The Roads Obelisk - Macquarie Place

In September 1816 The Contract Was Signed To Erect A Very Handsome Stone Obelisk In Centre Of Macquarie Place As An Ornament To This Part Of Town & Also For The Purpose Of Measuring The Miles From All The interior Parts Of The Colony..... TO the Cost Of  eighty Five Pounds Sterling.

In Greenways Obelisks We Read

This Obelisk was Erected In Macquarie Place A.D. 1818,

To Record That All The Public Roads

Leading To The Interior of The Colony 

Are Measured From It

L. Macquarie, Esq, Governor 

Then Came Macquarie the visionary, & On 6 October 1810 He Proclaimed a town plan, saying with Macquarie Place

“It being attended to remove all those old buildings & enclosures now on that ground bounded by the government domain on the east, by the judge advocate, secretary, chaplains, & Commissary houses on the south, by the spring of water in stream on the west, and by the south, by the spring water in the stream on the west & by the houses if Mr Lord, Mr Thompson and Mr Reiby on the north, and to throw the same into an open area, the said area has been named  “Macquarie Place” and it is henceforth to be so nominated.

Macquarie Place - Sydney - New South Wales

Macquarie Place - Bridge Street - Sydney - NSW

There Was Once A Through Street At Macquarie Place, But This Is Now Given Over To A Public Space Joining A Little Park Packed With Items Of Historical Interest, Including The Obelisk Of Distances, The Anchor Of The Sirius, A Victorian Drinking Fountain And The Remnants Of What Was Once A Glass Domed Entrance To The Underground "Men's Convenience". This Area Is A Popular Drinking Hole At The End Of The Day When The Surrounding Office Blocks Close For Business.

Originally swampy mangrove land

Originally swampy mangrove land on the banks of the Tank stream, this triangular morsel of land is awash with historic relics.
The obelisk records distance in miles by road to important places in the colony 7 beyond.
The sandstone monument was designed by Francis Greenway, who was sent to the colony for forgery & became Sydney's first Colonial Architect.
Along one side of the park with the Canon & the weather anchor of HMAS serious, flagship of the first fleet which arrived in Sydney in 1788.
The imposing statue of the 19 century industrialist Thomas Sutcliffe mort looks over Bridge Street