Macquarie House (now offices) in Richmond

 

Richmond
One of the most important of the Macquarie Towns.
Located 19 metres above sea level, 63 km from Sydney and 5 km west of Windsor, Richmond is the second largest of the original Macquarie Towns and while it has been greatly changed by a population boom and the inevitable modern developments it still has a substantial number of interesting, historic buildings.

As early as 1789 Governor Phillip had explored the district and, although it was considered isolated, the colony's need for food and the richness of the alluvial Hawkesbury river flats, ensured early settlement. It was Phillip who climbed a small hill near the river and named it Richmond Hill in honour of the Duke of Richmond.

Richmond was first settled by Europeans in 1794 and quickly became the granary for the colony. Five years later the area was providing Sydney with half its grain requirements. The problem was that the Hawkesbury River flooded regularly. Thus, when Macquarie established the five Macquarie towns in the Hawkesbury Valley - Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Wilberforce and Pitt Town - in 1810, he specifically located the township on a ridge above the Hawkesbury River which, when it had flooded in 1809, had devastated the farms in the area. Macquarie then exhorted all the settlers in the area to 'move to these places of safety and security' and it was on this basis that the town of Richmond began to grow.

Throughout the nineteenth century the town grew because of the rich agricultural lands which surrounded it and because it was ideally located on the cattle routes from the west and the north.

The Hawkesbury Agricultural College opened in 1891 and by 1916 Ham Common to the east of the town was being used for early aviation experiments. Both these activities have ensured the continuing prosperity of the town. The college, now the University of Western Sydney, still draws large numbers of students and, at its peak, Richmond Airforce base has been home to over 2,500 air force personnel.

Today Richmond is a pleasant township on the outer edges of the Sydney sprawl. Certainly large numbers of people from the district are daily commuters to Sydney.

Things to see:  

Hawkesbury Museum and Tourist Centre
A suitable starting place for any visit to Richmond is the Hawkesbury Museum and Tourist Centre located at 7 Thompson Square, Windsor. It is open from 10.00-4.00 and has an excellent range of material about all the Macquarie towns as well as maps and descriptive walks around Windsor and Richmond.

Before you explore the town have a careful look at the Museum's displays which include Aboriginal artefacts as well as chronicling the European settlement of the area from earliest times (including a plan for some farms which dates back to 1794) through the development of the river economy of the nineteenth century and the RAAF base. Then continue on to the Hawkesbury Valley Visitor Information Centre (4588 5895) which is opposite the Richmond air base on the main road between Richmond and Windsor.

 

 

Richmond Post Office

 

RAAF Base
Located on Richmond Road between Richmond and Windsor is the RAAF base at Richmond. As you pass the air base recall that people were conducting aviation experiments at Richmond as early as 1916 and that by 1925 the land for the air force base had already been acquired by the RAAF. This may be the area of some of Australia's earliest European settlements but it's also the area for some of Australia's earliest aviation experiments.

 

Hawkesbury Agricultural College
The Hawkesbury Agricultural College opened in 1891 and quickly established a reputation as the finest agricultural college in the country. Students arrived at the college in 1896 and it was around this time that the Stables Square (1896) was completed to cater for the draught horses which, at the time, were the standard form of farm energy and the Blacksmiths Shop (1894) were built. Both these buildings are reminders of a time when the horse was integral to all farming activity.

 

 

The road between Richmond and Windsor

 

Exploring Historic Richmond
The appeal of Richmond is to wander. Like Windsor it has suffered from its location on the outskirts of Sydney but, if you are prepared to explore, and to ignore the modern development, it is quite possible to appreciate what an elegant town it must have been in the mid-nineteenth century.

The appeal of Richmond is really restricted to its main street (Windsor Street) and March and Francis Streets which run parallel on either side of Windsor St. If you drive from Windsor just continue into the town centre. Pass through the tree-lined entrance to the town, pass the modern shops, and, with the park on your left, stop in the main street and explore Windsor Street, Kurrajong Road and Francis Street with their range of interesting buildings.

On your left, just before Paget Street, is 122 Windsor Street a house built around 1850 by Andrew Town who became the largest breeder of pedigree horses in the world in 1880s. Behind the house are extensive stables.

A few houses further down is Benson House, built in the 1840s and across the road is Toxana, built in 1841 which, when it was first built, occupied the entire block.

Further up, beyond Richmond Park which is an ideal place for a picnic, are St Andrews Uniting Church (originally a Presbyterian church built in 1845) and the Old Butcher Shop. Opposite the Ambulance Station is Bowman House which remains largely unaltered from the original building which John Bowman constructed in 1821.

 

The National Australia Bank

 

If you turn either left or right at Chapel Street you can inspect the historic houses either in Francis Street or March St (you should amble along both). March Street has 'Rutherglen', built in the 1830s. It stands in excellent repair and is still used as a private dwelling.

Francis St includes 'Josieville', built by Joseph Onus in the late 1830s, and 'Clear Oaks' farmhouse, which was built prior to 1819. Alan Byrnes has written that the original owner was David Langley, who arrived in Australia in1803 with his wife and three daughters. Langley was granted land at Richmond, along with two convicts and two ewes in 1804. He was made Superintendant of Government Blacksmiths in 1806 by Governor Bligh, working at the Lumber Yard at the corner of George and Bridge Sts in Sydney.

Langley lost his position when Governor Bligh was deposed in 1808 and so sold 50 acres of his estate. He was reinstated to his former position in 1810 by Governor Macquarie. In 1811 Langley's daughter marrried Langley's convict servant, Richard Mills, who made a success of the Richmond estate while Langley worked and increasingly resided in Sydney - at least until 1816 when Langley lost his position for 'neglect of duty and drunkenness'. In 1818 Mills' skills as a farmer seem verified when he is selected as one of the first ten settlers at Kelso (the first settlement in the Bathurst area). Langley's wife died in 1818 and, now unemployed and with two daughters in his care, he sold off his Richmond estate and, in 1819, moved to Kelso to live with his daughter and Richard Mills who later built an inn which is now used as the Kelso Shire Offices. The price Langley received for his Richmond estate suggests a substantial house (presumably Clear Oaks) was already on the land.

There is a good walking map available which identifies each of these houses and provides more detailed history. While much of Richmond is modern this collection of houses and buildings is a reminder that here is a township which dates back to the earliest years of European settlement in Australia.

 

 

 

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Richmond