43
1 Former Carlton and United Brewery (NSW) Historical Archaeological Excavation Results Date: 11 November 2019 Ref: 14-0319
1
Former Carlton and
United Brewery (NSW)
Historical Archaeological
Excavation ResultsDate: 11 November 2019
Ref: 14-0319
Key Contact
Dr Jennifer Jones-Travers
Associate
T +61 2 9319 4811
Sydney Office
Level 6
372 Elizabeth Street
Surry Hills NSW Australia 2010
T +61 2 9319 4811
Canberra Office
2A Mugga Way Red Hill
ACT Australia 2603
T +61 2 6273 7540
Melbourne Office (Trading as
Context)
22 Merri Street
Brunswick VIC Australia 3056
T +61 3 9380 6933
GML Heritage Pty Ltd
ABN 60 001 179 362
GML Heritage Victoria Pty Ltd
ABN 31 620 754 761
Historical archaeological excavations at the former Carlton and United
Brewery (NSW) were led by GML Heritage Pty Ltd (GML) excavation
directors, site directors, supervisors and several teams of GML
archaeologists and subcontractors.
Works were completed in three stages in accordance with approvals
under Part 3A (now repealed) of the Environmental Planning and
Assessment Act 1979 (NSW) between 2009 and 2015.
GML gratefully acknowledges the support and assistance of Frasers
Broadway Pty Ltd, particularly Michael Goldrick and his dedicated team of
regular staff and subcontractors.
All photos are by GML unless otherwise indicated.
Kent Brewery Yard. (Source: Museum of Applied Arts and Science, Object 86-3501)
Frasers Broadway Pty Ltd.’s Central
Park development is located on the site
of the former Carlton and United
Brewery (NSW). The site has a rich
history as part of the Tooth & Co Kent
Brewery and home to colonial
Chippendale residences, shops and
cottage industries.
GML Heritage completed historical
archaeological excavations at the site
between 2009 and 2015.
The site of the former Carlton and United
Brewery (NSW) is located in Chippendale on the
southern edge of Sydney’s Central Business
District (CBD). The site is bounded by
Abercrombie Street to the west, O’Connor and
Wellington Streets to the south, Broadway to the
north and the properties on the east side of
Kensington Street to the east.
From the early 1800s this area was part of the
Military Gardens established to allow soldiers to
grow their own vegetables and raise stock to
supplement their rations. From the 1830s, early
land grants and the Military Gardens were
subdivided and gave way to industries and
clusters of residential housing and shops along
Parramatta Street (now Broadway), the key
colonial thoroughfare from Sydney to
Parramatta.
3
Historical Archaeological Excavations at the
Former Carlton and United Brewery (NSW)The Central Park development at the former
CUB site is a $2 billion urban village that
includes a spacious park at its heart. It is a
combination of exceptional residential and
working environments with retail, hospitality and
recreational areas.
With 11 buildings, around 2000 apartments and
a lively collection of shops, cafes, restaurants,
laneways, terraces and offices, Central Park
transformed the site of the former Kent Brewery
in Chippendale into a sustainable fusion of
heritage and new buildings with public spaces
filled with landscaped gardens for the use of
residents and nearby communities.
Imitation carnelian oval locket
with ‘sprig’ relief bouquet on face.
From a cesspit on Carlton Street.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Tooth & Co aerated water bottles.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Child’s transfer-printed and painted
plate from a cesspit on Carlton Street.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Gaming counter carved from
fragment of ‘Sydney’ patterned
plate, recovered from a post hole.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Timeline
4
Kent Brewery offices. (Source: ANU Library Archives)
5
Cadigal
Land
Land inhabited by the Cadigal for time immemorial.
Military
Gardens
• The land on which the original Kent Brewery was built lay on
the roadway between the first settlement at Sydney Cove and
that at Parramatta.
• Just outside the limits of the township, it was allocated for
use as a Military Garden in the early years of the colony to
provide industrious members of the military to supplement
their own rations by growing vegetables and keeping
livestock.
• One of several gardens established around Sydney Town, its
boundaries were not formalised until 1802.
• Early land grants to William Chippendale, Robert Cooper and
Major George Druitt also comprised part of the study area,
bordering the Military Gardens.
• Chippendale sold his farm to Solomon Levey who began
selling off parcels of land, leading to the development of
Darlington, Chippendale and the Kensington Estate.
• The Military Gardens became obsolete and the land was
subdivided for residential development.
• The western half of Druitt’s land was sold to John Tooth and
Charles Newnham in 1834, with the eastern half sold and
subdivided from 1841.
• Approximately 5,000 years ago, sea levels stabilised to
roughly their current levels. Rich sediments began to be
deposited in the Blackwattle Creek catchment and the creek
began to flow.
• The Cadigal people had, and continue to have, a close
association with the land that now comprises the Sydney
CBD and its immediate surrounds.
1802
1819
1821
1830
Kent
Brewery
• Charles Newnham and John Tooth established the Kent
Brewery on the western portion of Druitt’s grant.
• Tooth’s Kent Brewery was located to take advantage of
the fresh water from Blackwattle Creek, which ran
through both sites, and to access the roadway from
Sydney Town to the southern and western settlements
beyond.
• The water quality rapidly degenerated and it was not long
before the brewery was forced to seek alternative water
sources.
1835
6
Kent
Brewery
• The original brewery consisted of two buildings set well
back from Parramatta Street and was enlarged in the
early 1840s.
• Fire destroyed most of the original Kent Brewery in 1853,
but with the reconstruction new and advanced
technologies and equipment were used, giving the
brewery an advantage over other brewing businesses in
Sydney.
