Scotland Island, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Island
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
in the north of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Church Point
Church Point, New South Wales
Church Point is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Church Point is located 32 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region.-History:Thomas Langford was the...
, Scotland Island's major mainland service locality, is located 32 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
, in the local government area of Pittwater Council
Pittwater Council
Pittwater Council is a Local Government Area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs which comprise the Pittwater LGA were detached from the Warringah local government area in 1993...
.
Geography and geology
Scotland Island is located in PittwaterPittwater
Pittwater is a body of water extending south from Broken Bay, New South Wales, Australia parallel to the coast.The waterway was surveyed by crew members of HMS Sirius in 1788, and named Pitt Water after British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger...
, off Church Point
Church Point, New South Wales
Church Point is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Church Point is located 32 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region.-History:Thomas Langford was the...
. The island is approximately 1 km in diameter and its highest point is about 120 metres above sea level. To the east is the suburb of Newport
Newport, New South Wales
Newport is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Newport is located 31 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council, and is part of the Northern Beaches region....
, west is Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park
Ku-ring-gai Chase is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 25 km north of Sydney located largely within the Ku-ring-gai, Hornsby, Warringah and Pittwater municipal areas. Ku-ring-gai Chase is also officially classed as a suburb by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales...
, and south are the suburbs of Church Point
Church Point, New South Wales
Church Point is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Church Point is located 32 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region.-History:Thomas Langford was the...
and Bayview
Bayview, New South Wales
Bayview is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bayview is located 31 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region....
.
Around 18,000 years ago Scotland Island was a hill in a river valley. Following the last ice age, sea levels rose, flooding the valley, forming Pittwater and creating the island. There are many small beaches, consisting mainly of mud, mangroves and rocks. There are no rivers or cliffs, but some small caves towards the top of the island. The top of the island is sandstone and the lower part consists of shale.
History
European discovery and first exploration of the island was in 1788, shortly after the establishment of a penal colony in Sydney CoveSydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
. The island was originally named Pitt Island by Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip
Admiral Arthur Phillip RN was a British admiral and colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governor of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the settlement which is now the city of Sydney.-Early life and naval career:Arthur Phillip...
, Governor of the colony, in honour of William Pitt
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
, the British
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
prime minister at the time. The first European settler to own land on Scotland Island was Andrew Thompson where he created a successful salt works. He renamed the island Scotland Island after his homeland. He built boats on the island until his death in 1810. The island was sold as a whole several times in the nineteenth century before being sub-divided and sold off in lots in 1906. Around 1900, salt was extracted from seawater near what is now known as Tennis Wharf. Using an oil burner, about 90 kg were extracted each week.
Permanent residents took up residence in the 1960s and power connected to the island in 1967. Sheep farms were located on the island at one time but now the majority of workers commute to the mainland.
Community
Scotland Island is one of two inhabited islands in the Sydney area and according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the island is home to 642 residents. The island is accessed by the Church Point Ferry and private vessels. Most of the island consists of bushland, with a residential zones of approximately 350 houses around the perimeter foreshore. There are no shops, cafes or industrial zones.The non-residential buildings are a kindergarten, Community Hall and Fire Station. The Child Centre and Community Hall were built by the residents in the 1980s and 1990s and are used for various purposes. Community groups on the island include Island Thinking, which organises regular discussion groups, and a number of artists. In 2006, an arts and film festival was organised on the island by the community. A fire in an art gallery in neighbouring Newport
Newport, New South Wales
Newport is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Newport is located 31 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Pittwater Council, and is part of the Northern Beaches region....
destroyed a collection of artworks created by artists living on Scotland Island and the offshore communities of Pittwater.
There is no road access to the island, so the volunteer fire brigade fulfill a number of essential services normally performed by full-time emergency service personnel in other areas of Sydney. The Scotland Island Rural Fire Brigade (SIRFB) is made up of volunteers: about 30 active (firefighting) members and about another 30 associate (non-firefighting) members.