Access to toilet/change facilities Actively maintained Disabled Access

Men Women Children

Current Use: Ocean baths.
Condition: Good.

Early 1900s
This area of Cronulla was 'notorious for mixed bathing'. Shelly Beach was acknowledged for its natural beauty and considered a suitable site for a 'splendid swimming basin on similar lines to that on the north side of Coogee'. Residents constructed the initial pool that Council upgraded. The pool appeared on postcards.

Late 1930s
The formalised baths at Shelly Park were the results of E. S. Spooner's (NSW Minister for Works) unemployment scheme.

1938
About 30 local residents voluntarily began removing stones from the swimming pool in readiness for the coming season. Council acquired a special lease for the pool from the Lands Board office for construction of rock baths in the beach reserve. Construction of the pool cost 1,300 pounds.

1939
W. F. Foster successfully tendered for construction of the dressing-pavilion and conveniences, at a cost of 1,800 pounds.

1981
In 'The Year of the Disabled', a ramp was added to provide wheelchair access to the pool, but sand build-up made this ineffective. Sutherland Shire considered extending the ramp, which would restrict access for most bathers or spending $6,000 to shift the ramp to the north side of the pool.

Late 1980s
Rising public liability costs threatened the survival of all Cronulla's tidal pools.

1991
The South Cronulla rock pool's need for repairs some five years after experiencing storm damage meant large crowds vied for swimming space at the Shelly Beach pool.

2006
This pool attracts year-round swimmers.

 

Clans of the Dharawal people lived around North Cronulla and Cronulla Beach.

1827
Surveyor Dixon used the term 'Cronulla beaches'.

1885
The railway reached Sutherland and the Cronulla area gained popularity as a picnic place.

1899
The original landholders petitioned the government, asking among other things for the Shelly Park reserve to be extended and for a 10-foot reservation on the eastern side of the peninsula. (This reservation allowed the emergence of The Esplanade, one of Sydney's best walks.)

1906
Sutherland Shire was proclaimed.

1911
A steam tram linked Sutherland and Cronulla.

World War I
The Cronulla area was semi-rural.

1920s
Motor cars gave more people readier access to Cronulla.
North Cronulla Surf Club began beach patrols in 1925.

1939
Cronulla became the only Sydney beach with a railway station.

1960s
Cronulla's low-rise holiday guest-houses were being replaced by high-rise flats.

1999
Shelly Beach had pollution problems.

2002
Shelly Park was one of the cleanest NSW beaches in 2002, according to the NSW EPA.

2003
An assessment of the Shire's ocean baths was identified as a necessary part of the ongoing management of its coastal assets.

Spooner, E. S
National Trust of Australia (NSW)

Ocean baths created by volunteer labour and later formalised by a local council.

Assessed significance: Local.
Current heritage status: Not yet given heritage status.
 

Related Topics Continental bathing Council involvement Dressing sheds Disability issues Shells shellfish, shell-grit Unemployment relief works Working bees & voluntary labour

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.