• The brewery buildings were progressively altered and
added to over the next 20 years. By the 1870s they
occupied the majority of the initial site.
• The congested and poorly built residential development
surrounding the original brewery site rapidly deteriorated
into slums.
• Various council enquiries into conditions in the area took
place and by the 1870s the cottages of the notorious
Linden Lane had been demolished.
• Most of the remaining development on the former Military
Garden site would be demolished during the council
resumptions of the early twentieth century.
Brewery
Expansion
• The original brewery saw its greatest period of physical
expansion in the early decades of the twentieth century,
reflecting changes in technology and growth in brewery
sales.
• The site had grown to more than six acres in size,
extending into the surrounding residential areas of
Chippendale.
• Tooth and Co took advantage of council resumptions
and demolition of properties surrounding the brewery in
the early twentieth century to expand its holdings.
• During World War II parts of the brewery complex were
given over to war work, including the canning of food for
American forces in the South Pacific.
• Legislation put an end to the ‘tied house’ system of hotel
ownership and the company began to diversify its
interests.
• A large-scale redevelopment of the Broadway site saw
the demolition of all of the original Kent Brewery
buildings and construction of many large-scale modern
brewery buildings.
• The Kent Brewery ceased production of beer in January
2005.
1853
1870s
1900
1939
1976
1980
2005
Early Land Use
7Slot trench with voids from timber slats evident.
Much of what is now Central Park was
part of the Military Gardens,
established to supplement food rations
for colonial troops in Sydney in the
early colonial era from c1802 to about
1830.
Archaeological excavations uncovered evidence
of this phase of use, including the remains of a
tree burnt during land clearance to prepare the
gardens site and a thin clay-rich deposit
accumulated soon after land clearing as water
began to wash down slopes and pool in areas
where trees and vegetation had been removed.
A drainage channel was excavated near what is
now Carlton Street, possibly to transport surface
water to Blackwattle Creek in the south. A timber
lining was found on the upper surface of the
drain, which may have served to support it and
prevent accidental collapse from trampling.
Following subdivision of the Military Gardens
and development of new neighbourhoods in the
area it gradually filled with waste accumulated
by the new terrace house occupants.
A timber-lined well was cut into the natural white
sand near the centre of the site, on the south
side of what is now O’Connor Street, to access
water to support the growing gardens and tend
the animals. Evidence of an early timber fence
line and possibly part of the wall of a small
garden structure, constructed of narrow timber
slats, was excavated just off Wellington Street
near the Castle Connell Hotel. Fine rectangular
marks representing wall slats were visible in a
cut in the sand thought to be part of a small
garden shed or similar structure.
8
Early Land Use
Burnt tree bole partially excavated.
Drainage channel associated with Military Gardens.
Timber-lined well with fill and construction cut visible.
Tooth & Co’s
Kent Brewery Stables
9Sandstone footings of the Kent Brewery stables, with construction
trenches visible cut into the sand and coffee rock.
The Kent Brewery was established in
Chippendale in 1835 at the site of what
is now the Central Park development
by Frasers Development Pty Ltd.
Stables for the brewery were
constructed some time after 1842 and
were completed by 1844.
The stables extended roughly northeast–
southwest parallel to Wellington Street along the
southern boundary of the brewery property.
Archaeologists uncovered evidence of the
sandstone footings for the stables, which
measured more than 80m long and 8.45m wide.
The stables were constructed of large dressed
sandstone blocks measuring approximately
400mm wide and 600mm to 900mm long, laid
two courses wide and bonded with sand and
shell mortar. It was a substantial building,
possibly two storeys high, as the footings were
sunk nearly 1.5m below what was then historical
ground surface.
The Kent Brewery stables remains are the only
evidence found during excavations that is clearly
associated with the first incarnation of the Tooth
& Co’s c1835 brewery prior to the 1853 fire that
destroyed most of the site.
10
Tooth & Co’s Kent Brewery Stables
Aerial photograph showing the sandstone footings of the Kent Brewery stables,
view to south towards Wellington Street. Cement truck for approximate scale.
Horses were central to the brewery
operation, as they were used to
deliver beer to hotels, pubs and
inns, as well as to power some of
the machinery. To accomplish this,
breweries generally relied on the
labour of large working horses,
such as Clydesdale or Percheron,
though smaller horses may have
been used to pull carts. A
description of the brewery in 1845
mentions use of a cast iron horse
wheel with 17-foot (5.2m)
perpendicular shaft used to drive
three shafts ‘for marking the pump
and malt grinding’.
11
Working Horses
Draymen with bottled beer in baskets at the Kent Brewery in the late 1800s. (Source: ANU Archives Library)
Drays loaded with beer at the Kent Brewery c1910. (Source: ANU Archives Library)
The stables were divided into at least five
rooms. A range of floor surfaces were found
associated with each room, including sandstone
flagging laid on clay and rubble, timber planks
supported on a brick sill, and sandstock bricks
laid in a stretcher bond on clay packing. Beside
housing horses, the brewery stables likely had
other uses. A room to store tack and harnesses,
storage for food and hay, a cart shed and
facilities for a farrier and wheelwright are
commonly found in historical breweries in
association with the stables.
The sandstone and brick surfaces on clay
packing would have supported the weight of
horses while being relatively easy to clean of
waste. The centre room had a significant deposit
of cinder ash in conjunction with a sandstone
flagged floor; it is possible that a farrier operated
out of this room of the stables. The timber
floored room may have been more suited to
storing tack, harnesses and/or food as it may not
have supported the weight of horses.
