The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park

Item details

Name of item: The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park
Other name/s: Sydney University, Grose Farm, St Paul's College, St John's College, St Andrew's College, Women's College, Wesley College, Sancta Sophia College,
Type of item: Conservation Area
Group/Collection: Education
Category: University
Location: Lat: -33.887416 Long: 151.187353
Primary address: Cnr of Parramatta and City Roads, Camperdown, NSW 2050
Parish: Petersham
County: Cumberland
Local govt. area: Sydney
Local Aboriginal Land Council: Metropolitan
Hectares (approx): 63
Property description
Lot/Volume CodeLot/Volume NumberSection NumberPlan/Folio CodePlan/Folio Number
LOT7035 DP1051257
LOT7046 DP1051316
LOT1 DP1124852
LOT2 DP1124852
LOT1 DP1131578
LOT1001 DP1159799
LOT1 DP1171804
LOT11 DP1171806
LOT12 DP1171806
LOT1 DP1171808
LOT2 DP1176958
LOT52 DP1194640
LOT101 DP1215953
LOT102 DP1215953
LOT1 DP130326
LOT2 DP130326
LOT3 DP130326
LOT1 DP137172
LOT1 DP179963
LOT1 DP179964
LOT1 DP185551
LOT552 DP752049
LOT1 DP89825

Boundary:

The study area extends from the intersection of Parramatta and City Roads towards the west, and is bounded by Carillon Avenue in the south and Missenden Road in the west. Excluding the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital site and an allotment on the corner of Parramatta and Missenden Roads.
All addresses
Street AddressSuburb/townLGAParishCountyType
Cnr of Parramatta and City RoadsCamperdownSydneyPetershamCumberlandPrimary Address
St Paul's College 9 City RoadCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address
St Andrew's College 19 Carillon AvenueCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address
St John's College 10 Missenden RoadCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address
Sancta Sophia College 8 Missenden RoadCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address
Wesley College, Western AvenueCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address
Victoria Park, Parramatta RoadCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address
The Women's College 15 Carillon AvenueCamperdownSydney  Alternate Address

Owner/s

Organisation NameOwner CategoryDate Ownership Updated
 Private 
City of Sydney CouncilLocal Government 
Sancta Sophia CollegeReligious Organisation 
St Andrew's CollegeReligious Organisation 
St John's CollegeReligious Organisation 
St Paul's CollegeReligious Organisation 
The Women's CollegeCommunity Group 
University of SydneyUniversity 
Wesley CollegeReligious Organisation 

Statement of significance:

The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park is of state historical significance, as a vestige of Governor Phillip's original 1,000 acres (404 ha) 'Kanguroo Ground' Crown reserve of 1790 and for its connection to the 18th century British government's approach to colonialism and its concept of 'terra nullius' as the foundation for dispossession of Aboriginal land in the immediate area of Sydney.

The cultural landscape is of state heritage significance for its ability to demonstrate activities of the colonial era (1792-1855) associated with Grose Farm, convict stockade, and female orphan school.

The University of Sydney is of state historical significance as the first and oldest university in Australia, dating from 1850. Reflecting in the cultural landscape changes in tertiary education, landscape design, institutional architecture, economic development and social attitudes; including pioneering university education for women in NSW (1881) and the establishment of the first university college for women in Australia, Women's College in 1892.

The cultural landscape is aesthetically significant at a state level reflecting directly the influence of E.T. Blacket (1850s), W.L.Vernon (1890s), W.B. Griffin (1910s), Professor L. Wilkinson (1920s) and the Government Architect's Office (1960s) in shaping the place. In particular, Blacket's location of the Great Hall and East Range of the Quadrangle (1854-1862) utilised the site's topography to provide a dramatic presentation of the University on approach from the city, a setting with planning axis that still remains.

The University of Sydney and Victoria Park as connected landscapes have tangible links to Charles Moore, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens (1848-1896) and subsequent designers using prevalent 19th century theories of landscape design, plant material and horticultural techniques.

The University grounds, more than any other site, reflect Professor Leslie Wilkinson 's work in beautifying and unifying buildings and their settings, along with major contributions to the planning and planting of gardens by Professor E. G. Waterhouse.

Victoria Park is a significant Victorian-era park dedicated in 1870. The park retains substantial components of its formative 19th-century planning and design, including the grand avenue linking City Road and the remaining original gate lodge to the tower of the Main Building of the University.

The provision of sport and leisure facilities across the site have contributing significantly to the retention of open space and green buffers between the built forms of the campus, and are important to the people of Sydney and NSW.

The Main Quadrangle Building, the Anderson Stuart Building and the Gate Lodges, together with St Paul's, St John's and St Andrew's Colleges, as a rare composition, comprise what is the most important group of Gothic and Tudor Revival style architecture in New South Wales and potentially Australia. Together they deliberately evoke the academic traditions and standards of Oxford and Cambridge, as expressed in the University motto ("Sidere Mens Eadem Mutato", meaning, "though the constellation has changed, the spirit remains the same."). The landscape and grounds features associated with these buildings, including Victoria Park, contribute to its values of civic virtue and support the existence and appreciation of their state aesthetic significance.

