Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield.
The name of the suburb derives ultimately from an estate to the north, called "Home Bush" and owned by colonial surgeon D'Arcy Wentworth, via the historic Homebush railway station, named after the estate and built in 1855. The present-day suburb of Homebush is bisected by the main suburban railway, Parramatta Road and the M4 Motorway into distinct sections with separate histories of development and present patterns of land use.
South of the railway is the core of the historic "Village of Homebush" estate developed in 1878. This part of the suburb is predominantly low-rise historical homes, with a school, a historic commercial high street and newer mid-rise apartments clustered around the station. It was part of "Strathfield" from 1885 until 1977, and the boundary with Strathfield was further adjusted in 1995.NSW Gazette: 18-02-1977; 01-12-1995 -
North of the railway was known as North Homebush in the early 20th century when it experienced industrial and residential development. Homebush Municipal Council was established in 1906 covering the areas of Homebush and Homebush West north of the rail line. It remained a separate municipality until 1947.Strathfield Heritage - Former Homebush Council In the early 21st century, north Homebush has experienced significant population growth due to high density residential developments. The construction of the M4 Motorway in north Homebush led to the demolition of historic homes. Commercial premises now predominate in this area.
A number of geographical names outside the suburb also take their names from the Home Bush Estate. The separate suburb of Flemington was officially gazetted as "Homebush West" in 1992. Homebush Bay (early known as The Flats) is a major inlet on the southern side of the Parramatta River, now surrounded by the separate suburbs of Wentworth Point, Sydney Olympic Park and Rhodes.
History Early history The first name of settlement in the Concord Plains area was "Liberty Plains". This was a group of grants given to the Colony's first free settlers, who came on the ship "Bellona", in 1793. Most of the original settlers soon departed for agriculturally more attractive places, like the Hawkesbury. One of them, Edward Powell, later returned and established there the Half Way House Inn, on Parramatta Road just west of the creek that now bears his name. The Parish of Liberty Plains remains one of the 57 parishes of Cumberland County, New South Wales (the parish is a cadastral unit for use on land titles). That parish covers the suburb of Homebush West (Flemington), but not the suburb of Homebush, which is instead in the Parish of Concord.
The Home Bush Estate and the railway When the Great Western Railway line came through there, with a station just behind Powell's Inn, the station borrowed the name "Homebush" from the nearest large estate, that of the "Home Bush Estate", owned by the Colony's then-assistant surgeon, D'Arcy Wentworth. The station was briefly the early terminus of the Great Western Line in 1855. It is commonly thought that this property and house with the name of "Home Bush" was established and named by D'Arcy Wentworth. Historian Michael Jones who had been commissioned by Stathfield Council to write the history of that municipality wrote: "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent".Jones, Michael (1985). Oasis in the West: Strathfield's first hundred years. North Sydney: Allen & Unwin Australia. (page 15) However, according to local historian David Patrickpers. comm. 2014 to John Byrnes, for the "Homebush Project" it was not D'Arcy Wentworth who named "Home Bush" but an earlier grantee on the land – that being the military figure Thomas Laycock.
It would appear that after Laycock became mentally ill, following his direct involvement in suppressing the Castle Hill convict rebellion, D'Arcy Wentworth became his doctor. It has been reputed that D'Arcy Wentworth either bought the Laycock Home Bush Farm from Laycock or, more fancifully, won the property in an unfair game of cards from the ailing Laycock. Wentworth retained Thomas Laycock's name of the property and added to its extent.
Laycock had been granted 40 hectares in 1794 and increased this to by 1803 and named it "Home Bush". A notice that Laycock placed in the newspapers about his property "Home Bush" is from before when Wentworth acquired the land from him. Later on, Wentworth acquired more land there himself and the estate had grown to by 1811. However, the "Home Bush Estate" had only minor overlaps with the present suburb: most of Wentworth's Home Bush Estate (later a race course and paddocks) is located in present-day Olympic Park and Flemington. Most of the former "Home Bush Estate" became a separate suburb of former Auburn Council named "North Lidcombe",Dictionary of Sydney - Homebush Bay and (from 1989) "Homebush Bay", most of which became in 2009 the suburb of Olympic Park in the City of Parramatta, and a smaller part became the suburb of Wentworth Point.