12
A Multi-Use Structure
Brick floor laid on clay and rubble packing.
Stables floor with inset brick drain and cinder ash deposit.
Brick sill for timber floor, as well as drain cut into stables wall.
Sandstone flagged floor laid on clay and rubble packing.
13
An elaborate water management system was
found in association with the stables and would
have allowed for the stables to be cleaned out
and for the resulting wastewater to be flushed
through drains down to Blackwattle Creek
(which was enclosed and covered by 1845 in
the brewery grounds). One room contained a
drain extending across the floor to collect
wastewater, while drainage channels were
found cut into the walls of the stables in three
locations to allow waste to drain out of the
stables and into a long sandstone box-drain that
ran parallel to the front of the stables. This then
fed into other sandstone box drains that led
north to Blackwattle Creek. The drains
contained thick black charcoal-rich deposits,
suggesting that they may have blocked during
the 1853 fire that destroyed most of the brewery.
Management of water would allow the brewery
to maintain sanitary conditions in the yard
spaces at the front of the stables while keeping
the stables clean for the horses and associated
industries. Structures for down-pipes to capture
water runoff from the roof of the stables were
also found feeding into the stables’ drainage
system.
Water Management
Downpipe outlet feeding into box drain at the front of the
stables.
Sandstone box drain extending towards
Blackwattle Creek.
Sandstone box drain at front of stables feeding
into another drain leading towards Blackwattle
Creek.
Drain cut into the wall of the stable allowing
drainage out into the box drain at the front of
the stables.
Managing
Blackwattle
Swamp
14
Underground chamber, possibly to capture overflow
from Blackwattle Creek, with demolition rubble and
ladder in situ.
15
Through the waste ground in the centre of Chippendale runs a fetid stream of sewage matter giving off vile smells, yet this liquid is
allowed to collect in a large mill-dam above the Brisbane distillery, from which it overflows and runs down past the slaughterhouses and the
lower parts of the Glebe into Blackwattle Swamp Cove. Nothing can contribute as much to the spread of disease as these streams and
the collections of foul water, which it is the custom even to pump into water carts and
spread all about the public streets.
‘Sydney in 1858, A Social Survey’, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 December 1929
View down a sandstone section of the Blackwattle Channel oviform.
Blackwattle Creek historically extended
roughly east–west through the
southern portion of the former Kent
Brewery site, near where O’Connor
Street extends today. Historical
accounts of the Kent Brewery describe
an extensive water reticulation system
from the creek. A series of
underground drains discharged into
the creek from the stables, cask
washing and brewing area and finely
constructed sandstone culverts and
bridges were constructed along its
course.
Use of spring water for making beer and creek
water for cleaning the stables, brewing
equipment and watering livestock would have
reduced the flow of water into the creek. Animal
and brewing waste discharged into the creek by
the brewery severely reduced water quality. In
addition, the creek flowed through Coopers’
Paddock (a residential development) and
received drainage from 56 houses built on that
allotment and from the 90 houses, stables etc,
constructed on Carlton Street, Charles Street
and Linden Lane. None of these houses were
sewered and all their drainage (including
household slops and raw sewerage) was carried
into the creek by open drain.
Other noxious industries in the neighbourhood,
including slaughterhouses and tanneries, further
impacted the water quality of the creek which
became known as ‘Blackwattle Swamp’ and was
more akin to an open sewer to the east and west
of the brewery. By 1845 the creek had been
channelled and completely enclosed within the
brewery allotment.
16
Blackwattle Creek
View of the sandstone box drain extending across the front of the Kent Brewery
Stables, part of a system feeding into Blackwattle Creek.
Blackwattle Creek extended roughly east–west across the full extent of the Kent Brewery property and into neighbouring properties until it was enclosed between 1841 and 1845. The Blackwattle Channel was constructed between 1857 and 1859, and subsequently reconstructed, upgraded and modified on a number of occasions.
Archaeologists uncovered evidence of the Blackwattle Channel during archaeological excavations, with some sections of the oviform channel constructed of sandstock brick and others of sandstone. A vertical shaft to access a brick section of the Channel was uncovered and allowed the interior to be photographed. The Channel remains in situ beneath what is now O’Connor Street.
17
Blackwattle Channel
Sandstone section of the oviform drain.
Sandstock brick section of the oviform drain.
Vertical shaft allowing access into the oviform drain. View into the interior of part of the oviform drain.
A large underground chamber associated with
the Blackwattle Channel was uncovered during
construction works at Central Park. The initial
structure was built from roughly dressed
sandstone, and its southern wall was irregular
as it curved to follow the direction of Blackwattle
Channel. The entire structure was rectangular
and measured approximately 12.5m by 8.75m in
size.
A vaulted concrete roof supported by brick piers
and braced with suspended metal rods was
added during a later phase of use. A ceramic
pipe and copper pipe fed into the tank,
suggesting that it may have served as an
overflow for the Blackwattle Channel.
Artefacts collected from within the chamber
indicate that it was used from approximately
1860 through to 1940. Most of the artefacts were
glass and stoneware bottles associated with
beverage production at the brewery. Other
artefacts included an essence of coffee bottle, a
mutton or beef bone, oyster shell and a clay
tobacco pipe. These remains indicate that a
worker (or workers) may have disposed of
rubbish in the chamber after having a meal
break.
18
Underground Chamber
View across part of the underground chamber showing the original sandstone section with vaulted,
poured-concrete ceiling with metal bracing visible.
Accessing Fresh Water
19Well on the north side of Wellington Street
half-sectioned during excavation.
