Heritage Inventory Sheet Item Name Railway Memorial Recommended Name Parramatta Terminus - Railway Centenary Monument Site Image Address Woodville Road (corner Crescent Street), Holroyd NSW 2142 Lot/Section/DP 5 - 1168481 Draft Cumberland LEP ID I31 Former LEP ID I23 (Holroyd LEP) Heritage Conservation Not included Area Date Updated March 2020 Significance Level LOCAL Site Type Level 1 Built Level 2 Monument/Memorial Heritage Study 2019 – Extent Heritage Pty Ltd Curtilage Map Revised Curtilage recommended- refer below. Statement of Significance The Railway Centenary Monument is locally significance for its historic and associative values. The railway monument is historically significant for its construction as part of the commemoration of the centenary of the NSW Railways in 1955. Though it has been relocated a short distance from the railway and its original location, its location is historically significant, as it marks the terminus of the first NSW railway journey between Sydney and Parramatta in 1855. Its materials are also historically significant, with the sandstone used being sourced from the first railway viaduct built in Australia. The memorial is associated with railways commissioner, Reginald Windsor, who held the position from 1952 to 1956. Windsor oversaw the centenary celebrations and was present at the monument unveiling. Criteria Assessment The monument is historically significant for its construction as part of the commemoration of the centenary of the NSW Railways in 1955, and for its location, which marks the terminus of the first NSW railway a) Historic journey between Sydney and Parramatta in 1855. Its materials are also historically significant, with the sandstone used having been sourced from the first railway viaduct built in Australia. The monument is associated with railways commissioner, Reginald Windsor, who held the position from 1952 to 1956, following a career in the railways that began in 1906, when he joined the NSW b) Associative Government Railways and Tramways as a probationer at Singleton. Windsor oversaw the centenary celebrations during his time as commissioner. He was also responsible for cost cutting measures, such as staff reductions and the suspension of the Eastern Suburbs Heritage Study 2019 – Extent Heritage Pty Ltd railway, while he endeavoured to generate new business by using diesel locomotives, air-conditioned trains, freight containers and streamlined procedures. c) Aesthetic/Technical The item does not meet this criterion. d) Social The item does not meet this criterion. e) Scientific The item does not meet this criterion. f) Rarity The item does not meet this criterion. g) Representativeness The item does not meet this criterion. Physical Description The monument is an asymmetrical shape covering a footprint of approximately five metres. Its centre is a platform, surrounded on three and a half sides by walls made of sandstone blocks, the highest being approximately two metres high and the others being approximately 0.5 metre high. The platform can be accessed by two steps that wrap around at one corner. The lower walls contain small garden beds and plantings. There is a plaque in the centre of the high wall on the internal face and another on the outside face of one of the low walls. There appears to be space for a third plaque, that is no longer attached. The monument shows physical evidence of its relocation, whereby the stone blocks have been disassembled, moved and reconstructed using concrete mortar. The monument is set in a small, flat, grassed reserve that features rows of mature tree plantings along its perimeter. The engraved bronze plaque reads: ‘Erected to commemorate the opening of the Sydney to Parramatta Railway 26th September 1855. This was the first section of the New South Wales Railways and the first state owned Steam railway in the British Empire. The Parramatta terminus was adjacent To the monument. Unveiled by his Excellency, Lieut-Gen. Sir John Northcott. K.C.M.G., K.C.V.O.C.B., Governor of New South Wales, 26th September, 1955.’ Another plaque reads: “This land was made available by the Commissioner for Railways: R Winsor Esq. to mark the historical occasion of the New South Wales railway centenary 26th September 1955. The item is in good condition. Condition Good Fair Poor Alterations and Additions . Monument was relocated to the current site in 1968. The monument itself appears to be intact in terms of its primary form, however, it has been relocated a short distance from its original location, which also required its disassembly and reconstruction. Integrity High Moderate Low * element detracts from the overall cultural significance of the place Heritage Study 2019 – Extent Heritage Pty Ltd Historical Notes Construction years 1955 In 1955, the monument was constructed as part of the celebration of the centenary of the NSW railways. It was constructed to commemorate the place where the first rail journey ended at Parramatta Junction, and was originally located in a small park at Dog Trap level crossing on the east side of Woodville Road. Parramatta City Council stone masons are reported to have built the monument. The stones used in its construction were recovered from the first railway viaduct in Australia, which was built at Long Cove Creek, Lewisham, in 1855. The tablet and plaque were originally used as builder’s nameplates on locomotives and were presented by the Australian Railway Historical Society and the Royal Australian Historical Society. The engraved plaque reads: 'Erected to commemorate the opening of the Sydney to Parramatta Railway, September. 