Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Two-Hour Walk Around Balmain
Historic Balmain village was named after William
Balmain, a ship's surgeon on the First Fleet. In 1800, he
was granted rights to 223 ha (550 acres) of the penin-
sula, which he later sold for a paltry 5 shillings in a
dubious business transaction. From the mid-1800s, much
of the land was subdivided for housing to support the
then flourishing mining and maritime industries. Today,
grand colonial and Victorian buildings stand side by side
with tiny workers' cottages, adding variety to every street.
to Ewenton
6
(c.1854). Past
the park, Hampton Villa
7
at
12B Grafton Street was home
to state premier Henry Parkes.
Turn right into Ewenton
Street and then left into Wallace
Street, with its variety of early
Australian architecture. The
rough stone home at No. 1 is
called the Railway Station as
its narrow frontage makes it
resemble one. The
charming Clontarf
8
is at No. 4, while
Maitland House
9
has a symmetry
worth a second
glance. Return
to Darling
Street.
:VSVMCJO
1PJOU
Colourful shopfront on Darling
Street, Balmain
4OBJMT
#BZ
Birchgrove Park
The Waterman's Cottage
3
East Balmain
Begin from the Darling Street
Wharf
1
. By the 1840s, when
the ferry service began, ship-
yards dotted these foreshores.
The sandstone building at No.
10 Darling Street
2
, once the
Dolphin Hotel then the Ship-
wright's Arms, was a watering
hole for sailors and ferrymen.
On the opposite corer is The
Waterman's Cottage (1841)
3
,
home to Henry McKenzie,
whose boat ferried residents
to and from Sydney Town.
Turn left into Weston Street
and walk through the Illoura
Reserve for views of the city
and Darling Harbour. Leave the
park via William and Johnston
Streets, stopping in the latter
to view Onkaparinga
4
, the
colonial residence at No. 12.
When building started in 1860,
mussel shells from Aboriginal
feasts stood in mounds upon
the harbour foreshore beyond.
Turn left onto Darling Street
then right into Duke Street.
Gilchrist Place then leads down
to Mort Bay Reserve
5
. Ship's
propellers stand as monuments
to the area's working past. A
path leads up to The Avenue's
timber workers' cottages.
Back on Darling Street, turn
left down Killeen Street. Take
the path across Ewenton Park
"$
.035#":
1"3,
Balmain
Fire Station
--&8&--:/ 45
Court
House
(-"%450/&
1"3,
(-"%4
50/&
The London Hotel
The London Hotel
The domestic grandeur of Louisa Road
