Woolwich Dock

The busiest times for Woolwich Dock were during the two world wars when many passenger vessels were converted to armed troopships and repairs were carried out on damaged ships.

The three oldest buildings on the site were demolished and the Army erected a number of metal prefabricated buildings, added timber fender piers and timber wharves to the dock itself and constructed a traveling boat crane beside the dock.

A community group, Foreshore 2000 Woolwich, was formed to protest against sale of the site and through the lobbying efforts of this group and the local council, the Australian Government agreed to the site being returned to the people of Sydney.

[2] The sandstone cliffs near the head of the dock area have a notable population of ferns.

Three locally uncommon species have been recorded on the sandstone cliffs beside the walking path; fork fern (Tmesipteris truncata), scrambling clubmoss (Lycopodium cernuum) and the skeleton fork fern (Psilotum nudum).