy to carve and weathers to a warm, golden straw colour. The Paradise quarry was near present-day Quarry Master and Saunders Streets, Purgatory quarry was near present-day Pyrmont Bridge Road, and Hellhole was where Jones Street now is, near Fig Street. Before World War I, quarries opened up in other Sydney suburbs, such as
Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...
, Randwick,
Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
and
Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...
. The men who worked the stone were highly skilled and organised. Their trade union was the first in the world to win the eight-hour working day in 1855. The daily wages for quarrymen and masons in 1868 has been cited as ten
shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...
, while labourers earned seven to eight shillings per day at that time. Stonecutters were subject to a range of lung diseases such as bronchitis, pneumonia, and a disease known as "stonemasons' phthisis", now known as a form of Silicosis or industrial dust disease. In 1908 questions were asked in the Legislative Assembly in the parliament of New South Wales about how likely the men cutting sandstone in Sydney were to contracting the disease and whether the Government should grant medical aid to them.


Early building

The early administrators of the colony at Sydney Cove sent groups of prisoners to an area nearby, named The Rocks, to eke out what ever existence they could from the land and build housing for themselves. These first occupants hewed out sandstone from the outcrops and built simple houses. Convicts were also employed tunnelling through what is called the 'Argyle Cut' in The Rocks. The rock was dumped in the
mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...
swamps at the head of the
Tank Stream The Tank Stream is a heritage-listed former fresh water tributary of Sydney Cove and now tunnel and watercourse located in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The T ...
to begin to make
Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...
. Later development in The Rocks area led to
bond store Bond or bonds may refer to: Common meanings * Bond (finance), a type of debt security * Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States * Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemica ...
s and
warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...
s being built on the bay, with better housing and
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
s for entertainment. Millions of cubic feet of sandstone was excavated from Sydney's Cockatoo Island to create a dry dock on the island.
In the early days settlers found at hand a convenient substitute for stone in the hardwoods, and in Sydney sandstone was so plentiful and so easily worked that no one thought of going afield to explore for something better, and even today 915freestone, as the sandstone is often called, is nearly everywhere employed by architects and builders.
Demand for Pyrmont stone surged in the years following the
gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
when prosperity meant that many public and private buildings were constructed. From the 1870s, various building sites had up to 300 masons working and carving the stone. Historians have reported that during this period, there were more masons working in Sydney than the whole of Europe. It was estimated that by 1928 total production of dressed sandstone from Pyrmont was more than half a million cubic yards (about 460,000 cubic metres) and much was carted away to build other places. The main public buildings in Sydney, completed from the 1850s until the 20th century were built in sandstone from Pyrmont where some 50 quarries operated. In 1909, for example, when an enquiry was undertaken about remodelling the
Parliamentary A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...
Buildings in Macquarie Street it was reported that "the external work, excepting the southern flank, was to be carried out in Sydney sandstone and the main flight of steps in stone obtained from the Purgatory quarry". Many of Sydney's early sandstone buildings remain but many have been demolished. Demolished buildings include: Vickery's Warehouse, Pitt Street; Robert C. Swan & Co warehouse, Pitt Street, Mason Bros stores, Spring Street; Harrison Jones & Devlin warehouse, Macquarie Place; Mutual Life building, George Street; The Union Club, Bligh Street.


Declining stock and changing attitudes

Quarries were being worked out by the end of the 19th century and cutting the stone became more difficult than before as depths increased. The combination of slowing demand and technical difficulties forced quarries out of business, although restorations and extensions of important public buildings still required Sydney sandstone. After the Saunders quarries closed, Pyrmont yellowblock sandstone was no longer available. The stone was still appreciated in the 20th century. In 1938, for example, appreciation of the stone prompted criticism of proposals to use brick in Sydney especially in ecclesiastical architecture. "It Is doubtful if any country In the world has a building stone more perfectly suited for church building than our Sydney sandstone, even for the most delicate and intricate tracery." By the middle of the 20th century, when new modern building materials, such as steel and structural reinforced concrete, had begun to be used, sandstone use had changed. By 1953, sandstone was "the rock foundation of most suburban gardens". Sandstone buildings were considered old-fashioned and many were demolished. Some gained a reprieve after much debate. The
Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian st ...
, for example, a grand and ornate building occupying an entire Sydney block and faced with Pyrmont stone, was threatened with demolition and replacement by a car park. A great debate among supporters and opponents of demolition followed. One architect, Elias Duek-Cohen, referred to its material in his defence of the building: 'It has a fine facade in warm-coloured stone ... forming a richly modelled surface'. Demolition of sandstone buildings in The Rocks was forestalled in part because of a
Green Ban A green ban is a form of strike action, usually taken by a trade union or other organised labour group, which is conducted for environmentalist or conservationist purposes. They were mainly done in Australia in the 1970s, led by the Builders La ...
. A revival began when the heritage value of these older buildings was recognised. Contemporary reports have noted the contribution of sandstone quarrying to ecological degradation. "Sandstone quarrying is very detrimental to native flora and fauna. It destroys habitat, alters landform, drainage and soil conditions, creates waste pollution, and usually generates noise and dust ... Existing features ... can be removed or obliterated, and local waterways affected by sedimentation. More widely, the extraction and processing of sandstone requires considerable energy, with its related environmental impacts." The impact on the Pyrmont peninsula has been described as an example of "systematic destruction of ecology in favour of economy ... The peninsula may be an extreme example of what happens when ‘progress’, ‘development’, ‘economic growth’ take the box seats of society." In 2015 the NSW government proposal to outsource the tasks they carried out, threatened the loss of their skills.


