World Art Utopia

Bogey Hole — Newcastle, Australia

The green rock-cut Bogey Hole pool seen from above, with a chain rail, steel stairs and bathers on the rock shelf and waves breaking beside it
Artwork FileNewcastle, Australia

Bogey Hole

SeenDec 2025

Made by order of Commandant James Morisset · Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia · about 1820

Photo: John Morton / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0); taken 8 February 2018; full photo, resized.

The Bogey Hole is a small sea pool cut into the wave-cut rock platform at the foot of Shepherds Hill in Newcastle, New South Wales. The NSW State Heritage Register says it was made by convict labour by order of Commandant James Morisset in about 1820 for his personal use. Newcastle Borough Council enlarged it to its present size in 1884, and the University of Newcastle’s Hunter Living Histories calls it the oldest constructed ocean bath in Australia. Source Source Source Checked

A Wikimedia Commons photo with camera date 29 December 2025 shows people swimming in the pool and standing on the stairs and platform. A photo by the same author taken four minutes earlier shows a NSW Crown Lands ‘Temporary Closure: Bogey Hole’ maintenance sign fixed at the top of the stairs; the dates on the sign cannot be read, so we do not know whether that closure was over, and we found no 2025–2026 news report about it. Source Source Checked

More photos

Black-and-white photo of a lone bather holding the chain rail at the pool edge while a large wave breaks over it
1953 A bather at the chain rail in heavy surfPhoto: Sam Hood / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
View down steel stairs with mesh railings to the pool, rock shelf and sea, with smoke from a bushfire at Dudley on the horizon
2013 The steel stairs down to the poolPhoto: JSKau / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The pool seen from the grassy clifftop in the early evening, with swimmers in the water, people on the stairs and surf beyond
2025 Swimmers in the pool on an early-summer eveningPhoto: DaHuzyBru / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

💡 5 things to know

  1. A commandant’s private bathThe State Heritage Register says the pool was made by order of Commandant Morisset in about 1820 for his personal use. It was first called the Commandant’s Baths, according to the NSW Government visitor page. Source Source Checked
  2. Seven times bigger since 1884The heritage record says the pool was enlarged to seven times its original size and deepened in 1884, with an iron safety rail along the access track and two bridges, stairs and ledges cut into the rock face. The pool still has those 1884 dimensions. Source Source Checked
  3. Closed and reopenedAccess was blocked on 20 November 2015 over the risk of rock falls from the cliff. The pool reopened on 21 December 2016 after the first stage of a $490,000 rock-bolting project. Source Source Source Checked
  4. An 1841 sketchThe earliest reference to the pool that the University of Newcastle’s Hunter Living Histories has found is a Conrad Martens drawing dated 13 May 1841 and labelled ‘Morrisets Bath, Newcastle’. Source Reported
  5. Convicts or soldiers?The heritage register credits convict labour. Hunter Living Histories says there is speculation about whether Morisset used his soldiers or convicts, and that Captain Wallis, the commandant before him, may have begun the work. Source Source Conflicting

📍 Where it is

Shortland Esplanade, Newcastle NSW 2300, on the rock platform at the foot of Shepherds Hill, beside King Edward Park. Source Checked

Open in Maps

Opens a map at -32.935138, 151.781676; no Street View panorama was checked for this file.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 1953

    Bather at the chain rail in heavy surf · camera date

  2. 200321 Nov

    Listed on NSW State Heritage Register

  3. 201323 Oct

    The new steel stairs down to the pool · camera date

  4. 201415 Dec

    Reopened after swim platform repair

  5. 201521 Nov

    Closed for a cliff safety assessment

  6. 201621 Dec

    Reopened after cliff rock bolting

  7. 20188 Feb

    Pool, platform and stairs from above · camera date

  8. 202529 Dec

    Swimmers in the pool in the early evening · camera date

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Newcastle Herald21 December 2016

Newcastle’s Bogey Hole to be reopened by state government

“The Bogey Hole was closed in 2003 over rock falls and again in 2014 after damage by heavy swells.”

Earlier closures before the 2015–2016 one.

Read the source →

NBN News21 November 2015

Bogey Hole closed for safety assessment

“Newcastle’s iconic Bogey Hole has been closed to the public”

Closure over the stability of the cliff above.

Read the source →

Newcastle Herald16 May 2021

King Edward Park and the Bogey Hole make State Heritage Register

“The Newcastle Recreation Reserve, including the Bogey Hole and King Edward Park, has been listed on the State Heritage Register.”

The surrounding reserve was listed in 2021.

Read the source →

✅ The facts

Built by
Convict labour, by order of Commandant James Morisset, per the State Heritage Register. Hunter Living Histories says it is uncertain whether soldiers or convicts did the work; we follow the official record. Source Source Conflicting
Year
About 1820. The heritage register says 1819/20, the NSW Government page says 1819, Hunter Living Histories says between 1819 and 1822, and a 2021 Newcastle Herald article says convicts built the baths ‘from 1818-1823’. We follow the register. Source Source Source Source Conflicting
First name
Commandant’s Baths; the heritage register also lists the spelling ‘Bogie Hole’ Source Source Checked
Enlarged
1884, by Newcastle Borough Council, to seven times its original size Source Source Checked
Size
Max 10 m long, 6.5 m wide, average depth 1.5 m Source Source Checked
Heritage
NSW State Heritage Register no. 01678, gazetted 21 November 2003 Source Source Checked
Owner / manager
The heritage listing names City of Newcastle Council as owner. NBN News reported the site is owned by Crown Lands, and a NSW Crown Lands notice stood at the stairs in December 2025. We lean to Crown Lands as the current manager because that evidence is newer. Source Source Source Source Conflicting
Location
Shortland Esplanade, on the rock platform at the foot of Shepherds Hill, beside King Edward Park, Newcastle (the NSW Government visitor page lists the address as York Drive) Source Source Checked
Closed
20 November 2015, over the risk of rock falls from the cliff above Source Source Checked
Reopened
21 December 2016, after the first stage of a $490,000 rock-bolting project Source Source Checked
Status
In place and in use on 29 December 2025 (dated photograph). A Crown Lands temporary-closure sign for maintenance stood at the stairs the same day; we found no report on whether a closure followed Source Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 10 November 2026 · How we verify art