Old Pyrmont Cottages, heritage-listed cottages in Pyrmont, Sydney, Australia

Old Pyrmont Cottages is a row of three attached cottages at 1, 3 and 5 Cross Street, Pyrmont, built between 1879 and 1895. They are single-storey brick buildings with simple Victorian Georgian vernacular design, featuring timber floors and original weatherboard and brick walls.

These cottages were built in the late 1800s as simple homes for workers near factories and quarries after European settlement developed the area. In the 1970s and 1980s, they became central to an artistic movement, and protective heritage laws later helped preserve them.

The name Pyrmont was given by John Macarthur in 1806 after a German spa town, prompted by the freshwater spring Tinker's Well. Aboriginal people used the spring, leaving mussel shells and a carved sandstone bowl; the shelter was destroyed in the early 20th century, but water still seeps from outcrops behind a nearby apartment building.

These houses are located on Cross Street in Pyrmont and are easily reached on foot, as they are situated near other historic buildings in the area. The best time to visit is during daylight hours when light illuminates the brick walls and the quiet surroundings are most visible.

The cottages stand on land granted to Thomas Jones, a private in the NSW Corps, in 1795, and later bought by John Macarthur, who is said to have named Pyrmont in 1806 after a German spa town because of the freshwater spring Tinker's Well. The spring's sandstone shelter was destroyed in the early 20th century, but water still seeps from outcrops behind a nearby apartment building.