Up until the 1970s, the vast majority of Sydney's bricks were manufactured within the inner west, predominantly the Marrickville and Newtown area. The inner west region was selected thanks to it's abundance of clay in the form of Wianamatta Shale by Australia's first colonial settlers. During the industrial revolution when machinery increased the mass production of bricks, tiles and other earthenware, alternate locations of clay deposits were needed to replace an almost depleted inner west now sporting a large empty quarry only 4 kilometers from the cities central business district. The vast clay pits which had been excavated for clay were repurposed as waste tips with prominent structures remaining on site to this day, including the brick works located in St Peters in what is known today as Sydney Park, which was remediated by layering soil and rubble on top of the refuse to create a large park and waterlands environment which is open to the public.
