Wollongong - Historic buildings

Lighthouse - Situated at the end of the Breakwater in Belmore Basin.

The Lighthouse was constructed between 1870 and 1872. It is Australia's first prefabricated lighthouse. The Lighthouse is 12.5 metres high and is constructed of 1cm thick boiler plate. The beacon was originally lit by vegetable oil. It was converted to gas in 1883 and to electricity in 1921. Edward Orphan Moriarty, the Engineer-in-Chief of Harbours and Rivers Department, designed the Lighthouse.

Belmore Basin - Cliff Road and Endeavour Drive, Wollongong

Belmore Basin, the original Wollongong Harbour, was excavated from solid stone. Excavation for the harbour commenced in 1837 using convict labour. It was extended in 1859 and again in 1864. In 1866 the harbour was deepened to 18 ft. The harbour was completed by 1868 and opened by Lord Belmore. Wollongong harbour was originally used for the transport of coal.

Forts

The following two defence works were constructed in the late 1880's to defend Wollongong from possible attack.

Flagstaff Hill, Wollongong East

Tenders were called for the construction of a battery on this site in 1889. Fifty thousand cubic feet of rock and soil was removed and the construction was built into the hillside. A face brick walling with one door and two window openings is the only element out of the ground. The site includes tunnels leading from the brick entrance to the gun emplacement and two range find positions. The construction was completed in 1891 and a gun was erected and fired the following year. The site was bricked up in 1950.

Smiths Hill Fort, Cliff Road, North Wollongong

Drawings for a battery on this site were completed in 1892. Building commenced in 1892 and was completed in 1893. The battery is built into the side of the hill and comprises three gun emplacements and several underground ammunition rooms. Two original guns, 80 pound (36kg) muzzleloaders built in 1872, are still on the site.

After being buried under fill in 1947 the site has now been excavated and restored externally.

Market Square

Market Square is bounded by Market Street, Market Place and Harbour Street in Wollongong East. Market Square was originally the centre of the township of Wollongong with the post office, the Illawarra Mercury newspaper office, blacksmith shops and four hotels around its perimeter. The first agriculture show organised by the Illawarra Agricultural and Horticultural Society was held here in 1845.

Features of the square include:

Pathway built in 1866 - still in use
Trees from Sydney Botanical Gardens
A stone memorial to Bass and Flinders
The original Bandstand, designed by Robert Boyd, was built in 1896. Band recitals were held in the summer evenings and on Sunday afternoons. The Bandstand was demolished in 1959. A new bandstand, reconstructed to the specifications of the original, was opened on the site in 1983.

 
St Francis Xavier's Roman Catholic Church - Harbour Street, Wollongong

The foundation stone for St Francis Xavier's Roman Catholic Church was laid in 1840 and the building was completed in 1849. The church is said to have been built on the site of Charles Throsby Smith's stockman's hut. The building was officially dedicated by Bishop Polding of Sydney.

The building is early Victorian Picturesque Gothic style and is one of the earliest surviving public buildings in the region. It is a two-storey building of brick, rendered to resemble stone. It was extended in 1878, 1911 and 1922 and the vestibule additions were added in 1933. The ornate pinnacles are from the original church.

[ALI, c1981; City of Wollongong heritage study, 1991]