Parramatta's Unique Heritage
Parramatta is a unique and complex place resonating with stories and themes which reveal the formation of our nation. It is a remarkable cultural landscape containing sites that document Aboriginal society, the first decades of colonisation and the ongoing urbanisation and cultural diversification of western Sydney.
For thousands of years the Burramatta people of the Darug actively and effectively managed the open grasslands and towering River Red Gums at the head of the harbour. This landscape was "pleasant and picturesque" offering fine prospects for agriculture to Governor Arthur Phillip when he and his party explored the area in May 1788. "I think the country as fine as any I have seen in England" wrote Phillip, and in November 1788 the settlement of Rose Hill was established.
Effective agriculture was fundamental to Phillip's vision for a thriving colony of emancipists and free settlers. The tenuous nature of this grand project is reflected in Governor Phillip's naming the first land grant 'Experiment Farm'. From 1789 successful harvests consolidated the British foothold in Australia and was a turning point for both the British and indigenous Australians.
As the capital of the County of Cumberland, Parramatta held an important role until the middle of the nineteenth century. The agricultural strength of the district gradually gave way to the demands of the urban sprawl, which in turn has once again positioned Parramatta as a strategic regional capital. Parramatta today stands at the demographic centre of greater Sydney and is destined to become the second CBD of the metropolis.
The story of Parramatta is one of dynamic change, which reflects that of Australian society generally. Colonisation, dispossession, urbanisation and increasing affluence are themes that are documented in a tangible and immediate way by the many heritage sites that exist in this modern city. The cultural diversity of our nation is well represented in Parramatta and, increasingly, the living heritage of all these people can be sensed and celebrated here by young and old alike.
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