The South Creek or ''Wianamatta'', a creek that is part of the

Hawkesbury Hawkesbury or Hawksbury may refer to: People *Baron Hawkesbury, or Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1727-1808), English statesman Places ;Geography *Hawkesbury Island, an island in British Columbia, Canada * Hawkesbury Island, Queensland ...

Nepean Nepean may refer to: Places Australia *Nepean Bay, a bay in South Australia, **Nepean Bay Conservation Park, a protected area in South Australia, **Nepean Bay, South Australia, a locality *Nepean Highway, Victoria *Nepean Island (Norfolk Island) ...

catchment, is located on the Cumberland Plain, also referred to as Greater Western Sydney,

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.

Course and features

The creek rises in Sydney's south western suburbs below the former Oran Park Raceway about north-east of

Narellan Narellan is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales. Narellan is located 60 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Camden Council and is part of the Macarthur region. Narellan is known for it ...

and west of

Minto Minto may refer to: Places Antarctica *Mount Minto (Antarctica) Australia *Minto, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Minto railway station * Minto County, Western Australia * Parish of Minto, New South Wales Canada * Minto City, British C ...

. In its upper catchment, the creek forms the boundary between the suburbs of Oran Park and

Catherine Field Catherine Field is a suburb of Sydney and part of the Macarthur Region in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Catherine Field is 43 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of ...

. The creek flows generally north, joined by seventeen

tributaries A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...

including

Badgerys Creek Badgerys Creek, also known as Badgery's Creek, is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Liverpool. It i ...

, Kemps Creek,

Ropes Creek Ropes Creek, a watercourse that is part of the Hawkesbury-Nepean catchment, is located in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Ropes Creek rises in the south-western suburbs of Sydney, near Devils Back Tu ...

and

Eastern Creek Eastern Creek is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastern Creek is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the Blacktown local government area and is part of the Greater Western Sydney regi ...

, until reaching its confluence with the Hawkesbury River, near

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. The creek descends over its course. From source to mouth, the creek flows through or forms the boundary of the suburbs of

Bringelly Bringelly is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Northern Road between Penrith and Camden. It has a public school. Bringelly is also the name of a local hill. History Bringelly was a name given to ...

Rossmore Rossmore may refer to: * Rossmore, Johannesburg, South Africa * Rossmore, West Virginia, United States Australia *Rossmore, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney * Rossmore, Queensland, a neighbourhood in the Gympie Region United Kingdom *Rossm ...

, Kemps Creek,

Claremont Meadows Claremont Meadows is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Claremont Meadows is located 45 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of ...

, Orchard Hills, Werrington, St Marys, Werrington County, Dunheved,

Llandilo Llandilo is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 54 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith. It is part of the Greater Western Sydney ...

, Shanes Park, Berkshire Park, Windsor Downs, Riverstone,

Vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

, Mulgrave,

McGraths Hill McGraths Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 53 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is bounded in the nor ...

and Pitt Town Bottoms.

Tributaries

The South Creek or ''Wianamatta'' is joined by Lowes Creek and Rileys Creek at Bringelly; by Thompsons Creek at Rossmore; by Badgerys Creek and by Kemps Creek at the suburb of Badgerys Creek; by Cosgrove Creek at Luddenham; by Blaxland Creek at Orchard Hills; by Byrnes Creek at St Marys; by Claremont Creek at Werrington; by Werrington Creek at Werrington County; by three unnamed creeks at Llandilo, Marsden Park, and Riverstone; by Ropes Creek at Shanes Park; by Eastern Creek at Vineyard; by McGraths Hill Wetlands and by McKenzies Creek at McGraths Hill.

Etymology

''Wianamatta'' is an Aboriginal word of the

Dharug language The Dharug language, also spelt Darug, Dharuk, and other variants, and also known as the Sydney language, Gadigal language ( Sydney city area), is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Yuin–Kuric group that was traditionally spoken in th ...

, meaning 'mother place'. Evidence of early

Aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

has been found in several locations within the

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Great ...

Local government area.

Shell midden A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...

s from the

Darug people The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

have been found near the sewage treatment plant on

Breakfast Creek The Breakfast Creek ( Aboriginal: ''Barrambin'') is a small urban stream that is a tributary of the Brisbane River, located in suburban Brisbane in the South East region of Queensland, Australia. Course and features Rising as the Enoggera Cre ...

and South Creek. South Creek was dual-named as ''Wianamatta'' on 28 March 2003 by the

Geographical Names Board of New South Wales The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales, a statutory authority of the Department of Customer Service in the Government of New South Wales, is the official body for naming and recording details of places and geographical names in the s ...

(GNB). It was dual-named after a submission that the name be changed. However, a lengthy investigation followed, and after consultation with local

Aboriginal Land Council Land councils, also known as Aboriginal land councils, or land and sea councils, are Australian community organisations, generally organised by region, that are commonly formed to represent the Indigenous Australians (both Aboriginal Australians ...

s it was decided after extensive workshops carried by the GNB, that instead, a dual-naming proposal should be pursued instead. Following that decision, the GNB carried out an extensive consultation throughout the entire state of NSW, contacting all Aboriginal land councils on record as well as placing entries in every prominent and regional newspaper explaining the proposal and inviting comments.

History

After

James Ruse James Ruse (9 August17595 September 1837) was a Cornish farmer who, at age 23, was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, on the First Fleet with 18 months of h ...

sold his Experiment Farm at Parramatta, in January 1794 he obtained a grant of land at the junction of the Hawkesbury and South Creek (which for a time was known as Ruse's Creek). A township of South Creek used to exist near St Marys. The name only existed for a few years in the early settlement of New South Wales and now it is part of St Marys/Dunheved. One of its pioneer settlers was

Thomas Jamison Thomas Jamison ( – 25 January 1811) was a naval surgeon, who was surgeon mate on as part First Fleet which founded Colony of New South Wales in 1788. He was surgeon at the Norfolk Island settlement, before returning to Sydney and becoming pr ...

(1753–1811) who arrived with the First Fleet and became Surgeon-General of New South Wales in 1801. Jamisontown in the Penrith area is also named after him.

References

External links