Mort's Dock

was launched in 1941. Mort Bay, J. S. Mort and his partners Mort Bay was originally known as Waterview Bay, and at the corner of the bay was the mouth of a small stream which ran down from Balmain Hill through the valley of Strathean. On its way to the harbour, the stream collected in small waterholes known as the "Curtis Waterholes" after the then landowner James Curtis. In 1842 James Reynolds purchased from Curtis an area of land bounded by what is now Curtis Road down to the water front between Mort and Church Streets, dammed the stream, built a stone house called "Strathean Cottage" and sold fresh water to the ships anchored in the deep calm waters of the bay. Recognising the need, and despite the Government building a dry dock at Cockatoo Island, he started. He offered incentives: on completion, workers got a freehold block of land. The dock was operational by March 1855, one year before the Fitzroy Dock at Cockatoo Island Dockyard. Subdivisions and sales of Waterview Bay land followed the development, values spiraling when it opened. The first vessel serviced at the new Mort's Dock was the SS Hunter, a coastal mail steamer running between Sydney and Newcastle. Mort had bought large tracts and as needs arose, sold. When the dock needed extensions (1866 and 1875), he met costs with more sales. By 1877 80% of the estate was settled by a working class population. The elite who had settled the area from the 1840s objected to pollution and industrial impediments to "their" marine views. Controversy raged over redeveloping the site. The NSW Government proposal for a large public housing development was vigorously opposed by resident groups who wanted it landscaped as open space. Groups such as the Balmain Association had formed in 1965, reflecting a changing mood concerning urbanisation and loss of heritage. In 1986, in what it claimed to be a compromise, the Department of Planning and the Environment announced 211 Housing Commission flats would be built, with plans for parkland and a harbour-side promenade. The park was developed in stages (one: 1985; two: 1986–9), while the container terminal closed in 1989. • 1898: dry dock extenuated to 640 feet; • 1966: ANL added a second berth; • 1967: Sims demolished buildings on the northern side of dry dock with disregard for items of historical interest; • 1968–1969: ANL filled in the dry dock, raised and levelled the site and covered with bitumen. The site was then used as a container depot until 1975 when resident protests resulted in its closure; • 1986: the first stage of redevelopment was completed; • 1986: the second stage involving the residual of the park was commenced; • 1989: the second stage was completed with the Department of Housing to complete the residual of park construction adjacent to its site boundaries later the same year. == Surviving remains ==

The archaeological remains of the dry dock and wider site remain buried beneath what is now Mort Bay Park. The top of the stone walls of dry dock remains visible on the ground in the park. The caisson, and stone retailing walls remain in situ as do the ships bollards, and remnants of the patent slips and later container wharf. Both the archaeological and research potential of the site have been assessed as high. The site has a high degree of integrity and intactness as a result of the infill in the 1960s. == Heritage listing ==

Mort's Dock was the largest shipyard and engineering workshop in Australia in the latter half of the 19th century. The site developed into the colony's largest private enterprise and in many ways helped establish the colony and Sydney as Australia's premier maritime port. The archaeological remains are possibly the only remains of a dry dock of this size preserved in situ. Mort's Dock was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 January 2011 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. The site is historically significant as a key industrial site to the State, Sydney's first dry dock (1842) in continuous operation until 1979. '''The place has a strong or special association with a person, or group of persons, of importance of cultural or natural history of New South Wales's history.''' The site has an historical association with Thomas Rowntree, Thomas Sutcliffe Mort and latterly (as they both completed apprenticeships at the site) John Storey who became Premier of NSW and William McKell who became Governor-General of Australia. The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. The site has a high level of aesthetic achievement becoming a distinctive landscape feature, with landmark qualities, apart from its engineering and industrial/maritime heritage value. The site represents significant technical achievement in the building of the first dry dock in the colony, opening one year before that Cockatoo Island. The site was further responsible for a number of engineering/technical innovation including the alleged development shipboard refrigerated transport. The place has strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. The site is socially and culturally significant and is subject to a high level of community esteem. Mort's Dock was the largest private enterprise in the colony, contributing to the development of Balmain as a working class area. The site is unique for its contribution to the trade union movement with the establishment of the Ship Painters and Dockers Union in 1872, and the formation of what is now the Australian Labor Party 1891. It is further significant in providing a detailed picture of production and workplace relations issues at this time. The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The site has the potential to yield scientific and archaeological information that will further contribute to an understanding of NSW cultural, industrial and maritime history. This high research potential is due to the survival of extant remains of the dry dock, caisson and patent slips. The structural remains have a high degree of integrity and intactness as a result of the ANL backfill which preserved the remaining fabric in situ. Mort's Dock is an important reference site, provides evidence of past maritime and industrial activity that is unavailable elsewhere in NSW. The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. The site is rare as it is thought to be one of only three surviving Australian examples of an in situ dry dock of that period. The site provides evidence of a defunct custom, process and way of life in NSW, shows unusually accurate evidence of past shipbuilding, engineering and manufacturing activity, that is important to the archaeological, engineering, heritage and trade union/labour communities in NSW. The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. The site is representative of shipbuilding, ship repair, engineering and manufacturing works of that period, of the development of the colony and of Australia as a maritime nation. By 1917, 39 steamships, and seven Manly Ferries, had been constructed on the site, and significantly between 1940 and 1945, Mort's Dock constructed 14 of the 60 Bathurst class Corvettes built in Australia, four of the 12 River Class frigates, and a 1000-ton capacity floating dock, without which Australia would have suffered during the war effort. Furthermore, the site is outstanding because of its setting, condition, integrity and esteem in which it is held. ==See also==