The University of Sydney holds significance for its role as a site for student activism during the 20th century. In particular, the 1965 Freedom Ride led by Charles Perkins, Vietnam War and conscription protests.

As a long-standing tertiary institution, the University of Sydney's association with eminent men and women who are its graduates, academics and chancellery demonstrates a major contribution to all aspects of Australian society and the nation's development.

The University of Sydney and University Colleges contain one of the densest collections of heraldic representations in NSW and Australia.

The place is of state heritage significance in demonstrating the aspirations of colonial Sydney to shape its own society, polity and ideals; which ultimately led to the establishment of the University of Sydney and University Colleges by Acts of Parliament in 1850 and 1854 respectively that created the university at Grose Farm.

The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park has been a major landmark of Sydney and NSW since its inception. It holds substantial social values and associations, and is held in high esteem for a range of affiliated communities and groups as an iconic place of historic, academic, cultural, sporting, recreational and social pursuits and events.

The intactness of the groupings of buildings and landscapes across the history of the development of the site represents a microcosm of the development of architectural design, town planning and landscape design in New South Wales and Australia.
Date significance updated: 05 Dec 17
Note: The State Heritage Inventory provides information about heritage items listed by local and State government agencies. The State Heritage Inventory is continually being updated by local and State agencies as new information becomes available. Read the Department of Premier and Cabinet copyright and disclaimer.

Description

Designer/Maker: E.T. Blacket (1850s); W.B. Griffin (1910s); Prof. L. Wilkinson (1920s); Government Architects Office
Builder/Maker: James Jones (Victoria Park); various (university buildings, roads, grounds)
Construction years: 1855-
Physical description: The site is bounded by Parramatta Rd, City Rd, Carillon Ave and Missenden Rd, Camperdown (excluding land occupied/owned by Moore Theological College, Prince Alfred Hospital and St Joseph's Church).

The topography of the place is gently undulating. There is a ridge approximating the line of Eastern Avenue, and the land falls to the east and west away from the ridge. Prior to development, freshwater creeks and ponds formed in the eastern and western gullies off the ridgeline. These areas are (more-or-less) the location of recreational and open spaces.

The place displays the character of university use since the mid nineteenth century. The traditional campus' cultural landscape is an eclectic mix of buildings, open spaces, tree-lined avenues, internal streets and ornamental planting.

Major lawn areas are found in The Quadrangle (to the east of and within the Main Quadrangle Building), the Botany Lawn, the Hockey Square and the various oval and other playing fields such as tennis courts. They provide a strong element of the traditional campus form.

The orientation of the Main Building, and the axis of the view up to it, established two of the most enduring aspects of the planning arrangement of the University, these being the prominence of the ridge, which became Eastern Avenue (north-south axis), and of the east-west axis that extends east along University Avenue and through Victoria Park, and west of the Main Quadrangle Building along Science Road. The axes evolved to include Manning and Physics Road (east-west) and Fisher Road and Western Avenue (north-south)

Women's College:
Architect (later, Sir) John Sulman sited the buildings on grassed terraces so as to afford both prospect and aspect. The design of 'house' and garden was given attention as a unified composition (Edquist, 2008, 167).

Victoria Park:
Victoria Park is a triangular open space bounded by City Road to the south-east and Parramatta Road to the west. It is an inner-city park that retains much of its 19th century 'picturesque' character, particularly the fine balance between massed elements (avenues of trees and plantations) and the resultant voids of open space and water elements.

From the 1850s until the 1940s Sydney University's main entrance avenue was through Victoria Park directly towards the city (to grand sandstone-pillared gates and twinned gate lodges on City Road. This avenue of originally Moreton Bay figs (Ficus macrophylla) specified by Edmund Blacket in his original design has, over time, had infill of Port Jackson figs (F. rubiginosa) and Hill's figs (F. microcarpa var. hillii), but survives as a strong axial visual element and access across the lake or pond in the park into the University and straight up to the Main Eastern Range's tower and through it, the main Quadrangle. One of the two sandstone Gothic Revival gate lodges survives and has been converted into a cafe and public toilets (Stuart Read, pers. comm., 24/9/2020).

In the centre of the Park is the Victoria Park Pool complex, from mid-20th century. Beside it to its west is a large lake or pond, with a planted island, located where a traditional soakage area was, but landscaped in the Victorian era and revived in the 1950s, further enhanced with wetland habitat plantings in the 2000s (ibid, 2020).

The park is edged along Parramatta Road with a line of Moreton Bay fig trees. It is lined almost continuously along City Road with mixed tree plantings, some being figs, some brush box (Lophostemon confertus), a Canary Island pine (Pinus canariensis), evergreen, holly or Holm oaks (Quercus ilex) and other trees (ibid, 2020).

Plantings of trees within the park's generous grassed open spaces are mixed, and comprise palms (Kentia fosteriana, Lord Howe Island palm), live oaks (Quercus virginiana), brush boxes, figs and evergreen or holm or holly oaks. Some rare species in the park's mature plantings include Lord Howe Island figs (Ficus macrophylla var. columnaris)(2), sawtooth oak (Quercus acutissima) from China, turpentine trees (Syncarpia glomulifera), New tree plantings reinforce surviving traditional ones and have added some richness, including black booyong trees (Argyrodendron actinophylla), sawtooth oaks, live oaks, crepe myrtles (ibid, 2020).

