Windsor, New South Wales

Windsor Sydney, New South Wales
The historic Tebbutt's Observatory (circa 1879)
Windsor
Coordinates	33°36′54″S 150°49′02″E
Population	1,670 (2006 census)
Established	1810
Postcode(s)	2756
Location	56 km (35 mi) north-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Hawkesbury
State electorate(s)	Hawkesbury
Federal Division(s)	Macquarie
Suburbs around Windsor: Cornwallis Cornwallis and Freemans Reach Pitt Town and Wilberforce Clarendon Windsor Pitt Town Bottoms South Windsor Mulgrave McGraths Hill

Windsor Town Centre

A church in Windsor

St Matthew's church

An agricultural area in Windsor

Windsor Post Office

Windsor is a town lying west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Windsor is located in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It sits on the Hawkesbury River, on the north-western outskirts of the Sydney metropolitan area. At the 2006 census, Windsor had a population of 1,670.

History

Windsor is the third-oldest place of British settlement on the Australian continent. Settlement at the location was first established about 1791, near the head of navigation on the Hawkesbury River (known as Deerubbin in Dharuk) and taking advantage of the fertile river flats for agriculture. The area was originally called Green Hills, but renamed Windsor (after Windsor in England). The town was officially proclaimed in a Government and General Order issued from Government House, Sydney, dated 15 December 1810, Governor Lachlan Macquarie having "marked out the district of Green Hills", which he "... called Windsor", after Windsor-on-the-Thames.

While in Windsor, Macquarie ordered the main institutions of organised settlement to be erected, such as a church, school-house, gaol and "commodious inn" (The Macquarie Arms). Of these new buildings, the most outstanding was Francis Greenway's Saint Matthew's Anglican Church, for which Macquarie himself chose the site. Samuel Marsden, principal chaplain of the colony, consecrated the church on 8 December 1822.

In 1813 a report was given to Governor Macquarie from Earl Bathurst detailing a proposed invasion of the Hawkesbury River by France. This planned invasion that did not eventuate, targeted the Windsor granary in order to cut off supply to Sydney, showing the relative importance of this new settlement on a global scale.

Windsor is approximately 60 kilometres north-west of Sydney, and the location was chosen because of the agricultural potential of the area and the location was accessible by coastal shipping from Sydney. It was known as the "bread basket", ensuring the survival of the starving colony. The extensive agriculture caused major silting in the Hawkesbury River, by the 1890s the river had become so blocked with silt, ships could not travel up to Windsor from the coast. By then the railway, in 1864, and the road, in 1814, had been built.

On 1 January 1803 Daniel Egan was born in Windsor. He went on to become Mayor of Sydney in 1853. Many of the oldest surviving European buildings in Australia are located at Windsor.

Heritage

The following buildings are listed on the Register of the National Estate.

• St Matthew's Anglican Church, Cemetery and Rectory, 1817–20
• Toll House, Bridge Street, circa 1835
• Claremont Cottage, Claremont Crescent, circa 1822
• Court House, Court Street, 1821
• Fairfield House, Fairfield Avenue, circa 1831
• Sunnybrae, Kable Street, 1875
• Cope House Group, George Street, circa 1835–1880
• George Street Inn Group, George Street, circa 1830–41
• Public School, George and Dight Streets, 1869
• Loder House, George Street, 1834
• Johnston Street Group, 21–27 Johnston Street, circa 1840
• Former Bell Inn, Little Church Street, circa 1841
• Two Terraced Houses, 2–4 Catherine Street, circa 1840
• Two Terraced Houses, 5–7 Catherine Street, circa 1840
• Two Terraced Houses, 1–3 Little Church Street, circa 1840
• Tebbutt's Observatory and House, Palmer Street, 1844–79
• Group of Houses, 23–39 North Street, 28 North Street, circa 1840–75
• Thompson Square Precinct and Bridge Street Buildings, including Hawkesbury Museum, circa 1830–61
• Macquarie Arms Hotel, Thompson Square, built 1815
• Crescentville, 80 The Terrace, 1851
• The Doctor's House, 1–3 Thompson Square, 1830

Geography

Floods are a major concern in Windsor. Its proximity to the Hawkesbury River has resulted in numerous disastrous floods. A horseshoe on the outside wall of the Macquarie Arms pub marks the level the flood peaked at in 1867, when beaches along the Hawkesbury to Barrenjoey were littered with the debris from the town.

Transport

The spread of the suburbs of metropolitan Sydney has almost reached Windsor, and the town is now regarded as an outer suburb, though still retaining its appeal as a small country town. Windsor railway station (opened 1 December 1864), is on the Richmond branch of the North Shore, Northern & Western Line of the Sydney Trains network.

Located in the town centre is the Windsor Bridge, constructed in 1874, is the oldest existing crossing of the Hawkesbury River.

Media

The studios of local community radio station Hawkesbury Radio are located in Windsor. Windsor was also a filming location for the Channel 7 television series A Country Practice and its fictional town of Wandin Valley, including being the location of the Wandin Valley doctors clinic.

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  Home made of sandstock bricks

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  St Matthew's Anglican Church, designed by Francis Greenway

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  St Matthew's, interior

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  Hawkesbury River at Windsor

See also

• Dillwynia Women's Correctional Centre
• John Morony Correctional Centre
• Windsor Wolves
• Richmond, New South Wales

External links

• Windsor - Sydney.com