Menangle Park is a suburb in Sydney 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 ...

. Menangle Park is located 56 kilometres south-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 Campbelltown. Menangle Park is a largely rural area and is part of the Macarthur region.

Demographics

According to the , Menangle Park had a population of 224 people, who are mostly Australian born. The area has a particularly high number of people from the

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 ...

church (26.3%), nearly triple the proportion of Anglicans nationwide (9.8%). The median personal income of $792 per week is lower than the national average ($805).

History

Menangle Park was originally home to the

Tharawal people The Tharawal people and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Yuin language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, scattered along the coasta ...

, and it was they who gave the name, transcribed as ''Manangle'' or ''Manhangle'', to a small lagoon on the west bank of 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 ...

. The river was important to the Tharawal both for its consistent water supply as well as the fish and yabbies that could be caught there. When British settler Walter Davidson established a farm on the west side of the river in 1805, he named it Manangle after the lagoon. Another early settler Thomas Taber built Menangle House on the east side of the river, indicating the name was being used to describe the district. The Main South railway line came through in 1863 and stations were established on either side of the river but following a north–south line so that the station in what is now known as Menangle Park was initially called North Menangle. With the establishment of the Menangle Park Racecourse in 1914, the suburb name became synonymous with the racecourse and only a few years later, the name was officially changed to Menangle Park. In 1920, the land to the east of the station was subdivided into lots to provide land for returned

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

servicemen. While there has been a push to open the area up for further subdivision since then, this has been resisted by the state government because of concern about the effects such development could have on the water quality of the Nepean.

Heritage listings

Menangle Park has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Glenlee Road: Glenlee, Menangle Park

Landmarks

Built in 1914, Menangle Park Paceway gave the suburb its name and is still its major landmark. Designed by local architect Alfred Payten, it lies on the river flats between the railway station and the Nepean River. In 1996, much of the Paceway activity was relocated to the newly upgraded Harold Park; it was then used mostly for training. In 2004–2007, the Paceway received a major upgrade, and was reopened for major racing events, with the intention of concentrating all such events there after the closing of Harold Park. By the western side of the current railway station are the remains of the Menangle Racecourse Junction. This comprised three sidings, and provided a Passenger Platform and a Horse Loading Platform. The platforms can still be seen, and they are considerably longer than the current station platform. To the north is an older landmark. Glenlee House was built by magistrate William Howe in 1824. It was purchased by the Macarthur Development Board in 1978 who restored it and opened it to the public.

Present community

Menangle Park is effectively divided from the eastern neighbouring suburb of

Gilead Gilead or Gilad (, ; ''Gilʿāḏ'', , ''Jalʻād'') is the ancient, historic, biblical name of the mountainous northern part of the region of Transjordan.''Easton's Bible Dictionary'Galeed''/ref> The region is bounded in the west by the J ...

by the M31 Hume Motorway. On the eastern side of the motorway are Broughton Anglican College, established in 1986 in the premises of the former Mount Gilead Christian School, and The Campbelltown Steam and Machinery Museum. A Retirement Resort at Gilead has been planned for some years, but currently is not likely to proceed. All these give their address as Menangle Park. In the village proper on the western side, there are a small General Store, and a Rural Fire Brigade Shed, as well as the Menangle House Tavern, built 1834. The Progress Hall has been destroyed.Photo of Progress Hall dated 2003

References

External links

Menangle Park gallery

File:Menangle Park Disused Platform.jpg, File:Menangle Park Paceway Entrance.jpg, File:Menangle Park Paceway.jpg, File:Menangle Park Paceway Pavilion.jpg, File:Menangle Park Rural Fire Brigade.jpg, {{Sydney Campbelltown suburbs Towns in the Macarthur (New South Wales) Suburbs of Sydney