The Excavation of a Brick Barrel-drain at Parramatta, N.S.W.

One of the most important contributions that can be made by historical archaeology is to throw light on aspects of the past neglected by most historians. Drains, for instance, have tended to be ignored by traditional scholarship. Yet the development of drainage systems of one sort or another was extremely important to the occupants of Australia's towns and cities during the 19th century. In the following paper Edward Higginbotham, a consultant archaeologist in Sydney, discusses his excavation of a part of what must be one of Australia's earliest drains: a brick stormwater drain built under Parramatta during the 1820s. As he explains in his paper, this drain must have played a very important part in the development of Parramatta, the centre of which had poor natural drainage. Indeed, the drain continues to function along most of its course and it is particularly encouraging to learn that a section of the excavated part is to be preserved on display to the public.