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Bridge over the tank stream at Sydney Cove 1794-1796

By
Thomas Watling
From the collections of the
State Library of New South Wales
[V1/1794+/1 (Detail)]
(Detail of 'View of Sydney Cove 1794-96')

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Watling, Thomas

State Library of New South Wales

Bridges

Rivers and Catchments

Water

Housing

Colonial architecture

Tank Stream

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The fresh water course which supplied the fledgling colony, emptying into Sydney Cove. It was named for three storage tanks which were constructed in the sandstone beside the stream during a drought in 1790. By 1828 the stream had been polluted to such an extent that it could no longer be used as a source of water and was diverted into a sewer, and by the 1870s it had been completely covered. The Tank Stream still flows in a covered storm water drain.

Tank Stream bridge

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Bridge across the Tank Stream that divided early Sydney. The first timber log bridge was built by convicts in October 1788 and improved in April 1792 after it had been damaged. In the middle of 1803 construction of a stone bridge to replace the timber bridge began, and was completed in 1804 by stonemason Isaac Peyton. The workmanship was poor and the bridge collapsed later in the year, requiring rebuilding. By 1811 the bridge had been widened, with numerous modifications to follow. By 1860 the stream, now little more than a foetid sewer, had been covered over.

Bridge Street

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Street in the centre of the city that runs from Macquarie to George Streets that was named for the bridge across the Tank Stream. The town was both physically and socially divided by the stream. On the eastern side was the Governor's house and tents of the civil establishment and to the west, the makeshift barracks of the military and convicts. The timber log bridge built in October 1788 was replaced by a stone bridge in 1803.