A children's playground area has been installed inside a woodland planting towards the Cleveland Street park entry (ibid, 2020).
Physical condition and/or
Archaeological potential: 		Generally the University and College's buildings and grounds are in fair to excellent condition. Victoria Park is maintained by the City of Sydney and is in fair to excellent condition.
Date condition updated:03 Nov 17
Modifications and dates: The cultural landscape is continually evolving.
Further information: With increasing development of the University and University Colleges the amount of open space has declined.
Current use: University education, student accommodation and recreation park inlcuding swimming pool .
Former use: Aboriginal land, farm, stock agistment, convict stockade, female orphan school. Designated land reserve (1789) for school, Crown and church purposes.

History

Historical notes: As the listing is for the cultural landscape, this history is focussed on land use and summarises its development, rather than the extensive history of the land, the university and its people, the colleges and the park.

The Camperdown and Darlington campuses of The University of Sydney were originally occupied by Aboriginal people of the Cadigal and/or Wangal clans. The freshwater sources and swamps within or in close proximity to the University grounds, west (Orphan School Creek) and east (Blackwattle Creek) of the Petersham Ridge, may have attracted occasional Aboriginal occupation. The area was heavily treed with several temperate rainforest species and a spring draining through to the swamps of Blackwattle Bay. What are now City Road and Parramatta Road followed existing Aboriginal tracks, which were the only routes due to the topography and surrounding bush. There is remnant bushland in nearby Blackwattle Bay which retain elements of traditional plant, bird and animal life, including fish and rock oysters.

The "Eora people" was the name given to the coastal Aborigines around Sydney. Central Sydney is therefore often referred to as "Eora Country". Within the City of Sydney local government area, the traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the Eora. There is no written record of the name of the language spoken and currently there are debates as whether the coastal peoples spoke a separate language "Eora" or whether this was actually a dialect of the Dharug language. Remnant bushland in places like Blackwattle Bay retain elements of traditional plant, bird and animal life, including fish and rock oysters (Anita Heiss, "Aboriginal People and Place", Barani: Indigenous History of Sydney City http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani).

With the invasion of the Sydney region, the Cadigal and Wangal people were decimated but there are descendants still living in Sydney today. All cities include many immigrants in their population. Aboriginal people from across the state have been attracted to suburbs such as Pyrmont, Balmain, Rozelle, Glebe and Redfern since the 1930s. Changes in government legislation in the 1960s provided freedom of movement enabling more Aboriginal people to choose to live in Sydney (Heiss, Sydney City Council).

The study area was cleared farmland from 1789 until the mid nineteenth century, when the university was founded. The establishment of the university land-use consisted of buildings, both for teaching and amenity whilst the land in the eastern area of the site being land set aside for park and garden, later being dedicated as Victoria Park.

Phase 1: 1788-1850: the study area was bush and cleared farmlands, with the university established on what had been Grose Farm, female orphan school and convict stockade.

1789-1792 Crown land known as the Kanguroo Ground was set aside for church, crown and school usage and the "formation of a park and garden in connection therewith".
1792 Crown land was leased to military officers including Lt-Gov Grose - activities included reforming labour of convicts
1794 Lieutenant Francis Grose sold his lease but the name Grose Farm stayed. Grose Farm developed as a 'model farm'
1801-1819 the Female Orphan School is the first recorded use of the site for teaching and learning.
1819 Convict accommodation and stockade built

1823 Reverted to Government use - male orphans, viticulture, horse and cattle agistment - fencing off the Parramatta, Newtown, St Paul's and Missenden Roads.
1827 Deepening and widening of eastern rivulet and reservoir made near public road (Parramatta Road), fencing replaced by four-rail fence, Grose Farm set up as a model farm of agriculture and husbandry.
1830s part of Grose Farm was utilised as a stockade for convict road gangs.
by 1850s Farm buildings became obsolete and disappeared.


Phase 2: 1850-1880: Establishment of the University and Victoria Park. Construction of the Main Quadrangle building, St Paul's College, St John's College and St Andrew's College. Plantings from the then Sydney Botanic Gardens were supplied between 1860s-1880s. Gothic and Tudor Revival were the featured architectural styles.

1850 The University of Sydney was founded, evoking the academic traditions and standards of Oxford and Cambridge, as expressed in the University motto "Sidere Mens Eadem Mutato", meaning, "though the constellation has changed, the spirit remains the same".
1850s The course of Parramatta Road was altered and the cutting through which it now passes was created.
1850s Small grants were dedicated to the Church of England and Roman Catholic Church for purposes of schools, parsonage and presbytery,
1850s First plantings took place including Port Jackson figs and pines in a large plantation stretching along Parramatta Road
1852 The University began its teaching, in College Street, Sydney
1854 Edmund Blacket was invited to design the buildings of the University of Sydney.

In the 1983 E.T. (Edmund) Blacket exhibition monograph entry for the University of Sydney main building, conservation consultant James Kerr wrote that Blacket 'apparently played an active role in the choice of the (Grose Farm) site' while he was still Colonial Architect. With his appointment as the architect for the new university in 1854, there began an interative relationship with the University Senate (which included E.W.T. Hamilton (first Provost (now Chancellor), W.C.Wentworth, F.L.S. Mereworth (later Chancellor) and Charles Nicholson (later Chancellor) and its appointed committees to resolve a suitable design for the new buildings. This process apparently also extended to the planning of a substantial and integral processional access linking the city approach in the east up to (and through) the university's main building (Britton, 2017, 12, 13).

