Llandilo

Location: Where is Llandilo?

Llandilo, New South Wales Australia, is located in the northern part of the the City of Penrith. Its boundaries are South Creek on its eastern boundary, Berkshire Park is its northern neighbour and Cranebrook on its western border. The extensive unoccupied ADI (Australian Defence Industries) site land runs along its southern boundary line. Llandilo is a rural suburb containing many small farms of one to two acres. Most occupiers of these farmlets look after animals of many descriptions. The raising of horses including arabians is also a feature of this suburb.

33 46′ S 150 45′ E

Postcode: 2747 Distance from Sydney: 54 km NW
Area: 22.56 km2 or 2256 ha Llandilo NSW on Google Maps

Schools

Hills

  • McGarrity’s Hill: McGarrity’s Hill is located close to the eastern side of the Northern Road near the junction of Boundary Road. In 1969, McGarritys Hill was officially named. It had been known locally by that name for some time, after a family who had left the district around the turn of the century.

Roads & Streets

  • Streets names in Llandilo were given numbers as their names i.e. Ninth Avenue, Third Avenue when the area was subdivided in 1888.
  • Terrybrook Road: Named after Samuel Terry’s grant in 1831.

Origin of the place name – Llandilo

Samuel Terry (1776?-1838), an ex-convict turned rich Sydney merchant, was granted 950 acres on 13th January 1818, in the area now known as Llandilo. The property at that time however, was known as Terry Brook after the owner. Terry owned a considerable amount of land in the Castlereagh/Cranebrook area. By the early 1860s, the name Llandilo was already in limited use. When part of the Terry Brook estate was sold it was named the Llandilo Estate, and when this estate in turn was subdivided in 1888 and bought by a Mr Sullivan from Sydney, it retained the Llandilo name. Sullivan gave the streets and avenues numbers instead of names, but found it difficult to sell the bushland blocks for orchards. Indeed, the last of the blocks were not purchased until the 1930s depression. In a report to the Education Department in 1888, an Inspector stated ‘ Llandilo is the name given to an estate recently cut up into orchard blocks, and lying about four miles north of St. Marys. The whole estate is as yet practically unoccupied, the primeval bush still holds the ground…’. The name Llandilo seems to have derived from the the Welsh town of Llandeilo Fawr. Llan means church or village, and Llandeilo Fawr was the centre of the 6th century monk St. Teilo’s work and cult.

Historical Timeline

181813 JanuarySamuel Terry was granted 950 acres and named it Terry Brook
183823 FebruarySamuel Terry died
1860sPart of Terry Brook was sold as Llandilo estate
1866National School opened in Llandilo
1869AugustPrivate school opned in competition to the National School
1888Llandilo estate subdivided
1899St Davids Anglican Church opened
19284 JuneSet of flags were unfurled at the school, a gift from Llandeilo, Wales
1947Electricity supply connected
1969NovemberMcGarritys Hill offically named
1998JuneSt Davids closed for church services
2001JulyCatholic Education Office proposes to built a new Xavier College in Ninth Avenue

Bibliography

For photos and more information on LLandilo, search Penrith City Library’s catalogue using an All Resources search.

Historical

  • Llandilo Public School 1866-1986, the School, 1986.
  • Murray, Robert and White, Kate Dharug & Dungaree: The History of Penrith and St Marys to 1860. Penrith City Council, Penrith, 1988.
  • Nepean District Historical Society, From Castlereagh to Claremont Meadows: Historical Places of Penrith City Council, Penrith, 1997.
  • Parr, Lorna, A History of the Nepean and District Street Names, Nepean District Historical Society, Penrith, 1990.
  • Parr, Lorna, Penrith Calendar, Nepean District Historical Society, 1987.
  • Stacker, Lorraine Pictorial history: Penrith & St Marys, Kingsclear Books, 2002.
  • Stevenson, Colin R., Place Names and their Origins within the City of Penrith, Penrith City Council, Penrith, 1985.
  • Stickley, Christine, The Old Charm of Penrith, 2nd ed., the author, St. Marys, 1984.