First Impressions Sculpture , Sydney, Guide du visiteur et quoi faire à proximité

First Impressions Sculpture is a public artwork listed at 2/4 Atherden Street, a tiny lane off George Street in The Rocks, Sydney. The lane is the real draw: a short, narrow stretch of Victorian terraces that survived the sweeping changes to the district after 1900.

The story behind it

Atherden Street began life as Union Street when the land was sold in 1841. It was renamed in the mid 1870s after George Atherden, a wharfinger who ran the wharf for the Campbell family's harbour business. Atherden built up property around here, and by the middle of the 1850s he had put up stone cottages facing the street.

The terraces you see today came a little later. Playfair's Terrace, built around 1880 by the Rocks butcher Thomas Playfair, is a row of four two-storey brick houses with slate roofs, rented to working families. Opposite stands Avery Terrace, built around 1881 by Edward Ebsworth. Early in the twentieth century the government took over much of The Rocks, following the bubonic plague outbreak of 1900, which hit the district's waterfront hard. Whole blocks were cleared in the years that followed, which is why a lane this small and this intact is unusual.

What to look for

• The sculpture itself, which gives this stop its name, set among the old terraces rather than in a gallery.
• Playfair's Terrace, with its brick frontage and slate roofs, a good example of modest housing for working families in the 1800s.
• The facing Avery Terrace, whose narrow houses show how little space ordinary Rocks families had.
• The scale of the lane, so narrow that you can see how close the houses stood to each other and to the street.

Tips for your visit

• Allow ten to fifteen minutes here. It works best as one stop on a longer walk through The Rocks rather than a destination on its own.
• Visit in the morning or late afternoon, when the light is softer on the brick and the lane is quieter.
• The terraces are private homes, so admire them from the street and keep noise down.
• George Street, the harbour and the rest of The Rocks are a short walk away, so you can combine this with cafes, galleries and viewpoints nearby.

See it on a quest

Ghosts of Sydney: The Lost Son is a good fit if you like your history with a darker edge. You reach Atherden Street on foot as one stop of a longer route through the area, the app tells you about each place as you arrive, and you solve a puzzle on the spot. One ticket covers the whole group.

Murder Mystery: Death in the Shadows in The Rocks, Sydney sends you through the narrow streets of the district at your own pace. There is no guide and no group to join: start whenever you like, read about each stop as you reach it and work out a puzzle from what is in front of you. One ticket covers the whole group.

Highlights of Sydney: From Prison to Freedom Land is the broader choice, with a route that follows the city's story from its convict beginnings. You walk between the stops, hear about each place as you get there and solve a puzzle along the way. One ticket covers the whole group.