Undercliffe is an eastern section of the

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 ...

Earlwood Earlwood is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is part of the Canterbury-Bankstown area. It is in the local government area o ...

located in

South Western Sydney South Western Sydney is a region of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian c ...

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 ...

. Undercliffe is situated 10 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 ...

within 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 Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown Council, trading as the City of Canterbury Bankstown and stylised as CBCity, is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Th ...

History

19th Century

The area was initially recognised as Undercliffe Estate during the 1840s via

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

due to the presence of one or more permanent dwellings. The name is derived from the presence of a prominent outcrop of

Sydney sandstone Sydney sandstone, also known as the Hawkesbury sandstone, yellowblock, and yellow gold, is a sedimentary rock named after Sydney, and the Hawkesbury River north of Sydney, where this sandstone is particularly common. It forms the bedrock f ...

which forms the bedrock of the greater

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 ...

area. The

quarrying A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to manage their s ...

of this

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

between

Wolli Creek Wolli Creek () is an urban watercourse of the Cooks River catchment located in the southern suburbs of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Wolli Creek rises south of Narwee, within Beverly Hills Park, Beverly Hills. The ...

and

Cooks River The Cooks River, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a tributary of Botany Bay, located in south-western Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The course of the urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various developme ...

provided the first local industry as well as material for the production of additional homes. A notable landowner during this era was

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

Judge James Donnithorne (1773-1852). Donnithorne owned shares in the Undercliffe Estate, which upon his death, were passed to his daughter Eliza Emily Donnithorne (1821-1886), a recluse who leased out the land until her death. It was then sold and eventually subdivided for housing. A wooden bridge was built across the Cooks River in 1836 to carry the Illawarra Road across the river. It was known as Tompsons Bridge, after Mr. P. A. Tompson's father who purchased the Bexley Estate from James Chandler. The bridge was washed away several times during floods. Unwin had bought his property from Arthur Martin in 1840 and built a large home known as Wanstead, named after a village in Essex, England. Unwins Bridge, Unwins Bridge Road, Wanstead Avenue, and Wanstead Avenue Reserve commemorate these names.

20th Century

Waterworth Park was set aside as a reserve in 1906 after it was declared unsuitable for habitation due to health concerns. Between 1912 and 1957, electric trams operated through Undercliffe along Illawarra Road and Homer Street on their way to the west of

, providing service to the city via

Marrickville Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government ...

and Newtown. The service has since been replaced by buses. Undercliffe was a standalone suburb of Sydney until it was merged with Earlwood in 1993.

Geography

Undercliffe is a predominantly

residential area A residential area is a land used in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single-family housing, multi-family residen ...

. It is located on a peninsula between the

and

. The northern end of which is characterized by parkland and recreational areas. Bayview Avenue and Unwins Bridge link Undercliffe north over the Cooks River to Tempe. Another bridge links Illawarra Road over the Cooks River to

and

Turrella Turrella (;) is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Turrella is located 10 km south-west of the Sydney central business district on the southern bank of Wolli Creek in the Local government in Australia ...

are located on the opposite bank of Wolli Creek, to the south, with footbridges being the only direct links to these suburbs.

Notable Landmarks

* Canterbury

Velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate easement ...

at Waterworth Park *

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

Park * The Transfiguration of Our Lord

Greek Orthodox Church Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Christianity in Greece, Greek Christianity, Antiochian Greek Christians, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christian ...

* Undercliffe Public School

Heritage-listed Sites

Undercliffe has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Pine Street:

Cooks River Sewage Aqueduct The Cooks River Sewage Aqueduct is a Heritage register, heritage-listed sewage Aqueduct (bridge), aqueduct located at Pine Street, Earlwood, New South Wales, Earlwood, New South Wales, Australia. It crosses the Cooks River to Thornley Street, M ...

* Unwin Street:

Wolli Creek Aqueduct The Wolli Creek Aqueduct is a heritage-listed sewage aqueduct located at Unwin Street, Earlwood, City of Canterbury-Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia. The Wolli Creek Aqueduct crosses Wolli Creek to Thompson Street, Turella. It was desig ...

Original Inhabitants-listed Site

There is an original inhabitants listed site, depicting rare hand and feet stenciling rock art, on

private property Private property is a legal designation for the ownership of property by non-governmental Capacity (law), legal entities. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which is owned by a state entity, and from Collective ownership ...

and not open to the public.

References

{{City of Canterbury-Bankstown topics, state=collapsed Sydney localities City of Canterbury-Bankstown