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Argyle Cut
Location: Argyle Street, The RocksUntil the Argyle Cut was created, the part of Argyle Street to the east of the Sydney Harbour Bridge's southern approaches did not exist. That part of the street alongside the Garrison Church was within the church's grounds. Argyle Place was named by Gov. Lachlan Macquarie after County Argyle, Scotland, the place where he grew up.
Argyle Street was named by Gov. Macquarie after County Argyle, Scotland, the place where he grew up. In the early years of Sydney, The Rocks was a divided community separated by a rugged and steep rocky outcrop which forms the ridge of the peninsular to the west of Sydney Cove. Building had taken place on either side of the ridge, but people wishing to travel from one side to the other had to either go the long way around Dawes Point or climb a series of rickety stairs which joined the eastern and western sections of Argyle Street. Parts of Observation Hill near where Argyle Street intersects Kent Street was extensively quarried in the early 19th century.
In the early years of Sydney, The Rocks was a divided community separated by a rugged and steep rocky outcrop which forms the ridge of the peninsular to the east of Sydney Cove. Building had taken place on either side of the ridge, but people wishing to travel from one side to the other had to either go the long way around Dawes Point or climb a series of rickety stairs. One of the streets at the Sydney end was Argyle Street. It began as a track from near the hospital to the convict dwellings on the hill behind it.
In 1816, Governor Macquarie floated the idea of cutting a passage through the rock face to join the east and west sides of The Rocks community. As complaints were being voiced both in England and Sydney that Macquarie was wasting precious funds on unnecessary public utilities, Macquarie attempted to raise finance from local business but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
The program languished until 1843 when convict chain gangs began their assault on the rock face with whatever hand tool could be found. 21 years later, the cut was completed and opened to traffic. The rubble from the cut was used to construct many of The Rock's stone buildings of the era including the Hero of Waterloo Hotel (1844), and in the reclamation and construction of the walls of Circular Quay. The Argyle Stairs were built as part of the Cut, which was widened to its present size on its western side around the turn of the 20th century.
Carrying Cumberland Street over the Argyle Cut in The Rocks, of interest are the abutments to the bridge with small obelisk shaped pylons on either side of the road (at the north and south approaches to the bridge), and intact original light fittings. The parapet of the part of the bridge directly over Argyle Street was replaced in the 1950s. The original parapet of the bridge can still be seen to the south of the southern abutments.
As part of the improvements undertaken by the Sydney Harbour Trust, Gloucester and Cumberland Streets were realigned and the two road bridges over the Argyle Cut replaced by a single bridge at Cumberland Street in 1911-12. Cumberland Street had previously been located to the west of its current location. The Cumberland Street bridge replaced the lower Gloucester Street Bridge and the higher Cumberland Street Bridge over the Argyle Cut. The work also involved the demolition of 22-24 Gloucester Street, part of View Terrace (now 26-30 Gloucester Street), and construction of the abutments to the bridge and the Argyle Stairs.
