Our heritage is, literally, engraved into our minds – and our footpaths.

The City of Sydney Council has designed into the Kings Cross area a series of text messages illustrating some of the fascinating social history of the area.

It has carved, or engrailed, text messages into the granite ground we walk on as a living daily heritage experience.

Don’t look up to see our heritage.

Look down; you’re walking over it.

There are various engrailings in Bayswater Road, Darlinghurst Road and Macleay Street, Potts Point, all vignettes of interest from the past explaining the present including one opposite the El Alamein Fountain outside Penny’s Cheese Shop, 127 Macleay Street:

“1930s. fascism & rumours of war. refugees flee & choose Kings Cross as home. European deco fashion & food. cross. fascism & political”

The text is truncated to save space.

Towards the end of the 1930s World War II loomed in Europe before Germany invaded Poland.  War officially began in 1939.  European refugees wanted to get as far away from Europe that, was safe, as possible. On a world map Australia was looking good. And Sydney already had a European enclave in Kings Cross that had settled here as it was close to the arrival wharves in Woolloomooloo.

They had escaped and brought with them European food and fashion including the latest Art Deco styles. However, as in Europe, some opposing groups including right-wing fascists were also present in Sydney and had opposing views.

In Sydney generally and in this area particularly political views became extreme on both sides and fermented in this area.

Passers-by and visitors often stop to quizzically read the text messages but without fully understanding their hidden meaning.

By Andrew Woodhouse

Heritage Solutions