Parramatta Archaeological Site facts for kids

The Parramatta Archaeological Site is a special historical place at 45 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. It's like a time capsule hidden underground! This site shows us how people lived in Parramatta a long time ago. It includes old buildings and items from the past. The site is now privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 5 July 2019 because it's so important to history.

Discovering Parramatta's Past

Who lived in Parramatta first?

For about 60,000 years, the land at Parramatta was the home of the Burramatta people. They were part of the Darug language group. The Burramatta people lived near the coast and the inland areas. This was a special place where different Aboriginal groups met. They traded goods, held ceremonies, and had friendly competitions.

The name "Burramatta" means "place of the eel." Eels were very important to the local people. Every year, eels would gather where salt water met fresh water. They would get fat before traveling north to the Coral Sea to lay their eggs. These eels were a big part of the Burramattagal people's food. Women fished from boats, and men speared fish or hunted possums. They also gathered yams and fruits. Grass seeds were collected, crushed, and made into dough for cooking.

How did European settlement begin?

In April 1788, Captain Arthur Phillip sailed up the Parramatta River. He decided the land around Parramatta was a good spot for a new settlement. By September, a town called Rose Hill was started. At first, the Burramattagal people and the new settlers traded. But as more land was taken for farms, things changed.

The new farms destroyed the yam beds, which were a food source for the Aboriginal people. They could no longer move freely through their lands. When their traditional foods became scarce, the Burramattagal started harvesting the settlers' corn. This led to conflict.

In 1789, a terrible smallpox outbreak greatly reduced the Aboriginal population. Even so, many Indigenous people, including the Burramattagal, continued to resist the settlers. From 1790, Pemulwuy became a leader in this resistance. He fought against settlers in areas like Parramatta and Toongabbie. In 1797, he was badly hurt but escaped from hospital and kept fighting. In 1801, Governor King allowed Aboriginal people near Parramatta to be shot. Pemulwuy was killed the next year.

Despite these challenges, many Aboriginal people from western Sydney, including Parramatta, survived. Their descendants still live in the area today.

How Parramatta Town Grew

Parramatta was first known as Rose Hill. It started in late 1788 as a farm to grow food for the new colony. In 1790, Rose Hill became a town and was renamed Parramatta in June 1791. The first buildings were mostly on what are now George, Macquarie, and Church Streets.

Many early town plots were given to convicts. These plots were large, about 30 by 60 meters. Convict huts were usually small, around 7 by 3.5 meters, with two rooms. Each hut housed 10 to 14 convicts. The large plot size allowed convicts to grow their own food. By 1791, there were about 100 convict huts in Parramatta.

Over time, more free people started living in Parramatta. In 1796, the first town lease was given to John McArthur. A former convict, James Larra, lived there. More leases were given to free people between 1800 and 1809.

When Governor Macquarie took charge, he wanted Parramatta to be a town for free settlers. He believed convicts should be housed in special barracks where they could be watched closely. By 1821, a new convict barracks was built in Parramatta. This meant there was no longer a need for convict huts in the town.

In 1823, Governor Brisbane gave out many new town leases. Over 300 leases were made on June 30. This gave many residents secure ownership of their land. With more free people and new streets, Parramatta quickly changed from a prison town to a busy market town.

What We Found at 45 Macquarie Street

The Convict Hut and Workshop

At 45 Macquarie Street, archaeologists found the remains of a convict hut built around 1800. This hut was on a piece of land called Allotment 16. A man named John Paisley lived there until 1823. After him, John Walker, a wheelwright (someone who makes and repairs wheels), moved in. He was born in Australia and married an Australian-born woman.

John Walker started his own successful wheelwright business. In the 1820s, the convict hut was used as a bakery for a while. Later in the 1820s, Walker added a wheelwright's workshop to the side of the hut.

