27-513: The Sydney Heads (also simply known as the Heads ) are a series of headlands that form the 2 km (1.2 mi) wide entrance to Sydney Harbour in Sydney , New South Wales , Australia. North Head and Quarantine Head are to the north; South Head and Dunbar Head are to the south; and Middle Head, Georges Head, and Chowder Head are to the west and within the harbour. The Heads are contained within
54-401: A head , is a coastal landform , a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water . It is a type of promontory . A headland of considerable size often is called a cape . Headlands are characterised by high, breaking waves , rocky shores , intense erosion , and steep sea cliff . Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay
81-579: A headland, or peninsula . Through the deposition of sediment within the bay and the erosion of the headlands, coastlines eventually straighten out, then start the same process all over again. NSW National Parks %26 Wildlife Service The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment and responsible for managing more than 890 national parks and reserves, covering over 7.5 million hectares of land across
108-427: A range-sighting post, four ammunition storage bunkers and a fortified outhouse. This location has been the site of erosion and geo-technical instability. It may be subject to natural rockfalls as the erosion process continues. From 1934, defence facilities were installed on the headland but were wound down in 1945. From 1953, there was a School of Artillery , which used the former defence facilities. The harbour reserve
135-408: A rustic historic setting. Many of the inscriptions on the local sandstone outcrops record the names and reasons why previous colonial and latter occupants found themselves in such a place. The buildings remain much as they had been in a former age and provided an opportunity for air-travel 'patients' to become acquainted with a unique collection of historic ephemera. In 1970 the then Officer-in-Charge at
162-418: Is a headland south-east of the suburb of Manly . It is part of Sydney Harbour National Park. The headland is a promontory of sandstone and is 3.85 square kilometres (1.49 sq mi) in area. The heritage-listed former Quarantine Station is located on North Head and is one of the few facilities that operated in each state of Australia from the mid-to-late-1800s until the 1980s. From 1828, Spring Cove, on
189-405: Is flanked by land on three sides, whereas a headland is flanked by water on three sides. Headlands and bays form on discordant coastlines, where bands of rock of alternating resistance run perpendicular to the coast. Bays form when weak (less resistant) rocks (such as sands and clays ) are eroded, leaving bands of stronger (more resistant) rocks (such as chalk , limestone , and granite ) forming
216-548: Is lawful. It then loops around the headland, passing Hornby Lighthouse, its lightkeepers' cottages, and several gun emplacements from the end of the 19th century. HMAS Watson , the Royal Australian Navy training base, is also located at South Head. Middle Head is a headland between North Head and South Head, beside Middle Harbour . It is part of Sydney Harbour National Park. Middle Head has an extensive network of defence fortifications and tunnels, including
243-711: The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 , which remains the enabling legislation for the NPWS to this day. Training of NPWS staff and rangers was conducted at an academy training facility located within the Royal National Park area. From its establishment in 1967 until 2003 the NPWS was a discrete agency of the NSW Government . Since that time it has been a directorate of various broader state government departments. In September 2003 it joined with
270-742: The Environment Protection Authority , Resource New South Wales, and the Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust to form the Department of Environment and Conservation . This department, by then renamed as the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water , was abolished in 2011, and the NPWS was transferred to the Office of Environment & Heritage under the Department of Premier and Cabinet . In 2014
297-758: The Middle Head Fortifications , the Georges Head Battery and the Lower Georges Heights Commanding Position and other forts located around Sydney Harbour . The fortifications feature "Tiger Cages", where the military trained soldiers by simulating prisoner of war conditions in Vietnam. HMAS Penguin is located at Middle Harbour. Middle Head has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Headland A headland , also known as
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#1732779686358324-678: The NSW Lands Department were amalgamated under Lands Minister Tom Lewis AO . Lewis also established a charity, the National Parks Foundation, to assist the NPWS in raising funds for conservation. The first Co-ordinator General of the NPWS was Sam P. Weems , a former superintendent in the US National Park Service . Seven years after the founding of the NPWS, various state laws regulating flora and fauna were consolidated together into
351-749: The New South Wales Rural Fire Service . The NPWS is divided into four branches: Business Delivery, Park Operations (Coastal), Park Operations (Inland), and Conservation and Aboriginal Partnerships. It is led by a Deputy Secretary, who reports to the Coordinator-General of the Environment and Heritage Group, who reports to the Secretary of the Department of Planning and Environment, who in turn reports to
378-650: The Sydney Harbour National Park . Some features located on the heads are heritage-listed on the Australian National Heritage List ; such as the Hornby Lighthouse , located on South Head, Australia's third-oldest lighthouse; Macquarie Lighthouse , Australia's first lighthouse, located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) to the south on Dunbar Head; and the former Quarantine Station on North Head. North Head
