By ANNA USHER

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has restricted access to the end of Bradleys Head Wharf, a convict-built sandstone jetty and one of Sydney Harbour’s oldest structures, after inspections found the stone is moving and eroding away underneath.

The restriction took effect at 1.17pm on Thursday 23 July and fences off several metres at the tip of the wharf, which reaches into the harbour off the Mosman headland, below the mast of the first HMAS Sydney.

“Access at the Bradleys Head Wharf has been restricted by several metres at the end of the wharf for public safety after inspections found deterioration in parts of the structure, including movement in the sandstone blockwork and erosion underneath the wharf,” an NPWS spokesperson said.

The service said initial stabilisation works had been completed to address the immediate risk of further deterioration or structural failure.

Most of the wharf is still open. “Access to the majority of the wharf remains unrestricted although people are reminded not go past the barriers for their safety,” the spokesperson said.

Built by convicts

The wharf’s sandstone blocks were laid by convict gangs around 1840, under the colony’s First Colonial Engineer, Major George Barney, to haul supplies across from Sydney Cove to the new harbour fort, according to History Services NSW and the Dictionary of Sydney. That makes it more than 180 years old, and it still stands beside the circular sandstone gun pit at the end of the point.

NPWS said the jetty was no longer used as an operational wharf but remained part of the heritage and visitor setting at Bradleys Head. The headland was known to the Borogegal people of the Eora nation as Booraghee, and sits inside Sydney Harbour National Park, a magnet for walkers, ferry-watchers and wedding parties at its amphitheatre.

No decision yet

The spokesperson said NPWS was now assessing long-term management options for the wharf. “No decision has been made about when the restricted section will reopen,” the spokesperson said.

NPWS said it would engage with relevant stakeholders as the assessment progressed and release further public updates when more information was available. It did not say what a full repair of the heritage wharf would cost.

The wider park, the walking track and the headland remain open. Anyone with questions can email NPWS Sydney North at [email protected].