In short the building is a rare example of an official colonial barrack building and one of the oldest surviving structures in the country.The site has social significance for many reasons. The quay was extended from the Kings Wharf along the western side of Sydney Cove to Campbells Wharf across the shoreline in front of Cadmans, along the present alignment of Quay Street. The work which they undertook was poorly documented by today's standards and much of the following is based on a series of photos of the exterior taken during work, and on correspondence between the architects and SCRA.Although it is not clearly documented the aim of the work seems to have been to restore the building to its early to mid-nineteenth century form. In the 1972 restoration they were glazed and treated as two windows. He probably started work at the dockyard as Assistant Government Coxswain around the time that Williams was appointed as Coxswain.Cadman held the position of coxswain and occupied the Cottage until he retired in 1845. The building is heavily steeped in the history of Sydney, also claiming the title as the first building to have been built on the shoreline of The Rocks area. A house museum, furnished to reconstruct the 1800's. In 1798 he was transported to NSW for horse stealing and in the records of the Muster for Sydney for 1814 is shown as having received an unconditional pardon. Phillip Cox, Storey and Partners attempted to restore the building to the phase which is now considered to be the most significant in historical and architectural terms; that of the original 1816 Georgian building with its late Georgian extension to the south.In terms of the survival of the building's fabric it is also clear that the masonry, including the sandstone plinth (currently partly obscured by deposit), is the only major element surviving from this significant period. Hyde Park Barracks. Evidence on the internal western and northern walls is also significant because it provides a record of the use of this space from 1816 to the present, which is not historically documented. The shop contains information and objects that are irrelevant to the history of the building or to Sydney Cove, being largely indistinguishable from items on offer through The Rocks and this increases the incongruous feeling.

The proposed eastern facade and southern wing, which would have required the destruction of Cadmans, was not built because of financial constraints and Cadmans, was not built because of financial constraints and Cadmans continued as the manager's residence.The land in front of Cadmans was probably filled and raised sometime between 1870 and 1875,In that year the government resumed all land in The Rocks because of an outbreak of bubonic plague and demolished the worst slums for public health reasons. It is named after John Ingle, who is presumed to have been one of its first inhabitants. While the sewerage system has not been dated it is likely to be 1910 to 1030 in age.Cadmans was used to provide accommodation for merchant navy officers until at least 1950 but during the 1960s it fell into disrepair and was resumed by the state government.Cadmans was proclaimed a Historic Site under the National Parks and Wildlife Act in 1972 and Philip Cox, Storey and Partners were engaged to restore the building. The church opened in August of that year, within two years of the settlement of Adelaide. These included a sandstone plinth, string courses at the eaves and first floor level, ashlar sandstone pilasters and a pitched roof with triangular gable ends. Thorp, Proudfoot and Tropman believe the southern addition to have been constructed around this time. In the 1920s the Sailors Home was refurbished and from that time on the manager lived there. Likewise the two symmetrically located chimneys were rebuilt, but at a much larger scale than originally. Boxed gable ends replaced the original triangular gable ends on the 1816 roof. Thorp and Proudfoot believe this to have been around 1847. Today it stands next to the Supreme Court, and has lost its shoreline position. There is no record of its construction. The specifications for the work sho that a major addition to the southern side of Cadmans Cottage, later referred to as the "keepers room" or "turnkeys room" had already been constructed. Theses are also of high significance as the only surviving archaeological evidence within the loser floor of the building - the remainder presumably being destroyed during the 1972 works.