Newington is a western suburb of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, in the state of

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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It is 16 kilometres west of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

, in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of City of Parramatta. Newington is 2 km west of

Wentworth Point Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, on the eastern edge of the local government area of City of Parramatta. It is on t ...

, on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Seco ...

, and 1 km north-west of

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta Council. It is commonly known as Olympic Park but officially na ...

. It is best known as the location of the

Athletes Village An Olympic Village is an accommodation center built for the Olympic Games, usually within an Olympic Park or elsewhere in a host city. Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes, as well as officials and athletic trainers. Afte ...

for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and 2000 Summer Paralympics. The Athlete's Village was converted to residential apartments after the Olympic Games and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. Other apartments and free-standing houses have also been built since. A reserve opposite Newington Marketplace memorial features a complete roster of the Australian team at the

and 2000 Summer Paralympics.

History

The suburb of Newington took its name from the Newington Estate which was named by John Blaxland after his family estate in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

.''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia

Aboriginal culture

Newington is situated on the traditional aboriginal lands of the ''Wann'' clan, known as the ''Wann-gal''. The lands of the Wann-gal stretched along the southern shore of the

between Cockle Bay (''Cadi-gal'' land) and

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 ...

(''Burramatta-gal'' land). The opposite Parramatta River bank was occupied by the ''Wallumetta-gal''.

European settlement

Within ten days arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

in Australia, plat records were made of "The Flats", the extensive tidal wetlands at Homebush Bay. From 1788 to 1831, land grants in blocks of 100 to 10,000 acres (40 km²) were distributed to the European settlers from the Wanng-al clans holdings. Official County of Cumberland maps were annotated with the names and boundaries of the new land owners. In 1807, John Blaxland acquired 520 hectares of land, originally reserve grants of Waterhouse, Shortland, Archer and Haslam. He named the estate Newington after his family estate in

. Blaxland established a series of salt pans on the banks of the Parramatta River and by 1827, was producing 8 tons of salt each week for the Sydney market. Blaxland also established a tweed mill, limekiln and flourmill.

Newington House Newington House is a historic house in Silverwater, New South Wales, Australia and is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. The house and chapel are situated on the souther ...

was completed in 1832 and St Augustine's Chapel in 1838. In 1843, Blaxland mortgaged the property to the Australian Trust Company. The mortgage went unpaid at the time of his death in 1851. John Dobie purchased the property from the Trust Company to paid off the mortgage. The Blaxland family re-purchased the estate from Dobie in 1854 and offered it as security against a large loan. The property was transferred to the Official Assignee of the Insolvent Estate of Edward James Blaxland in 1860 and subsequently leased to the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

, who established

Newington College , motto_translation = To Faith Add Knowledge , location = Inner West and Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = A ...

on the site. The property, extending from near the current Holker Street to the current Carnarvon Street, was sold to John Wetherill in 1877. Coal mining explorations were undertaken by Blaxland in 1841. He dug several six metre pits which gained the interest of the Australian Mining Company. The two parties reached agreement and, subsequently, undertook several unsuccessful explorations. In 1878, the City of Sydney Coal Company acquired the right to bore for coal at the site. The company drilled to 457 metres with no success. In 1855 the Australian Timber Company formed to exploit the timber stands in the Newington and surrounding areas. In the late 1870s and 1880s, Sydney's suburbs were expanding rapidly and it was hoped that the creation of a residential settlement between the large centres of Sydney and Parramatta would be a profitable exercise. This did not prove to be the case. In 1878, John Wetherill registered a subdivision plan for the entire 520 hectare Newington Estate. This proposal comprised an extensive grid layout, of some 114 lots, which extended well into the mud flats and mangroves of Wentworth Bay and Homebush Bay. In 1906 and 1909, Wetherill further subdivided his property as ''Riverside Heights'', with the first allotments sold in that year. It was hoped that the location of the subdivision in close proximity to the developing State

Abattoir A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

and Brickworks would attract people to the area in association with the employment opportunities offered by these establishments. This venture was largely unsuccessful, with only a few lots being sold. However the layout of the western part of the Newington subdivision remains obvious in the current street pattern and street names.Sydney Olympic Park Authority – Five Layers of History

Early public use

The Newington Estate was first offered in 1874 to the Government for use as an Asylum for the Insane. The Government did not accept this offer, however in 1879, Government Architect

James Barnet James Johnstone Barnet, (1827 in Almericlose, Arbroath, Scotland – 16 December 1904 in Forest Lodge, Sydney, New South Wales) was the Colonial Architect for Colonial New South Wales, serving from 1862 to 1890. Early life Born the son of a ...

prepared a report on the suitability of the Newington estate for a Reformatory School for Boys. His report concluded that the site was suitable for a Boys Reformatory or a Benevolent Asylum for Aged Women. In September 1897 the Crown Solicitor confirmed that 5000 pounds would be paid to John Wetherill to acquire about 19 hectares of land, which included Newington House. An Aged Women's Asylum was constructed to replace the existing asylum which was housed within the Immigrant Depot at the Hyde Park Barracks. The first buildings were established in 1886 on this new site to house 300 patients. At this time, the hospital was categorised as a state asylum for dependent adults' with infirmity or illness of 'incurable character'. Various additional buildings and structures were added to the Newington Hospital over the years. In 1960 it was proposed that the hospital should be closed and the site sold to industry. The significance of the site, however, stimulated significant public opposition to the plans. In 1968, after a series of drawn out negotiations, the Government of the day decided to close the hospital and transfer the property to the then NSW Department of Prisons. Some of the buildings are preserved in the grounds of the

Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre The Silverwater Correctional Complex, an Australian maximum and minimum security prison complex for males and females, is located in Silverwater, west of the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The complex is ope ...

where they are still in use. In the late 1990s the site was developed by Mirvac and Lend Lease for the purpose of an athletes' village for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Following the conclusion of the Games the site was developed into a new residential suburb by Mirvac.

Commercial areas

Newington Marketplace is an outdoor

shopping centre A shopping center (American English) or shopping centre (Commonwealth English), also called a shopping complex, shopping arcade, shopping plaza or galleria, is a group of shops built together, sometimes under one roof. The first known collec ...

featuring a Woolworths supermarket and specialty shops, cafes and restaurants. Newington also features a number of commercial buildings providing office and warehouse space.

Schools

* Newington Public School (NPS)

Gallery

File:Newington house, (New South Wales).jpg, Newington House, Silverwater, c.1894. File:NewingtonHouseChapel.jpg, Newington House Chapel, undated drawing. File:Newington Olympic Village Memorial 1.JPG, Olympic Village Memorial. File:Newington Athletes Village.JPG, Former Athletes Village. File:"Newington" (3841305683).jpg, Newington

References

External links

Newington Marketplace website
{{Geography of Parramatta River Suburbs of Sydney Olympic Villages