Centenary Square, Parramatta

Centenary Square, formerly known as Bicentennial Square, is a civic square located in the heart of Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. It faces the 1883 Parramatta Town Hall and St John's Cathedral. The square was listed on the Parramatta City Council local government heritage list on 20 August 1999.^[1]

Centenary Square (1888–1988; 2014– )
Bicentennial Square (1988–2014)
The 1888 Victorian Free Classically-styled clock, with the drinking fountain removed, pictured in 2016
Type	Civic square
Location	Parramatta, Parramatta City Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Coordinates	33°48′55″S 151°00′11″E
Etymology	Australian Centenary Australian Bicentenary
Operated by	Parramatta City Council
Open	24 hours
Status	Open all year
New South Wales Heritage Database (Local Government Register)
Official name	Bicentennial Square and Adjoining Buildings
Type	Local government heritage (complex / group)
Criteria	a., c., f.
Designated	20 August 1999
Reference no.	103
Type	Recreation and Entertainment
Category	Tourist Attractions

Features and history

To celebrate the colony's centenary, in 1888 the Parramatta Borough Council erected, at a cost of A£600, the Centennial Memorial, a Victorian Free Classically-styled elaborate clock and drinking fountain.^[2]

To mark the opening of the Church Street Mall in 1986 and the closure of through traffic on Church Street, a time capsule was buried under one of the square's gardens by Janice Crosio MP, NSW Minister for Water Resources.^[3] In order to mark the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Parramatta City Council commissioned the sculpture, Procession, by artist Richard Goodwin.^[4]

The Parramatta City Council reverted the square's name to Centenary Square on 24 September 2014.^[5]

The commercial buildings surrounding the square are mainly two-storeyed, with one of the Murray Buildings (alongside the Town Hall and farthest from St Johns) are three storeys.^[1] Murray Brothers erected the town's first department store in 1926; and other major stores soon followed.^[6] This was also the site where Rev. Samuel Marsden once lived. Outside St John's Cathedral stands a memorial to those who served in World War I. This takes the form of a stone arch and plaques; and was erected in 1917.^[7]

The square serves as the eastern terminus of the proposed 65-kilometre (40 mi) Great West Walk connecting Parramatta and Penrith via the Western Sydney Parklands.^[8][9]

See also

• New South Wales portal
• Environment portal

• List of parks in Sydney
• History of New South Wales

References

1. "Bicentennial Square and Adjoining Buildings". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
2. "Parramatta Centennial Memorial Drinking Fountain". The Sydney Mail. 28 January 1888. p. 11. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
3. Plaque in main garden.
4. Plaque on sculpture.
5. Morris, Cathy (25 September 2014). "Parramatta's Church St Mall is now Centenary Square with a new state-of-the-art fountain as centrepiece". Parramatta Advertiser. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
6. Kass, Terry (2008). "Parramatta". Dictionary of Sydney. Dictionary of Sydney Trust. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
7. Plaque on memorial.
8. Gorrey, Megan (13 October 2019). "Sydney's new 65km walking track stretches from Parramatta to Penrith". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
9. "About". The Great West Walk. n.d. Retrieved 10 January 2020.

External links

• "About Centenary Square". Heritage Centre. Parramatta City Council. n.d.
• "Parramatta : Centenary Square (Bicentennial Square)" (photos). Scott Bird Photography. Scott Bird. n.d.