Customs House Lane - Circular Quay - Sydney - NSW
Hinchcliffs Woolstore, On The South West Corner, Built 1860 - 1880, Is A Rare Survivor From The Time When Circular Quay Was A Centre For International Shipping & Wool Was Australia's Greatest Export. Imagine The Bales Being Raised On The Hoist Pulleys That Are Still Attached To The Building. In The Second Half Of The 20th Century The Building Was Set Up With Dormitories & A Soup Kitchen And Used As The Matthew Talbot Hostel For Unemployed Men.
Customs house was where shipping was cleared and goods passing through the Port of Sydney will text for sale or export.
When the port was busy the house was crowded and noisy, a scene of raised tempers, delays in disputed dealings.
The six story colonnaded building you see today evolve through several phases of expansion between 1845 and 1917.
On Loftus Street alongside the house, union Jack flies permanently on the site where the first British flag was raised.