The University's archives include a hand-coloured site plan showing the original main building range along the principal north-south ridge along an extended axial avenue from 'New Town Road' (now City Road) framed by L-shaped structures (gate piers?). A handwritten note states that the plan was 'laid before the Senate and approved according to the alterations marked by the blue lines - 2nd September, 1857 Hugh Kennedy, Registrar'. These blue lines relate to 'proposed alterations of water' to enlarge the earlier intermittent creek line into a form enabling a convincing crossing width by a generous bridge. The eastern end of the approach road is shown to terminate in an arc and an enclosed plantation - a design refinement that was never executed. By 1863, 8 acres of the 'eastern park' along Parramatta Road were dedicated as an 'Approach Reserve' specifically to provide for such an access (ibid, 2017, 12, 13).

The park was designed in the picturesque style by Charles Moore, director of the Botanic Gardens (SCC/Whitaker, A-M., in https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-and-places/park-histories/victoria-park).

Moore used James Jones (b1839) who became Overseer of the Domains in Sydney from 1884, whose post involved planning and supervising all outside work required by the NSW government in the city suburbs and country. This included all garden requirements of the Government Architect (railways, police, hospitals, schools) in addition to layout out several municipal parks (Morris, 2012, 340).

1855 126 acres of Grose Farm were granted to the University of Sydney including land set aside for the 'formation of a park and garden in connection therewith'.

1855-1863 the Great Hall and East Wing built on Petersham Ridge. The positioning of the building was a conscious statement of the importance of the University. The orientation of the Main Building, and the axis of the view up to it, established two of the most enduring aspects of the planning arrangement of the University, these being the prominence of the Petersham Ridge, which became Eastern Avenue, and of the east-west axis that extends east along what becomes Approach Avenue (University Avenue through Victoria Park), and west of the Main Quadrangle Building along what becomes Science Road.

1859 St Paul's College was completed on eastern side of Grose Farm
1860 the Nicholson Museum was established in southern end of main building
1863 St John's College was completed in the north-west near the corner of Parramatta and Missenden roads.
1863 An 8 acre strip of land between Parramatta Road and the 'park and garden' was added and dedicated as an Approach Reserve, to provide a formal axis to the University quadrangle with a triple avenue leading to the Main Building
1864-7 Plants from Royal Botanic Gardens despatched for the Approach Reserve.

1866 The Approach Reserve is granted to the University
1866 University Senate resolved that part of the University grounds be reserved temporarily as a cricket ground (First sporting clubs - 1863 football club, 1865 cricket club)

1870 23 acre Victoria Park was formerly dedicated and named
1873 Agreement ratified between the University and Wesleyan and Presbyterian bodies of the Prince Alfred Hospital for 11 acres of Grose Farm to be made available for the Hospital (built 1876-1882)
1876 St. Andrew's College completed in the southwestern extremity of the University on the corner of Bligh Street (Carillon Avenue) and Missenden Road.


Phase 3: 1880-1910: The Anderson Stuart building was one of the first buildings to be built to the south of the Main Quadrangle building. The development of purpose-built facilities for professional subjects along Science Road. These developments either reinforced or extended the original Main Quadrangle Building alignment and architectural style. The City Road gates and lodge were erected in 1898. Gothic and Tudor Revival continue to be the featured architectural styles. The area to the east of what is now Eastern Avenue remained parkland. Further despatches of trees from Royal Botanic Gardens to the University.

1882 First female students admitted
1885 First formal design plan of Victoria Park - possibly by James Jones. Two lodges, for gardener and messenger were built, flanking the grand drive from Newton Road (City Road)
1885 Tennis club and first courts (within the Main Quadrangle - 1887 Ladies' Tennis Club)
1886 Grounds leased for cattle grazing levelled for football playing field (near the current Hockey Square)
1887 Macleay Museum erected to the north-west of the Great Hall (opening in 1891)
1887 Physics Laboratory completed on Science Road
1887 Victoria Park re-dedicated under Public Parks Act of 1884
1889 Anderson Stuart Medical School completed

1890 Chemistry Laboratory completed next to Physics Laboratory
1890 Cricket Oval No. 1 completed
1890s Road trenches dug for drainage, borders planted with shrubs from the Sydney Botanic Gardens and Chancellor Manning's own garden, paling fences replaced with iron fences. The pond at the bottom of Victoria Park was turned into a large ornamental lake with a bridge across the lake to carry the entrance drive up to the main buildings. Moreton Bay and Port Jackson Fig trees were planted to line the lake.
1891 Decision made to extend to Ross St, formalising Science Road
1892 Victoria Park Bowling Club established with one green and clubhouse
1894 Women's College opened near Bligh St (Carillion Ave)
1895 School of Mines completed on Science Road (facing Parramatta Road)
1898 Gate lodge on Newtown Road (City Road) completed