Conservation use

Towards the end of the 20th century, it was realised that more stone would be needed for future conservation work. The New South Wales State Government established a Centenary Stonework Program to ensure its availability. The program was also a catalyst for private projects as well as conservation and maintenance research. Even though the government rescued large blocks and stockpiled it, shortages continue because developers excavate large building sites and break the material up into unusable pieces. According to the manager for the State Government's Centenary Stonework Program, Ron Powell, "There is nothing stopping developers at all from just trashing it". In 2008, a Sydney city councillor said that planning laws stand, City of Sydney Council can allow the yellowblock to be "harvested" but cannot mandate that developers excavate the stone in a way that preserves it. Conservation and a revival in use has caused some clashes between principles and practice. In spite of the shortages, the revived industry continues to quarry, process, and supply the stone for building, landscaping, commercial, and conservation work in Australia and there are public courses available in Stonemasonry. It is now also used as a contemporary building material in major constructions and restorations such as Governor Phillip Tower and the Commemorative Museum, winning international architectural awards for excellence. Architects, such as the
Robin Boyd Award The Robin Boyd Award for Residential Architecture is an Australian architectural prize presented by the Australian Institute of Architects since 1981. The award is presented in memory of the Australian architect Robin Boyd, and is awarded to r ...
winner Graham Jahn, describe Sydney's sandstone buildings as "wonderful". Sydney's significant sandstone buildings, such as Sydney Hospital, have required the attention of these expert stonemasons, as most of Sydney's sandstone buildings date from the 19th century. For example, in 2012, conservation work was done on the sandstone of the clock tower of
Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings an ...
as part of a four-year, $32 million project to restore the building. The capitals on top of the tower columns needed replacement because they had been badly affected by weather and pollution. The work required about 26 cubic metres of yellow block sandstone. A small, highly skilled team of stonemasons responsible for maintaining Sydney's sandstone buildings was established early in the 1990s. Sculptural uses of Sydney sandstone make aesthetic and symbolic use of the material's connection with Sydney's geology as well as its flora and fauna. For example, the
Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a heritage-listed major botanical garden, event venue and public recreation area located at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government a ...
commissioned sculptor Chris Booth to design a living sculpture (entitled Wurrungwuri) for its grounds, officially unveiled 9 March 2011. One of the two main pieces of the sculpture is a 'sandstone wave', consisting of about 200 tonnes of sandstone blocks in an undulating form reminiscent of the tectonic forces that created the stone. The sculptor says the design is 'inspired by the sandstone stratas it emerges from and, of course, the link to the sea which it cascades towards ... its evolution is from the geomorphology.'


Notable Sydney sandstone buildings


Sydney


Places of worship

*Garrison Church,
Millers Point Millers Point is an inner-city suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the north-western edge of the Sydney central business district, adjacent to The Rocks and is part of the local government area of the C ...
* Great Synagogue (Architect: Thomas Rowe, from 1878) * St Andrew's Cathedral (Architect: Edmund Blacket from 1868) The stone at first came from Flagstaff Hill and then later from Pyrmont. * St Mary's Cathedral (Architect: William Wardell from 1865) *St Stephen's Uniting Church, Sydney *
Scots Church, Sydney The Scots Church is a historic Presbyterian church located at 42–44 Margaret Street on the corner of York Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was design ...
* St Philip's Church, Sydney (Architect: Edmund Blacket) *
Christ Church St Laurence Christ Church St Laurence is an Anglican Church of Australia, Anglican church (building), church located at 814 George Street, Sydney, George Street, near Central railway station, Sydney, Central railway station and Haymarket, in City of Sydney, S ...


