🕰️ 5 Fascinating Things You Didn’t Know About The Rocks

Tucked beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Rocks is one of the most fascinating and atmospheric places in Australia. It's where European settlement began, but it’s also where convicts, soldiers, sailors, merchants — and rebels — walked the same streets we explore today.

We visit The Rocks in every one of our free walking tours, and it’s a crowd favourite. Here are 5 little-known facts we love to share with our guests — and one powerful story we always tell along the way.

1. 🧱 The Rocks Was Built by Convicts

Literally. Many of the oldest buildings in this neighbourhood were built by convicts using hand-carved sandstone taken straight from the cliffs of the area. You can still spot chisel marks on some walls if you know where to look!

🗣️ On our tour, we show you original walls over 200 years old — and explain how punishment, labour, and architecture all collided in early Sydney.

2. 🕷️ It Was Almost Demolished

In the 1970s, large parts of The Rocks were nearly torn down to make way for office buildings. What stopped it? A powerful protest movement led by union workers who refused to work on the demolition. Their refusal saved the area and preserved its heritage.

✊ It’s one of Sydney’s most successful activist stories — and you’ll hear it where it happened.

3. 🏴‍☠️ Sydney’s Real Pirates Lived Here

Forget Jack Sparrow — the real pirates of Sydney were escaped convicts and rogue sailors hiding in the narrow lanes of The Rocks. Some alleyways were so dangerous they were called “The Suez Canal” (locals say because it "so was full of sewage and crime”).

🔦 We walk these same alleys today… but we promise it’s safer now!

4. 🍻 It Has Some of the Oldest Pubs in Australia

The Rocks is home to multiple pubs that claim to be Sydney’s oldest, including the Hero of Waterloo and the Fortune of War. Whether or not their claims are accurate, they’ve all got stories — some with ghost sightings, old tunnels, and even rum smuggling.

🍺 Want to know which pub used to kidnap sailors using trapdoors? We’ll show you on the tour.

5. 🪦 There Are Bodies Buried Beneath the Streets

Before it became the bustling heritage precinct it is today, The Rocks was home to unmarked cemeteries and mass graves. Some roads and buildings were built right on top. It's something few locals know — but the evidence is in historical records and even recent archaeological digs.

🗺️ We share a haunting story on our tour about one forgotten burial site — and how it was rediscovered.

Want More Secrets of The Rocks?

These are just a few of the stories we tell during our free walking tour of Sydney (BestFreeToursSydney). The Rocks is a place full of surprises, dark corners, laughter, and ghosts — and we’d love to explore it with you.

👉 Join our next tour, starting at Circular Quay (Wharf 6):

Book now on www.bestfreetourssydney.com/book-free-tour-sydney