1891 Chair of Geology and Palaentology created - Tannat William Edgeworth David appointed. Tannat William Edgeworth David was a Professor of Geology at the University of Sydney. He was also on Douglas Mawson's and Allistair Mackay's expediction to be first to reach the magnetic South Pole in 1908 (David, aged 50). David had been Mawson's geology lecturer and mentor. David was already a houshold name in Australia for identifying the Greta Coal Seam, which became the motherlode of the Hunter Valley coal (mining) industry, setting New South Wales on a path to previously-unimagined prosperity. Talking about it at public meetings, David demonstrated he was a compelling speaker with great charm, intelligence and humour. His fame grew as well as his capacity to fundraise for his projects, including the Ernest Shackleton Antarctic expedition. David was born in Wales and first came to Australia in his 20s to recover from a nervous breakdown likely caused by the loss of his Christian faith: tricky in a deeply religious era, especially when his father was an admired reverend who expected David would take up holy orders. Returning to the UK still faithless, David pursued a longstanding interest in geology and quickly began producing learned papers that impressed the geological academic community. Meanwhile in NSW, the job of Assistant Government Surveyor to the NSW Government became available and David returned, to take it. This led him to identifying the Hunter Valley coal seam, putting him in good stead to apply for the Chair of Geology and Palaentology in 1891 at the University of Sydney. A subsequent mining boom allowed David to convince the University that it needed a school of mines, and soon his one-man geology department in a shabby cottage became a new building and lecture hall with a growing number of students. More international attention came when David led a team to Funafati Atoll, in the central western Pacific, to deep drill for evidence to prove a theory about how reefs were formed. Two previous teams, including one from the Royal Society of London, had failed the attempt. With the world watching, David's attempt was a spectacular success, though the reef evidence uncovered was inconclusive. Returning to the University, his popularity grew. With World War 1, David convinced the government to let him lead a team of Australian geologists and miners to France and the Western Front, which he did in 1915. He was 58 at the time. The specialised knowledge of his team, the so-called Australian Mining Corps, led to pioneering thinking on how to place and dig trenches and deal with ground water. David's bigger plan was to dig tunnels under the German lines on the Messines-Wytchaete Ridge, fill these with TNT and detonate them. Which he did spectacularly in 1917, changing the course of the battle. David died in Sydney in 1934, aged 76, after being professor of Geology for 35 years. Unheard of for a lowly geologist, he was given a State Funeral and thousands crowded the streets to farewell a person of truly heroic stature (Dodd and Bennett, 2020, 25).


1900 Milling Building for Metallurgy added to Science Road buildings
1903 Biology Building completed at the western end of the newly laid Science Road
1907 Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon* to prepare a 'general survey of the whole university grounds showing proposed roadways and sites that could be used for future additional buildings or extensions of existing buildings including also portions of the grounds of St Paul's and St John's colleges at present unused.'
1909 Fisher Library completed on the south side of the main building (soon to become the Quadrangle)
1909 Engineering School completed on Science Rd.


Phase 4: 1910-1940: An area roughly east of the line of Eastern Avenue, which had been part of Victoria Park, became part of the University's grounds, although the first buildings were not constructed on it until the late 1950s. The era is defined by building, re-designs and extensions by Vernon and McCrae (1900-1920) then Wilkinson (1920 -1945). Science Road becomes the main alignment for expansion, to be roughly paralleled by Manning and Physics Roads to the south. Blacket's visual axis between Main Quadrangle and St Paul's progressively lost, replaced with new visual axis by Wilkinson from St Paul's to Science Road. Wilkinson realises Vernon's aims to formalise Science Road alignment to which subsequent buildings were oriented. Wilkinson applied a Mediterranean inspired architectural style. The avenue through Victoria Park is reduced to a 'right of way'.

1910 A general plan for the development of the University grounds prepared by W. L. Vernon
1911 Management of Victoria Park given to Sydney City Council, works included; park planning, further plantings, establishment of a children's playground, extension of the bowling club and the introduction of park lighting.
1912 Veterinary Science School completed between the new Ross St entrance and St John's College
1912/16 Student's Union Building/Union Hall completed on Science Road
1913 A plan of the whole University 'showing existing and suggested future buildings in conjunction with the layout of the grounds' prepared by Government Architect George McRae
1913 First purpose-built sporting facilities built specifically for the use of women - three tennis courts east of the Main building
1915 Walter Burley Griffin presented a master plan for laying out the grounds, including sites for buildings, roads and areas for playing fields. While the scheme was not implemented it influenced later planners.
1916 Agricultural Science School completed on Science Road
1917 Vernon's plan was refined and re-drawn by Gorrie Blair
1917 Wesley College opened
1917 Manning House opened (Women's Union building)
1918 Completion of the Quadrangle south east range, cloisters running from the eastern tower, round the south range to the north end of the book stack and Nicholson gateway
1920 University Architect Leslie Wilkinson (with Engineer Madsen and Surveyor Craig) presents a general layout plan of the university to the Senate.
1921 Hockey Square ready for use
1922 Organic Chemistry Lecture Theatre completed
1924-6 The University exchanged 7 3/4 acres of lake and main drive with the Council of Sydney for 9 acres of Victoria Park in the Eastern Avenue area
1924 Completion of the Main Quadrangle north and western ranges including western tower and book stack
1925 Teachers' College officially opened
1925 Parramatta Road widened, causing the loss of mature fig trees and changes to the Derwent St entrance
1925 Physics Building completed - first building on the now Physics Road
1925/6 Alignment of roads and planting of shrubs for beautifying areas of the campus, creation of 'courts' including Vice Chancellor's Quadrangle (by Profs Madsen and Waterhouse)
1926 Sancta Sophia College opened
1927 The avenue through Victoria Park was formally reduced to a right of way
1928 War Memorial Carillon installed in the tower and inaugurated on ANZAC Day
1929 McMaster Laboratory built near Veterinary Science facing Parramatta Road
1930 School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine building completed on corner of Physics Road and Fisher Road
1930s Extensive remodelling of Victoria Park including the lake, lawns, pathways, plantings, filling in of small pond (near current swimming pool), removal of iron railing surrounding the Park and creation of fence between the park and the University
1932 Additional/changed sporting facilities completed including, Oval No. 2, and the Hockey Square area; hockey fields, Women's Sports Pavilion, and tennis courts
1933 New Medical School completed next to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
1939 Messenger's Lodge demolished. New entrance gate and two storey lodge built on Parramatta Road, City Road entrance gates and gateposts were removed and relocated to City Road/Eastern Avenue entry. With the remodelling and removal of the gates the main vista from City Road to Main Quadrangle was diminished.


