Right here at Western Sydney University Werrington North a tale unfolds. It is a story woven from indigenous heritage colonial grants academic aspirations and a touch of irony.
Before classrooms and corridors this land belonged to the Gomerrigal-Tongarra people. They spoke the Darug language lived by the Dreamtime and built their gunyahs here. They hunted kangaroos gathered berries and lived in harmony with this land long before Werrington became Werrington.
Fast forward to 1806. Governor Philip Gidley King granted 600 acres to his youngest daughter Mary. She later married Robert Copeland Lethbridge. They named their house Werrington which gives the suburb its name. However the land that is now Werrington North was granted to Mary Putland daughter of Governor William Bligh. This land was part of a larger grant. It totaled 3000 acres including what is now Werrington South.
Now let’s jump ahead again to the mid-20th century. The land transformed. It was a vineyard a racetrack and even a golf course. In 1935 Alan Williams an iron merchant bought sections of the land. He named his house Werrington Park possibly inspired by a place in Cornwall UK.
During the 1950s the NSW Department of Child Welfare acquired the site. Architect Cobden Parkes reconstructed the house in a post-war Georgian Revival style. He added Georgian Revival elements to the House. Parkes had the rainheads embossed with GR a deliberate ambiguity. It played on the fact that the O’Connells lived on the site during the reign of George III. He rebuilt it under the reign of George V.
Fast forward again to the late 20th century. Werrington North was designated a university campus. This was under the Sydney Region Outline Plan of 1967-68. This designation became a key point in arguing for the location of the University’s headquarters at Werrington.
Colin Still from the NSW Government Architect’s Office designed the campus. He drew inspiration from Thomas Jefferson’s University of Virginia. But government funding fell short. The grand vision was never fully realized.
Today Western Sydney University Werrington North stands as an administration hub. It houses the Chancellor and Vice Chancellor’s offices. The campus also has the Nepean Observatory. It was built by Dr Graeme White and members of the UWS Centre for Astronomy.
The irony is palpable. Werrington North once envisioned as a bustling teaching campus is now primarily administrative. The lack of public transport pushed development towards Kingswood and Werrington South.
As you stand here consider the layers of history beneath your feet. Indigenous land colonial grants dreams of a university town and the realities of funding and planning. Western Sydney University Werrington North is a testament to aspirations met and unmet. It is a place where the past whispers to the present. The future remains unwritten.