Riverstone, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Riverstone
city = Sydney
state = NSW


caption = Riverstone Town Centre
lga = Blacktown
postcode = 2765
est =
pop =
area =
propval =
stategov = Electoral district of Riverstone
fedgov = Division of Greenway
near-nw = South Windsor
near-n = Vineyard
near-ne = Box Hill
near-w = Windsor Downs
near-e = Rouse Hill
near-sw = Marsden Park
near-s = Schofields
near-se = Kellyville Ridge
dist1 = 48
dir1 = west
location1= Sydney CBD Riverstone is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. [cite web | url = http://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/name_search/extract?id=ujwGwpqbKW | title = Riverstone | publisher = Geographical Names Board of New South Wales | accessdate = 2007-01-04 ] Riverstone is located 48 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown. Riverstone (pronounced "Riverston") is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

History

Prior to settlement and colonisation of Australia, the area that was to become known as Riverstone was inhabited by the Darug tribe. Most of these people died due to introduced diseases following the arrival of the First Fleet, and the remainder were largely relocated to government farms and a series of settlements.

The Sydney Cove region originally settled in 1788 turned out to be unsuitable for farming, and after a number of years of near-famine in the colony, efforts were made to relocate food production inland to hopefully more climatically stable regions. In 1803 a government stock farm was established in what was to become the Riverstone/Marsden Park area, on the basis of the abundant water supply and good grazing land there. In 1810 Lieut-Col Maurice Charles O'Connell was granted 2,500 acres (10 km²) of land in the district, which he named "Riverston Farm", after his birthplace in Ireland. (The "e" at the end first appeared on railway timetables in the 1860s, apparently a misprint that has become the accepted spelling).

Originally, beef cattle farmed in the area were driven overland to the Hawkesbury River for transport by sailing ship to the convict settlement at Sydney Cove. The construction of the Sydney to Richmond Railway line in the 1864 both eliminated the need for this and opened up the region to non-rural development.

An important meatworks was established there in 1878, undergoing various stages of rebuilding and expansion until it closed permanently in 1992. On its western side Riverstone still has a large and thriving industrial area.cite web
url=http://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/our-city/history/the-city/riverstone.cfm
publisher= City of Blacktown city Council
title=?
accessdate=2007-01-04 ]

In 1988, as part of a Federal Government programme to commemorate the 200th anniversary of European settlement in Australia, a heritage museum was established in the old Masonic hall.

Developments

In the 1880s O'Connell's widow subdivided and sold off most of the original grant, and a pattern of intersecting streets was laid out, mostly named after famous streets in London (eg Piccadilly Street, Gladstone Parade etc). A substantial railway station, churches and other infrastructure were also constructed. The presumption was that Riverstone was set to become an important regional centre but his did not actually happen.

Most of the allotments were eventually taken up for suburban housing but a few of the original 1880s blocks remain vacant to the present day. "Riverstone terrace", erected in 1883, is a curious relic of the anticipated 19th century population boom. It was meant to be the first of a row of high-density terrace housing units that would run the length of Garfield road. However this single block and the small unit next to it were the only ones ever built. For many years the sight of a high density inner-city housing block situated in an empty country paddock remained a bizarre local landmark.

Until the beginning of the 21st century, Riverstone remained pretty much a small country town, but the recent massive housing boom in the region is set to swallow it and the surrounding districts as part of the urban sprawl. Entire new suburbs have appeared in the area in just a few years. A very large shopping complex and community centre is now open at the corner of Windsor and Schofields Roads in the adjacent suburb of Rouse Hill.

chools

Riverstone features two Public schools:Riverstone High School and Riverstone Public School. It also has three Private schools: [http://www.norwest.nsw.edu.au/ Norwest Christian College] (formerly known as Coverdale Christian School), St Johns Catholic School and [http://www.acc.nsw.edu.au/ Australian Christian College] . Australian Christian College has two components: the day school (formerly known as Allowera Christian School); and the distance education school, which serves home educated students throughout the whole state of New South Wales.

Churches

*Riverstone Baptist Church [http://www.riverstonebaptist.org.au/] - Cnr McCulloch & Regent St, Riverstone
* Riverstone Community Church [http://www.rivochurch.com/] - Cnr Garfield Rd East & Hamilton St, Riverstone
* St Pauls Anglican Church - 19 Elizabeth St, Riverstone
* Riverstone Uniting Church - Cnr Oxford St & Garfield Rd East, Riverstone
* St Johns Catholic Church - Cnr Garfield Rd East & McCulloch Street, Riverstone
* Allowera Baptist Church - 69 Farm Rd, Riverstone
* Voice of Victory Church - Sam Lane Centre, Park St, Riverstone
* Free Presbyterian - Cnr Oxford & Regent St, Riverstone

Transport

Riverstone is situated between the Richmond Road running from Blacktown to Richmond, and the Windsor Road running from Windsor to North Parramatta. Windsor Road is currently (July 07) undergoing a major upgrade to four lanes.

Riverstone railway station is on the Richmond branch of the Western railway line on the Cityrail network, between Blacktown and Richmond. From dawn to about 9pm, commuter trains to Sydney leave at approximately 30 minute intervals, in most cases coinciding with the arrival of a train from Sydney. After that they shift to an hourly schedule. Depending on the hour, train services running through Riverstone offer a varying number of "limited stops" to the Sydney CBD and the majority then continue over the Sydney Harbour Bridge to the North Shore line and Hornsby or Berowra. Apart from the city stations, transfer to most other lines is easily made at Strathfield, Redfern or Parramatta, and other stops that offer fewer choices. The peak-hour journey from Riverstone to Central takes a little over an hour, and another 20 minutes to the popular destination of Chatswood.

was shot there.

The recent opening of the M7 Motorway on/off-ramp from Richmond Road gives unprecedented road access from Riverstone to the City, although this is quite expensive and tends to be rather slow at peak hour. The recent opening of the Lane Cove Tunnel now gives a continuous motorway link between Riverstone and surrounding suburbs to Sydney Airport, reducing off-peak travel times by more than half.

External links

References