Phase 5: 1940-1960: Need to accommodate massive increase in post-war student enrolments. This period saw major expansion of faculties with building extensions and a future development plan developed. Western side of Eastern Avenue formalised with the construction of Madsen Building (1944) and new Chemistry Building (1958). The introduction of modern architectural style to university buildings is markedly different from those used before the WWII.

1944 Madsen Building completed for CSIR(O) on ridge south of Main Quadrangle (on what will become Eastern Avenue and near what will become City Road entrance)
1944 Completion of modifications to School of Engineering (reinforced concrete with bricks walls and sandstone cladding o blend with existing facades) for aeronautics.
1946 Wallace Theatre opened, construction of temporary or 'transient' buildings to cope with the influx of post-war enrolments.
1948 Agriculture Building and Economics Faculty completed
1953 Isabel Fidler Memorial Garden dedicated
1955 Victoria Park Swimming Pool (King George VI) opened. First in-ground public swimming pool in Sydney. Victoria Park lake was reduced and bridge demolished
1958 War Memorial and Science Road Bridge completed
1958 new Chemistry Building completed on Eastern Avenue
1959 Griffith Taylor Building (Arts) completed near the south of Main Quadrangle


Phase 6: 1960-1990: Eastern side of Eastern Avenue formalised with the construction of Fisher Library (1962), Carslaw Building (1965) and Fisher Library stack (1971), precincts formalised, expansion and alteration of faculty facilities and major re-orientation of the campus with expansion to newly acquired Darlington land. Further use of modern architectural style.

1950s&60s Landscaping, gardens and trees lost during expansion of construction activity. New gardens along Eastern Avenue represent change in style from earlier gardens.
1960 Mungo McCallum Building (Arts) completed near the south of Main Quadrangle
1960s Bosch Theatre and Bosch Building (Medical) completed
1960s Victoria Park Lawn Bowls club house replaced, dominating the City Road section of the Park
1961 University Site Development plans presented with formation of functional precincts, landscaping with pedestrian precedence over vehicles.
1961 Edgeworth David Building (Geology and Geophysics) completed on Eastern Avenue
1962 Fisher Library and Stephen Roberts Theatre completed
1963 Construction of the Western Tower and extension of cloisters in the Main Quadrangle
1964 Victoria Park lake re-named Lake Northam
1965 Carslaw Building completed
1967 Christopher Brennan Building (Arts) completed the Arts faculty link between Griffith Taylor and Mungo McCallum buildings
1968 Chancellors Garden opened next to Fisher Library
1971 Fisher Stack completed
1970s Eastern Avenue became the University's main thoroughfare (instead of Science Road)
1970s Victoria Park plantings modified and flower beds reduced
1972 Womens Sports Centre (stage 2) completed


Phase 7: 1990- present: A period of consolidation then major expansion and development of the campus and Park. Restoration of the Approach Avenue including City Road entrance gates, Gardener's lodge, and Lake Northam, though Science Road/St Paul's historical axis compromised. The commencement of contemporary architectural style.

