A new playground and reserve has opened at Frenchs Forest, funded by the Department of Planning in anticipation of increased demand as the Frenchs Forest Town Centre plan takes shape.
The Town Centre, part of the Frenchs Forest 2041 Place Strategy will deliver 2,000 new homes (1,000 of these in the town centre; 1,000 in the adjacent residential areas). Brick Pit Reserve is at the corner of Bantry Bay and Warringah Road, Frenchs Forest.
Formerly the Hews brickworks in the early 1900s, the Reserve has been turned into a bushland oasis (currently underwhelming but with 10,000 or so plants showing great promise). Original plans for a body of water at the site proved unfeasible.
There is now an accessible (and kid scooter friendly) raised boardwalk/loop track around the former pit, connecting with a new playground. There’s also picnic facilities and public facilities.
Northern Beaches Council held a formal opening of the park last Thursday at the reserve, with the playground itself already packed with busy young local families.
Mayor Sue Heins cut the ribbon to the boardwalk, noting the project was a long time coming and thanking the community for their patience in waiting for the project delivery. The site had been “completely transformed”, Mayor Heins said, referring to the formerly densely weed covered site. Wakehurst MP Michael Regan was also in attendance to thank the NSW Government for its grant and reference his and Council’s role in advocating for the works to be prioritised.
The history of Brick Pit Reserve
William and Hannah Hews and their three children were the first European settlers in Frenchs Forest, originally known as Rodborough.
William migrated to Australia with his parents in 1852 and worked in the construction industry before establishing a brickyard in Petersham.
William migrated to Australia with his parents in 1852 and worked in the construction industry before establishing a brickyard in Petersham.
In 1885, he bought 10 acres of land from James Henry French’s original Rodborough Farms subdivision, transferring his brickworks factory to land on the corner of Bantry Bay Road and what is today Warringah Road. He then moved there with his wife, children and about 40 workers.
Hews bricks used clay from the property and were handmade in molds and fired in kilns using timber from the nearby bush.
One worker could make 12 to 13 hundred bricks a day. The brickworks became one of the largest operations in the area, with bricks transported by horse and dray to Manly, Narrabeen and across the Spit. At the Spit they were loaded onto a punt and shipped to Mosman and the city.
The Hews family and their workers had quite a set up. Slab huts and cottages were built nearby for employees and their families. On the Hews’ property was a tennis court, a cricket oval complete with a pavilion and a flower garden. Cricket teams travelled from all over Sydney to play here and it was a social hub.
William Hews was elected to the first Warringah Shire Council in 1906 and served as Shire President in 1912. He was well liked and often referred to as ‘King Billy”. William died in 1917, aged 73 years.
The brickworks stopped production during World War I when the clay ran out.
The land remained in private ownership for many years. Part of it was used for the Wakehurst Parkway in 1948, and much of the remainder was bought in the 1960s by the Warringah Shire Council for use as a public reserve.
