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The ObeliskPrint Page Print this page

20-October-2019
20-October-2019

Photographs supplied by Peter F Williams

The obelisk is the earliest surviving public monument of Australia`s colonisation. It is supposedly erected on the site where Governor Phillip raised the Union Jack in 1788.

Designed by Francis Greenway and erected in 1818, the large sandstone structure functioned as the zero point for the measurement of early roads in New South Wales. The obelisk was instrumental as a surveying device used for Sydney`s earliest roads as part of the Governor and Mrs Macquarie`s civic improvements.

Location

Address:Loftus Street, Macquarie Place Park , Sydney, 2000
State:NSW
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -33.863236
Long: 151.210233
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:Monument
Monument Theme:Landscape
Sub-Theme:Settlement
Designer:Frances Greenway

Dedication

Approx. Monument Dedication Date:1818
Front Inscription

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

 

Left Side Inscription

Principal Roads,

Distance from Sydney }
To Bathurst  }       137 Miles

From Sydney to Windsor  35½ D º
To Parramatta                   15½ "
To Liverpool                       20 "
To Macquarie Tower }
At the South Head }           7 "
To the North Head }
Of Botany Bay }                 14"


 

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au