1990 Strategic Plan (Conybeare Morrison & Partners) presented to the University for guiding development, identifying heritage buildings and integrating Camperdown and Darlington Campuses.
1990s South Sydney City Council restored the main avenue in Victoria Park as a pedestrian path with a bridge over an enlarged Lake Northam and new garden beds
1991 new Education Building completed adjacent to Teacher's College inhibiting earlier 'axis' concept of campus design.
1992 Draft Plan of Management for Victoria Park (revised 1993)
1993 University of Sydney Landscape Master Plan by Conybeare Morrison & Partners
1998 Veterinary Conference Building completed
1998 Victoria Park Lawn Bowls clubhouse removed
2002 Feasibility study Campus 2010 + Building for the Future Program presented and approved by Senate.
2002 The University of Sydney Grounds Conservation Plan presented a holistic campus-wide policy guiding conservation and management.
2002 Works completed to reinstate the main avenue vista from City Road through Victoria Park to the university grounds.
2003 Campus Planning Strategy introduces concepts of community impacts and organisational goals to development and infrastructure.
2003 Victoria Park Lawn Bowls greens removed and returfed
2007 Original entrance gates, which had been moved to Eastern Avenue reinstated at the City Road end of the old entrance avenue. Gardeners Lodge refurbished.
2008 Campus 2020 Masterplan (Cox Architects) addresses current and future research & teaching needs, traffic management, heritage buildings, restoration of green space, visual and pedestrian linkages and precinct development.
2010 new Law Building completed on Eastern Avenue
2010 Victoria Park playground upgrade completed
2012 Gardener's Lodge restored and refurbished as cafe.
2014 Charles Perkins Centre opens - first major research facility in 40 years - on land given by St John's College.
2015 - present Colleges (St John's, Santa Sophia, Women's, St Paul's) expanding with additional residences and facilities
2016 The University undertakes a large capital works program with the aim of revitalising the campus and providing more office, teaching and student space, including program to remove 'temporary' and 'transient' buildings.
2016 Australian Institute of Nanoscience opens behind Physics Building
2017 Construction of 3 new buildings (FASS building on Parramatta Road/Science Road, LEES1 Building and Administration Building on Eastern Avenue at City Road entrance)
2017 Victoria Park works including new paths, lighting, seating, signage, recreation space and refurbishing of Lake Northam commenced.

*Walter Liberty Vernon (1846-1914) was both architect and soldier. Born in England, he ran successful practices in Hastings and London and had estimable connections in artistic and architectural circles. In 1883 he had a recurrence of bronchitic asthma and was advised to leave the damp of England. He and his wife sailed to New South Wales. Before leaving, he gained a commission to build new premesis for Merrrs David Jones and Co., in Sydney's George Street. In 1890 he was appointed Government Architect - the first to hold that title - in the newly reorganised branch of the Public Works Department. He saw his role as building 'monuments to art'. His major buildings, such as the Art Gallery of New South Wales (1904-6) are large in scale, finely wrought in sandstone, and maintaining the classical tradition. Among others are the Mitchell Wing of the State Library, Fisher Library at the University of Sydney and Central Railway Station. He also added to a number of buildings designed by his predecessors, including Customs House, the GPO and Chief Secretary's Building - with changes which did not meet with the approval of his immediate precedessor, James Barnet who, nine years after his resignation, denounced Vernon's additions in an essay and documentation of his own works. In England, Vernon had delighted his clients with buildings in the fashionable Queen Anne style. In NSW, a number of British trained architects whow were proponents of hte Arts and Crafts style joined his office and under their influence, Vernon changed his approach to suburban projects. Buildings such as the Darlinghurst First Station (Federation Free style, 1910) took on the sacale and character of their surroundings. Under Vernon's leadership, an impressive array of buildings was produced which were distinguished by interesting brickwork and careful climatic considerations, by shady verandahs, sheltered courtyards and provision for cross-flow ventilation. Examples are courthouses in Parkes (1904), Wellington (1912) and Bourke, Lands Offices in Dubbo (1897) and Orange (1904) and the Post Office in Wellington (1904)(Le Sueur, 2016, 7).

