Julie Hvirf unearthed the pipe near the site of the art classes she runs in Carrington Street.

Shortly after the discovery, art club member Ramona Cocco saw a ­television program in which a $300 million building program in Sydney was halted – because of discoveries made at the Wynyard Walk Tunnel.

Among the items found there was a clay pipe Ms Cocco believes was identical to the one at Horseshoe Bend.

Now the members of Julies Folk Art are anxious to contact Sydney archaeologist Diana Cowie, who was in charge of those excavations.

“I was digging around in our ­backyard where we were making some renovations,” Ms Hvirf said.

“There were lots of old brick-type items coming up – then I found­ ­something with the date 1825 on it, which seemed to be commemorating the opening of the NSW Railway.

“A few minutes later, I found this clay pipe which has some numbers stamped on it and which may have been made in the early 1800s.”

Ms Cocco said that after having seen the pipe, she was excited a few days later when she saw the television program featuring a pipe almost identical to the one at Horseshoe Bend.

“The program featured the archaeologist Diana Cowie working on a $300 million project at the Wynyard Walk Tunnel,” Ms Cocco said.

“They had uncovered various indigenous artefacts and items of early European settlement, together with sandstone blocks and bricks of the mid-1800s.

“Among the items was a ceramic pipe, which looked exactly the same as the one Julie uncovered here at Horseshoe Bend.

“We are all very excited about this discovery here. Maybe we’ll learn we have a very important archeological find here too.”

n Ms Cowie is a heritage consultant and archaeologist with experience in the identification and assessment of indigenous heritage and historical sites, both in Australia and abroad.