| Berkshire Park, New South Wales Australia, is located on the uppermost northeast boundary of the City of Penrith. Its eastern boundary is Ropes Creek and the suburbs of Llandilo and Londonderry are its southern and western neighbours. Berkshire Park is a sparsely populated rural suburb with limited community facilities. Its small population and rural lifestyle are an obvious attraction and characteristic. It is also one of the most diverse suburbs in the City of Penrith, accommodating the Animal Memorial Pet Cemetery and Crematorium, the John Morony Correctional Centre, the Castlereagh Bicentennial Demonstration Forest (Castlereagh Nature Reserve), the waste management centre and the Racehorse Education Centre. Berkshire Park, although a rural and isolated suburb, is also representative of the diversity and rustic aspects of the City of Penrith.
33 40′ S 150 47′ E |
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| Postcode: 2765 | Distance from Sydney: 55.5 kms NW |
| Area: 19.16 km2 or 1916 ha | Berkshire Park NSW on Google Maps |
Economic Profile
Prisons: John Morony Correctional Centre is a minimum security facility for men. In June 1999, the long-planned expansion of the John Morony Correction Centre was granted in the State Government budget. A $42M minimum security women’s prison for 300 placements will be built on the present men’s prison site.
Historical profile
Origin of the place name – Berkshire Park
Officially gazetted by Penrith City Council in 1971, the rural village of Berkshire Park is named after the original grant of land in the area. Richard Rouse (1774-1852), a free settler with considerable land holdings throughout New South Wales, including grants at North Richmond, Bathurst, Gulgong, Warren and Wellington, obtained this 320 acres in 1838. In 1828, it was estimated that Rouse owned 10,000 acres, ten years before he acquired “Berkshire Park”. He arrived in Australia in 1801, aged 26 with his wife and two small children. On “Berkshire Park”, Rouse built a ten-roomed cottage for his daughter Mary and her husband Jonathon Hassall. “Berkshire Park” was situated on the junction of Richmond Road and South Creek. It is thought that the name came from the county in England of the same name, as Richard and his wife were married in the town of North Hincksey in Berkshire the county adjacent to Oxfordshire in which he lived.
Historical Timeline
| 1804 | 23 April | Martin Mason received land grant of 300 acres which he names Penruddock Farm |
| 1805 | 18 December | William Deneson received land grant of 100 acres which he named Orange grove |
| 1819 | 31 August | John Norman received land grant of 40 acres |
| 1819 | 31 August | James Sherrard received land grant of 50 acres |
| 1819 | 31 August | Peter McAlpine received land grant of 100 acres |
| 1819 | 31 August | Daniel Clarke received land grant of 30 acres |
| 1819 | 31 August | Walter Thompson received land grant of 60 acres |
| 1819 | 31 August | William Cupitt received land grant of 60 acres |
| 1819 | 31 August | John Cupitt received land grant of 60 acres |
| 1810 | Martin Mason sold his grant to Richard Rouse | |
| 1838 | Richard Rouse obtained an additional land grant of 320 acres naming it Berkshire Park | |
| 1883 | Mary Hassall died at “Berkshire Park” | |
| 1893 | Six residents of Berkshire Park signed a petition to form Castlereagh Municipal Council | |
| 1895 | Castlereagh Municipal Council formed | |
| 1919 | Southern section of Berkshire Park dedicated a state forest reserve. It now forms part of the Castlereagh Bicentennial Demonstration Forest | |
| 1942 | RAAF airstrip was built as a diversionary field for the main base at Richmond | |
| 1944 | “Berkshire Park” house was destroyed by bushfires | |
| 1949 | Castlereagh Municipal Council amalgamated with Penrith and St Marys councils | |
| 1960 | Department of Community Services operated the Daruk Boys Training School for almost forty years until land was sold to Department of Corrective Services | |
| 1971 | Officially gazetted by Penrith City Council in 1971 | |
| 1985 | Department of Corrective Services purchased land from Department of Community Services to build the John Morony Correctional Centre | |
| 1991 | December | John Morony Correctional Centre took its first inmates |
| 1999 | June | Expansion of the John morony Correction Centre approved |
For photos and more information on Berkshire Park, search Penrith City Library’s catalogue using an All Resources search.
Geographical
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Urban Bushland In Western Sydney: Proceedings of a Seminar held at Werrington Campus, University of Western Sydney, March 23rd 1991. First published in Australia 1992, by the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, 39 George St., Sydney 2000.
Historical
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Bowd, D. G., Hawkesbury Journey, Library of Australian History, 1986.
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Murray, Robert and White, Kate Dharug & Dungaree: The History of Penrith and St. Marys to 1860. Penrith City Council, Penrith, 1988.
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Nepean District Historical Society, From Castlereagh to Claremont Meadows: Historical Places of Penrith City Council, Penrith, 1997.
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Parr, Lorna, A History of the Nepean and District Street Names, Nepean District Historical Society, Penrith, 1990.
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Stacker, Lorraine Pictorial history: Penrith & St Marys, Kingsclear Books, 2002.
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Stevenson, Colin R., Place Names and their Origins within the City of Penrith, Penrith City Council, Penrith, 1985.