26, 1855. This was the first section of the New South Wales Railways and the first State-owned Steam Railway in the British Empire. The Parramatta Terminus was adjacent to this monument. Unveiled by His Excellency, Lieutenant General Sir John Northcott, K.C.M.G., K.C.V.O., C.B., Governor of New South Wales, September 26, 1955.' Another plaque reads: “This land was made available by the Commissioner for Railways: R Winsor Esq. to mark the historical occasion of the New South Wales railway centenary 26 th September 1955. Newspapers from the time describe the monument unveiling. Speakers at the ceremony included the Commissioner for Railways, Mr. R. Winsor, the Minister for Transport, Mr. E. Wetherell, President of the Royal Australian Historical Society, Dr. C. H. Curry, and the State Governor, Sir John Northcott. In his address, Sir John congratulated the Railway Department on the development which had taken place during the past 100 years. He remarked that when the first train arrived at Granville the rain came down in 'torrents'. Mr. Winsor later presented a silver tray to the Governor, as a memento of the occasion. Plans, dated 1968, indicate that the memorial monument was relocated a short distance at this time, from its original location on the east side of Woodville Road to the west side. The memorial monument remains in this location, in the centre of a small reserve between Woodville Road, Crescent Street and the railway line. Heritage Study 2019 – Extent Heritage Pty Ltd Recommendations Existing Built and Landscape Future Development and Heritage Management Elements Planning 12. Alterations and additions should respond to 1. Maintain this item’s 6. Original fabric is highly the existing pattern of heritage listing on the X significant and should be X development, with careful LEP. maintained. consideration of the setting (form, scale, bulk, setback and height). 13. New alterations and 7. Unsympathetic 2. Maintain this item’s additions should respect the alterations that detract from listing as part of the historic aesthetic/character the cultural significance of Heritage Conservation of the item and area (e.g. the item should be Area. paint scheme, materiality, removed. style, landscape elements). 14. Future uses for this item 3. Consider delisting as 8. Maintain heritage should be compatible with an individual item from landscape elements and X its historical functions/ the LEP. schemes. associations. 9. Maintain the existing 4. Consider additional setting of the heritage item, research to nominate informed by the historic X this item for the State pattern of neighbouring Heritage Register. development (form, scale, bulk, setback and height). 10. Maintain the historic 5. The heritage curtilage aesthetic/character of the for this item should be X item and area (e.g. paint X revised/reduced. scheme, materiality, style, landscape elements ). 11. The condition of this item is poor. Condition and maintenance should be monitored. Other recommendations and/or comments: . The heritage curtilage shown below should be considered as a revised curtilage for the new Cumberland Council LEP as it more accurately captures the site and its landscape setting. Should the revised curtilage be adopted, this listing sheet does not reflect the current Lot/DP which will need to be altered. Heritage Study 2019 – Extent Heritage Pty Ltd Listings Heritage Listing Listing Title Listing Number Heritage Act – State Heritage Register N/A - Local Environmental Plan Railway Monument I31 Heritage Study Railway Monument I31 National Trust Australia Register N/A - Previous Studies Type Author Year Title Cumberland LGA Heritage Study Extent Heritage Pty Ltd 2019 Heritage Study Graham Brooks and Holroyd Heritage Heritage Study 1998 Associates Pty Ltd Inventory Review City of Parramatta Heritage Study Neustein & Associates 1992 Heritage Study Heritage Study 2019 – Extent Heritage Pty Ltd Other References . Author unidentified 2008, Granville, retrieved 19 March 2019, https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/granville . Fowlie, T & Granville Historical Society. 2001 The History of Granville 1919 . Granville: Granville Historical Society. Watson, J. 1992. Granville, from forest to factory . Granville: Granville Historical Society. Limitations 1. Access to all heritage items was limited to a visual inspection from the public domain. The interiors of buildings and inaccessible areas such as rear gardens were not assessed as part of this heritage study. 2. Condition and site modification assessment was limited to a visual inspection undertaken from the public domain.