Horsley Park 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 ...

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 ...

. Horsley Park is located 39 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 ...

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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

of the

City of Fairfield The Fairfield City Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Greater Western Sydney, west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was first incorporated as the "Municipal District of Smit ...

. Horsley Park is part of the

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

region. It is a semi-

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

suburb, located 5 km west of

Wetherill Park Wetherill Park is a suburb in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wetherill Park is located 34 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. The ...

and 11 km north-west of Fairfield.

History

Aboriginal people from the Cabrogal tribe, a sub-group of the Gandangara tribe, have lived in the Fairfield area for over 30 000 years. European settlement began in Fairfield in the early 19th century. Horsley Park was originally part of Colonel George Johnston's property "Kings Gift", which was given to him by Governor King for his part in putting down the Irish Rebellion at

Vinegar Hill Vinegar () is an aqueous solution of diluted acetic acid and trace compounds that may include flavorings. Vinegar typically contains from 5% to 18% acetic acid by volume. Usually, the acetic acid is produced by a double fermentation, converting ...

in 1804. After his death it passed to his daughter Blanche who in 1829 married Major George Nicholas Weston. He built an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

colonial style homestead on the property and named it "Horsley" after his birthplace in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Horsley Homestead is one of the few remaining early colonial buildings in the Fairfield district today protected by The Australian Heritage National Trust. In 1959, the Horsley Drive (so named because it leads to Horsley Park) opened up as a continuous route from Lansvale. Horsley Park Public School was opened in 1931. During the

Sydney 2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, Horsley Park became the venue for events of

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or riding in British English) Examples of this are: *Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes in ...

. Today, Horsley Park is known to have a rich Italian and Maltese heritage residing. It is also known for being the original location for the formation of Club Marconi.

Heritage listings

Horsley Park has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 52–58 Jamieson Close: Horsley complex

Population

At the , there were 1,790 residents in Horsley Park. 65.0% of people were born in Australia with the next top countries of birth being

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

7.7%,

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

5.1% and

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

3.0%. 54.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

10.4%,

Maltese Maltese may refer to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to Malta * Maltese alphabet * Maltese cuisine * Maltese culture * Maltese language, the Semitic language spoken by Maltese people * Maltese people, people from Malta or of Maltese ...

6.9% and

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

4.4%.

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was the top religious affiliation, with 59.7% of people stating they were Catholic.

Commercial area

There are a number of small farms in the area. A small group of shops is located on the main street, The Horsley Drive, including a grocer, lolly shop, newsagent and firearms store. There is also the piety store located in the our lady of victories parish Church, where many religious artefacts can be purchased, such as statues and the annual chocolate pascal lamb, introduced by the Michaelite order of priests who took over the declining Paulist missionaries.

Schools

Horsley Park contains three schools: *Marion Catholic Primary School (conjoined with the local Catholic Church) *Horsley Park Public School (which has been servicing the area since the 1930s) * St Narsai

Assyrian Christian Assyrians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to Mesopotamia, a geographical region in West Asia. Modern Assyrians share descent directly from the ancient Assyrians, one of the key civilizations of Mesopotamia. While they are distinct from ot ...

College (which relocated to the area in January 2018)

Churches

Horsley Park is Australia's "most god-fearing suburb", with 97% professing religious belief, mostly Catholic.Faiths creating an Australia marked by postcodes of piety
''The Australian'', 26 July 2012

''Sydney Morning Herald'', 28 July 2012. Churches located in Horsley Park include: * Our Lady of Victories Catholic Church, known for its Good Friday Procession * Spanish Community Bible Church
Horsley Park Christian Church
(also known as Chung Chen Chinese Christian Church), founded by Chinese refugees from East Timor, and located in Horsley Park since 12 November 2000 * Bethel Mar Thoma Church Sydney, consecrated on 9 March 2024, is an Indian Christian denomination which follows Lesser Eastern/Syrian traditions.

Transport

The

Westlink M7 The Westlink M7 is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network. Owned by the NorthWestern Roads (NWR) Group, it connects three motorways: the M5 South-West Motorway at Prestons, the M4 We ...

motorway runs through Horsley Park
Bus route 813
operate between Horsley Park shops on the Horsley Drive and the Fairfield interchange

Climate

Horsley Park has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa'') with warm to hot summers and cool to mild winters. The highest recorded temperature was 47.0 °C, registered on 4 January 2020. -2.3 °C was the lowest temperature recorded on 17 July 2007.

References

{{Sydney Fairfield suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Fairfield