Visit Sydney Australia
Burwood
The inner-west suburb of Burwood is 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of Burwood Council. Burwood has a mixture of residential, commercial, and light industrial developments (along Parramatta Road). The main shopping strip runs along Burwood Road, beside Burwood railway station. Westfield Burwood is a large regional shopping centre, north of the railway line, on Burwood Road opposite Burwood Park. Burwood Plaza is a smaller shopping centre on Railway Parade, south of the railway line. High rise residential and commercial buildings are also found in surrounding streets and along the railway line.
Burwood Park
Burwood Park is a large historical park bounded by Park Road, Park Avenue, Burwood Road and Comer Street. The War Memorial Arch amd Sandakan Memorial are its most well knmown features. Burwood Park is also home to a playground with shade structure, Tennis courts, a Cricket pitch, Public toilets, a Casual playing field, an Outdoor chess board, a Pond, a Rotunda, Barbecues and picnic shelte and an Outdoor table tennis unit (balls and racquets are not provided).
Burwood has a number of heritage-listed sites, including Burwood Post Office; Burwood railway underbridge and station; Burwood sewer vent (Railway Parade); Congregational Church, Burwood Road;Gayton (1888), Burwood Road; Deolee, Burwood Road; Methodist Ladies College, Rowley Street; Woodstock, Church Street; St Nectarios Greek Orthodox Church, Railway Parade. St Paul's Anglican Church on Burwood Road was designed by colonial architect Edmund Blacket and built in 1871. Sir Donald Bradman and Lady Bradman, Jessie Menzies were married here in 1932. St Paul's is heritage-listed in the NSW State Heritage Register and in the Register of the National Estate.
Woodstock, Church Street
Woodstock: Edwin Thomas Penfold, who made his fortune working on the goldfields and by establishing a successful tobacco business in Sydney, was living in the suburb of Randwick, at a cottage called Sandgate, when he decided to purchase 6 acres of land at Church Street, Burwood, in 1871. He ordered the construction of Woodstock, a two-storey, Victorian Italianate villa, where he moved in with his wife Susannah Clarke. His son was later born there. (It is believed the name Woodstock was derived from the novel written by Sir Walter Scott, published in 1826, named Woodstock.) The house remained with the Penfold family until 1895. One of Penfold's descendents would later buy William Moffitt's printing and stationery firm and renamed it W. C. Penfold & Co, one of the largest stationary companies in Australia.
In 1942, the building was taken over by the Australian Government to be used as one of the 28 army bases for the Australian Women's Army Service Barracks which comprised both LTD and a General Details Depot until 1946. After that, the Reverence W. Deane, Principal, briefly occupied the house with his Methodist Ladies College Burwood (MLCB), now known as MLC School. Between 1948 and 1974, the house operated as the Broughton Migrant Hostel for immigrant families from Europe and Great Britain. Burwood Council leased the property from 1976 until 1982, when it was purchased from the Australian Government. The Council restored the original name, Woodstock, and began using the house as a community centre.
Methodist Ladies College Burwood
Methodist Ladies College School: Methodist Ladies College Burwood was founded in 1886 to prepare students for entrance to the University of Sydney, which had only admitted women to degrees four years before. With the view that much more could be expected of girls skills and talents during their school education, MLC School was one of the first schools in Australia to offer girls the same level of education as boys. It is believed that MLC School was one of the very first to establish a purpose-built kindergarten building (1889). The Tower Wing (foundation stone laid 1918) was designed by Alfred Newman in a Tudor Gothic style to harmonise with the existing architecture of the Schofield Hall which it adjoins. A prominent feature in the new building was the large tower, 24 feet square, and four stories in height.
The school's alumnae includes Lady McMahon (wife of former Prime Minister of Australia Sir William McMahon); Hon Megan Latham (Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales); Marise Payne (Liberal Senator for New South Wales and Minister for Defence); poet and playwright Helen Joyce Haenke; Olympians Jessica Ashwood Olympic Games representative in Swimming; Elisa Barnard Olympic Games representative in Archery; Penelope Blackmore Commonwealth Games and Olympic Games Rhythmic Gymnast; Lorraine Crapp Olympic diver and swimmer in the 1960s; Felicity Galvez Olympic Swimmer; Taniele Gofers Member of Olympics and National Women's Waterpolo team; Elizabeth Kell Olympic Rower and 2006 Rowing World Champion.
Appian Way, Burwood
Appian Way Estate: Running between Burwood Road and Liverpool Road is The Appian Way, a model housing estate conceived by George Hoskins at the turn of the century. The street has been described as one of the finest streets of Federation houses in Australia and is state heritage-listed. In the centre of the Appian Way is a communal reserve which was converted into a lawn tennis club. The street has become the backdrop for movies and television advertisements, such as the 1987 mini-series Vietnam.
