PARRAMATTA
Parameter is now almost an inner
suburb of Sydney, but even though the ‘town’ has been gobbled up by
the urban sprawl, Parramatta to many remains its own city within a
city. Parramatta is old, and pleasingly there has been some heritage
buildings survive.
Parramatta was
founded in 1788, the same year as Sydney. The British Colony, which
had arrived in January 1788 in the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, had
only enough food to support itself for a short time and the soil
around Sydney Cove proved too poor to grow the amount of food that
1,000 convicts, soldiers and administrators needed to survive. During
1788, Governor Arthur Phillip had considered several places before
choosing Parramatta as the most likely place for a successful large
farm. Parramatta was the furthest navigable point inland on the
Parramatta River (i.e. furthest from the thin, sandy coastal soil) and
also the point at which the river became freshwater and therefore
useful for farming.
On Sunday 2
November 1788, Governor Phillip took a detachment of marines along
with a surveyor and, in boats, made his way upriver to a location that
he called The Crescent, a defensible hill curved round a river bend,
now in Parramatta Park. As a settlement developed, Governor Phillip
gave it the name "Rose Hill" (now used for a nearby race course) which
in 1791 he changed to Parramatta, approximating the term used by the
local Aboriginal people.
The Anglican
Church
is represented on two sites.
Central and nearer Rose Hill .
The Catholic at the other end of the town.
The United
also central, plus two converts. 
There are a
number of heritage buildings    
and bridges
too.
Very few traditional hotels have
survived. The Woolpack Hotel is the oldest pub site in Australia.
The Parramatta
Museum is a converted historical cottage. 
The Parramatta
War Memorial 
is on an expanse of parks and gardens.
Parramatta is
not easy to get around and parking up for the day will be difficult,
but is worth the effort.
Heritage diary_small.JPG) _small.JPG)
 |