Woollahra Municipal Council
Dunbar Anchor wins Conservation Award
Published: 19 April 2010
Woollahra Council has won the Conservation Maritime Heritage Award in the Energy Australia National Trust Heritage Awards 2010 for the conservation of the Dunbar Anchor at Gap Park.
The large wrought iron anchor was recovered from the wreck-site in the early 20th century and was installed for display at Gap Park in 1930. The anchor is a monument to those lost in the Dunbar shipwreck disaster of 1857 which remains the greatest single tragedy in the history of NSW with a devastating loss of 121 lives.
Woollahra Council identified that the anchor’s condition was actively deteriorating and in May 2009, Council received a NSW Heritage grant of $25,500 from the Department of Planning to restore the anchor.
Woollahra Council commissioned International Conservation Services (ICS) to restore the anchor and it was found that the anchor was actively corroding due to the harsh conditions of the marine environment and damage from people climbing over it.
The anchor was removed from Gap Park in July 2009 and taken to the conservator’s workshop, where the paint was stripped, corrosion was removed and a protective coating of fish oil applied. Significantly, such a method has never been used on a large outdoor archaeological object in Australia.
The simple conservation methods allow the anchor to remain in its significant location and continue to be easily accessible by the public. The advantage of the fish oil protective coating is that when it is worn, it can be easily reapplied without the need to remove the anchor from its location.
In addition to the conservation treatment of the anchor, a Statement of Intent for its long-term care and preservation has been created. This has become the guiding principle for all future decisions on the preservation of the anchor.
The Dunbar Anchor can be viewed at Gap Park: Proceed up Gap Park stairs off Military Road, turn right, walk to the cement viewing platform. The anchor is located at the far end of platform.