Naval Use
The need for a central magazine to store explosive materials and arms for the young colony was identified by the 1830s. A magazine on Goat Island was completed in 1839 but by 1861 it was seen as too small for the stocks of gunpowder. It was determined that all major developments in explosives storage should take place on other sites.
In 1882, approximately 88 hectares in the north eastern corner of the Newington Estate (in the vicinity of the Naval wharf on Parramatta River) was resumed by the Government for the development of an armaments magazine.
The establishment of the Armaments Depot required major modifications to the natural environment, including the reclamation of mudflats and wetlands and the small island just off the shoreline. Stone sea walls were constructed along almost the entire foreshore of the Parramatta River fronting the site and the mudflats were filled in to gain more land for farms, docks and a wharf. By this time, the greater part of the Newington Estate was owned by John Wetherill and the Benevolent Asylum for Women (under Crown operation) was operating where Silverwater Correctional Centre now exists.
Download 1897 newspaper article describing construction of the Newington Powder Magazine (5.9mb PDF)
Dowload poster of the light rail system (98kb PDF)
Historic gatehouse at Newington Armory site built in 1897
In 1921 management of the Depot was transferred to the Royal Australian Navy. The complex was expanded eastwards into grazing land and wetlands previously part of the adjacent State Abattoir precinct (in the vicinity of the current Narawang Freshwater Wetlands) almost doubling its area. Between 1928 and 1934, the Depot again extended eastwards into the mangrove and wetland areas where the industrial area is now located. The largest expansion of the Depot occurred between 1941 and 1944 when the site expanded to the south of Holker Street to approximately Carnarvon Street. This southward expansion provided space for the construction of additional magazines for the US Navy and the Royal Navy as support facilities for the US and British Pacific Fleets. Between 1942 and 1946, some buildings at the State Brickworks were used for armament storage. The Burma Road (which still exists in the Newington Armory) provided access between the RANAD and Brickworks facilities, crossing Haslams Creek to the east of the Haslams Creek Bridge exists today.
By 1950, demolition of the war time stocks commenced and several buildings were removed. Land use conflicts between the Naval Depot and the surrounding commercial and residential areas occurred in the 1960s, when tear gas and other noxious fumes escaped and affected nearby office workers. In 1961, the Prime Minister Robert Menzies instructed that all Class 1.1 explosives were to be removed from the site and relocated for storage at the Kingswood depot.
By this time the RANAD site covered some 259 hectares, extending from the Parramatta River in the north to the M4 Motorway in the south. Landfilling had been occurring around the site since early 20th century and there were a number of area where wastes were dumped or that operated as municipal and industrial waste tips. Historical naval records indicate disposal of 'arisings' (residues for disposal arising from Depot activities including laboratory wastes, proof yard wastes, burning ground wastes, detonated and burnt ammunition, military waste including containers, boxes, petroleum, obsolete stores and propellants) in the Nature Reserve Saltwater Wetlands and other land areas. A large proportion of the Wetlands has consequently been fenced off to the public due to the possible existence of unexploded ordnance.
Old shells found at the RANAD site during remediation
The closing of the Newington Depot coincided with the growing concern of safety in a densely populated area, the preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympic bid and the formal recognition of the site as a heritage item. The site was registered in the Australian Heritage Commission's Register of the National Estate in and was identified as a Heritage Conservation Area by Sydney Regional Environmental Plan No. 24 - Homebush Bay Area.
The Navy vacated the southern portion of the site in 1996, with ownership transferred to the State Government (OCA), to be developed as the Athlete's Village and the suburb of Newington. However, they did not leave the Armory Precinct until December 1999. The last ammunition operation was conducted over the wharf on 14 December 1999 (Pers. Comm. Terry Milham, 18/9/01).
Today the site comprises a range of historically significant natural and cultural features including former navy armaments storage and workshop facilities, administration buildings, a small gauge railway and other infrastructure associated with Royal Australian Navy (RAN) activities.
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