Cadman’s Cottage

Built on a now-buried beach for Government Coxswain John Cadman (a boat and crew superintendent) in 1816, Cadman’s Cottage in The Rocks is Sydney’s oldest house. The Sydney Water Police detained criminals here in the 1840s; it was later converted into a home for retired sea captains. These days the cottage houses the Sydney Harbour National Park Information Centre, which organises tours of five of the six curious islands in Sydney Harbour. There’s a glassed-off area on the lower level revealing a tangle of old drains exposed in an archaeological dig, plus a small museum with a few exhibits.