Rotunda at Balmoral Beach, Sydney

The Rotunda is located in Balmoral Beach Reserve at Balmoral Beach, Sydney. It was built in 1930 as part of the beach improvement program undertaken by Mosman Council. Overlooking the bay and close to Rocky Point Island, it is set in a very picturesque area. After its completion it was a very popular venue for brass band concerts for many years throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Today it is used for festivals, events and weddings and is an important historical landmark in Balmoral.

Hunter Park was originally part of the land on which Captain John Edwards built his stone house in 1839. A painting exists of the ruins of the stone cottage by artist Donald Commons. A link to the painting on the internet is given at this reference. The house was located at the bottom of what is now Mandalong Road. Captain Edwards lived there with his wife Elizabeth until his death in 1861. Edwards was a seaman in the whaling industry. In the early 1820s he had command of a ship called the Mercury. The Sydney Gazette tabulates his voyages on whaling expeditions throughout the 1820s. In 1825 his brig the Mercury was shipwrecked in New Zealand when he called in for provisions. A colourful narrative of the shipwreck and subsequent rescue is in the Sydney Gazette.

In the early 1860s his son John Edwards established a "pleasure ground" which he called Balmoral Gardens and it was from this that the present area was named. Balmoral Gardens was used by many people as the destination for a Club or group excursion. Numerous descriptions are found in the Sydney Morning Herald during the 1860s of a typical fun day that was enjoyed in the gardens. For example, in 1862 a social group describes a forthcoming event in which they will take a steam boat to Balmoral Gardens and participate in activities such as foot races, cricket, jumping, throwing weights and quoits. They said that "Mr Edwards, the proprietor of the gardens will supply refreshments of all kinds at very moderate prices.".

The Balmoral Gardens also catered for the general public and had a dance pavilion with a hired band. An advertisement was placed in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1864 (see picture on right) for an Easter Monday picnic. Unfortunately John Edwards died in 1871 at the age of 39 and there is little mention of Balmoral Gardens in the newspapers after this time.

In the early 1880s Livingston Hopkins established the Artist’s Camp at the northern part of Balmoral Beach near what now is Awaba Street. Other famous artists who were also at the camp during its forty-year existence were Julian Ashton and Henry Fullwood. In 1924 a large white building was erected at the northern end of Balmoral Beach called the Star Amphitheatre for the Order of the Star in the East, an offshoot of the Theosophical Society. It was demolished in 1951 and Stancliff flats (at 8 Wyargine Street) which is now a Heritage Listed building was constructed on the site.

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