Rivendell Child, Adolescent and Family Unit is a mental health facility specialising in the problems of young people. It is located at Hospital Road,

Concord West, New South Wales Concord West (also known as West Concord) is a suburb on the periphery of Sydney's inner-west, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Concord West is located 16 km west of the Sydney central business district, in the local governmen ...

, Australia. The facility is housed in the former Thomas Walker Hospital, which is listed on the

New South Wales Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

Description and history

Rivendell Unit was originally located at Broughton Hall, Lilyfield, before being relocated to Concord West in 1977. Its founding director was Dr

Marie Bashir Dame Marie Roslyn Bashir (born 1 December 1930) is the former and second longest-serving Governor of New South Wales. Born in Narrandera, New South Wales, Bashir graduated from the University of Sydney in 1956 and held various medical positio ...

, later to become Governor of New South Wales. Dr Bashir was replaced by Professor Joseph Rey in 1988. Rivendell is, as of 2009, a twenty-bed facility offering mental health services for children and adolescents in the Sydney area and rural New South Wales. Care is provided on both an outpatient and inpatient basis. Around five hundred children and their families are helped by Rivendell each year. Rivendell is a teaching hospital of the University of Sydney. The Concord West premises are located on the banks of the Parramatta River and were originally known as the Thomas Walker Hospital. They were designed by Sir

John Sulman Sir John Sulman (29 August 1849 – 18 August 1934) was an Australian architect. Born in Greenwich, England, he emigrated to Sydney in 1885. From 1921 to 1924 he was chairman of the Federal Capital Advisory Committee and influenced the develop ...

and built from 1891-93 by A.M.Allan. The money came from the will of the philanthropist Thomas Walker, who had lived in the

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

mansion Yaralla, also located at Concord West (and now known as the Dame Eadith Walker Hospital). The buildings are made of brick and sandstone, which is characteristic of the Federation Free Classical style. They feature marble fireplaces and cedar joinery, and are considered an important example of John Sulman's work. They are now listed on the Register of the National Estate. Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital

Opera night

Opera Night at Rivendell is held annually and is a major fund-raising event. It is an open-air event and routinely draws two thousand people. The 2008 opera raised money that went towards the purchase of equipment for the hospital's intensive care unit. Money raised by the 2009 event was earmarked for the hospital's clinical school. Music was provided by the Rivendell Philharmonic Orchestra, a 35-piece orchestra led by the conductor Steven Hillinger.

Rivendell Flower Show

In 2017 it was announced that Rivendell would play host to the Rivendell Flower Show in September 2017 as a fund-raising event for Concord Hospital with all money raised to go to the Department of Geriatric Medicine. The event is expected to host display gardens, keynote speakers, activities, floral arrangements, workshops, high tea and performances from the local community.

Film Location

The scenes of the film

The Great Gatsby ''The Great Gatsby'' is a 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in the Jazz Age on Long Island, near New York City, the novel depicts first-person narrator Nick Carraway's interactions with mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby ...

(2013) showing the sanatorium where Nick Carroway visits his psychiatrist were filmed at Rivendell. Scenes from the film "Flirting" were also filmed at Rivendell.

Gallery

Image:ThomasWalker1.JPG, Main gates Image:ThomasWalker2.JPG, Side view Image:ThomasWalker9.JPG, North entrance Image:ThomasWalker6.JPG, Water gate where guests sometimes arrived by boat

References

{{Reflist

External links

Sydney South West Area Health Service
Hospitals in Sydney Hospitals established in 1893