Sydenham Pit and Drainage Pumping Station No.1 in 1948 Pic: Sydney Water

This week on 2SER, special guest Dr Megan Hicks, Dictionary of Sydney author, museum consultant,  Adjunct Fellow with the Urban Studies Program at Western Sydney University and lover of urban imaginaries and neglected places, joined Nic to talk about an Inner West landmark that has fascinated many window-gazing passengers on trains coming into Sydenham Railway Station from the city.            

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Hidden in plain view amongst the back streets of the Marrickville Industrial area is a remarkable structure called the Sydenham Drainage Pit. Also known as the Sydenham Stormwater Basin, it is open to the sky and is bordered on three sides by warehouses and industrial buildings, and on the fourth side by the railway line just north of Sydenham Station. It is sunk into the ground below sea level and is approximately 9 metres deep, 170 x 125 metres in area, and has a water capacity of 100 ML (mega litres). Its associated Pumping Station is a reinforced concrete building perched on concrete fins 12 metres high above one corner of the pit. The purpose of the pit and pumping station is to prevent the whole of the surrounding area from flooding.

'The Inundations at Marrickville: Rescuing the Homeless' May 1889 Illustrated Sydney News, 6 June 1889 p 14 via Trove

The area known as Marrickville Valley was once the site of a large natural wetland called the Gumbramorra Swamp that was linked to the nearby Cooks River via the Gumbramorra Creek. This wetland was fed by numerous ephemeral creeks and covered a wide area in the wet season, but shrank during dry periods. When the area was urbanised during the 1880s the creeks were diverted into underground pipes or open stormwater drains and the swamp was reclaimed. However there continued to be flooding problems because the land is low and flat and rainwater could not drain away to the Cooks River quickly enough. To alleviate this flooding problem the Sydenham Drainage Pit and Pumping Station No.001 were built during the 1930s.  The large scale, labour-intensive excavation project was undertaken by the NSW Public Works Department to provide relief work for the unemployed during the Great Depression. It was handed over to the Metropolitan Water, Sewerage and Drainage Board (now Sydney Water) in 1941.

Construction on the stormwater pit in Garden Street Sydenham 26 July 1935 Courtesy Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW (hood_12569 / Home and Away 12569)

In wet weather, water flows down a system of channels and pours into the Drainage Pit through outlets in its southeast corner and in the centre of its western edge. With water in the pit, the pumping station goes into action, pumping water at a manageable rate into Marrickville's Eastern Stormwater Channel, which empties into the Cooks River near Tempe Station. Just north of the Drainage Pit is the proposed site of Sydney Metro's Marrickville dive site and this is where two tunnel boring machines will be launched. It is at this point that the Chatswood to Sydenham component of Sydney Metro City & Southwest will emerge from underground after passing beneath Sydney CBD. It has not yet been resolved how this major construction will affect drainage into the pit and its associated stormwater channels. The Drainage Pit and the Pumping Station are heritage listed. The pit is lined with brick and over this its sloping sides are faced with sandstone blocks. In heritage statements the concrete pumping station is described as being built in the Inter-War Mediterranean Domestic Style with a tiled gable roof. Its original three 1930s Metropolitan Vickers pumps are still in working order. To pre-empt graffiti taggers, Sydney Water and Marrickville Council commissioned street artist Sid Tapia in 2014 to paint a mural on the wall of the Pumping Station facing the railway line. Called 'Let it Shine', the mural features a laughing young girl with arms outstretched and dozens of colourful balloons floating through the air. Together the Drainage Pit and Pumping Station form an impressive sight. They are clearly visible from the train just north of Sydenham Station and they can also be viewed from Garden Street in Marrickville. It is particularly exciting to watch water gushing into the pit after heavy or prolonged rain. During extensive heavy rain in 1986 the basin was close to overtopping.

'Let it Shine' mural by Sid Tapia at Sydenham Drainage Pit, March 2015. Photo: Megan Hicks http://www.meganix.net/pavement/

Acknowledgments Many thanks to Phil Bennett, heritage adviser, and John Breen, hydro engineer and honorary historian, Sydney Water, for their informative tours of this and other Sydney Water sites. Megan Hicks December 2016                         References Gray, S, 2013, 'Marrickville Valley Flood Study – Final Report', WMA Water, https://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/Global/Community/Transport%20and%20infrastructure/Stormwater%20and%20flood%20management/MarrickvilleValleyFloodStudyFinalReport-Web.pdf Inner West Council, 2016, 'Flood management in Marrickville' https://www.marrickville.nsw.gov.au/en/community/transport-and-infrastructure/stormwater/flood-management/ Meader, Chrys, 2008, 'Sydenham', Dictionary of Sydney  http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/sydenham Office of Environment and Heritage, 2000, 'Sydenham Pit & Drainage Pumping Station 1' http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=5053883 Pogson, Jenny, 2014, 'Sydenham’s street art the backdrop for American drag queen Adore Delano’s music video', Inner West Courier Inner City, 16 July 16 2014 http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/inner-west/sydenhams-street-art-the-backdrop-for-american-drag-queen-adore-delanos-music-video/news-story/a51d8d33897d268b3c094dd98de05e67 Sydney Metro, [2016], 'Marrickville Dive Site' http://www.sydneymetro.info/station/marrickville-dive-site Sydney Water, [2003], 'Sydenham Pit & Drainage Pumping Station No.001' https://www.sydneywater.com.au/SW/water-the-environment/what-we-re-doing/Heritage-search/heritage-detail/index.htm?heritageid=4571743     Listen to Megan & Nic here and tune in to 2SER Breakfast with Nic Healey on 107.3 every Wednesday morning at 8:15-8:20 am to hear more from the Dictionary of Sydney.