The Harris Park Heritage Walk – an unforgettable walking journey into the late 1700’s life of the Colony
Louise Trott, Sydney Diocesan Archivist (Anglican Church) lived in Harris Park near Parramatta from 2003-2013. Louise writes:
Just a short stroll from the centre of Parramatta is the satellite suburb of Harris Park. Harris Park is possibly THE most significant place for the history of the white settlement of the Colony. Harris Park borders on Rose Hill, and the former suburb of Camellia, and within this area, there are three fascinating and distinctively individual heritage properties to visit during a Heritage Walk: Experiment Farm Cottage, Hambledon Cottage, and Elizabeth Farm Cottage.
If you have a spare morning or afternoon, and you fancy a gentle stroll through architectural history, ending up in a relaxing tearoom, then the Harris Park Heritage Walk is for you. The Walk commences at the Parramatta Wharf (where you can travel by ferry along the Parramatta River to Circular Quay - but that’s another journey!) All you have to do is follow the signposts and read the large contextual signboards. The Walk takes about 45 minutes to walk the 2.4km, but if you take the time to visit all three houses it will take much longer.
Harris Park is where the Cornish farmer and ex-convict James Ruse proved within 18 months during 1789-1791 that it was possible to be self-sufficient in food, and thereby independent of the government ration. His reward was 30 acres of land, and thus the area was called ‘Experiment Farm’. This was the very first land grant in NSW. In 1793 James Ruse on-sold that land to surgeon and magistrate Dr John Harris, (who had substantial land holdings already), and thus the suburb was named after Harris. The person who owns the (rather modern) house on the exact spot of the No. 1 land grant lives in a special spot indeed!
John Harris built a Colonial Indian-style bungalow brick cottage in 1795, Experiment Farm Cottage, now owned by the National Trust of Australia (NSW). The cottage has been restored and conserved, and in 2000 the Parramatta Council acquired and demolished all of the houses which blocked the view of the river. So now you can stand on the wide shady verandah, gaze down over the driveway and the gardens to the river, and try to imagine what life was like there in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Think Jane Austen transported to Colonial Sydney, and you have an idea of the culture of the era http://www.discoverparramatta.com/places/heritage_and_historic_sites/experiment_farm_cottage
Strolling down the hill from Experiment Farm Cottage, the next house to explore is Hambledon Cottage, which is now owned by Parramatta Council, and is surrounded by substantial broad shady oaks and figs within two acres of parkland. These trees are a delight to sit under, and just let your mind wander. The Colonial Georgian sandstock brick Hambledon Cottage was built by the Macarthurs of Elizabeth Farm in 1824 as a residence for their son, and then their governess, but it was also leased out to Archdeacon Hobbes-Scott and others. It has been extensively restored and conserved, and furnished to represent the mid-1800s. http://www.discoverparramatta.com/places/heritage_and_historic_sites/hambledon_cottage
After Hambledon Cottage it is time to walk up the hill to the ‘grand house’, Elizabeth Farm, built in 1793 for John and Elizabeth Macarthur who were substantial landowners, pioneers of the wool industry, orchardists, and ‘movers and shakers’ in Colonial society. Elizabeth Farm is owned by Sydney Living Museums (the Historic Houses Trust), and has been conserved and restored. Interestingly, the house has been furnished circa early 1800s with replicas to allow the visitor to be entirely hands-on. This is not a roped-off house museum. This is a museum where you can lie down on the chaise-longue, gaze out of the French doors, and imagine yourself as Elizabeth Macarthur. And just relax there. You can sit on a chair and leaf through correspondence at the desk. Or stroll around the gardens, which will eventually lead you to refreshment! Yes, if it is Friday-Sunday, the Tearooms are open, and you can wind down in the walled garden before making your way back to Parramatta again. http://www.discoverparramatta.com/places/heritage_and_historic_sites/elizabeth_farm
When you visit Old Government House in Parramatta Park, whether before or after doing the Harris Park Heritage Walk, you will get a feel for the distances between the houses of these leaders of early Colonial society, and a sense of what ‘gracious living’ looked like in the Colony.
How does Louise know what all of this is like? Well, for ten years she lived in the Caretaker’s Residence at Experiment Farm Cottage (and had her pre-wedding photos taken there!), she walked her dogs in the parkland around Hambledon Cottage, and spent many weekends having a relaxing lunch at the Elizabeth Farm Tearooms before having a look at the conservation sandstone work her husband was undertaking on the verandahs, pathways and garden walls!