Centennial Park

The Centennial Park Reservoir or WS001 is a heritage-listed underground reservoir at 3R Oxford Street, Centennial Park, City of Randwick, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed and built by NSW Public Works Department from 1896 to 1898.

The property is owned by Sydney Water, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999.A sign attached to a building on the site states that this is known as "Centennial Park Reservoir WS0023". The reservoir is adjacent to Woollahra Reservoir, which is closer to York Street. The area is enclosed by a wire fence but the enclosed area is accessible and in November 2023 a few people were walking dogs in the area. A playing field was marked out on part of the enclosed area.

The Centennial Parklands, as it stands today, represents 190 years of colonial history. The settlers had an immediate impact on the lives of the Gadi people whose clan territory takes in most of the Sydney peninsula. Gadi country extends between what is now Darling Harbour and South Head, and includes Centennial Park, Moore Park and Queens Park.Close to where Centennial Park and Moore Park are today, an area that became known as the Kangaroo Ground was recorded on a map engraved by J. Walker in 1791 or 1793. This map shows the location of what the English called the Kangaroo Ground, in the clan territories of the Gadi. The richer soils and park like atmosphere observed here by Tench and others would almost certainly have been created through regular firing by the Gadi to keep the undergrowth clear and attract kangaroos and other large game to the area for hunting.

The main walls of the reservoir are of brick, with a typical gravity-retaining-wall cross section, supported in general by sloping rubble fill which is in turn covered with earth fill to give an overall slope of approximately 1 in 2 where the reservoir is in bank, and steeper where it is partly in excavation. The reservoir roof was covered from its inception with "coke dust" and grassed for public access, no doubt to provide Sunday afternoon strollers with an unimpeded view of the pleasant, gently undulating, Botany Valley and Centennial Lakes. The perimeter of the top of the reservoir is graced with a magnificent cast-iron fence, complete with gates, made by the Darlington Iron Works (Sydney). This, together with the central brick access tower, continues to bestow on the reservoir something of its former glory. The curtilage boundary is defined by Oxford Street and Carrington Street as the northern and southern boundaries; the west boundary is approximately a line along the projection southwards of Moncur Street and the east boundary is a line parallel to the west boundary, between the corner of Carrington Drive and Broome Avenue to Oxford Street.The Reservoir is almost completely intact. The pavilion has been removed.

As at 21 April 2005, Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 was the largest covered storage reservoir constructed in Australia at the time it was built and it remains very large even by present-day standards. It is a relic of the early development of the Upper Nepean Water Supply Scheme and the subsequent expansion of water reticulation throughout the suburban areas of Sydney. It is also associated with the rapid urban expansion of the eastern suburbs of Sydney in the late 19th century. The reservoir demonstrates exemplary engineering practices at the turn of the century in relation to design, construction methods and manual skills, particularly in regards to the vaulted arch roof. The reservoir has played a continuous, on-going role for over a century as an important facility of the water supply system, particularly for the eastern suburbs. The exterior of the Reservoir has aesthetic qualities which relate to its parkland environment and is a local landmark. The level of ornamentation evident in the structure demonstrates the importance placed upon the appearance of engineering structures in the era in which it was built. The Centennial Park Group of three reservoirs, including Woollahra Reservoir (WS 144), 1880, Centennial Park No. 1 (WS 22), 1899, and Centennial Park No. 2 (WS 23), 1925, demonstrate the development in construction technology for covered reservoirs, as well as the dramatic increase in demand in the growing Sydney suburbs. The group is unique in the SWC system, because of their size, design and level of architectural detailing.Centennial Park Reservoir WS001 was listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 18 November 1999 having satisfied the following criteria.The place is important in demonstrating the course, or pattern, of cultural or natural history in New South Wales. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 is a relic of the early development of the Upper Nepean Water Supply Scheme and the subsequent expansion of reticulation throughout the suburban areas of Sydney. It is associated with the rapid urban expansion of the eastern suburbs of Sydney in the late 19th century, following the provision of the tramway transport system and the breakup of the large estates. The reservoir demonstrates water engineering practice at the turn of the century in regard to design knowledge, construction methods and manual skills, particularly in regards to the arched roof, practices which have since been superseded by reinforced concrete. The reservoir has played a continuous, on-going role extending over 87 years as an important facility of the water supply system, particularly for the eastern suburbs.The place is important in demonstrating aesthetic characteristics and/or a high degree of creative or technical achievement in New South Wales. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 is an excellent example of the nineteenth century practice of enhancement of the utilitarian with a decorative presentation and is amongst the finest examples of this in Sydney. The exterior of Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 is an attractive, well proportioned landscape area, enclosed by decorative fencing, located within an area of parkland of high landscape, amenity and aesthetic values. The interior of the reservoir, when empty, is a remarkable environment, with the forest of timber posts, vaulted arched roof and vast space.The place has a strong or special association with a particular community or cultural group in New South Wales for social, cultural or spiritual reasons. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 was the site, in the early 1990s, of a public access program, instituted whilst the Reservoir was empty for refurbishment works, which attracted many thousands of members of the public, demonstrating a significant interest and value placed upon these structures by the public at large. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 is highly regarded by the public as represented by the National Trust of Australia (NSW), as evidenced by its identification in the National Trust Register.The place has potential to yield information that will contribute to an understanding of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 contains representative examples of a range of construction techniques, materials and technologies of the late nineteenth century. It provides evidence of the expectations and planning context of the designers of the water supply system for Sydney.The place possesses uncommon, rare or endangered aspects of the cultural or natural history of New South Wales. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 is one of the few in-ground, covered water storage reservoirs of the nineteenth century surviving in Sydney.The place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a class of cultural or natural places/environments in New South Wales. Centennial Park Reservoir No. 1 is a representative example of a large in-ground covered water storage reservoir of its period.