Shipwright’s Arms

10 Darling Street, 1844

From 1844 to 1966, this was one of Balmain’s many pubs, strategically placed to serve travellers to and from the city. Its unadorned simplicity is typical of 1840s colonial style. There is no ornamentation except for the horizontal moulding between the storeys and the decorative quoins at each end of the Darling Street façade. The asymmetrical arrangement of the windows suggests that function was more important to the builder than aesthetics. In verging on the primitive, this building, like several others on the walk, reflects the rigours of early colonial life.

The sandstone blocks were probably quarried nearby, and the corrugated iron seen on the roof was freely available in the colony from the 1850s, sometimes laid over an earlier roof of wooden shingles. Twelve paned windows enabled well-lit interiors at a time before large sheets of glass became available.