Werrington, New South Wales

Werrington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 48.5 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

Aboriginal culture
Prior to European settlement, what is now Werrington was home to the Gomerrigal-Tongarra people who spoke the Darug language. They lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in the Dreamtime. Their homes were bark huts called 'gunyahs'. They hunted kangaroos and emus for meat, and gathered yams, berries and other native plants.

European settlement
The first land grant in the area was made in 1806 to Mary King, youngest daughter of the Governor Phillip Gidley King. She didn't take possession of the property until 1827, after her marriage to Robert Copeland Lethbridge. They built a house, which they named Werrington and farmed the surrounding estate until 1865 when Robert Lethbridge died. The house (which is still standing in Werrington County) was leased to NSW premier Henry Parkes between 1860 and 1872. Parkes arranged for the construction of a private railway platform nearby. In 1878, it was opened to the public as Parkes Platform but was renamed Werrington in 1893. The railway station provided the nucleus around which the town grew although its distance from Sydney and Parramatta meant it never became a particularly large centre. The Werrington estate was sold and subdivided from the 1880s. Werrington Post Office opened on 1 October 1891.

Transport
Werrington railway station is on the North Shore, Northern & Western Line of the Sydney Trains network. The station underwent a major upgrade in 2007, providing better access for the disabled with a new lift and establishing a paved carpark on the southern side of the station. Westbus operates routes 782 and 785 to Penrith from Werrington Station. Werrington is served by the Great Western Highway and the M4 Western Motorway (Mamre Road exit).