Strathfield South, New South Wales


Strathfield South is a suburb, in the Inner West of Sydney, Australia in the state of New South Wales, 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Strathfield local government area.
North Strathfield and Strathfield are separate suburbs, to the north. Strathfield South is located between Liverpool Road and the Cooks River, bordered on the east by Coronation Parade and to the west by the Enfield Marshalling Yards.

History

This area was once part of the suburb of Enfield and was located within the former Enfield Municipal Council from 1889 to 1949. Gradually the boundaries have altered and eventually this area became known as Strathfield South.
Most of Strathfield South is located on two early land grants - the 1808 grant to James Wilshire and the 1837 grant to Father John Joseph Therry, which became the Village of St Anne's.
Wilshhire's grant was subdivided in 1867 and marketed as the 'Redmire Estate'. Roads in Strathfield South such as Dean Street and Water Street were established in this subdivision. A few early Victorian and Federation style homes survive from this early period of development.
Father John Joseph Therry was granted in March 1837. To finance the building of the original St. Anne's Church Father Therry offered blocks for £25, but insufficient money being available, a further 134 allotments were offered for sale in 1854 and the streets of the subdivision named after Saints or dignitaries of the Church. St Anne's Church is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register.
The area around St Anne's Village and to the west of Cooks River was locally known as Bark Huts. Bark Huts was a hotel on Liverpool Road, halfway between Sydney and Liverpool, and a small settlement was established around the hotel. Other parts of this area were known as Druitt Town. This name was given to the area by Joshua Judge Josephson, who owned large areas of land in the area, in honour of his friend Major George Druitt.

Heritage listings

South Strathfield has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
In the 2016 Census, there were 3,546 people in Strathfield South. 50.4% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 6.8%, India 5.2%, Sri Lanka 5.2% and South Korea 3.7%. 40.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Cantonese 6.8%, Mandarin 6.0%, Arabic 5.9%, Tamil 5.4% and Korean 4.7%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 32.2%, No Religion 18.2% and Hinduism 10.6%.

Commercial area, schools, churches and parklands

South is primarily low-rise residential with a small group of shops located around the intersection of Liverpool Road and Homebush Road. The first high-rise development has now been built on the Hume Highway.
The Catholic parish of St Anne's is located in St Anne's Square. Strathfield South Uniting Church is in Liverpool Road.
There are three schools servicing the Strathfield South area: Strathfield South Public School, Strathfield South High School and St Anne's Catholic Primary School. Strathfield South Public School is the K-6 New South Wales Department of Education and Training school in the area. With over 125 years of history, the motto of Strathfield South Public School is Think of Others. Strathfield South High School is the 7-12 public school in the suburb. Leigh College was from 1915 until 1974 a Methodist Theological College located at 416-420 Liverpool Road. It was the successor to the Wesleyan Theological Institution.
The area is well serviced by parks such as Ford Park, Dean Reserve and St Anne's Reserve, which runs along the Cooks River. The Bay to Bay Cycle/Walking Path, which runs between Botany Bay and Homebush Bay runs through Strathfield South, along the Cooks River.

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