The supply of fresh water would have been of central importance to the production of beer at the Kent Brewery. In an area adjacent to a highly polluted creek-turned-swamp, access to fresh water would have been important for the daily lives of residents in Chippendale. Archaeological excavations uncovered features associated with collecting and storing fresh water for brewing, as well as for residents on Wellington Street and Linden Lane.
An underground tank constructed of sandstone blocks and sandstock bricks was uncovered during preliminary investigations at the site and further explored by GML archaeologists. Access to the tank was through a long and narrow brick shaft. The lower portion of the tank was constructed of dressed sandstone blocks and the upper portions of sandstock bricks and the interior was whitewashed, possibly with a thin lime render. The interior of the tank was divided by a sandstone wall into at least two separate chambers with vaulted roofs. The construction techniques used indicate that it was constructed in either the early phase of the brewery or its reconstruction following the 1853 fire.
Historical accounts of the brewery suggest that at least one underground tank was used to store fresh water for brewing beer. This tank was not attached to the Blackwattle Channel, though located in proximity to it, and may have served to keep fresh, clean water for producing beer separate from waste water being washed back into the Blackwattle Channel.
20
The supply of water from springs on the premises is abundant; it is conveyed into a large tank under the cellar, whence it is pumped into a cistern on the roof, which supplies the different parts of the brewery. Sydney Morning Herald, 24 July 1844, p 2e-f
Underground Tank
Accessing Fresh Water
One of the chambers of the underground tank.
Vertical access shaft to the underground tank.
A large brick-lined well was excavated near the historical core of the Kent Brewery complex. The upper portion of the well was constructed of sandstock bricks with no frog, while the bottom portion of the well was cut directly into sandstone bedrock. The upper rock-cut portion exhibited chisel marks, while the bottom of the well was irregular in shape and may have been blasted with explosives.
The brick wall of the well had sockets to hold timber planks and braces, two of which were found in situ. The timber brace was saw cut and had a socket which may have supported a pulley or a pump. A small number of nineteenth-century artefacts indicate that it was likely excavated during reconstruction of the Kent Brewery after the 1853 fire.
Abutting the well was a stepped platform consisting of large sandstone blocks with hinge holes. The sandstone platform may have served as a support for the well pump mechanism or some other operation associated with the production of beer.
21
Brewery Well
Stepped sandstone platform with hinge holes.
View of well interior showing timber brace in situ.
Well interior showing brick and rock-cut sections.
Excavations on the north side of Wellington
Street uncovered evidence of 15 wells
constructed of sandstock brick. The wells
ranged from 900mm to 1500mm in diameter and
extended to a depth of at least 3m or 4m below
ground surface.
While all the wells were made of sandstock
brick, the bricks used featured a variety of marks
indicating they came from different sources. The
bricks were most often laid head-to-head (or
‘header’), creating a basket-weave pattern with
no bonding used. The bricks for a small number
of wells were laid side-by-side (or ‘stretcher’),
and one well featured irregularly laid broken
bricks packed with clay. Parts of two wells were
laid two courses wide to provide extra support to
the well or associated infrastructure.
The differences noted in the 15 wells excavated
suggests they were constructed by different
people or groups; it is likely that each well was
individually commissioned by the property owner
or landlord. The wells on Wellington Street
represent the highest concentration found
anywhere in the former Carlton and United
Brewery site—there was a well for nearly every
terrace house.
22
Wells of Wellington Street
Well with bricks laid header two courses wide.
Well constructed of broken bricks packed with clay.
Well constructed of half bricks laid stretcher. Well constructed of bricks laid header one course wide, creating
a basket weave pattern.
Living and Working in
Chippendale
23
24
Vivid Mixed-Use Neighbourhoods
By the later 1840s, the areas
surrounding the Kent Brewery changed
considerably with residential
subdivision and development of the
Military Gardens to the west and the
Kensington Estate subdivision to the
east. Many of the residences were
small and badly constructed and
quickly became notoriously squalid.
The subdivision and suburban
development of Chippendale and its
fringe, conveniently close to Sydney
and characterised by low rental
housing, had effectively built out the
brewery site within 15 years of its
establishment.
These were vivid, mixed-use neighbourhoods
that incorporated residential, industrial and
commercial elements. From the establishment of
the colony Parramatta Street (now Parramatta
Road and Broadway), currently the northern
boundary of Central Park, became an important
thoroughfare and the main transport route
between Sydney and Parramatta. More
commercial and industrial sites were situated
among the terrace houses closer to Parramatta
Street. A review of the Rates Assessments and
Sands Directory of all neighbourhoods within the
study area identified high rates of turnover for
both occupants and landlords, which has
rendered it difficult to clearly associate material
culture with specific residents.
The Parramatta Street frontage was established
c1840 and contained a series of brick multi-use
structures. Five cellars were excavated in
allotments on the Parramatta Street frontage—
only nine allotments in total were explored
archaeologically on Parramatta Street, and
cellars were not recovered in other parts of the
site. This suggests the multi-purpose shops,
residences and industrial sites on a busy
thoroughfare may have required more intensive
use of available space and additional storage.
Entrance to a cellar from a property formerly fronting
Parramatta Street, partially excavated showing steps.
Cellar from a property formerly fronting Parramatta
Street, partially excavated to show bottle cache.
25
Archaeological remains provide some evidence
for occupations within the neighbourhood. A
brick well excavated on the north side of
Wellington Street contained 10 shoes, a
shoelace, part of a saddle, a leather belt, straps
and leather offcuts. The Sands Directory lists
bootmaker Hugh McEvoy as the resident of 52
Wellington Street in 1869. The property is listed
as a house but the quantity of leather fragments
and shoe pieces within the well indicates that
light industry was occurring on the premises.
