page_title: Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney
section_title: Archaeological significance
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney / Heritage listing / Archaeological significance
caption_attribution_description: English: Steps leading up to The Tarpeian Way, adjacent to the Sydney Opera House
context_page_description: The Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney is a heritage-listed major 30-hectare botanical garden, event venue and public recreation area located at Farm Cove on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia.
  Opened in 1816, the garden is the oldest scientific institution in Australia and one of the most important historic botanical institutions in the world. The overall structure and key elements were designed by Charles Moore and Joseph Maiden, and various other elements designed and built under the supervision of Allan Cunningham, Richard Cunningham, and Carrick Chambers. The garden is owned by the Government of New South Wales and administered by the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust. The Botanic Garden, together with the adjacent Domain were added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
  The Garden and The Domain are open every day of the year and access is free. Its stunning position on Sydney Harbour, the Sydney Opera House and the large public parklands of The Domain ensure it is one of the most visited attractions in Sydney.
context_section_description: The Botanic Garden and The Domain are identified in the Archaeological Zoning Plan for Central Sydney as an Area of Archaeological Potential, with the potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of NSW's cultural or natural history.  It is an area potentially rich in archaeological remains, dating from Aboriginal occupation and the earliest years of the establishment of the colony.
  Central Depot
  The Central Depot is of historical significance for its previous use as the kitchen garden associated with Government House (1813–1870) and its ongoing historic use as a centre for plant propagation, cultivation and display serving the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney. It contains several rare late 19th and early 20th century glasshouses, and retains evidence of their original heating systems.  The Central Depot is of research significance for its archaeological potential.
  The archaeology within the Central Depot belongs to all of the identified time frames of the overall statement of archaeological significance for the Botanic Gardens.  The early remains of the first farm, and the Macquaries' landscaping of the Domain all built by convicts, are of exceptional State heritage significance.  Other archaeological evidence, glasshouses and the boiler room equipment and such, associated with the development of the Botanic Garden can contribute to the story of the Garden and has high Local archaeological significance.
  The Tarpeian Way
  The Tarpeian Way is of State significance for its prominence as a quarried, weathered sandstone cliff face, with stone steps and iron railing, which defines the northern boundary of the Royal Botanic Garden and the southern boundary of the Sydney Opera House. The drama, scale and simplicity of the quarried sandstone face of theTarpeian Wall plays a crucial role in supporting the entry point and setting of the Sydney Opera House, where it provides an enclosing "backstage wall" to the open forecourt space. It is considered a "crucial element in [the World Heritage] Buffer Zone . . . including its steps and upper perimeter fence. Although not legally on the Sydney Opera House site, it immediately borders and defines its southern edge and the open space of the forecourt. Because of its scale, location and configuration, it plays a crucial role in the approach and entry experience, setting, and definition, of the Sydney Opera House site."
  A substantial rock cutting of the Bennelong headland, undertaken in 1880 at a cost of £6,000, it enabled the extension of Macquarie Street. 'Its vertical quarried sandstone face, with its steps and fence, is an historic artefact in its own right and retains the only visible evidence of activities on the Sydney Opera House site predating the Opera House itself.' Its traces of anti-Vietnam War graffiti dating from the 1970s are of State significance as a remnant of an important Australian social movement in a major public space. The Tarpeian Way is of local significance for its associations with politicians and bureaucrats who authorised and undertook the cutting in 1880 including Sydney Alderman C. Moore, J. S. Farnell, then Minister for Lands, E. Bradridge, City Surveyor and Mr. Moriarty, the Engineer for Harbours and Rivers. The Tarpeian Way has an unusually dramatic, classical association through its name with the famous rock in Rome from which prisoners were hurled to their deaths in ancient times. The Tarpeian Way is of State social significance for the high regard in which it is held as a dramatic backdrop to the forecourt space of the Sydney Opera House, and as an access point between the Sydney Opera House and the Royal Botanic Garden. It is often used by members of the public enjoying its marvellous views of the Sydney Opera House and harbour setting.
  The Royal Botanic Garden and The Domain were listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999 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 second oldest botanic g
caption: The Tarpeian Way steps
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