Newington is a western suburb 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 ...

. It is 16 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 ...

City of Parramatta The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a Local government in Australia, local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between th ...

. Newington is 2 km west of Wentworth Point, on the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

, and 1 km north-west of

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

. It is best known as the location of the

Athletes Village An Olympic Village is a residential complex built or reassigned for the Olympic Games in or nearby the host city for the purpose of accommodating all of the delegations. Olympic Villages are usually located close to the Olympic Stadium within a ...

for the

2000 Summer 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 ...

and

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was the last time that the Summer Paralympics were organized by two different Organ ...

. The Athlete's Village was converted to residential apartments after the Olympic Games and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. Other apartments and free-standing houses have also been built since. A reserve opposite Newington Marketplace memorial features a complete roster of the Australian team at the

and

History

The suburb of Newington took its name from the Newington Estate which was named by John Blaxland after his family estate 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 Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia

Aboriginal culture

Newington is situated on the traditional aboriginal lands of the ''Wann'' clan, known as the ''Wann-gal''. The lands of the Wann-gal stretched along the southern shore of the

between Cockle Bay (''Cadi-gal'' land) and

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

(''Burramatta-gal'' land). The opposite Parramatta River bank was occupied by the ''Wallumetta-gal''.

European settlement

Within ten days arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

in Australia, plat records were made of "The Flats", the extensive tidal wetlands at Homebush Bay. From 1788 to 1831, land grants in blocks of 100 to 10,000 acres (40 km²) were distributed to the European settlers from the Wanng-al clans holdings. Official County of Cumberland maps were annotated with the names and boundaries of the new land owners. In 1807, John Blaxland acquired 520 hectares of land, originally reserve grants of Waterhouse, Shortland, Archer and Haslam. He named the estate Newington after his family estate in

. Blaxland established a series of salt pans on the banks of the Parramatta River and by 1827, was producing 8 tons of salt each week for the Sydney market. Blaxland also established a tweed mill, limekiln and flourmill. Newington House was completed in 1832 and St Augustine's Chapel in 1838. In 1843, Blaxland mortgaged the property to the Australian Trust Company. The mortgage went unpaid at the time of his death in 1851. John Dobie purchased the property from the Trust Company to paid off the mortgage. The Blaxland family re-purchased the estate from Dobie in 1854 and offered it as security against a large loan. The property was transferred to the Official Assignee of the Insolvent Estate of Edward James Blaxland in 1860 and subsequently leased to the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

, who established

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

on the site. The property, extending from near the current Holker Street to the current Carnarvon Street, was sold to John Wetherill in 1877. Coal mining explorations were undertaken by Blaxland in 1841. He dug several six metre pits which gained the interest of the Australian Mining Company. The two parties reached agreement and, subsequently, undertook several unsuccessful explorations. In 1878, the City of Sydney Coal Company acquired the right to bore for coal at the site. The company drilled to 457 metres with no success. In 1855 the Australian Timber Company formed to exploit the timber stands in the Newington and surrounding areas. In the late 1870s and 1880s, Sydney's suburbs were expanding rapidly and it was hoped that the creation of a residential settlement between the large centres of Sydney and Parramatta would be a profitable exercise. This did not prove to be the case. In 1878, John Wetherill registered a subdivision plan for the entire 520 hectare Newington Estate. This proposal comprised an extensive grid layout, of some 114 lots, which extended well into the mud flats and mangroves of Wentworth Bay and Homebush Bay. In 1906 and 1909, Wetherill further subdivided his property as ''Riverside Heights'', with the first allotments sold in that year. It was hoped that the location of the subdivision in close proximity to the developing State

Abattoir In livestock agriculture and the meat industry, a slaughterhouse, also called an abattoir (), is a facility where livestock animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a meat ...

and Brickworks would attract people to the area in association with the employment opportunities offered by these establishments. This venture was largely unsuccessful, with only a few lots being sold. However the layout of the western part of the Newington subdivision remains obvious in the current street pattern and street names.Sydney Olympic Park Authority – Five Layers of History

Early public use

The Newington Estate was first offered in 1874 to the Government for use as an Asylum for the Insane. The Government did not accept this offer, however in 1879, Government Architect James Barnet prepared a report on the suitability of the Newington estate for a Reformatory School for Boys. His report concluded that the site was suitable for a Boys Reformatory or a Benevolent Asylum for Aged Women. In September 1897 the Crown Solicitor confirmed that 5000 pounds would be paid to John Wetherill to acquire about 19 hectares of land, which included Newington House. An Aged Women's Asylum was constructed to replace the existing asylum which was housed within the Immigrant Depot at the Hyde Park Barracks. The first buildings were established in 1886 on this new site to house 300 patients. At this time, the hospital was categorised as a state asylum for dependent adults' with infirmity or illness of 'incurable character'. Various additional buildings and structures were added to the Newington Hospital over the years. In 1960 it was proposed that the hospital should be closed and the site sold to industry. The significance of the site, however, stimulated significant public opposition to the plans. In 1968, after a series of drawn out negotiations, the Government of the day decided to close the hospital and transfer the property to the then NSW Department of Prisons. Some of the buildings are preserved in the grounds of the Metropolitan Remand and Reception Centre where they are still in use. In the late 1990s the site was developed by Mirvac and Lend Lease for the purpose of an athletes' village for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Following the conclusion of the Games the site was developed into a new residential suburb by Mirvac.

Commercial areas

Newington Marketplace is an outdoor

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

featuring a Woolworths supermarket and specialty shops, cafes and restaurants. Newington also features a number of commercial buildings providing office and warehouse space.

Schools

* Newington Public School (NPS)

Gallery

File:Newington house, (New South Wales).jpg, Newington House, Silverwater, c.1894. File:NewingtonHouseChapel.jpg, Newington House Chapel, undated drawing. File:Newington Olympic Village Memorial 1.JPG, Olympic Village Memorial. File:Newington Athletes Village.JPG, Former Athletes Village. File:"Newington" (3841305683).jpg, Newington

References

External links

Newington Marketplace website
{{Geography of Parramatta River Suburbs of Sydney Olympic Villages in Australia