The shoes in the well had been continuously
repaired prior to their discard, which would have
extended their use-life.
Another well on the north side of Wellington
Street contained two riveted barrel hoops and a
high density of wood chips (approximately 80
per cent of the well fill), timber planks and
wooden stave and binding pieces. A cooper was
recorded in the Sands Directory on the north
side of Wellington Street in 1858 and 1869—the
contents of the well are consistent with a cooper
using the abandoned well to discard the
debitage of his trade, suggesting he operated on
the premises. A range of trades that may have
been employed at the Kent Brewery were
recorded in the Sands Directory in residence on
Wellington Street, including wheelwrights,
brewers, saddle-tree workers, coopers,
carpenters, engineers, a drayman, coachmaker,
cork cutter and labourers.
Several butchers were also recorded in the
Sands Directory as Wellington Street residents,
and at least one may have operated his
business on Wellington Street. A high
concentration of rabbit remains, including
juveniles, suggests that one of the former
occupants may have been engaged in rearing
and processing rabbits for food and fur. A
significant quantity of needlework paraphernalia
and buttons in another well also reflects the
presence of one of the many tailors,
dressmakers and tailoresses recorded as
inhabiting Wellington Street from 1857 (when
the Sands Directory is first available for the site)
through the early 1900s.
Assaying crucible recovered from the rear yard space
of a property fronting Parramatta Street.
Masonry trowel recovered from a cesspit at 19 Linden Lane.
(Source: Crook 2011)
26
On Parramatta Street, a cellar with a
high concentration of butchered sheep
and cow head and foot bones was
excavated within one of the historical
allotments at 44 or 46 Parramatta
Street. These suggest the presence of
a butcher’s shop or commercial
kitchen operating from the property,
possibly the ‘eating saloon’ listed in the
Sands Directory in 1867. A refuse pit
excavated in the rear yard of 58 or 60
Parramatta Street had high quantities
of wash bowl fragments (three in
different patterns) and slipware slop
bowls mixed with general domestic
rubbish, suggesting that the deposit
represents the refuse of a family who
lived and worked in the small
business. The presence of an alphabet
plate, small tea cup and miniature or
toy tea cup are a reminder of the
presence of children in these urban
workplaces.
Most of the premises on Parramatta
Street were listed as ‘shops’, while
most of the properties on Wellington
Street were listed as ‘houses’ in the
Rates Assessment from the 1840s to
the 1870s. Evidence uncovered from
archaeological excavations in Central
Park identified domestic elements on
Parramatta Street and small cottage
industries operating from residences
on Wellington Street. Chippendale was
a vivid mixed-use neighbourhood
through the nineteenth century, much
as it is today.
Manson’s Tea Rooms on Parramatta Street, 1888. Pillars of the Kent Brewery
entrance gates visible to the right. (Source: City of Sydney Archives)
27
Through the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, Chippendale was described as having
‘…been long appropriated to the abodes of the
poorer classes’, with the suburb nicknamed ‘the
swamp’ and ‘eau-de-cologne valley’ by its
residents. Historical and archaeological
evidence can be used to interrogate this, as the
residents and residences at what is now Central
Park were not a homogenous group. The
remains of terrace houses, their associated
outbuildings and related sealed artefact deposits
across the former CUB (NSW) site provide
evidence of differences in housing and
socioeconomic status within Chippendale.
The way in which the terrace houses were
constructed speaks to the quality of life of its
occupants. The terrace houses constructed on
the north side of Wellington Street c1845
provided the greatest evidence of comfort
through design and construction. The single-
storey timber terrace houses that comprised
‘Coopers Row’ to the immediate west were often
subject to flooding events, and even raw
sewerage from open drains washing through the
properties.
On Wellington Street, a significant quantity of fill
(approximately 550mm) was introduced to the
site to raise the level of the terrace houses
which would likely have protected the properties
from flood events associated with Blackwattle
Creek or overflow from open drains. In addition,
nearly every property on the north side of
Wellington Street featured its own cesspit and
well (with 15 encountered and excavated).
Remains of terrace houses were found in most
blocks excavated, but only one other residential
well was located in the properties excavated on
Parramatta Street, Kensington Street, Linden
Lane and Carlton Street. This indicates that
most of the other properties within the study
area received their potable water by horse and
cart until municipal water was introduced to the
area.
Built to Purpose
Natural sand
Slope wash from
land clearing
Construction fill
Interior of a terrace house on the north side of Wellington Street showing introduced fill possibly laid down
to stabilise the site and reduce flooding incidents.
28
The district now under consideration commences at Haymarket and runs through the suburbs of the south side of Sydney. Some parts of it are extremely crowded with houses, while others are open spaces unbuilt upon; it is hilly and about three parts of a mile in length, and possesses neither sewers, drains, nor water. The people therefore purchase the water from carriers, and as every house is forced to this extremity, the water merchants must here reap a good harvest.
‘The Sanitary State of Sydney’, Sydney Morning Herald, 8 March 1851
Sandstone footings of terraces located on the north side of Wellington Street, showing modifications for the
introduction of water services (ceramic pipes punched through footings).