"Village of Homebush" and incorporation of Strathfield By contrast, the village and 19th century locality of Homebush was subdivided from Powell's estate, a separate grant to the south. Powell's grant, enlarged in his lifetime, passed eventually to his son-in-law James Underwood in 1823. It was from the "Underwood Estate" that the "Village of Homebush", located south of the railway and west of Powell's Creek, was subdivided in 1878 for residential development, with a small village "high street" forming on Rochester Street adjacent to the railway station. An extended area to the south followed the oblique street pattern of Coventry Road (part of which was renamed Mackenzie Street in 1918) and Beresford Road, such as Albert Road and Oxford Road. The suburb of "Homebush" thus included the northern and central part of today's suburb of Strathfield, bounded by Homebush Road in the east. Near its southern extremity, Bushy Hill Street Estate, Homebush was subdivided in 1880. This estate included the south side of Redmyre Road, Florence Street and Bushy Hill Street (now Albyn Road), to the west of Homebush Road.Strathfield Heritage - Albyn Road
The then-locality of Homebush (consisting of the part of today's Homebush and Strathfield south of railway and west of Homebush Road), together with the northern part of Druitt Town (which lay to its south), and the western part of Redmyre (east of Homebush Road) became part of Strathfield Municipality in 1885, after which directories listed houses in all three areas as being in "Strathfield".Strathfield Heritage - Directories
The new 'Homebush' After 1885, "Homebush" usually referred to the unincorporated part of the Underwood and Wentworth estates located north of the railway. This area remained underdeveloped for many years, and when "Homebush Municipality" was established over this area (Homebush North) in 1906, there were only 90 houses and 548 residents in the municipality. The incorporation of Homebush North and the development of primary and secondary industry nearby led to rapid development in that area. In 1925, the opening of the Homebush Theatre (later a cinema, now disused) on Parramatta Road spurred development of a commercial area along that road, but this area fell into decline in the late 20th century.
Homebush Municipality merged into Strathfield Municipality in 1947. In 1977, the geographical name "North Homebush" was gazetted. The modern suburb of "Homebush", combining former "North Homebush" and the northern part of Strathfield, were gazetted in 1995.NSW Geographical Names Board - "Homebush"
The 2000 Sydney Olympics marked a pivotal moment in North Homebush's history. The closure of the Homebush Abattoir and the NSW Brickworks in the late 1980s paved the way for redevelopment. Sydney's successful bid for the Olympic Games accelerated this transformation, leading to the construction of Olympic venues and the creation of public spaces and parklands. The area, now known as Sydney Olympic Park, was designed to be a lasting legacy of the Games, blending sports facilities with residential and commercial developments.
Description Homebush is made up of a number of areas that were developed at different times. The modern suburb is bounded roughly by Saleyards Creek in the west and Powells Creek in the north and east. In the northwest, since 1992 it has been divided from the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park in the City of Parramatta by the A3 arterial road; prior to that, the northwest boundary was Boundary Creek. In the south, it is divided from the suburb of Strathfield by an irregular boundary roughly following the local artery road formed by Arthur Street, Broughton Road and Beresford Road, but which brings all of the properties facing that road within the boundaries of the suburb of Strathfield. The boundary has repeatedly changed since 1977, after north Homebush became part of Strathfield Municipality. The Homebush village centre (extending much further south than today's boundary) was first carved out of the suburb of Strathfield, eventually to be combined with north Homebush to form the modern suburb. The southern part of the historical suburb of Homebush (between Broughton Road and Albyn Road) is now part of the suburb of Strathfield. The area to the north of the railway that formed the historical Municipality of Homebush is now in the suburbs of Homebush and Homebush West (Flemington). Small strips to the northwest and northeast are in Sydney Olympic Park and North Strathfield respectively.
Homebush South (Homebush Village)
Homebush South,Australia Post - Homebush South also called Homebush Village, is a locality comprising the part of the suburb of Homebush to the south of the railway. Homebush South has a population of 2,806 and a population density of 4,306 people per square kilometre.Homebush (South) - About the profile areas "Homebush South" was gazetted as a "neighbourhood" in 1992.NSW Geographical Names Board Homebush - Neighbourhood
Homebush South consists of the bulk of the Village of Homebush estate which was first subdivided in 1878. This development was subdivided from the larger Underwood Estate and is today split between the suburbs of Homebush and Strathfield. The land had boundaries of The Crescent, Homebush, Beresford, Coventry and Bridge Roads. Homebush Village became part of Strathfield Municipality, proclaimed in 1886. Within the estate, Broughton, Abbotsford and Burlington Roads and Rochester and Meredith Streets were also gazetted. In the December of that year, 381 house blocks were auctioned. By the end of the century, many large houses and substantial villas had been built. In the 20th-century house construction continued and most blocks had been built on by the end of the 1920s.Village of Homebush Walking Tour Retrieved 7 August 2013. Due to boundary changes after North Homebush was incorporated into Strathfield in 1947, the historic "Village of Homebush" estate is today partly in Homebush South and partly in the suburb of Strathfield.
The western boundary of Homebush South is Saleyards Creek, which flows through Airey Park and divides Homebush South from Flemington village, in the suburb of Homebush West. The creek also serves as the boundary between the cadastral units (used for land title purposes) of the Parish of Concord (to the east, including Homebush) and the Parish of Liberty Plains (to the west, including Flemington).