Mrs Macquarie's Chair, Sandstone bench in The Domain, Sydney, Australia.
Mrs Macquarie's Chair is a bench carved from sandstone that sits at the edge of the Domain overlooking Sydney Harbour. The seat offers clear views of the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge from its location.
Convicts carved this bench in 1810 following Governor Macquarie's orders to create a resting spot for his wife Elizabeth. The adjacent road was completed later and marked a new phase in developing the waterfront area.
The peninsula was originally called Yurong Point by the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. This name reflects how the site has long been part of the cultural landscape of First Nations peoples.
The spot is freely accessible throughout the year and connects directly to the Royal Botanic Gardens. The seating area sits on a walking path that is easy to reach on foot and has minimal slopes.
An inscription above the bench records the exact length of the connecting road as 3 miles and 377 yards, completed on 13 June 1816. This precise measurement reveals how important this link was to early city development.
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