29
A series of six terrace houses constructed c1870
on what was formerly Cooper’s Estate were
excavated fronting O’Connor Street near Balfour
Street. Concerns about hygiene and cleanliness
in the area are evident in the construction of the
rear yard spaces—all yards contained hard
paved surfaces of concrete or laid brick pavers
with drains. This would have made the yards
more easily cleaned of waste and made it
impossible to use the yard for the disposal of
household rubbish. It would also be more
difficult to sustain animals or gardens which
might attract or encourage pests, such as the
rats that were prevalent in the area. Excavation
identified that fill was introduced to these sites
prior to the construction of the terrace houses—
this may have rectified some of the problems
with drainage identified in adjacent streets. Each
house had a two-room outbuilding at the rear
featuring a plumbed toilet and laundry with
poured-concrete floors, providing formalised
means of managing waste and maintaining
cleanliness.
Rear yard space of terraces on O’Connor Street with shared wall for plumbed toilets
(foreground) and laundries (centre). Note the hard surface (paved or concreted) across
the remainder of the yard.
30
The remains of a well and cesspit were
excavated from the rear yard of an early terrace
constructed c1840 in Linden Lane, a notorious
slum neighbourhood in Chippendale. The
terraces were single-storey, two room timber
structures with earthen floors and were
demolished in the 1870s. The cesspit was
backfilled at some time after 1844 and before
the demolition of the house in the early 1870s.
While it may not reflect the earliest years of
occupation, it offers an opportunity to look at
domestic life in a two-room, earthen-floor terrace
on a street condemned as a notorious slum in
newspaper reports and official investigations.
Already in decline in the early 1850s, in 1858
William Stanley Jevons described Linden Lane
as ‘being uniformly abominable’. In 1867 it was
rated at £13, nearly half that of the adjacent
houses fronting Carlton Street.
Despite this, the artefact assemblage from 19
Linden Lane had more porcelain and more
matching sets than any of the other
assemblages analysed, which is a remarkable
finding. Such anomalies are not unknown in the
historical archaeology of ‘slums’ or working-
class areas. They are testament to the capacity
of urban dwellers to make a comfortable home
in the most difficult of circumstances. While
some families may not have been able to afford
to rent more expensive homes, or improve those
in which they did live, they could acquire and
maintain a range of domestic ‘comforts’.
It is important to note, however, that overall very
few of these ‘comforts’ were found across the
site in comparison with the range of goods from
typical middle-class deposits recovered on other
sites. Many of the so-called ‘comforts’ were
affordable by the mid- to late-nineteenth century,
owing to technological improvements in
manufacture and in the distribution of goods. In
addition, there were many avenues to purchase
goods and other small items at bargain prices or
second-hand. Access to these goods is reflected
in the site assemblage which has a range of
moulded beads, buttons and tablewares,
suggesting that the residents took advantage of
improved processes and falling prices.
Nevertheless, we cannot lose sight of the overall
condition of life at the time. A bone-china tea
cup, pressed-facet wine glass or hollow-
stamped pendant was no substitute for
inadequate drainage, an overflowing cesspit or a
dirt floor.
Challenging the Slum
Transfer-printed plate in Adam’s
well-known ‘Palestine’ pattern,
from cesspit at 19 Linden Lane.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Octagonal cane-coloured pitcher marked
‘Irrawang Australia’ and made by James
King’s Irrawang Pottery, 1835–1853.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Creamware plate from cesspit at
19 Linden Lane.
(Source: Crook 2011)
The prevalence of rats in Chippendale is historically well recorded, with an outbreak of the bubonic plague in the suburb (amongst others in Sydney) in 1903 and historical accounts of famed ratcatchers in the suburb. The cesspits excavated along Wellington Street and Kensington contained remains of rodents, including two fragments and five skulls that could be identified as black rat. These fragments originated from a number of contexts, potentially indicative of their ubiquity across the site in the past. There was a high instance of rat gnawing, including tooth and claw marks, on bone fragments excavated at the site. Rat remains were common on colonial sites, having been introduced by European settlers.
A singular fragment of cat bone was identified in the fill from a cesspit on Wellington Street. They may have been used as a form of pest control, to manage the on-site rodent population.
A high incidence of domestic animal gnawing on the bones in the cesspit suggests that these animals had easy access to the discarded bones, which is indicative of open rubbish pits, or waste being present on the surface and thus accessible to these animals. Household animals may also have been fed kitchen scraps.
31
Swarms of Rats
Collection of ceramic artefacts from the same cesspit that
contained five rat skulls.
32
Within the Central Park site, a rubbish pit dug
into introduced fill was excavated near the
Wellington Street terraces. Detailed analysis of
food remains from this deposit provides a
snapshot of a meal and some time spent sitting
and whittling, possibly during a break from
carting in sandy fill from other parts of Sydney.
Six mammal bones, 43 shell fragments and 10
ceramic items were recovered from this rubbish
pit. Most were food-service tableware, which
provided an estimated deposition date of 1800–
1830 when the site was transitioning from
Military Gardens to residential use. One
mammal bone was worked—slivers of bone had
been removed from the shaft and from its end at
several angles, indicating some manner of craft
activity such as whittling was occurring.
This rubbish pit contained a high quantity of
whole Sydney rock oyster shells, as well as club
mud whelk. Many of the Sydney rock oyster
shells in the rubbish pit occurred as articulated
clusters, which means that they were collected
as several shellfish joined together. The popular
preference for and widespread consumption of
Sydney rock oyster by the European occupants
of colonial Sydney is well documented. As
commercial farming of rock oysters in NSW did
not commence until 1870 (Nell 2001:14), people
commonly obtained oysters from street vendors,
or indeed procured quantities of oysters
themselves from the rocky foreshore.
Cockle Bay and Blackwattle Bay are located to
the north of the CUB site and represent the
closest areas of harbour foreshore to the site.
