Argyle Cut

Argyle Cut is a passage carved through solid sandstone rock in The Rocks district of Sydney, connecting Cumberland Street with Argyle Street under the Harbour Bridge approaches. The cut forms a dramatic corridor with exposed rock walls on both sides that frame the busy thoroughfare.

Workers and convicts carved this passage between 1843 and 1859 using hand tools and explosives to cut through bedrock. This ambitious engineering project solved a critical transportation problem for the growing colonial city.

The cut shows how early Sydney residents worked to overcome natural obstacles and build better transportation links across their growing city. You can still see this determination today in the way the passage cuts through solid rock between two important neighborhoods.

The cut remains an active traffic route with vehicles and pedestrians using it daily, so visitors should stay alert to moving traffic. Exploring it on foot is straightforward since the passage is well-defined and directly connects two street levels.

The sandstone walls display visible drill marks and blast patterns from the hand-excavation methods used during original construction in the mid-1800s. These physical traces serve as a reminder of the intense labor required to carve a way through solid rock.