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Name: Curl Curl Rock Pool
(South Curl Curl Pool)
A 50-metre, tidally flushed pool at South Curl Curl Beach. Close to
Stewart House on Carrington Parade. Home to a range of clubs. This rock
pool offers a 50-metre pool and a shallower section largely
formed by rock. This pool is a popular subject for photographers.
(Image taken at high tide on 23 September 2001.) |
 click for larger view |
Location: Carrington Parade, South Curl Curl,
NSW, 2096, Australia
(Latitude South 33d 46m 28s, Longitude East 151d 17m 37s)
Warringah >
Sydney - Northern Beaches |
 
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1906
Warringah Shire was formed.
1918
South Curl Curl acquired a new influx of weekend visitors and the rock pool at the southern end
of the beach was a popular bathing place.
1924
The Curl Curl Improvement Association requested that Warringah Council's engineer inspect
the proposed site for a rock pool.
1925
The surf club was active in the
enlargement of the rock pool to provide safer bathing. A public meeting about constructing
baths led to the Curl Curl Improvement Association and South Curl Curl Life
Saving Club forming a South Curl Curl Bath Committee to pressure council to
enlarge the pool 'for the children' with the club raising funds for its
completion via carnivals and social events at the clubhouse. A beauty pageant
run by the swimming club helped to raise funds for the pool's construction.
1926
Warringah Shire Council completed construction of the South Curl Curl baths. The
outer wall of this original rock pool is now the centre wall of the present
pool.
1927
The baths were formally opened.
1928
After the surf club advised it would take no further responsibility for the control of
the rock baths, this role was taken over by a Council overseer.
1931
Swimming at the rock pool was part of the holiday experience of the first
children accommodated at Stewart House, a facility created
to provide seaside holiday accommodation for NSW schoolchildren 'from western suburbs and beyond'.
1930s
South Curl Curl rock pool attracted crowds of bathers on hot summer days.
1935
Proposals were put forward for the enlargement of the rock pool.
Late
1930s
A wall was constructed at the rock pool, creating two pools. The outer wall of
the original rock pool is the centre wall of the present pool.
1950
Toilets and a change-room were built for swimmers at the pool.
Early 1960s
The Curl Curl Amateur Swimming Club formed following a meeting convened by South
Curl Curl surf club. As the NSW Amateur Swimming Association did not then permit
any of its affiliated clubs to have male and female members, the swimming club was officially divided into men's and
women's sections. The surf club assisted the swimming club financially, and
allowed to use the surf club for meetings, social functions and
equipment storage.
1966
The men's and women's Amateur Swimming Clubs united to form one club and the
pool was shortened to accommodate Olympic standard 50-metre races. This created
a pool complex consisting of a 'stilling basin', a main pool (50 metres by 12
metres) and a wading pool (25 metres by 15 metres).
1968
Warringah Shire built the first clubhouse for the Amateur Swimming Club.
Mid-1970s
There were swimming competitions between the Amateur Swimming Club and the
surf club.
Mid-1980s
The Harbord Frigid Frogs winter swimming club began to use the clubhouse
building.
1990
A deck was added onto the clubhouse building to increase space available for the
Frigid Frogs Club, which operates all year round.
1997
The children's pool was partly concreted, entry ramps were installed
and pool walls repaired.
1999
The pool catered for a wide range of activities and for patrons of all ages and
abilities.
The carpark behind the beach which joins the surf club with the swimming club
building and rock pool provided several disabled parking places for direct
access to the pool.
The elderly retired locals who habitually sunned themselves at the base of the
concourse wall were affectionately known as 'the walruses'.
Several high schools used the pool during weekdays in the swimming season. The wading pool
was not only popular with children, it was also used as access to the
surrounding rock shelf. Some locals expressed concerns about the pool being used
for scuba lessons.
2002
At the 26th national winter swimming championships, the Frigid Frogs were again the strongest winter swimming club in Australia, finishing
71 points ahead of the Cronulla Polar Bears and the Maroubra Seals.
2003
On a day of gale-force winds, the police helicopter and two rescue service
helicopters searched the seas after a pair of men were reported to have been
pulled out to sea in heavy swells off South Curl Curl beach. It was not clear
whether the men had been washed from a rock pool at the beach or had been swimming
nearby when the undertow took hold of them. The search for the two men proved
unsuccessful and was abandoned.
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Early twentieth Century
Curl Curl's beach and lagoon attracted visitors.
1930
Stewart House opened to
provide seaside holiday accommodation for youngsters from western suburbs and
beyond.
1977
A secondary school and senior dormitory were opened at Stewart House
2002
Pollution monitoring by the NSW EPA indicated that
South Curl Curl was an almost flawlessly clean beach .
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Developed to provide safe swimming area for the community. Provides historical
evidence of the importance of beach culture for the early residents of the area.
This rock pool was developed from the early twentieth century to offer an adult
pool and wading pool. The development of this site coincided with the growth of
amateur swimming, the pursuit of aquatic sports, the acceptance of mixed bathing on beaches
and baths and the use of ocean pools as training facilities for lifesavers and
others. Assessed significance: Local.
Current heritage status: Listed with local heritage status in the Warringah
Local Environmental Plan in 2000.
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<
Next pool south = Freshwater Pool : :
Next pool north = North Curl Curl Rock Pool >
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Access
to toilet/change facilities
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