Educational buildings

*
Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...
, Stanmore, Founders Wing & Old Chapel; the colonnade, including its Waratah capitals *
Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview Saint Ignatius' College Riverview is an Australian independent single-sex primary and secondary day and boarding school for boys, conducted in the Jesuit tradition, located in Riverview, a small suburb located on the Lane Cove River on the ...
, Main building, * St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill Main building and Chapel * Sydney Grammar School, Main building *
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...
original buildings – Great Hall; main quadrangle; original Fisher Library (Architects: Edmund Blacket, James Barnet and W.L. Vernon from 1868); Anderson Stuart Building; St John's College; St Andrew's College; St Paul's College (Edmund Blacket from 1856)


Galleries and museums

* Art Gallery of New South Wales *
Australian Museum The Australian Museum is a heritage-listed museum at 1 William Street, Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. It is the oldest museum in Australia,Design 5, 2016, p.1 and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the ...
(Architect: James Barnet, from 1864) *
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA), located on George Street in Sydney's The Rocks neighbourhood, is solely dedicated to exhibiting, interpreting, and collecting contemporary art, from across Australia and around the world. It is ...
*
Museum of Sydney The Museum of Sydney is a historical collection and exhibit, built on the ruins of the house of New South Wales' first Governor, Arthur Phillip, on the present-day corner of Phillip and Bridge Street, Sydney. Description The original house, ...


Public buildings

*
Callan Park Hospital for the Insane The Callan Park Hospital for the Insane (1878 – 1914) is a heritage-listed former insane asylum, which was subsequently, for a time, used as a college campus, located in the grounds of Callan Park, an area on the shores of Iron Cove in Lilyfi ...
now Sydney College of the Arts * Central railway station, Sydney (Architect: W.L. Vernon, from 1902) * Chief Secretary's Building *
Customs House, Sydney Customs House, Sydney is a heritage-listed museum space, visitor attraction, commercial building and performance space located in the Circular Quay area at 45 Alfred Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local go ...
(upper storey, Architect: James Barnet, from 1885) *
Darlinghurst Gaol The Darlinghurst Gaol is a former Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Darlinghurst Road, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets. The heritage-listed building, predom ...
, now the
National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts p ...
*
Department of Lands building The Department of Lands building is a heritage-listed state government administrative building of the Victorian Renaissance Revival architectural style located in Bridge Street in the Sydney central business district of New South Wales, Austra ...
, including the statues in the niches (Architect: James Barnet from 1876) *
Department of Education Building The Department of Education building is a heritage-listed state government administrative building of the Edwardian Baroque architectural style located in Bridge Street in the Sydney central business district in the City of Sydney local gov ...
Architect:
George McRae George McRae (10 September 1857 – 16 June 1923) was a Scottish architect who migrated to Australia and pursued his career in Sydney, where he became Government Architect of New South Wales and designed some of Sydney's best-known buildi ...
from 1912) *Frazer Fountains, one in Albert Road, the other in Hyde Park (Architect: Thomas Sapsford 1884) *
Fort Denison Fort Denison, part of the Sydney Harbour National Park, is a protected national park that is a heritage-listed former penal site and defensive facility occupying a small island located north-east of the Royal Botanic Garden and approximate ...
*
Gladesville Mental Hospital The Gladesville Mental Hospital, formerly known as the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, was a psychiatric hospital established in 1838 in the Sydney suburb of Gladesville. The hospital officially closed in 1993, with the last inpatient services ce ...
*
Government House, Sydney The Government House is the heritage-listed vice-regal residence of the governor of New South Wales, Australia, located on Conservatorium Road in the Sydney central business district adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden, overlooking Sydn ...
*
General Post Office (Sydney) The General Post Office (abbreviation GPO, commonly known as the Sydney GPO) is a heritage- listed landmark building located in Martin Place, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The original building was constructed in two stages beginning in ...
(Architect: James Barnet, from 1864) * New South Wales Club, Bligh Street (Architect: Wardell and Vernon, 1884) * Registrar-General's building (W.L. Vernon, architect, from 1913) * Suspension Bridge, Northbridge * Sydney Hospital *
Sydney Observatory The Sydney Observatory is a heritage-listed meteorological station, astronomical observatory, function venue, science museum, and education facility located on Observatory Hill at Upper Fort Street, in the inner city Sydney suburb of Millers ...
*
Sydney Town Hall The Sydney Town Hall is a late 19th-century heritage-listed town hall building in the city of Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, Australia, housing the chambers of the Lord Mayor of Sydney, council offices, and venues for meetings an ...
(Architect: J.H. Wilson, T.E. Bradbridge, from 1868) *"Saunders' Terrace" in Pyrmont (unknown designer, 1870s) *Treasury building, Sydney (second stage) (Architect: W.L. Vernon from 1896) *
Victoria Barracks, Sydney Victoria Barracks is an Australian Army base in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Victoria Barracks is located in the suburb of Paddington, between Oxford Street and Moore Park Road. It is just north of the Moore Park, the Sydney Cricket Grou ...
* Warehouses in The Rocks