In 1839, John Walker officially owned the land. Between 1836 and 1844, the old convict hut was replaced. A new brick cottage was built with two big rooms, a central hallway, and attic rooms upstairs. Digging at the site shows that the house was extended several times.

After John Walker died in 1846, his wife lived in the house until 1875. She sold the property, and it was divided into two parts. The cottage remained until the early 1950s. Then, it became a doctor's office.

The Shepherd and Flock Inn Cellar

Originally, there were three convict huts on Macquarie Street at this site. One was the hut on Allotment 16. Another was on Allotment 17, where the basement of the Shepherd and Flock Inn is located. The third was on Allotment 18, at the corner of Marsden and Macquarie Streets. The hut on Allotment 18 was home to the Wheatsheaf Hotel from 1801 to 1809. This makes it one of Parramatta's earliest hotels! Sadly, the remains of the convict huts on Allotments 17 and 18 were not well preserved.

From at least 1823, Allotment 18 was leased to Thomas Reynolds. By 1825, it had become the Shepherd and Flock Inn. Thomas Reynolds was a convict who arrived in the colony in 1816. He became a free man in 1820. He married Mary Reynolds in 1820. In 1823, he leased Allotment 18 and bought the land next door (Allotment 17). He then made the hotel bigger, and the cellar we see today is part of that expansion.

The Shepherd and Flock Inn closed its doors in 1870.

Recent Discoveries

All the buildings on the site were taken down by the early 1950s. The area was then used as a car park.

Archaeologists knew this area was important. In 2005, they dug up the site. In 2012, construction started on a new building called "V by Crown" at 45 Macquarie Street. This building was finished in 2015. In 2017, the "V Heritage" Archaeology Display Centre opened. It shows off the amazing historical items found and preserved at the site.

What the Site Looks Like Now

The Main Display Area shows the archaeological remains of the convict hut. This hut was built around 1800 on Allotment 16. Digs in 2005 showed how the hut was changed and extended until 1836–1844. The most important addition was a wheelwright's workshop on the west side. John Walker built this after he leased the land in 1823. Here, archaeologists found a sandstone floor with molten iron splatters and two forges (places for heating metal). Other changes to the hut included a brick floor and two large fireplaces. One of these might have been a bread oven.

The convict hut and its additions were taken down between 1836 and 1844. A strong brick cottage with sandstone foundations replaced them. It had two large front rooms, a central hallway, a front verandah, and back skillion rooms. Upstairs, there were attic bedrooms with dormer windows. The back wall of the skillion collapsed later due to heavy rain and poor drainage. A large timber outbuilding was built over these foundations in the late 1800s. The cottage was finally demolished in the 1950s. The land was empty until the 1990s. A building project failed, and concrete piles were drilled through the site. Luckily, most of the archaeological remains were still safe.

The second Display Area shows the cellar of the Shepherd and Flock Inn. This inn was open from 1825 to 1870. The stone cellar, with its original timber floor, was filled with old building materials and charcoal. This suggests a large fire happened there. Archaeologists figured out the cellar's age during investigations in 2016. We now know the cellar was built across the line between Allotments 17 and 18. Allotment 18 was leased to John Graham in 1806. It was the site of the Wheatsheaf Hotel from 1801 to 1809, which was inside a typical convict hut. Thomas Reynolds leased Allotment 18 in 1823 and also bought Allotment 17.

The cellar was built over the east wall of the old convict hut on Allotment 17. This shows how the hotel expanded onto the next plot of land. The convict huts on Allotments 17 and 18 could not be saved in their original spots because they were not well preserved.

How well preserved is the site?

As of August 2005, the remains on Allotment 16 and the cellar on Allotments 17-18 were well preserved. They were in good enough condition to be saved, explained, and displayed. Both the cellar and the lower parts of the convict hut were waterlogged. This meant they were in a wet, airless environment. This helped preserve the timber floor of the cellar and some of the lower timbers of the convict hut. Not all the original timbers could be saved. In some places, modern timbers are used to show where the original ones were.

