North Head (Sydney)
North Head ( German Nordkopf ) is one of the headlands of the Sydney Heads . Across from North Head is South Head , both of which form the entrance to Port Jackson (Sydney Harbor) in Sydney , New South Wales , Australia .
Location description
The North Head area is 3.85 km² and consists of sandstone . It forms part of the Sydney Harbor National Park . The port area includes other headlands such as Quarantine Head in the north, South Head and Dunbar Head in the south and Middle Head , Georges Head and Chowder Head in the west.
nature
With its diverse geological and geomorphological features, the North Head peninsula is also of special importance for flora and fauna . At least five species of mammals and seven reptiles live in the land area. There are also over 90 species of birds. The occurrence of 460 plant species are also documented in the numerous biotopes. These include rare or endangered plants and animals that are important for nature conservation.
history
Aboriginal
The Aborigines of the Cammeraygal tribe had lived on North Head for many thousands of years . It was an important place for their healing and burial ceremonies, which they called Koradgee . This is also where the first contact between the First Fleet and the Aborigines took place, the capture of Bennelong , Colebee and Arabanoo and the spear attack on Governor Arthur Phillip .
On North Head there are numerous traces of Aboriginal people in garbage pits, on rock overhangs, camps and burial sites, showing that this place was of significant importance to them.
Europeans
The North Head Quarantine Station is located on North Head , as it was in every Australian colony or state until the 1980s. It is one of the few quarantine stations that still exist today in this way in Australia and shows in an exhibition the spread of diseases introduced by Europeans and the z. Partly resulting decline of the indigenous population.
From 1828 on, a quarantine station made of tents for the first smallpox infected from a convict ship in Australia was built at Spring Cove on the west side of North Head to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. In 1832, the entire area of North Head was declared a quarantine area by Governor John Burke of New South Wales . The permanent buildings built in 1837 were used until 1984.
There were also separate areas for Asians, established in the 1880s in the heyday of the White Australia Policy . The station buildings also show the development that led to scientific findings for medical therapies. The smallpox epidemic of 1881 resulted in e.g. B. to the fact that the hospital was built and the lounge areas were tightened.
For example, the second and third class passengers were separated into corrugated iron barracks and into separate areas. Defense systems were built from 1934, but they were demolished again at the end of the Second World War . In 1953 an artillery school moved into the existing building. However, it was relocated to an army base in Victoria in 1998 . Until 2010 an artillery museum commemorated them.
Not only convicts, sailors and hikers, but also returning soldiers from both world wars, prisoners of war, homeless people after the devastating Cyclone Tracy in 1975 and Vietnam refugees passed through the quarantine station if they were suspected of a contagious disease. Before the closure, a total of 580 ships carrying 13,000 passengers were quarantined for 40 days, including generations of immigrants, convicts and war veterans. After the closure, the employees were taken over by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service .
Monument protection and use
North Head has been administered by the Sydney Harbor Federation Trust since 2001 . In 2010 the inventory of the Artillery Museum was transferred to the Army Museum Bandiana . The Trust has been planning to set up an exhibition on the defense of Sydney on the site since 2010.
The Australian Institute of Police Management is located on North Head in the former seaman's quarters of the quarantine station, where the infected seafarers had to stay before the development of modern antibiotics .
The station as well as other buildings, streets, walls and cemeteries were built according to social and cultural aspects. Therefore, as an ensemble, they represent a monument of national value and have been included in the Australian National Heritage List by the Australian federal government .
The quarantine station was incorporated into the Sydney Harbor National Park in 1984 and is now used as a hotel with a restaurant, a center for events and conferences and visited by tourists.
Web links
- environment.gov.au (PDF file; 74 kB): Map of the North Head
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b environment.nsw.gov.au : North Head Quarantine Station , in English, accessed September 11, 2011
- ↑ a b c environment.gov.au : North Head - Sydney more information , in English, accessed October 3, 2011
- ↑ Nationalparks.nsw.au ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Department of Environment & Conservation (NSW) , in English, accessed October 3, 2011
- ↑ army.gov.au ( Memento of the original from October 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Army Museum Bandiana , accessed October 3, 2011
- ↑ smh.com.au : Last Rounds for Artillery Museum at North Head , in English, accessed October 3, 2011
Coordinates: 33 ° 48 ′ 52.5 ″ S , 151 ° 17 ′ 23.6 ″ E