Berry Island is a locality in Wollstonecraft on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.[1] It was originally one of Sydney's Harbour Islands, but it is now connected to the mainland by a constructed isthmus.
| Berry Island Sydney, New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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 Berry Island reserve park view. | |||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | North Sydney Council | ||||||||||||||
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Description
editThe area is now a reserve open to the public, with an interpretive bushland walk, playground and picnic area at the site. There is also a signposted Aboriginal site with rock carvings, grinding grooves and a waterhole. The reserve is heritage-listed.[2]
History
editBerry Island was part of a grant of land made by Governor Macquarie to Alexander Berry and Edward Wollstonecraft in 1820 [3] and is named after Alexander Berry.[4]
The island was later joined to the mainland by a stone causeway over the mudflats. During the 1960s, the land between the island and the mainland was reclaimed and made into a grassed area.[4] [5]
Aboriginal sites
editBerry_Island_053.jpg)
Berry Island contains aboriginal rock carvings, middens, a smoke-stained cave and a stone tool grinding site.[6] It has a 20-minute (750 metre) loop walk called the Gadyan Track, with interpretive signage describing the significance of points around the island. The main feature of the track is a large Aboriginal rock carving of a whale, with a boomerang-shaped carving, a waterhole and grinding grooves alongside it. [7]
References
edit- ^ "Berry Island Reserve". North Sydney Council. North Sydney Council. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- ^ State Heritage Register
- ^ "Saving Balls' Head and Berry Island for Recreation". North Shore Historical Society Journal. 28 (1). 1988.
- ^ a b Wagner, Claire (1971). Biloela to Boambilly - The Islands of Sydney Harbour. Oswald Ziegler, Sydney. p. 54.
- ^ North Sydney Council. "Berry Island Bushland Reserve". Archived from the original on 6 October 2009. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ Hinkson, Melinda (1966). Aboriginal Sydney: a guide to important places of the past and present. Aboriginal Studies Press, Sydney. p. 32. ISBN 0-85575-370-6.
- ^ North Sydney Council. "Berry Island Reserve". Archived from the original on 3 October 2009. Retrieved 19 October 2009.
