During the week I had a fascinating trip back in time to Susannah Place in The Rocks.
Susannah Place was one of the original homes in the area that has now been preserved for historical purposes thanks to luck and timing.
The original owners were obviously decent landlords who maintained the terraces over a long period time, including adding appropriate modern sanitation and lighting, which saved them from demolition during the bubonic plague of 1900, when hundreds of other homes around them (without proper sanitation) were pulled down to prevent the spread of the disease.
They escaped the clearing that then occurred in the 1920's to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge. And they also escaped the NSW Governments plans to completely redevelop The Rocks in the 1970's thanks to one long-standing tenant who stayed on until 1990. By then, Sydney-siders had learnt to be proud their colonial, convict history and The Rocks had become a Sydney icon. The governments wholesale development plans met with lots of opposition which allowed for the preservation of small pockets of old Sydney.
From the website, we learn that Susannah Place is a
terrace of four houses built by Irish immigrants in 1844. For nearly 150 years these small houses with tiny backyards, basement kitchens and outside wash houses were home to more than 100 families. Against a backdrop of the working harbour and growing city, their everyday lives played out. Remarkably, Susannah Place survived largely unchanged through the slum clearances and redevelopments of the past century, and today tells the stories of the people and families who called this place and this neighbourhood home.
I highly recommend you visit the website, to read and listen to more of the stories about the families who lived here. And if you're ever in Sydney, especially if you stay at the nearby Youth Hostel, then plan to visit Susannah Place, as it is right behind The Big Dig...which is another story, for another day.
The one hour tour begins in the shop, where the old corner store once operated.
Grant was the entertaining, knowledgeable guide who led my small group.
For anyone who grew up watching The Sullivans (like I did), you would know that the corner shop was the hub of every small community. It's were the neighbours gathered to gossip, catch up on news and socialise...as well as to buy their flour, tea and soap.
Unfortunately due to the decaying state of the internal wallpaper and walls, no photography is allowed inside any of the terraces. For now, the state of disrepair is part of the fascinating story of these homes. At some point though, a more active renovation will need to be considered, as the disrepair moves from being an interesting, documented historical record to unsafe for humans to walk through.
All the rooms have been refurnished differently to reflect the different eras and different families that lived there. I loved all the stories that our guide had to tell. It was a step back in time that also connected me to many of the stories that my mum and nan told me over the years about their early lives. Although they were in rural NSW, their homes and daily experiences were very similar to many of the ones I heard in Susannah Place.
As you can see, I loved the old buildings - their textures, colours and angles. I also loved the juxtaposition of the newer, modern buildings around them.
Naturally, this is but a very brief history of this pocket of land.
Indigenous history goes back thousands of generations and it will always be a shame that these oral stories are now mostly lost to us all.
This post is part of Saturday Snapshot.
