A Virtual Excursion to Parramatta Park

Prior to the arrival of the British in 1788, this land was inhabited by the Burramatta people, a clan of the Darug. Evidence of Aboriginal life in Parramatta Park includes carved trees and other artefacts. Soon after the British arrived, they turned Parramatta into a large farm to feed the starving colony and erected government buildings and housing for British convicts exiled to Australia. They also raised fences throughout Darug land, enclosing “The Governor’s Domain.”

The colonial foundations of Parramatta can still be seen in buildings and gardens such as these. An ex-convict named George Salter, lived and grew crops to sustain the new colony in this area, known as The Dairy Precinct. There was no jail in Australia at this time. Instead, convicts were put to work. Although the land at Parramatta was fertile, initial cultivation efforts often failed. Only when local crops, seasons and soil were better understood did the colony have successful harvests.

Parramatta Park was opened to the public in 1858. This cottage was built as a home for the park ranger and his family in the 1870s.

One of the first buildings erected by Europeans on Darug land, the Dairy Cottage was owned by ex-convict George Salter. Salter was transported to Australia in 1789 to serve 7 years for his role in a smuggling operation. Built between 1796 and 1805, the Cottage is one of the oldest intact buildings in Australia. This room was added to the cottage in 1820 by Governor Macquarie. After he bought the cottage, it was converted to a dairy, and this room was used as a kitchen.

Here, you can see evidence of the base of an old brick oven that would likely have been used to bake bread. Perhaps Betty Eccles, dairy maid at the cottage at this time, baked here for Governor Macquarie’s household.

This fireplace was installed in 1820 and shares a flue with the earlier fireplace next door, which was built in the 1790s.

Termites have taken their toll on wooden sections of the roof that was built in the 1820s. New support beams have been installed next to the original ones in the 1990s. They are painted grey so we can tell they are a new addition.

All the material used to build this cottage was made locally by convicts. Brick kilns (ovens) were located on Parramatta River near Old Government House. Building ideas and techniques arrived with new waves of convict builders. Examples can be seen in the walls, ceilings, bricks and windows.

This lath and plaster ceiling dates to 1823. Lath and plaster was a traditional building method used in England and brought to New South Wales by convicts. Narrow strips of wood were nailed horizontally across wall studs or ceiling joists. Plaster was then applied, typically with a wooden board.

The windows in this room date from 1823. They are interesting because the glazing bars don’t resemble those of other houses built in NSW during this period. Instead, this particular type was only found in rural England.

In 1858, the Governor’s Domain was declared a People’s Park and opened to the public. At this time, the Dairy Precinct became the home to the Park Ranger and a cottage was built specifically to house his family. Today, Parramatta Park rangers still use this space, making the Rangers Cottage the oldest Australian colonial building still used for its original purpose.

Cecil Sim was Parramatta Park’s Ranger in 1922. His brother-in-law, Horace Melville, was a tailor from New Zealand, but Melville’s hobby was painting. He created these murals above the picture rails during the 1920s and 30s. The murals depict landscapes from his beloved homeland.

Here, the domestic fireplace has survived. All the family's cooking, boiling water and heating requirements were supplied by this fireplace.

When the Ranger’s Cottage was built in the 1870s, it was built over a sunken milk room which was used to store milk, cheese and butter. Here, cheese was made from milk curd, wrapped in cloths and left to mature on shelves which ran along the wall. Butter was made by churning cream that had been separated from scalded milk. Between 1890 and 1920, the sunken milk room was filled in and soon forgotten – buried deep beneath the Rangers Cottage floor. In 1993, a small team lifted the floor of the Ranger’s Cottage, rediscovering the room below.

These earthenware bottles from the 1880s were discovered in the sunken milk room. They most likely contained beer.

These narrow stone stairs lead to the sunken milk room. Can you imagine the dairy maids going down these steps each day to turn fresh milk into butter and cheese? Before they walked down these stairs, they separated the cream from scalded milk over the fireplace in the Dairy Cottage.

The stone monuments still standing in Parramatta Park offer a significant and fascinating insight into Australia’s colonial past. The Bathhouse was completed in 1823 for Governor Brisbane. It is believed that, due to his war wounds, the Governor wanted a private place to have soothing warm baths. The Boer War Memorial was commissioned by the Royal New South Wales Lancers and the Park’s Improvement Committee to commemorate the veterans of the Boer War.

The Bathhouse contains archaeological remains related to the pumping system which was developed to bring in heated water. In 1886 the Park Trustees converted the Bathhouse to a pavilion – the form in which the building still survives today.

The Memorial was built in 1904 using columns and blocks salvaged from the old Parramatta Court House and cannons purchased by the government in the 1850s for the defence of Port Jackson. The broken pillar in the centre of the memorial signifies ‘life cut short’ to remember those lost in the war.

Parramatta Park is also known for its natural heritage. A population of 5000 –10,000 Grey-headed Flying Foxes has set up home at the riverside. This threatened population is looked after by the Parramatta Park Trust which is working hard to ensure the protection and conservation of these fuzzy animals, the riverside vegetation they roost in, and the People’s Park they call home.