Sydenham is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the Inner West of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Sydenham is located 8 kilometres south of

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 ...

and is part of 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

of Inner West Council. Sydenham is surrounded by the suburbs of Marrickville, St Peters and Tempe.

History

Sydenham developed after the Illawarra railway line came through the area to

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

in the late 1800s. It was named after

Sydenham Sydenham may refer to: Places Australia * Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Sydenham railway station, Sydney * Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne ** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne un ...

, a suburb of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, for their similarities in their close proximity to the city and a railway junction. The station was originally known as Marrickville when it opened on 15 October 1884. It was changed to Sydenham on 19 March 1895 when a new line was being built to

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown region. Bankstown is the administrative centre ...

and the first station was to be called Marrickville. The post office opened in April 1899 as Tempe Park and was only renamed Sydenham in 1964. Marrickville Council proposed the Sydenham Creative Hub—a commercial area of bars, cafes and galleries—near Sydenham Station sometime after 2011. On 12 December 2017, the Inner West Council voted to shrink the proposed precinct to an area immediately adjacent to the station only. The aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

saw Australia's post-war immigration boom. Many immigrants from Europe, particularly from Italy and Greece, settled in the inner suburbs of Sydney, including Sydenham. Demand for housing led to the development of new residencies, in the form of semi-detached houses, terraces, and apartments. The period also saw the stable development of industrial areas around Sydenham, with a number of factories, warehouses and manufacturing facilities, contributing to the working-class character of the suburb. On 19 December 1953, a train collision occurred in Sydenham when a red rattler, travelling to

, rammed into a rear of another passenger train due to a signaling error. The crash resulted in the deaths of 5 railway passengers. Sydenham has a number of heritage-listed sites, including Sydenham railway station.

Population

In the 2021 Census, there were 1,100 people in Sydenham. 58.8% of people were born in Australia and 62.8% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 47.7%, Catholic 16.1%, Buddhism 8.9%, Eastern Orthodox 5.2% and Anglican 4.5%.

Transport

Sydenham railway station is a junction for three lines on the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

network: the

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

, Airport & South and

lines, and is served by Sydney Metro.

Former tram service

A cross country line connected the Cooks River Line and the Dulwich Hill line via Sydenham, operating along Railway Road and Sydenham Road in Sydenham.

Features

Sydenham is a small suburb extending southeast from the railway station to the Princes Highway. It has a mixture of residential and industrial developments. A small group of shops is located around the intersection of Unwins Bridge Road and Railway Road, close to Sydenham railway station. In the adjacent suburb of Marrickville, commercial developments are also located along Sydenham and Marrickville Roads close to the border with Sydenham. Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre is also very close to Sydenham.

Sydenham Green

Sydenham is directly under the flight path of

Sydney Airport Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport — colloquially Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney Airport or Mascot Airport — is an international airport serving Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district, in the subu ...

. To deal with noise complaints from residential properties between Unwins Bridge Road and the

Princes Highway Princes Highway is a major road in Australia, extending from Sydney via Melbourne to Adelaide through the states of New South Wales, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and South Australia. It has a length of (along Highway 1) or via the former ...

, the government acquired these properties and converted them into a recreational park.Sydenham Green, Sydenham
Sydney's Inner West The park occupies a large portion of the small suburb. Sydenham Green is located on either side of Railway Road, named after the park of the same name in

Sydenham, London Sydenham () is a district of south-east London, England, which is shared between the London boroughs of London Borough of Lewisham, Lewisham, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and London Borough of Southwark, Southwark. Prior to the creation of ...

. Two heritage buildings along Railway Road were retained, a sandstone terrace house and St Marys Church (which was later controversially demolished after a suspicious fire.) In the park, a series of oversized 'living room' sculptures – lamp, chairs and fireplace pays homage to the residential houses that formerly occupied the site.

Schools and Churches

Schools close to Sydenham are St Pius Catholic School, Enmore Road - Near Marrickville Metro, Tempe High School (Sydney) and Tempe Public School. St Mary's Church was the first Coptic Church outside Egypt, but was demolished in 2017.

References

External links

* CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> {{Sydney Marrickville suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Inner West Council