Luddenham is a semi-rural

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 ...

, 42 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 ...

s of the

City of Penrith A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

and City of Liverpool. As of the 2021 Census it has a population of 1,927. It 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 known for the long running Luddenham Show and its proximity to the, under construction,

Western Sydney International Airport Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport , also known as Badgerys Creek Airport or Western Sydney Airport, is an international airport under construction in the suburbs of Luddenham and Badgerys Creek, New South Wales. Together ...

. It will sit in the Western Sydney Airport "Aerotropolis"

History

Luddenham takes its name from a property which was situated between South Creek and the

Nepean River The Nepean River (Darug language, Darug: Yandhai), is a Perennial stream, major perennial river, located in the south-west and west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Nepean River, and, continuing by its downstream name, the Hawkesbury ...

that was owned by John Blaxland, who received a grant of on 30 November 1813. His elder brother was the more famous

Gregory Blaxland Gregory Blaxland (17 June 1778 – 1 January 1853) was an English pioneer farmer and explorer in Australia, noted especially for initiating and co-leading the first successful crossing of the Blue Mountains by European settlers. Early life ...

and Luddenham was the name of their family property in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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 ...

. The first ''Luddenham'' Post Office opened on 1 January 1857 and was renamed ''Bringelly'' in 1863. The current office opened on 1 March 1872.

Western Sydney Airport

Western Sydney Airport will be located less a kilometre from Luddenham Village. The village is located in an agribusiness zone which does not permit new residential construction. In 2022 New South Wales government plan proposed building between 550 and 1,200 houses to the north of the village. This plan was supported by

Penrith City Council Penrith may refer to: Australia *Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean R ...

and the Luddenham Progress association, who have said that the village would die if new houses were not built. The plan was blocked by the state government owned Western Sydney Airport Corporation.

Demographics

In the , there were people in Luddenham. The central village of Luddenham has a population of 456.

Cultural Diversity

As of the 2021 census, Luddenham has a notable

Italian-Australian Italian Australians () are Australian-born citizens who are fully or partially of Italy, Italian descent, whose ancestors were Italians who emigrated to Australia during the Italian diaspora, or Italian-born people in Australia. Italian Aus ...

Community, with 14.7% of people describing themself as Italian, much higher than the state total of 3.7%. 2.1% of people in Luddenham where born in

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 ...

. The Luddenham Village Cafe is Italian and serves as a small Italian supermarket. It also has a Maltese Australian population, with 9.9% of people describing themself as Maltese, much higher than the state total of 1%. This community mostly exists in the rural parts of Luddenham, and not in the central village.

Religion

49.0% of people in Luddenham described themself as

Catholic 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 ...

, higher than the National total of 20.0%. 18.7% of people described themself as having no religion, compared to the national total of 38.4%. 11.3% of people described themself as

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and 3.9%

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

Transport

Luddenham has 1 bus service, route 789 between Luddenham & Penrith, operating only twice per weekday, once around 7:30am and once around 4:14pm.

Western Sydney Airport Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport , also known as Badgerys Creek Airport or Western Sydney Airport, is an international airport under construction in the suburbs of Luddenham and Badgerys Creek, New South Wales. Together ...

is currently under construction in the Luddenham area. In order to connect it to the

Sydney Metro Sydney Metro is a fully automated rapid transit rail system in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It currently consists of the Metro North West & Bankstown Line, running between Tallawong and Sydenham and consisting of 21 stations on of t ...

network, in June 2020, a

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

station at Luddenham on the Western Sydney Airport line was announced. It is due to be completed in 2026.

References

Suburbs of Sydney 1857 establishments in Australia City of Liverpool (New South Wales) City of Penrith {{Sydney-geo-stub