Marrickville, New South Wales

Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located 7 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Marrickville Council local government area. The suburb contains three post offices with the postcode 2204.

Marrickville sits on the northern bank of the Cooks River, opposite the suburbs of Earlwood and Undercliffe and shares borders with Stanmore, Enmore, Newtown, St Peters, Sydenham, Tempe, Dulwich Hill and Petersham. The southern part of the suburb, near the river, is known as Marrickville South and includes the historical locality called The Warren.

Marrickville is a diverse suburb consisting of both low and high density residential, commercial and light industrial areas.

History
The indigenous inhabitants of the Cooks River area were the Cadigal people. Artefacts show they roamed the area for at least 7000 years.

The name Marrickville comes from the 24.3 ha (60 acres) 'Marrick' estate of Thomas Chalder, which was subdivided on 24 February 1855. He named it after his native village Marrick, North Yorkshire, England. The estate centred on the intersection of Victoria Road and Chapel Street. William Dean, the publican of the Marrick Hotel, in Illawarra Road (now the site of the Henson Park Hotel) is credited with adding the “ville” to Marrick when it was gazetted in 1861.

The first land grant in the area was 100 acre to William Beckwith in 1794. Thomas Moore received 470 acre in 1799 and another 700 acre in 1803. Dr Robert Wardell purchased most of this land for his estate that stretched from Petersham to the Cooks River. His estate was broken up after he was murdered by escaped convicts in September 1834.

Thomas Holt (1811-1888) was a Sydney business tycoon who built a mansion overlooking the Cooks River called ‘The Warren’. Holt gave it that name because he bred rabbits on the estate for hunting. The 100 acre property was south of Wardell’s and covered the area from today’s Unwins Bridge Road to Illawarra Road and Warren Road. The Warren was subdivided in 1866. Thomas Holt was a large land holder in Sydney with another mansion in Sans Souci and vast property holdings from Sutherland to Cronulla.

Marrickville became a municipality on 6 November 1861. In 1948, it merged with neighbouring municipalities of St Peters and Petersham to form Marrickville Municipal Council.

The first school opened in August 1864 and the post office opened in 1865. The railway line to Bankstown opened in 1895. The station was known as Illawarra Road during construction. Later, when it was decided that Marrickville was a more appropriate name, the original Marrickville station was renamed Sydenham.

Commercial Areas
The main shopping strip runs along Marrickville Road, west from Sydenham to the town hall. Typical businesses include cafés, grocery and clothing stores. Marrickville Road is well-known for the artwork, by Ces Camilleri of Creative Artistic Steel, that adorns the awnings of some of its businesses, which gives the strip a unique style. The shopping strip also extends south along Illawarra Road, past the railway station, to 'The Warren' locality. Marrickville Metro Shopping Centre is located near the border with Enmore and contains supermarkets, discount stores, specialty shops and a food court. A substantial light industrial area is located west of the Princes Highway. Typical industrial uses include automotive repair, import/export and building supplies.

Marrickville Town Hall is located on the corner of Marrickville Road and Petersham Road. Outside Marrickville Town Hall is a World War I war memorial, featuring a Winged Victory figure. Standing at over 4 metres, the figure is the largest known bronze casting on a memorial in Australia.

Transport
Marrickville railway station is on the Bankstown line of the CityRail network. Public buses serve all main roads, including Marrickville Road, Enmore Road, Illawarra Road, Victoria Road, Wardell Road and Livingstone Road. These include the 425 bus from Dulwich Hill to Rockdale or Tempe via Sydenham, the 426 bus from Dulwich Hill to Circular Quay via Newtown and the CBD, the 423 bus from Kingsgrove to Circular Quay via Earlwood, Newtown and the CBD, and the 412 bus which runs from Campsie to Kings Wharf via Kingsgrove, Earlwood, Petersham, Camperdown, Paramatta Rd and the CBD. The suburb also lies under the flight path to Sydney Airport.

Churches
St Clements Anglican Church is located diagonally across the intersection of Marrickville Road and Petersham Road. St Brigid’s Catholic Church is nearby on Marrickville Road, on the corner of Livingstone Road. St Marouns Catholic College is in Wardell Road. Silver Street Mission, a Baptist congregation is on the corner of Silver Street and Calvert Street. The St Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is on Livingstone Road and the Orthodox Monastery of the Archangel Michael is a monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Lien Hoa Buddhist temple is also on Livingstone Road.

Parks
Mackey Park, Steel Park, Warren Park, Henson Park, McNeilly Park, Wicks Park, Fraser Park, Jarvie Park, Marrickville Park, Enmore Park, Marrickville Golf Course

Schools
Marrickville has four primary public schools: Marrickville Public School, Marrickville West Primary School, Ferncourt Public School and Wilkins Public School and one primary private school, St Brigids Catholic School. There is one secondary public school, Marrickville High School and two secondary private schools: Casimir Catholic College and St Marouns Catholic College.

Demographics
Marrickville has a diverse and multi-cultural community with a significant migrant population.

In the mid-twentieth century, Marrickville was a major center of Sydney's large Greek community, and to an extent remains so. Greek flags are frequently flown down Marrickville's main commercial street, which still has many Greek-owned businesses. Today, the Vietnamese community has become perhaps more prominent, centered in the area closer to the railway station. In recent years the area has seen an influx of young, urban professionals attracted to its proximity to the Sydney CBD, vast array of restaurants and inner-city, multicultural lifestyle.

Houses
Many Marrickville homes are detached or terraced Victorian houses built in the late 1800s and many others were built in the Federation style in the early 1900s.

Twin towns - Sister cities
Marrickville is twinned with:
 * Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories

Sport and Recreation
Marrickville is home to a number of sporting venues and teams. Henson Park, just off Sydenham Road, is home of the Newtown Jets rugby league team, formerly one of the elite Sydney teams, but currently playing in the second tier New South Wales Cup and acting as a feeder club for the Sydney Roosters. Marrickville Oval, on Livingstone Road, is used by lower grade teams from the Randwick-Petersham club, which plays in the Sydney Grade Cricket competition. Fraser Park, next to the railway line between Marrickville and Sydenham stations is home to the Fraser Park FC soccer club which plays in the NSW Super League, the second tier of soccer in Sydney. Marrickville Golf Course runs along the banks of the Cooks River. Enmore Park is home to the local swimming pool. Other sporting venues include Steel Park on Illawarra Road and Mackey Park on Richardson Crescent.