Sydney Guided Walks - Millers Point

Millers Point

A forgotten suburb - until now!

$20.00pp  (Group Discounts Available)

Hurry to do this walk! Development is changing the suburb that is a time capsule for the early years of the 20th century. Come and see the area before it is changed forever by the high rise buildings and casino planned by the Barangaroo Redevelopment Scheme.

Explore the past in areas such as Argyle Place, Windmill, Merriman and Fort streets. Hear about the Hungry Mile, take in the view from Observatory Hill; visit the first Garrison Church and St. Brigid's the oldest Catholic building in Australia and see the two oldest pubs in Sydney, the Lord Nelson and the Hero of Waterloo.

Together we will imagine the odours of tar, wool and the ever pervasive smell of whale oil. We will seem to hear the shouts of the sweating men, the rattle of the ships gear and the stamping of carthorses on the cobblestones. We will conjure up the groups of South Sea sailors with their shark tooth necklaces and avoid the ghouls of the pushes.

As with all walks there will be photos from the past.

The suburb is named for John Leighton, 'Jack the Miller', who in 1826, while intoxicated climbed the ladder of one of his three windmills and fell to his death. The sandstone knoll (miller's point) where his windmills once stood was cut away in the 1970's to form container wharves. During the walk you will be shown a copy of a Macquarie era map that shows the outline of the real Millers Point.

Early Millers Point was an exotic seaport village. It was home to the whaling, sealing and sandalwood ships. The crews who sailed these ships were drawn to the rowdy pubs and boarding houses while the merchant princes built mansions on The Point. When wool shipping came to dominate the area the warehouses became bigger. These magnificent sandstone buildings are still there for walkers to admire and remember when Australia rode on the sheep's back.

When plague swept Sydney in 1900 Millers Point was quarantined, cleansed and resumed by the government, which has controlled it ever since. Houses were demolished and new ones built, but much of the nineteenth-century stock was preserved and still survives. Unlike its close neighbour The Rocks, Millers Point remains residential.

Millers Point also boasts the most complete set of finger wharves in the world. These are now apartments, theatres and restaurants but at least they are still there for walkers and all to admire.

The start of the Millers Point walk is flexible. Groups can be met at Circular Quay or in Fort Street (under the Harbour Bridge) or in front of the Garrison Church. Please discuss at the time of booking.  

KNOWLEDGE, FRIENDSHIP AND SOCIAL INTERACTION ARE THE GREAT OUTCOMES OF A WALK WITH SYDNEY GUIDED WALKS.

email: ellen@sydneyguidedwalks.com.au