The first Government House in New South Wales
was built early in 1788 at Sydney Cove followed by Parramatta.
Old Government is located on the Parramatta
River adjacent to the City of Parramatta CBD. It was the core tribal lands of
the Burramattagal people of the Darug nation for thousands of years before
settlement by Europeans in 1788 under Governor Arthur Phillip.
Old Government House is representative of the
second settlement of the Colony of NSW. It was the site of Government
administration of the new colony and a significant convict system. It was a
site of intensive public works and industry. It was an important location in
agricultural development and experimentation and played an important role is
establishing the viability of the colony, especially in the initial years of
struggle against famine, the environment and cultural displacement.
Parramatta Park is a nationally significant
cultural landscape closely associated with early colonial government, with the
beginnings of rural settlement in Australia and with the exploration and
expansion of colonisation. The evolution of this site from Aboriginal land to colonial
outpost, to Vice Regal domain and subsequently as a public park, is unique in Australia.
It contains relics of historical, scientific and aesthetic significance,
including: scar trees and archaeological sites documenting Aboriginal occupation;
transit stones from Governor Brisbane’s 1821 observatory;
Old Government House and its associated outbuildings
dating to the late 18th century; six 19th and 20th century gatehouses; the
Dairy, which contains one of the oldest intact buildings in Australia; the
landscape which
demonstrates the evolution of agriculture and
development of the first successful farm and the early colony of Rose Hill; an
unusual and important Boer War Memorial; and important communities of remnant
Cumberland Plain woodland vegetation. The Park is unique in its significance as
a rich and intact archaeological resource with great research potential.
Over the past 220 years, Old Government House
is reflecting its changing uses as well as patterns in the history of Parramatta.
Old Government House is a highly regarded heritage site.