Up until the mid-nineteenth century these bays
were dominated by low-lying foreshores of
mudflats and sandstone outcropping. These
bays would have been considerably closer to
the location of the CUB site than the present
foreshores, which are a product of extensive
reclamation that occurred in the later decades of
the nineteenth century.
The absence of other shell species which
commonly occur in historic archaeological shell
assemblages throughout this region of Sydney,
as well as the absence of various ephemeral,
small species suggest that the shellfish found at
the site may have been purchased from
vendors, rather than gathered or collected by
the consumers from the closest foreshore. The
latter activity often results in broader species
diversity due to such factors as opportunistic
collection, dietary preference and even the
possibility of gathering by children.
A Labourer’s Lunch
Rubbish pit filled with ceramics, shell and bone
cut into sandy fill.
Colonial Inns
33
Strand Hotel, Sydney, one of the many tied hotels in Tooth and Co’s network. (Source: ANU Library Archives)
The need to secure Tooth and Co’s share of the market intensified in the 1870s as new breweries began to spring up all over Sydney and NSW. The introduction of the ‘tied house’ in the 1870s was enormously significant for Tooth and Co and led to a network of new hotels being constructed through the state. Under the ‘tied house’ system, a brewery could advance individual hotels capital for construction, often requiring that it include a minimum of 20 rooms. These hotels were then obliged to exclusively sell the brewery’s products. At the same time, a number of country breweries were purchased and closed by Tooth and Co to reduce competition.
The tied house system was introduced in Sydney in the mid-1870s by the South Australian owners of the Waverly Brewery and was common practice in Britain and in many other British colonies. Three colonial inns were located in what is now Central Park—Castle Connell (c1835), Old Duke of Wellington Hotel (c1834) and the Kensington Inn/Napoleon Inn (c1845). All three inns predate the tied house system and would have been free to serve beverages of their choosing, though the Castle Connell was part of this system after being rebuilt in 1936. Substantial archaeological evidence was only uncovered in association with Castle Connell and Kensington Inn/Napoleon Inn.
34
Colonial Inns
Tooth & Co wagon making a delivery to a hotel. (Source: State Library NSW)
35
Artefacts recovered from cesspits on the north
side of Wellington Street provided evidence of
the daily life of the publicans at the Castle
Connell Hotel. Archaeological evidence
indicates they occupied the adjacent terrace
house on the north side of Wellington Street
nearest Regent Street.
Castle Connell Hotel (c1835)
Cesspit associated with the Castle Connell Hotel partially excavated, showing the interface with an artefact-rich fill.
36
Faunal remains from two cesspits and the
presence of a ceramic ‘layer egg’ indicates that
the publicans raised their own chickens for meat
and eggs. Two large tarso-metarsal spurs were
present, indicating the presence of large male
cockerels at the site in the past. While these
could have been part of a breeding stock kept at
the site, the size of these spurs is consistent
with the size of spurs seen in species of chicken
bred for cock-fighting (the spurs are an integral
‘weapon’ in the competitor’s arsenal). Cock-
fighting was known to be practised in Sydney’s
poorer areas at this time. Indeed, the ‘Australian
Game Fowl’ chicken breed finds its origins in the
sport, indicative of the activity’s prevalence in
the past.
The cesspits, with artefacts dating from 1830 to
1900, contained a variety of ceramic tableware
ranging from a high-quality polychrome transfer-
printed decoration on slipped and copper lustre
can to a common pearlware transfer-printed
platter. Two ceramics artefacts consistent with
hotel assemblages include a polychrome
transfer-printed Prattware jar with a scene
known as ‘The Smokers’ that depicts men with
pipes sitting around a table. The other is a
conical-shaped, hard-paste porcelain match
holder with graduated striker. These items may
represent accessories used in the public bar of
the hotel.
A significant number of specialised children’s
dishes were recovered from the cesspits.
Several had embossed ‘ABC’s’ around the rim,
one was a child’s transfer-printed alphabet cup
with design and text taken from the Dean &
Sons’ 1867 children’s book The Railway
Alphabet, and two featured printed Franklin’s
Maxims. The maxims of Benjamin Franklin were
printed in Poor Richard’s Almanac from 1732
to1757 and continuously reprinted, including on
children’s tableware, to provide moral guidance.
The cesspit artefact assemblage also includes a
number of children’s toys, such as marbles and
toy dishes. Historically, publicans were legally
required to live on the premises; these artefacts
may reflect the presence of the publican’s
children. Specialised material culture for
children, only found in a couple of other contexts
in the former Carlton and United Brewery site,
suggests that the publicans were part of or
aspired to the Victorian middle class in a
generally working-class or poverty-stricken
neighbourhood.
Hard-paste porcelain match holder with graduated
Striker. (Source: E J Harris 2017)
‘The Smokers’ polychrome transfer-printed Prattware
jar. (Source: E J Harris 2017)
Children’s plates with Franklin maxims.
(Source: E J Harris 2017)
37
Considering the child-related artefacts with other
artefacts in the assemblage suggests these
cesspits were associated with a residential
setting, such as the publican’s household, rather
than just the nearby hotel. Personal hygiene and
grooming items, such as chamber pots, a
significant number of perfume bottles, lice
combs, a hair restorative bottle and tooth
brushes, are consistent with a residential setting
and provide evidence of attention to cleanliness
and Victorian middle-class concerns relating to
proper grooming. Castor oil bottles recovered
from both cesspits illustrates some of the
medical treatment received, as it served as a
remedy for gastrointestinal ailments and cure-all
commonly used by the population at large.
