Kiama Heritage Precinct

The Kiama Heritage Precinct preserves one of the finest collections of 19th-century streetscapes on the NSW south coast. Collins Street features rare two-storey wooden terraces — the Terraces — built in the 1880s for quarry workers and their families, an unusual construction material for terraces that were typically built in brick or stone. The CBC Bank Building (1887), a sandstone Italianate structure on Manning Street, served the town's commercial needs during the boom years of basalt quarrying. The Scots Presbyterian Church (1863) is one of the oldest continuously worshipping Presbyterian churches in Australia. Kiama's wealth in the late 19th century came from 'blue metal' — basalt quarried from the headlands and shipped to Sydney on the 'Stone Fleet,' a collection of sailing vessels that made regular runs between Kiama and Sydney Harbour carrying the crushed stone that paved Sydney's streets. The Kiama Pilot's Cottage Museum, housed in an 1881 sandstone building, tells the story of the port and its maritime heritage.