Centenary Square, formerly known as Bicentennial Square, is a civic square located in the heart of

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. It faces the 1883 Parramatta Town Hall and

St John's Cathedral :''This list is for St. John the Evangelist Cathedrals. For St. John the Baptist Cathedrals, see St. John the Baptist Cathedral (disambiguation)'' St. John's Cathedral, St. John Cathedral, or Cathedral of St. John, or other variations on the name ...

. The square was listed on the

Parramatta City Council The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located west of central Sydney in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, where the Cumberla ...

local government heritage list on 20 August 1999.

Features and history

To celebrate the colony's centenary, in 1888 the Parramatta Borough Council erected, at a cost of

A£ The pound (Sign: £, £A for distinction) was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. As with other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings (denoted by the symbol s ...

600, the Centennial Memorial, a Victorian Free Classically-styled elaborate clock and

drinking fountain A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and s ...

. To mark the opening of the Church Street Mall in 1986 and the closure of through traffic on Church Street, a

time capsule A time capsule is a historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy relics dates ba ...

was buried under one of the square's gardens by

Janice Crosio Janice Ann Crosio (; born 3 January 1939) is an Australian politician from the Labor Party. She was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, and became the first woman Cabinet minister in New South Wales. Later she was a member of ...

MP, NSW Minister for Water Resources. In order to mark the

Australian Bicentenary The bicentenary of Australia was celebrated in 1988. It marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet of British convict ships at Sydney in 1788. History The bicentennial year marked Captain Arthur Phillip's arrival with the 11 ships ...

in 1988, the Parramatta City Council commissioned the sculpture, ''Procession'', by artist Richard Goodwin. The Parramatta City Council reverted the square's name to Centenary Square on 24 September 2014. The commercial buildings surrounding the square are mainly two-storeyed, with one of the Murray Buildings (alongside the Town Hall and farthest from St Johns) are three storeys. Murray Brothers erected the town's first

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

in 1926; and other major stores soon followed. This was also the site where Rev. Samuel Marsden once lived. Outside St John's Cathedral stands a memorial to those who served in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. This takes the form of a stone arch and plaques; and was erected in 1917. The square serves as the eastern terminus of the proposed Great West Walk connecting Parramatta and via the

Western Sydney Parklands The Western Sydney Parklands is an urban park system and a nature reserve located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The NSW government has spent around $400 million for the park. The park is governed by the NSW National Parks and Wildlife ...

References

External links

* * Parks in Sydney Buildings and structures in Parramatta Australian bicentennial commemorations 1888 in Australia {{Sydney-geo-stub

Features and history

See also

References

External links