Three tonnes of soil temporarily excavated from Hyde Park


Three tones of soil temporarily excavated from Hyde Park

Between 21 March – 9 June, 201
Northern side of Hyde Park, adjacent to College Street

The soil that has been removed from the site at Hyde Park has been temporarily relocated and placed within the installation on Waremah (Cockatoo Island) where it will remain until Monday, 9 June 2014, after which time it will be returned to the park. This process of removal shows the profile of the soil in the exact location, revealing the layers of history within the park’s soil structure. The hole is accessible for viewing 24 hours a day.

Thankyou to Professor Stephen Cattle, Dr Damien Woods, Dr Lisa Murry, Guy Stearn, Patrick Houlcroft and Michael Abbott for assistance with this process.


Sign at the site of the hole in Hyde Park:
The soil that has been removed from this site has been temporarily relocated and placed within an exhibition in building 6 on Cockatoo Island. It will remain there until June 9th 2014, after which time it will be returned to this void.

The process of removal shows the profile of the soil in this exact location.  At the top of the profile is the loamy top-dressing from recent landscaping activity related to the park as it exists “now”. This park did not always exist. There was a time when it was non-existent as either a concept or a physical space. In its place stood a stand of dry sclerophyll forest, the clearing of which began upon invasion in 1788. The park now persists as one expression of a larger process of annexation that continues into the present moment.

Below the top layer of soil, at the depth of about 40cm, rests a thick layer of fill composed of clay peds with rubble and shards of bluestone, broken brick, charcoal, bones, fragments of crockery, pieces of coke and broken glass. This material arrived from unknown sources into the park over decades of excavation and building in other parts of Sydney during an earlier phase of urbanisation. The pockets of clay within this mixture are most likely derived from the massive excavation that occurred within this park during the Great Depression, which involved the digging of the City Circle underground rail tunnel in 1922.

Below that, beginning at the depth of approximately 1 meter, sits a luscious layer of clay, shrouded in total darkness until this most recent excavation. This clay was derived from a part of a small lens of Ashfield Shale rock, one of the Winamatta group of shales that formed in the Middle Triassic period of the Mesozoic era – around 220-240 million years ago. In that layer is embedded the remnants of tiny root fragments of the vegetation that flourished and perished during that period.

I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which this project occurs – the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. It is upon their ancestral lands that this park is constructed. 



Thankyou to Professor Stephen Cattle and Dr Damien Field of the University of Sydney for their assistance with making core samples of the soil prior to this dig, as well as to the generous sharing of their knowledge and ideas. Thanks also to city historian Dr Lisa Murray for advice and assistance in accessing the City of Sydney archives.

References:
Lawrie, R. (1987) Soil Study of Hyde Park. Chemistry Branch, N.S.W. Department of Agriculture. City of Sydney Archives.

Proudfoot, H. (1987) Hyde Park, Sydney: Statement of significance and historical analysis. City of Sydney Archives.





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