Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2020L01339:front:0:p13
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2020L01339
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Character Range: 33142–35723

and for sandstone bedrock that was exposed and engraved in the past to be now buried below ground. Caution is therefore recommended in all future works where 'new ground' is to be disturbed by a proposed activity.

European Occupation
The Macquarie Lightstation Precinct and surrounding lands were dedicated to navigational and communication activities from the very early years of the colony and remarkably continue to be associated with these uses today. These phases of development are shown at Figure 5.

Early History of South Head (Pre-1816)
As early as 1788, South Head was being used as a look-out point for boats entering and leaving the harbour. Prior to 1816 South Head was the site for a manned flagstaff, a fire beacon, a navigation column and a signal station.

In 1790, Captain Arthur Phillip directed a party of seamen from the Sirius to erect a flagstaff "… on a high bluff… at the entrance to the harbour..." in order to communicate the arrival of ships into the harbour back to the colony at Sydney Cove. The first signal from here was displayed in February of that year. It is believed that the present Signal Station is the site of the 1790 flagstaff.

Later that year, Phillip also commanded that a column be erected near the flagstaff. It should be "... of a height sufficient to be seen from some distance at sea, and the stonemasons were sent down to quarry stone upon the spot for the building..." The column was erected on a raised base measuring 16 foot square and had its own base of 4 foot square. The signalling activities at South Head were now two-fold, communicating news about the arrival of ships to the colony at Sydney Cove via semaphore, and informing ships of the location of the entrance to Port Jackson. By the end of 1790 the site was known as the 'Look-out Post'. Huts and vegetable gardens were established for the eleven men stationed there.

The column was destroyed in September 1792 by a major storm. It was reportedly re-erected using bricks from Bennelong's disused hut on Bennelong Point as there were not enough bricks available from the kilns in the Brickfields. Figure 5 below is an artist's impression of the column from the water in 1810.

Figure 5 – 1810 illustration of Camp Cove
Shows the flagstaff and column on South Head. The Pilot's House and Watson's Bay are in the foreground.
During this period, access to the site was via a walking track which was approximately in the same location as the present Old South Head Road. In 1803 surgeon John Harris offered to construct a road 15 feet wide for 100 pounds. By 1811