Vision and Folly - Trial Bay Quarry, NSW, Australia - Australian Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

The sign, just down from the Gaol, reads:

VISION and FOLLY
TRIAL BAY QUARRY
BUILDIING THE GAOL 1878-1886
The first quarry wall was mined for rock to build the Trial Bay Public Works Prison, which sits in ruin on the cliff above.

In 1878 Dan Macquarie was engaged to build the Prison for £25,550. He employed 80 contract labourers, of whom 33 were masons skilled with sandstone. The unexpected hardness of the local granite slowed the quarrying process, causing cost blowouts and major delays.

Explosives were used to blast the quarry stone; steam drill made holes which were filled with lime. This created a chemical reaction which further split the stone. Masons dressed the stone to a high finish for the earliest Prison buildings. One block of the hard granite could tak a man 9 days to finish.

CONSTRUCTION THE BREAKWATER 1889-1903
A second quarry wall, mined by prison labour, provided rough-hewn rock for the breakwater. Each rock was lifted by steam crane onto a wagon and rail. and hauled by horses to where it was dumped at the breakwater tip.

'The foreman of works here informs that about three-fourths of the prisoners work as well as the avrage free men. I think this is very satisfactory when taking into consideration that a number of them are clerks &c, who have never done any manual labour before.' Prisons Report, NSW 1889

The quarry was active from 1878 until 1903. Total costs came to £155,000, with 500,000 tons of granite quarried for the breakwater alone.

Visited: 0814, Sunday, 29 October, 2017

Age/Event Date: 1878-1886; 1889-1903 Type of Historic Marker: Plaque only Type of Historic Marker if other: Plaque with photos Historic Resources.: Trial Bay Gaol Related Website: Not listed

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