Parramatta Park is a major urban park and historic site in

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 ...

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia * Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that ...

, Australia. It was gazetted as a public park in 1858 on the site of the former Parramatta Government Domain over 99.5 hectares. It was gazetted as a National Park in 1917.Parramatta Park & Government House
Office of Environment & Heritage The Government Domain was established around the cottage built for

Arthur Phillip Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...

, which was replaced by the

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

that is still the centrepiece of the park today. Old Government House and Domain form part of the

World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

ed item "

Australian Convict Sites Australian Convict Sites is a World Heritage property consisting of 11 remnant penal sites originally built within the British Empire during the 18th and 19th centuries on fertile Australian coastal strips at Sydney, Tasmania, Norfolk Island, a ...

", together with ten other Australian sites with a significant association with convict transportation which together represent "the best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and the colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts".

History

The park is a part of the territory of the Darug people, who called it Burramatta, and has remnants of the Cumberland Plain Woodland. It is historically and archaeologically significant and has been used for recreational purposes throughout the 19th and the 20th century. The remains of aboriginal occupation can be seen within the park and various artifacts of the era have been retrieved from the vast green space. Between 1859 and 1889, large parts of the Government Domain were subdivided into the suburbs of Westmead and

Northmead Northmead is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Northmead is located 26 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Northmead is ...

. In 1860 the extension of the

Main Western railway line The Main Western Railway (or Great Western Railway) is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Blue Mountains (Australia), Blue Mountains, and Central West, New South Wales, Central West regions. It is long, of which ...

divided the park and necessitated the demolition of Governor Macquarie's stables. In 1913 some of the park was annexed for the construction of

Parramatta High School Parramatta High School (abbreviated as PHS and colloquially known as Parra High) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Mixed-sex education, co-educational dual modality partially Selective school (New South Wales), ac ...

. In 1981, eight hectares was transferred to the

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, west of Sydney CBD. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta E ...

Trust. In the early 1950s motor racing was held on the roads running through the park. After a failed attempt in 1938, in 1951 an agreement was reached between the Parramatta Park Trust and the Australian Sporting Car Club to build two circuits in the park; a full Grand Prix circuit, and a shorter club circuit. Initially the agreement was for four meetings per year, with the first on 28 January 1952, but in the end five were held that year, and in the final year of racing 12 were held in 1955. An attempt to revive the circuit failed in 1958 due to an intervention by the

Commissioner of Police A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

over safety concerns. In June 1954, the Steam Tram & Railway Preservation Society laid a short section of railway track. Its depot was destroyed by an arson attack in June 1993, and the track was lifted in December 1998. The present parklands are 85 hectares in size, straddling 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 ...

on the western edge of the Parramatta central business district. Old Government House, sits within the park. The park is administered by the Parramatta Park Trust pursuant to the ''Parramatta Park Trust Act 2001''.

Features

The formal entrance to the park (normally open only to pedestrians) is the grand gatehouse facing George Street. From here, George Street continues as a path up the hill to Old Government House. There are five other gatehouses or lodges at various entrances of the park. The centrepiece of the park is Old Government House, which sits at the top of a hill overlooking a bend in the Parramatta River. The house is furnished in 1820s style, and is open to the public for an entrance fee. Near the Old Government House, Governor Brisbane's bath house has been converted into a park pavilion. Also on the crest of the hill is the Boer War Memorial. BOER WAR MEMORIAL, PARRAMATTA PARK
/ref> Domain Creek flows north across the western portion of the park, joining Parramatta River upstream of Parramatta Weir. Several crossings of the Parramatta River are located inside the park. From downstream, these are Noller Bridge, Buttons Bridge and Ross Street Weir. Sporting facilities are largely located in the southern portion of the park, south of the railway, and the northern portion, on the left bank of the Parramatta River, including

. Two children's playgrounds are located in the east (Paperbark Playground) and west (Domain Creek Playground) respectively.

References

{{Parks in Sydney, state=autocollapse 1858 establishments in Australia Defunct motorsport venues in Australia Main Western railway line, New South Wales Parks in Sydney Parramatta