Lost Streets

Laneways

The network of laneways and places in the city has gradually diminished as buildings have consolidated sites and covered larger areas of ground. Many of Sydney’s little lanes now only exist in the historic record through photographs, rate books and maps.

Lanes, 1854

Schematic map of Sydney’s streets and lanes, 1854. Many buildings had open ground or courtyards at the rear which were accessed through passageways.

(image: City of Sydney Laneway Study, 1993)

Lanes, 1854
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Lanes, 1948

Schematic map of Sydney’s streets and lanes, 1948. Sites have been consolidated but there is still a large network of lanes connecting streets and providing access to buildings.

(image: City of Sydney Laneway Study, 1993)

Lanes, 1948
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Lanes, 1980

Schematic map of Sydney’s streets and lanes, 1980. Few lanes remain.

(image: City of Sydney Laneway Study, 1993)

Lanes, 1980
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Rosburg Place

Rosburg Place, off Wilmott Street (between George and Pitt Streets), c.1909. A romantic image of Sydney that has since disappeared.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 51/293)

Rosburg Place
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Clarence Lane

14-20 Clarence Lane, c.1909. This lane ran from Crescent Street (also since disappeared) to Margaret Street. It was named in 1888. Not to be confused with the current Clarence Lane which was created in 1982 as a condition of site redevelopment.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 51/356)

Clarence Lane
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Durands Alley

Known as Durands Alley, it was officially Sydney Place in 1875, when it was renamed Robertson Street (after Robertson’s Coach Factory). It retained this name until 1905 when it was renamed Cunningham Lane, and finally in 1913 it graduated to become Cunningham Street. The lane may still exist literally, but the buildings, the atmosphere and the reputation has certainly changed. The alley which ran off Goulburn Street behind Robertson’s coach factory was a notorious ‘rookery’, described in 1876 as ‘wretched’. By 1880 it contained various boarding houses for Chinese market gardeners. By the late 1880s the coach factory itself had been taken over by Kwong Chong’s boarding house. In this photo of the rear of the boarding house, trays of food can be seen drying in the sun on the balconies.

(image: McCredie Photo 310, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales)

Durands Alley
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Athlone Place

Athlone Place, Ultimo, c.1900. Athlone Place was resumed by Council in 1906, when some 400 dwellings and a maze of tiny lanes were removed. The area was subject to flooding and it was considered a deplorable slum. This photo shows two groups of semi-detached, single-storey buildings, with neighbours and children standing in their doorways chatting.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 51/6)

Athlone Place
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Exeter Place

Exeter Place, Surry Hills, c.1906. A man walks down the narrow street. Exeter Place was obliterated in the Wexford Street Resumption.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 51/3959)

Exeter Place
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List Lane

List Lane, Surry Hills, c.1909-1913. The street sign is lit by a gas lamp attached to the two-storey rendered sandstone terrace. Walter List was a Surry Hills landowner. This little laneway has disappeared, a victim of resumption.

(image: City of Sydney Archives, CRS 51/357)

List Lane
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City of Sydney