405-414: The NPWS has the responsibility to manage. Covering over 70,000 square kilometres (7,000,000 ha), these range from national parks where the NPWS is tasked with conserving biodiversity and protecting ecological integrity to other less restrictive categories of parks and reserves where more intensive human activity must be balanced against maintaining natural and cultural values. This is controlled through
432-555: The Office of Environment & Heritage was transferred to the Department of Planning and Environment before also being abolished in 2019. Today, the NPWS continues to be a part of the Department of Planning and Environment cluster, within the Environment and Heritage Group. Nearly 900 protected areas of a variety of types have been declared in New South Wales under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 , most of which
459-489: The colony by ship. Soon after Federation the Commonwealth Government initiated a major building and infrastructure program which also remains largely intact today. This program included similar, but smaller, quarantine stations around Australian ports, of which North Head is the only remaining example. This site dealt with major shipping-related epidemic outbreaks which took place up until the 1940s. As such,
486-652: The development of modern antibiotics). South Head is a headland, part of Sydney Harbour National Park, to the north of the suburb of Watsons Bay . A twenty-minute foreshore walk on the South Head Heritage Trail offers dramatic views of Middle Head, Manly, North Head and the Tasman Sea. Starting at the delightful Camp Cove Beach, an 1870s cobblestone path leads first to Lady Bay (also known as Lady Jane) Beach, one of three in Sydney where nude bathing
513-409: The preparation of plans of management which determine how the NPWS manages conservation, hazard protection, research, education, and sustainable visitation activities in its parks and reserves. The NPWS also administers fire management strategies for the land it manages in order to limit risks from bushfires, such as by conducting hazard reduction burns in collaboration with other state agencies such as
540-416: The quarantine complex represents one of the most complete collection of buildings, equipment and a setting showing how life was lived among the struggles and successes in public health of Australia's past. After 1945 the requirements for quarantine changed to small air-travel family groups serving periods of observation due to a lack of required inoculations. To these groups the site provided a scenic haven in
567-519: The site. There are still remains of the gun emplacements and artificial tunnels used by the army, many of which can be seen by the public or on guided tours. Also located on North Head is the Australian Institute of Police Management, housed in a secure compound which has been the 'Seamen's Quarters' of the quarantine station, a place where sailors with acquired STIs were treated and securely confined behind high sandstone walls (prior to
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#1732779686358594-539: The state of New South Wales , Australia . Despite its name the NPWS is a state government agency rather than federal government, likewise as other states and territories National Parks agencies around Australia. However the states and territories agencies around Australia do still work closely together. The NPWS was established in 1967 when the Fauna Protection Panel and the Parks and Reserves Branch of
621-690: The station, Herbert Lavaring, was awarded a Queens Birthday Honors Award (BEM) for his efforts in keeping the historic site preserved while also creating a practical, enriching environment for patients and the public to enjoy. The steam-powered laundry and fumigation autoclaves are a unique collection of industrial technology from the past; they provide an insight into the technology required to deal with combating hygiene-related and other readily communicable diseases in an age before antibiotics and vaccinations. In 1975, Vietnamese refugees were housed there, and in 1975 and 1976, Cyclone Tracy victims from Darwin, Northern Territory were also housed there. The station
648-407: The western side of North Head, was used to quarantine new arrivals to Sydney to minimise the spread of communicable diseases such as cholera , smallpox and whooping cough , amongst other communicable diseases. In 1832, the whole area of North Head was set aside for a quarantine station. A permanent quarantine facility was set up in 1837 and continued to operate until 1984. The buildings and site
675-549: Was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999, the entire 277-hectare (680-acre) North Head site to the Australian National Heritage List on 12 May 2006, and now forms part of the Sydney Harbour National Park . The site contains the remnants of Colonial New South Wales period buildings and equipment which were the best available means of combating major contagious diseases and hygiene-related conditions brought to
702-610: Was established in 1979. The School of Artillery relocated to Puckapunyal army base in Victoria in 1998, but an artillery museum remained on the headland. In 2001, the site was passed to the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust for management. In 2010 the artillery collection was moved to The Army Museum Bandiana in Bandiana , Victoria ; the Trust plans to establish an exhibition on the defence of Sydney on
729-468: Was finally closed in 1984 and the management of the site passed to the NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service . The facility is now a tourist facility and part of the former Quarantine Station may be leased for accommodation. The nearby Inner North Head clifftops have many inscriptions from the quarantine period as well as the remnants of 1940s coastal defenses in the form of two gun sites,
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