Description
Scarce lithograph of Gaol Bridge in Parramatta in 1826. The horses are standing behind where the Riverside Theatre now is. The bridge was built on stone piers with timber railings and was the second bridge built across the Parramatta River as the first David Lennox, the colony’s first superintendent of bridges, had been commissioned to build a bigger and stronger bridge to replace the failing Gaol Bridge. Archaeologist Anne Bickford said Lennox had decided to leave parts of the Gaol Bridge within his bridge rather than go to the trouble of removing them. Graphic showing where Lennox Bridge intersected with the pier of the Gaol Bridge over the Parramatta River. Graphic showing where Lennox Bridge intersected with the pier of the Gaol Bridge over the Parramatta River.
The Gaol Bridge was the first substantial bridge to join the southern and northern section of the new colony at Parramatta (although as James Jervis points out in his 1933 publication ‘The Story of Parramatta and District’, there had been an earlier bridge which connected the Government Farm with the original settlement, but this had been washed away). This wooden Gaol bridge was constructed on the site of the Lennox Bridge and had a crossing span at Church Street which gave access between the town and the gaol. It also helped to open up access to the growing settlements to the north of Parramatta River.
From ‘Voyage de la Corvette Astrolabe Execute par Ordre du Roi pendant les annees 1826-1827-1828-1829, sours le Commandement’.
Collections:
National Library Australia: Bib ID 2682369
