|
Name: Fairy Bower Pool
| The first ocean baths north of Sydney Harbour is
located in Manly's Cabbage Tree Bay, the Fairy Bower pool is tiny, triangular and graced by
two sculptures. It's one of the smallest public rock pools not specifically built
for children and much younger than the earliest sea pools on Manly's
harbour beach. This pool is ankle-deep at the eastern end and reaches a
maximum depth of 1.5 metres against the western end. Its shape and
sculptures make it attractive for photographers and for visitors
strolling down from The Corso and round to Manly's Shelly Beach.
(Image taken on 23 September 2001.) |
click for larger view |
Location: Bower Lane, Manly, NSW, 2095, Australia
(Latitude South 33d 48m 03s, Longitude East 151d 17m 40s)
Manly >
Sydney - Northern Beaches |
 
|
|
1920s
Professional and recreational fisherman kept their boats on Shelly Beach next to
Fairy Bower Beach. Fish guts in the water attracted sharks prompting locals to
create a shark-netted enclosure and support the construction of a rock pool.
1929
The Fairy Bower pool was included in the workplan by the Manly Council engineer.
1936
There were complaints about the disgraceful state of the Fairy Bower pool, which
many people were using 'since the shark tragedy at South Steyne', only to find it
empty of water for a fortnight and then filled with filth.
1940s
There were problems with flushing the pool.
1961
The Manly Fire Brigade was called in to fill the pool.
1997
Installation of the two sculptures known as The Oceanids on the pool's
seaward side. While some local swimmers disliked the sculptures when they were first
installed as part of Manly Council's public sculpture program, now most pool
patrons would miss
the sculptures if they weren't there. The sculptures are slender, open and don't block the view.
2002
The pool attracted around 12 morning regulars in the warmer months. Some of
those regular pool patrons travelled
there from as far as Five Dock, a suburb on the other side of Sydney Harbour and
the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
|
Manly Beach was once known as Cabbage Tree Beach. There are quite a few Cabbage Tree Bays, Cabbage Tree Harbours, Cabbage Tree
creeks and places called 'Cabbage Tree' around Australia's east coast. The
Cabbage Tree is a native Australian palm (Livistona australis) found in
the lowland forests and swamps of eastern Australia and once common in the
Sydney area. The 'cabbage' is the palm's growing tip, which was a traditional
food for Aboriginal people and a popular food with Australia's early European
settlers, but harvesting this 'cabbage' kills the tree. In the nineteenth-century, cabbage tree fibres were used to make the popular cabbage tree hats.
Manly set the tone for many other seaside resorts in NSW. From the 1850s, the
affordable Manly Ferry helped Manly become
the favourite resort of many Sydneysiders, who travelled from Redfern, Waterloo,
Woolloomooloo and the Rocks with their picnic hampers and
fishing tackle in search of amusement. After Bondi, Manly Beach is still
probably Australia's best-known surf beach.
By the 1880s, Manly's bushland reserve surrounding Cabbage Tree Bay's Shelly
Beach was an established picnicking and bathing place attracting up to 50 bathers
between 6am and 7am. The
name Fairy Bower reflects the fairy-like beauty of the
bushland.
2002
Manly's
Cabbage Tree Bay was declared an aquatic reserve.
|
|
|
Smallest ocean baths not specifically designed for children. A recreational and
a learn-to-swim venue for Manly residents and visitors even when the famous
Manly Baths and the Wonder Pool operated on the harbourside of Manly.
Beautiful site, attractive views. Has two statues on its seaward side. Attractive
subject for photographers. Assessed significance: Local.
Current heritage status: Not yet given heritage status.
|
|
|
<Next
pool south = North Bondi - Wally Weekes Pool : :
Next pool north = Queenscliff Rock Pool>
|
|
Access
to toilet/change facilities
Disabled
Access
Back
Top