History of Woolwich Dock
Aboriginal people lived in the Woolwich area for thousands of years prior to European settlement. In colonial times the area exemplified the settlement patterns that shaped much of Sydney Harbour. Maritime activities began in the Woolwich Dock area in the early 1880s when Atlas Engineering Company established a shipbuilding yard on land acquired from the Clarke family.
In 1898 Morts Dock and Engineering Company purchased the site and constructed a new dry dock which opened in 1901. For over 50 years Morts ran a maritime operation repairing ships and, during the two world wars, converting passenger vessels to armed troopships.
In 1963 the Army purchased part of the dock area as a base for its water transport operations. Other parts of the site became public parkland and are now known as Morts Reserve and Clarkes Point Reserve. The Army relocated its water transport operations to Townsville in 1997.
Today, under the Trust's management, Woolwich Dock is once again a maritime precinct and its associated parklands, the Goat Paddock and the Horse Paddock, are being integrated into the surrounding network of open spaces.