Commercial buildings

*AMFI building, King and Pitt Streets ( Architect: G.A. Morell, 1881) *AMP building, Pitt Street (architects Reed & Barnes 1860s) (now demolished) *Burns Philp building (Architects: McCredie & Anderson, from 1898) *City House, Pitt Street (now Skygarden complex) (Architect: G.A. Mansfield, 1893) *Colonial Sugar refinery (Pyrmont offices) (faced with sandstone from Green's quarry at Waverley *
Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-nineteenth-century building designed by the architect George McRae located at 429–481 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the Australian st ...
(QVB) (formerly Queen Victoria Markets) (Architect: George McRae from 1893)


Memorials

*
Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...
Memorial to the Dead 1914–1918 designed by
William Hardy Wilson William Hardy Wilson (14 February 1881 – 16 December 1955) was an Australian architect, artist and author. He "is regarded as one of the most outstanding architects of the twentieth century". Early years Wilson was born in Campbelltown ...
1921


Houses

*
Bishopscourt, Darling Point Bishopscourt, Darling Point is a heritage-listed residence and former archbishop's residence at 11A Greenoaks Avenue, Darling Point, Municipality of Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by J. F. Hilly (1846), Edmund Blacket (18 ...
*
Carthona, Darling Point ''Carthona'' is a large Gothic Revival architecture style house situated at 5 Carthona Avenue, on a promontory of , in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The mansion is listed by the New South Wales Heritage Council as a building of historical s ...
* Cranbrook, Bellevue Hill *
Government House, Sydney The Government House is the heritage-listed vice-regal residence of the governor of New South Wales, Australia, located on Conservatorium Road in the Sydney central business district adjacent to the Royal Botanic Garden, overlooking Sydn ...
* Kenilworth, Potts Point * Rona, Bellevue Hill * The Abbey, Annandale * Rockleigh, Epping * Rock Lynn, Rockdale


Buildings outside Sydney

*The Stone Store, Kerikeri, New Zealand. The Stone Store is New Zealand's oldest surviving stone building. *Bank of
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, South Australia * E S & A Bank (now called "the Gothic Bank") (Architect:
William Wardell William Wilkinson Wardell (1823–1899) was a civil engineer and architect, notable not only for his work in Australia, the country to which he emigrated in 1858, but for a successful career as a surveyor and ecclesiastical architect in En ...
, 1883), Melbourne *E S & A Bank, Brisbane, front facade *National Mutual Building (now the Bank of New Zealand) (Architect: Wright, Reed and Beaver, 1903)
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
* St John's Cathedral, Brisbane external facings (Architect: J.L. Pearson and others, 1909–11) *
St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Melbourne, Australia. It is the cathedral church of the Diocese of Melbourne and the seat of the Archbishop of Melbourne, who is also the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Victoria. ...
, tower and spires (Architect: James Barr, 1926) *Union Bank, Brisbane (1916) *Saints Mary & Joseph Cathedral Armidale
Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral Saints Mary and Joseph Catholic Cathedral is a heritage-listed cathedral at 132 Dangar Street, Armidale, Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia. It is the diocesan cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Armidale and the seat o ...
*Australian War Museum, Canberra *Parliament of Victoria


See also

* Ancaster stone, a unique type of English limestone used in notable buildings. *
Hummelstown brownstone Hummelstown brownstone is a medium-grain, dense sandstone quarried near Hummelstown in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, USA. It is a dark brownstone with reddish to purplish hues, and was once widely used as a building stone in the United States. ...
, a stone from Pennsylvania with a comparable cultural history. *
Jerusalem stone Jerusalem stone (Hebrew: אבן ירושלמית; Arabic: حجر القدس) is a name applied to various types of pale limestone, dolomite and dolomitic limestone, common in and around Jerusalem that have been used in building since ancient tim ...
, a type of limestone used in building since ancient times. *
Tennessee marble Tennessee marble is a type of crystalline limestone found only in East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. Long esteemed by architects and builders for its pinkish-gray color and the ease with which it is polished, this stone has been ...
, a type of limestone used in notable buildings. *
List of public art in the City of Sydney Public art in the City of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia includes a wide range of works across a range of genres and for a range of purposes or combination of purposes. Some are purely artistic, some are commemorative, some are both. Som ...


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sydney Sandstone Geologic formations of Australia Triassic Australia Sandstone formations Geology of New South Wales Anisian Stage