One interesting thing was how deep the layers of soil were on Allotment 16. It was over a meter from the original ground level to the current street level. Scientists took pollen samples from the soil. These samples show how the environment changed over time. They even found cereal pollen from the first crops grown in Rose Hill (Parramatta) between 1788 and 1790. The deep layers also allowed archaeologists to study items from each period of time separately. This showed that the early convict residents had very few comforts.

Changes over time

• Around 1800: The first buildings were put up on Macquarie Street.
• 1823: Allotment 16 was leased to John Walker. The wheelwright's workshop was built.
• 1836–1844: The convict hut and workshop were taken down. A new brick cottage was built.
• 1950s: The cottage was demolished.

• 1801–1809: Allotment 18 was the site of the Wheatsheaf Hotel.
• 1823: Thomas Reynolds leased Allotment 18 and bought Allotment 17.
• 1825–1870: The Shepherd and Flock Inn was licensed.
• 1820s: The cellar was built partly on Allotment 17 as an extension of the hotel.
• 1890s: A two-story terraced house was built on the western side of Allotment 17.

Why is the site so well preserved?

The deep layers of soil on Allotment 16 helped protect the convict hut and its extensions, including the workshop. Later, when the brick cottage was built (1836-1844), it only partly cut through these older remains. When the cottage was taken down in the 1950s, it also helped protect the archaeology underneath. At first, people thought that concrete pillars from a failed building project in the 1990s had destroyed the site. But digging proved that most of it was still intact.

The site was in a low, wet area. So, people often built up the ground level to avoid floods. This added layers of soil, which helped preserve the archaeological remains. The wet soil also helped keep the lower timbers of the convict hut from rotting.

The buildings on Allotments 17 and 18 were on higher ground. They didn't have the same deep layers of soil. These sites were often dug down to street level. This meant that most old building remains were not well preserved, except for the deep cellar of the Shepherd Inn.

Why This Site is Important

As of January 2019, the two archaeological displays at 45 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, are very important to New South Wales history. They show how Parramatta, the second settlement in NSW, grew from a prison town to a market town between 1790 and 1823. The remains and the many items found there clearly show the important roles of convicts, people born in the colony, and free settlers in this change.

The site is also important because pollen samples found there show evidence of the first crops. These include cereal crops like barley, planted in Parramatta from 1788 to 1790.

The site is also valued for its beauty. It shows traditional building methods. The way the archaeological remains are kept and displayed in their original spot is also very appealing.

This site is highly respected by many people. This includes archaeologists, heritage experts, and anyone interested in Australia's early colonial history. It's important not just for Parramatta, but for New South Wales and the whole country.

The archaeological site is important for research. The digging has provided answers to many questions about how the colony of NSW started. It helps us understand the site itself, how Parramatta grew from a prison town to a market town, and how settlement progressed across New South Wales.

The Archaeological Site at 45 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, is special because it has a rare and well-preserved example of a "convict hut." This is from the second settlement in the colony of NSW.

It's also rare because, unlike other sites in Parramatta, it shows clear physical evidence of an early convict hut. It also has later layers from when the site was a bakery, a wheelwright's workshop, a brick house, and the beginnings of the Shepherd and Flock Hotel. This clearly shows how Parramatta changed from a prison town to a market town in the early years of European settlement.

The site is also rare because it's an example of how an important archaeological site can be kept and displayed in its original spot. Instead of just digging up items and moving them, this site has been preserved in place. Out of 48 archaeological sites listed in the State Heritage Register, this is one of only five from the early colonial years that has been kept, preserved, and explained in its original location.

The archaeological site at 45 Macquarie Street, Parramatta, is a great example of a remaining "convict hut" from one of the first four colonial settlements. It also shows how Parramatta and the colony grew in their first 50 to 60 years.

The information from this site helps us understand a lot about the past. It shows what we can learn by studying old items found during digs.