Also known as the Hoskins Estate, it was conceived by a wealthy industrialist, George J. Hoskins on 8 hectares of land that he purchased at the start of the 20th century. Built between 1903 and 1911, the estate of 36 Federation houses was created with his designer and builder William Richards to present an appropriate setting opposite the Hoskins St Cloud mansion on Burwood Road. They were not built to sell but as a long-term investment to be occupied by selected tenants of appropriate social standing. The subdivisions were large (1,000-3,000 square metres), which allowed for spacious and low-set houses. The main thoroughfare itself, completed by 1905, is named after Appian Way (Latin and Italian: Via Appia), the most important ancient Roman road which connected Rome to Brindisi, Apulia in south-east Italy. Its meandering path heightened the informal tone of the estate, only now fully complemented by the mature trees.
Appian Way, Burwood
Most houses focus on an oval-shaped village green that was originally intended for tennis, bowls and croquet. Residents formed the Appian Way Recreation Club Limited in 1913, taking up 97 1 pound shares out of a capital of 200 pounds, with Hoskins' son Leslie (also a resident) holding the remainder as a majority shareholder. The green is surrounded by a picket fence and features hedges and an Edwardian pavilion clubhouse. Of the original 45 allotments, 36 houses were built, and 30 are still standing. Hoskins allegedly planned for his niece to have them named after towns lying on the original Appian Way in Italy, but only four eventuated, a 'Roma', 'Brindisi', 'Capua', and 'Alba Longa'. All bar two houses are single storey, 'Brianza' and the now-demolished 'Brindisi' gaining a second floor so they could capture some aspect of the green.
Angus and Malcolm Young
4 Burleigh Street, Burwood
The family home of George, Malcolm and Angus Young, the sons of Scottish migrants who went on to become leading lights in rock music. George formed a band called the Easybeats with others of his age who he met while living at the Villawood Migrant Hostel. His younger brothers Malcolm and Angus later formed AC/DC with a few of their mates.
Angus' first encounter with what was to come occurred at the young's family home at 4 Burleigh Street. At the height of the Easybeat's fame and popularity, a fan magazine had foolishly published the address of the house, which triggered an invasion after school on day of around 300 girls from four neighbouring schools. Eager to get their hands on anything vaguely associated with the Easybeats, the girls swarmed the house, trampling the young 2nd-grader Angus in the process. It took a visit by the local constabulary to restore peace or order to the Young household.
Archaeological evidence indicates people were living in the Sydney area for at least 11,000 years. This long association had led to a harmonious relationship between the indigenous inhabitants and their environment, which was interrupted by the arrival of the British in 1788. The European desire to cultivate the land aided and abetted by a smallpox epidemic that forced the local people, the Wangal clan, away from their source of food and their spiritual connection with the land.
Burwood and Burwood Heights were probably after Burwood in Cornwall, England. The name was first used by Capt. Thomas Rowley of NSW Corps in 1799 when he named his grant of 260 acres (110 ha) Burwood Farm. The land passed through a succession of owners until subdivision began in 1834, first into farmlets for use by dairy farmers, then into town lots. The locality's first house, Burwood Villa, was built in 1814, the same year that a stagecoach began running between Sydney and Parramatta. Burwood became a staging post along the road and the beginnings of a settlement started to develop. One of its most prominent early residents was Dr. John Dulhunty, a former naval surgeon who was appointed the Superintendent of Police for the Colony of New South Wales after his arrival in Sydney from England in 1826. Dr. Dulhunty became famous in the colony for fighting a gang of bushrangers that attacked his residence, Burwood House.
The neighbouring suburb of Strathfield is some 14 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district. Being at the junction of the Northern and Western railway lines, Strathfield station is one of the more significant stations on the western line, and one of the few suburban stations were interstate and country trains stop.
In the early 1900s, grand mansions were constructed here and in neighbouring Burwood as the country homes of wealthy merchants, many of which have been recognised for their historic value. Some examples include 'Bellevue' in Victoria Street and 'Radstoke' in Malvern Crescent, as well as Helikon, built in 1893 and designed by Charles Slayter, which is now listed on the Register of the National Estate. Streets such as Victoria Street, Llandillo Avenue and Kingsland Road predominantly feature older mansions, while Agnes Street, Newton Road and Barker Road are common locations for new homes. Strathfield has retained its wide avenues and most of the extensive natural vegetation, though a large proportion of Strathfield's population now dwells in apartments with the area immediately surrounding Strathfield railway station, which is dominated by high rise residential towers.