A variety of household ornamental items were
excavated, including ceramic figurines and
vases, earthenware flower pots and decorated
glassware items. Buttons and adult shoe parts
were uncovered, along with penny ink bottles for
writing, suggesting that the publicans were
literate.
Excavation of underfloor deposits for the terrace
houses associated with Castle Connell identified
a number of small artefact types that typify items
lost between the floorboards, such as coins,
bottle caps, a tobacco pipe stem, a pencil, a
gaming piece, a celluloid hair comb, a George
McCaul merchandising token, a nail and a glass
marble from a glass aerated water bottle. An
ashen deposit within and around the hearth
contained similar items, including a bottle cap,
comb, bead and pressed pencil lead. This is
indicative of sweeping into the fireplace, with
small items swept into the gaps between the
floorboards and fireplace hearth stone.
Hearth base with charcoal and ash deposit.
Hearth base following removal of charcoal and ash deposit.
Excavation of demolition fill inside a cellar
associated with the Kensington Inn/Napoleon
Inn identified decorative stone and iron elements
that may have been part of the inn’s façade.
No other evidence associated with the inn or its
publicans, beyond the cellar and fill, was
uncovered.
38
Kensington Inn/Napoleon Inn (c1845)
Decorative architectural elements excavated from within a cellar which may be associated with the Kensington Inn/Napoleon Inn.
Conclusions
39Dray horses at the Kent Brewery c1910. (Source: Museum of Applied Arts and Science, object 62689)
Historical archaeological excavations
at the former Carlton and United
Brewery (NSW) have provided insight
into historical lifeways of the people
living and working in Chippendale.
At more than 80m in length, the remains of the
Kent Brewery represent one of the largest
colonial structures excavated in NSW. Although
significantly disturbed by later phases of use,
the archaeological evidence indicates it was a
multi-use structure (not limited to just stabling
horses) associated with a complex water-
reticulation system feeding into Blackwattle
Creek.
The management of water was a consistent
challenge for residents in Chippendale. This is
evidenced by work to enclose the increasingly
polluted Blackwattle Creek, introduction of fill to
avoid flooding of homes, creation of systems to
dispose of wastewater into the creek, and
excavation of wells to access fresh water in
residential and industrial settings.
Artefacts excavated across the former Carlton
and United Brewery (NSW) site provide
evidence of daily life for residents at
Chippendale, as well as some of the industries
and trades working in the properties surrounding
the brewery. Residents of Chippendale, or ‘Eau-
de-Cologne Valley’, navigated their lives in what
was consistently described as a slum by
acquiring objects that would make them as
comfortable as possible. There is still
substantive comparative analysis that could be
done with the artefacts to better understand the
rich, vivid historic neighbourhood that
Chippendale was and continues to be today.
40
Conclusions
Clay pipe with the marks of an unidentified maker
(‘R’ and ‘H’) embossed on spur. (Source: Crook 2011)
Pre-1823 naval button manufactured
by Hammond, Turner & Dickinson.
(Source: Crook 2011)
French bottle for fine, clarified olive oil
from the Bordeaux region, France.
(Source: Crook 2011)
Button made for James Steenson, tailor,
(Sydney, c1858–c1895). (Source: Crook 2011)
Historical archaeological excavation of the former Carlton and United Brewery
(NSW) site was completed by a large team of archaeologist and specialists,
including:
Stage 1 (Area 2A, Area 4A, northern part of Area 3):
• Shaun Mackey (site supervisor);
• Kerry Platt (site planner);
• Thomas Eley, Sarah Peisley, Anita Yousif, Laura Farquarson (archaeologists);
• Dr Mark Dunn (historian);
• Dr Penny Crook (artefact specialist);
• Alexandra Thorn (artefact assistant); and
• Erin Finnegan and Fiona Leslie (reporting).
The subsection ‘Challenging the Slum’ in this summary was written by Dr Penny Crook.
Stage 2 (southern part of Area 3):
• Anita Yousif (excavation director);
• Kerry Platt (site planner);
• Craig Baxter, Diana Cowie, Laura Farquharson, Tim Hill, Shaun Mackey, Sally MacLennan, Dr Tim
Owen, Lyndon Patterson, Andy Roberts, Angela So, Seána Trehy, Peter Woodley and Nicolas
Wright (archaeologists);
• E. Jeanne Harris (artefact specialist); and
• Anita Yousif and Angela So (reporting).
Stage 3 (Blocks 1 + 4N, 8, 10 and 11):
• Anita Yousif (excavation director);
• Dr Jennifer Jones-Travers (site director, Block 11);
• Kerry Platt (site planner);
• Caitlin D’Gluyas, Luke Benbow, Charlotte Feakins, Tim Hill, Melissa Kennedy, Jane McMahon,
Erin Mein, Shaun Mackey, Hugh Thomas, David Burke, Samantha Cooling, Franz Reidel
(archaeologists);
• Lilly Burrows and Jasmine Stewart (trainee archaeologists);
• Caitlin D’Gluyas (artefact specialist Blocks 1 + 4N, 10);
• Susan Whitby (faunal specialist Blocks 1 + 4N, 10);
• E. Jeanne Harris (artefact specialist, Block 11);
• Bronwyn Woff (artefact assistant, Block 11);
• James Roberts (faunal specialist, Block 11);
• Melissa Carter (shell specialist, Block 11); and
• Dr Jennifer Jones-Travers, Emily Bennett, Anita Yousif and Abi Cryerhall (reporting).
This excavation summary was prepared by Dr Jennifer Jones-Travers (Associate, GML) and reviewed
by Dr Nadia Iacono (Senior Associate, GML). It draws on the work completed by all the people listed
above.
41
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