Access to toilet/change facilities Actively maintained Disabled Access

Men Women Children

Current Use: Ocean baths.
Condition: Good, facilities at the top of the cliff.

1932
The pool was constructed by Randwick Council as an Unemployment Relief project.

1940s
The pool was a popular playground for young children.

1958
The Maroubra Seals winter swimming club formed.

1979
Pool improvements were sought to enable the weaker members of the community and children to use the pool. When seas were a little rougher than usual, young children and older folk were frequently swept against the rocks and at times even experienced swimmers found swimming in the pool was impossible.

There were proposals to extend the pool to a full 100 metres, creating a more sheltered swimming area and making it easier for social swimmers to continue to use part of the pool, while competitive club swimming events were held in the rest of the pool.

1983
After requests from residents and the Maroubra Seals Club, the Mayor of Randwick, John Ford, and the Council engineer inspected the pool and agreed the needed repairs included repairing the safety chain and drainage outlet, repairing the sea wall, paving and handrail, diverting fresh water seepage from the pool surrounds. They estimated the repairs to minimise injury to bathers would take two weeks.

1984
Residents were writing to newspapers complaining about the neglected Mahon Pool in a distressing state of disrepair, virtually empty and unswimmable at its 'worst in the last 18 years'. The neglected state of the pool was seen as depriving adults and children of healthy exercise and enjoyment.

1985
Randwick Council decided earlier suggestions for extending the size of the pool were too costly, but people who had been swimming at Mahon pool for around 50 years thought it had never been in such poor condition.  They feared that Randwick Council intended to leave the recently levelled car park unpaved and felt better access was needed so older people 'who felt the salt water was beneficial to them could use the pool in calmer weather' and so ambulance officers could reach the pool easily in case of an emergency.

1988
The Mahon Pool was considered in deplorable condition and Randwick Council was confronted with two separate petitions with a combined total of 313 signatures urging attention to the pool and its surrounds. Alderman Charles Mathews noted that the pool was in use all year and very popular with older and young people who wanted to swim in sea water, but were concerned about the danger of the surf. Extensive repairs to the pool's concrete wall approved by Council in 1987 had been delayed for a year by rough seas.

The Maroubra Seals proposed additions and alterations to the Mahon Pool change-rooms to the Randwick City Council. Council accept the Seals' generous offer to undertake the work on the conditions that the work was not detrimental to the environment, complemented the attractive foreshore environment would not impose additional maintenance costs on Council.

1994
The National Trust classified the Mahon Pool and listed it on its heritage register.

1996
The novel Get Rich Quick by Peter Doyle featured a body floating in the Mahon Pool. In real life, a fisherman at Mahon Pool had a heart attack and nearly drowned after a wave washed him off the rocks. His fishing partner and two other men kept him above water, while lifesavers were alerted. He was brought to the beach in a rescue patrol boat and flown to hospital in the Westpac lifesaver helicopter.

2000
As part of its State of the Environment (SOE) report, Randwick City Council reported on water monitoring in the Mahon Pool.

2002
Letters to Sydney's Daily Telegraph complained that steps leading to the Mahon Pool were  'covered in thick moss'  which caused swimmers to slip and cut themselves on the rocks and demanded that Randwick Council act to keep it a 'safe and enjoyable area'.

2003
Real estate pages, newsletters and advertisements for apartments and houses at Maroubra feature images of the Mahon Pool.

1870s
Wool scouring works operated at the northern end of Maroubra Bay.

1898
The Hereward, a fully rigged clipper sailing for Newcastle, was wrecked at the northern end of Maroubra Bay in gale-force winds. The crew of 25 got ashore safely. Remains of this shipwreck became a tourist attraction.

1909
While Coogee was busy with trams and tourist traffic, Maroubra was still a beautiful, isolated beach, still a few miles from the nearest tramline.

1920s
Maroubra developed as a suburb once tramlines operated to Maroubra Junction and Maroubra Beach.

1950
To reduce the risk of injury to surfers, Randwick Council began blasting the remnants of the Hereward.

1960s
Navy divers removed the last traces of the Hereward.

National Trust of Australia (NSW)

1930s Depression-era construction. One of the few ocean baths on the north side of a bay. Unlike its amenities block, the pool is a magnificent example of design with nature, it gives the impression that the rock platform has simply dissolved to produce a swimming pool of high aesthetic significance. Further from a surf beach than most ocean baths developed in or after the 1930s.

Assessed significance: Local.
Current heritage status: Listed as having local heritage significance in Randwick Council's 1998 Local Environmental Plan.
 

Related Topics Children Council involvement Drinking alcohol Exercise & fitness Petitions & protests Real estate agents Seniors Unemployment relief works Waste management Water quality Winter swimming

Studies & References National Trust listing EJE Landscape Architects & Christa Ludlow. Survey of Harbourside & Ocean Pools of the Sydney Metropolitan Region. Prepared for the National Trust of Australia (NSW), 1994.