Argyle Cut

The Argyle Cut is located on Argyle Street at The Rocks in Sydney. The cut is a deep rock cutting through sandstone, which provides access between Millers Point and The Rocks. During the 1840's Millers Point had developed into a thriving warehouse and wholesaling community, but was only accessible via Kent Street, a rather tedious journey. The steep ridge of Observatory Hill blocked an easy access to the area.  In 1843 the government decided to create a direct link to Millers Point from The Rocks by cutting through the sandstone ridge. The enormous job was given to convicts, who would have been none too impressed. To make matters worse they were given only primitive tools to dig into the sandstone. I guess the progress was slow as the job was eventually completed between 1867-1868 by the Sydney Municipal Council. The council switched from convict labour to explosives to blast much of the sandstone away. Overhead bridges were built in the 1860's for Gloucester Street, Cumberland Street and Princes Street but were later removed after Gloucester and Cumberland Streets were re-aligned between 1911-12 and the Bradfield Highway was constructed in the 1920's.  One single bridge (at Cumberland Street) and the Argyle stairs were constructed to replace the structures. The Cut was also widened during the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge .

The name Argyle was chosen by Governor Macquarie in honour of his birthplace in Scotland. Many streets, buildings and places at The Rocks bear the name including the Argyle Stores , Argyle Place and Argyle Street.

The large sandstone blocks taken from the cut were used for buildings such as the Hero of Waterloo.