History of the Site and the Parramatta River

HISTORY OF THE SITE AND PARRAMATTA RIVER

The Geological and Ecological History of the Parramatta River

The watercourse now known as the Parramatta River was created 15 to 29 million years ago as water began carving through 200 million year old sandstone topography. 10,000 years ago, Sydney Harbour began to form as rising seawaters from melting glaciers filled the dry valley that had formed. At this time, the river’s foreshore is thought to have consisted primarily of saltmarshes, particularly on the flatter southern bank of the river.1

The Parramatta River is an estuarine tidal waterway, with both saltwater and freshwater sources. Only the first kilometre of the river from Parramatta is truly freshwater, with the rest of the river having varying mixes of saltwater and freshwater depending on the tides and rainfall. The river can be described as roughly divided into two main parts. It is shallow and narrow from Parramatta to Homebush Bay, before widening significantly into a series of bays and islands into Sydney Harbour.2 The Sydney Olympic Park site sits at the transition between these two conditions.

Diagram of geomorphic zones in the Parramatta River. Source: Williams, Allen & Kelleway 2011 “Saltmash of the Parramatta River: Determination of Cover and Species Composition Including Comparison of API and Pedestrian Survey” Cunninghamia, 12, 29-43.

Indigenous History of the Parramatta River

The Parramatta River is deeply connected to the dreaming and traditions of the Wann-gal people, who are thought to have occupied the lands stretching from current-day Cockle Bay and Rose Hill for 20,000 years. The river is considered by the Wann-gal people to be a living entity and was vital to day-to-day life. Its banks were used for grain and yam agriculture and activities such as net weaving, manufacturing tools and cooking. The river itself was used for transportation and aquaculture including fishing for eels and shellfish.3

Drawn by J. Eyre; engraved by P. Slaeger [sic], A native camp near Cockle Bay, New South Wales with a view of Parramatta River, taken from Dawes’s Point, National Library of Australia, nla.obj135782267.

Colonial Uses of the River

The Parramatta River was used as a means of travel and exploring by early European settlers, and its foreshore land was starting to be modified for agricultural purposes such as citrus orchards and vineyards as early as 1791, only 3 years after Sydney was first colonised by the British. In 1830, the wetlands at Homebush Bay were drained to create agricultural lands, and the Parramatta River foreshore was divided into large waterfront estates. The Sydney Olympic Park site was bought some time between 1788 and 1811 to form two large estates: the Newington Estate was used for salt panning, cattle grazing, logging and as a salt mill, and the Homebush Estate was used as a horse stud and race track during the 19th century. later in 1882, a powder magazine was established on the site by the NSW Military forces.4

Painting from 1798 titled ‘Captain Waterhouse’s Riverfront Estate - The Vineyard’ from the City of Parramatta Research & Collections, www.historyandheritage.cityofparramatta.nsw.gov.au

(Left) 1790 Map of the Parramatta River showing extensive salt flats. (Right) 1828 Map of the Parramatta River showing waterfront estate boundaries. Source: State Library NSW Online Archive.

Industrial Uses of the River

In the late 18th century, riverside industrial land became prized due to the ability to transport goods and dispose waste. In 1907 the State Abbatoir was established on the Sydney Olympic Park site, followed by the State Brickworks in 1911 and navy depot in the 1940s.5 On both shores of the Parramatta River, large areas of saltmarsh and mangrove were filled in to create riverside industrial land for the production of coal gas, pesticides, flour, timber preservatives and copper smelting.6

The river became severely polluted from the dumping of toxic industrial waste. By the 1960s and 70s, most industrial activities had ceased on the Sydney Olympic Park site and the land was used as a dump for household and industrial waste. By 1980, the land was largely abandoned.7

Homebush Bay 1980 by mark Johnson https://www.artgallery.nsw. gov.au/collection/works/71.1993/

History of Recreation on the River

The Parramatta River has a long history of recreational use. It is thought that the Wann-gal people used the Parramatta river for swimming and recreation, particularly in the western freshwater portion less prone to bullsharks.8

Throughout the 19th century and up until the 1920s, the Parramatta River was seen as a holiday destination from metropolitan Sydney. Between 1904 and 1932, twenty swimming and bathing locations were built along the river including at Bayview, Parramatta, Abbotsford and Carabita, and picnicing, rowing and sailing were popular activities.

Carabita netted swimming area, photographed around 1920. Image from Canada Bay Connections Blog. https:// canadabayconnections.wordpress.com/tag/cabarita/

Carabita Pool photographed around 1937. Image from Canada Bay Connections Blog. https://canadabayconnections.wordpress. com/tag/cabarita/

Lake Parramatta photographed around 1920. Image source: Dictionary of Sydney, Lake Parramatta https://dictionaryofsydney. org/entry/lake_parramatta By the 1950s, the water quality of the river had been degraded by industrial pollution to a point where swimming was impossible, and most swimming facilities had been closed by the 1960s.

In recent years, there has been a renewed push by local councils and community action groups such as the Parramatta River Catchment Group to “Make the Parramatta River Swimmable Again by 2025” and re-open swimming locations along the river. For instance, a new swimming area at Concord is set to re-open in 2022 after the closure of the original pool in 1969, pending ongoing water quality monitoring efforts.

Photomontage of proposed swimming area at Bayview Park, Concord. Image from www.concreteplayground.com.

Abbotsford Baths photographed in 1908. Image from Canada Bay Connections Blog. https://canadabayconnections.wordpress.com/ tag/cabarita/