The opening of Barangaroo Reserve In 2018 has allowed Sydneysiders to walk around a part of the Sydney harbour foreshore that had been closed off to the public for more than 100 years. The six hectare parkland has transformed one of Sydney’s oldest industrial sites, stretching back two centuries. The topography of the park was inspired by the shape of the 1836 shoreline, which was cut away over time to make way for wharves and docking activities, and the original headland. The reserve has been designed to complement the other headland parks of the harbour (such as Mrs Macquarie’s Chair and Goats Island) and aims to let visitors get up close to the water of the harbour.
Archaeological excavations of the site at the beginning of the park development works found the remains of a slipway from Munn’s 1820s boatyard on the site. Comprising an area of flat sandstone units forming the ramp of the slipway, with semi-dressed stones along either edge, a decaying timber rail was also found running down the centre of the slipway. Unsurprisingly, given the design of the new park to reflect the 1836 shoreline, Munn’s slipway was located beneath the proposed new sandstone shoreline on the northern shore of Nawi Cove.