Historic themes

Australian theme (abbrev)New South Wales themeLocal theme
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures. Gardens-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures. Parks-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures. Other open space-
1. Environment-Tracing the evolution of a continent's special environments Environment - naturally evolved-Activities associated with the physical surroundings that support human life and influence or shape human cultures. Changing the environment-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent Aboriginal cultures and interactions with other cultures-Activities associated with maintaining, developing, experiencing and remembering Aboriginal cultural identities and practices, past and present. Eora nation - places of contact with the colonisers-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent Convict-Activities relating to incarceration, transport, reform, accommodation and working during the convict period in NSW (1788-1850) - does not include activities associated with the conviction of persons in NSW that are unrelated to the imperial 'convict system': use the theme of Law & Order for such activities Convict labour-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent Convict-Activities relating to incarceration, transport, reform, accommodation and working during the convict period in NSW (1788-1850) - does not include activities associated with the conviction of persons in NSW that are unrelated to the imperial 'convict system': use the theme of Law & Order for such activities Convict Stockade-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent Convict-Activities relating to incarceration, transport, reform, accommodation and working during the convict period in NSW (1788-1850) - does not include activities associated with the conviction of persons in NSW that are unrelated to the imperial 'convict system': use the theme of Law & Order for such activities Creating a gentleman's estate-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent Convict-Activities relating to incarceration, transport, reform, accommodation and working during the convict period in NSW (1788-1850) - does not include activities associated with the conviction of persons in NSW that are unrelated to the imperial 'convict system': use the theme of Law & Order for such activities Working on private assignment-
2. Peopling-Peopling the continent Convict-Activities relating to incarceration, transport, reform, accommodation and working during the convict period in NSW (1788-1850) - does not include activities associated with the conviction of persons in NSW that are unrelated to the imperial 'convict system': use the theme of Law & Order for such activities Working for the Crown-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture Private farming-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture Viticulture-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture Cropping-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Agriculture-Activities relating to the cultivation and rearing of plant and animal species, usually for commercial purposes, can include aquaculture Clearing land for farming-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Sydney and Australian Landmark-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Developing local, regional and national economies-National Theme 3
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Park-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Landscapes of urban amenity-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Gardens and landscapes reminiscent of an 'old country'-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Landscapes of institutions - productive and ornamental-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Environment - cultural landscape-Activities associated with the interactions between humans, human societies and the shaping of their physical surroundings Landscapes and parklands of distinctive styles-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Events-Activities and processes that mark the consequences of natural and cultural occurences Developing local landmarks-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Pastoralism-Activities associated with the breeding, raising, processing and distribution of livestock for human use Horse breeding and raising-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Pastoralism-Activities associated with the breeding, raising, processing and distribution of livestock for human use cattle-
3. Economy-Developing local, regional and national economies Pastoralism-Activities associated with the breeding, raising, processing and distribution of livestock for human use Agisting and fattening stock for slaughter-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities. Housing teachers-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities. Adapted heritage building or structure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities. Architectural design-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities. gate-house-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Accommodation-Activities associated with the provision of accommodation, and particular types of accommodation – does not include architectural styles – use the theme of Creative Endeavour for such activities. Accommodating students at university-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Early land grants-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Early farming (Cattle grazing)-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Resuming private lands for public purposes-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Land tenure-Activities and processes for identifying forms of ownership and occupancy of land and water, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Changing land uses - from rural to suburban-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Subdivision of rural estates-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Cultural Social and religious life-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages 19th Century Infrastructure-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Creating landmark structures and places in suburban settings-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Suburban Consolidation-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Rural Estates-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages community park-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Developing suburbia-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Role of transport in settlement-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Creating landmark structures and places in urban settings-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Beautifying towns and villages-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Planning manorial villages and systems-
4. Settlement-Building settlements, towns and cities Towns, suburbs and villages-Activities associated with creating, planning and managing urban functions, landscapes and lifestyles in towns, suburbs and villages Indicators of early town planning and the disposition of people within the emerging settlement-
5. Working-Working Labour-Activities associated with work practises and organised and unorganised labour Working in universities and research-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Tertiary education-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Education associated with Welfare institutions-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Adult Education-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. University campus-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Educating people in suburban locations-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Maintaining libraries and museums for educational purposes-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Public (tertiary) education-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Public (tertiary) education-
6. Educating-Educating Education-Activities associated with teaching and learning by children and adults, formally and informally. Providing public lectures, demonstrations for educational purposes-
7. Governing-Governing Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities. State government-
7. Governing-Governing Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities. Colonial government-
7. Governing-Governing Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities. Open Space Provision-
7. Governing-Governing Government and Administration-Activities associated with the governance of local areas, regions, the State and the nation, and the administration of public programs - includes both principled and corrupt activities. Developing roles for government - conserving cultural and natural heritage-
7. Governing-Governing Welfare-Activities and process associated with the provision of social services by the state or philanthropic organisations Children in need-
7. Governing-Governing Welfare-Activities and process associated with the provision of social services by the state or philanthropic organisations Providing a home for disadvantaged children-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Developing cultural institutions and ways of life-National Theme 8
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Monuments-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Gothic Revival-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Parks and public gardens-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. work of stonemasons-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Landscaping - Victorian period-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Landscaping - 20th century interwar-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Landscaping - 20th century post WW2-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Artists, bohemians and intellectuals squat or gathering point-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - International Style-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Interior design styles and periods - Victorian-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Interwar Mediterranean-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Interior design styles and periods - Edwardian-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Neoclassical-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Victorian (mid)-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Georgian Revival-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Designing landscapes in an exemplary style-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Designing structures to emphasise their important roles-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Designing in an exemplary architectural style-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Victorian (late)-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - late 20th Century Sydney Regional-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Architectural styles and periods - Federation Arts and Crafts-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Landscaping - Federation period-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Adaptation of overseas design for local use-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Creative endeavour-Activities associated with the production and performance of literary, artistic, architectural and other imaginative, interpretive or inventive works; and/or associated with the production and expression of cultural phenomena; and/or environments that have inspired such creative activities. Building in response to natural landscape features.-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions. Ways of life 1850-1900-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions. Ways of life 1900-1950-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions. Ways of life 1950-2000-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions. Ornamental Garden-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions. Valuing women's contributions-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Domestic life-Activities associated with creating, maintaining, living in and working around houses and institutions. Living in suburbia-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation musical gatherings-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Playground-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Visiting gardens-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation community park-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Outdoor concerts and performances-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Playing tennis-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Swimming-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Enjoying picnics-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Developing collections of items-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Going to an art gallery-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Activities associated with relaxation and recreation-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Going to a museum-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Visiting heritage places-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Enjoying public parks and gardens-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Gathering at landmark places to socialise-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Enjoying Fairgrounds-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Leisure-Activities associated with recreation and relaxation Visiting places of romantic inspiration-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship Practising Anglicanism-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship Practising Catholicism-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship Practising Presbyterianism-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship Anglican Community-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Religion-Activities associated with particular systems of faith and worship Practising Methodism-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities Belonging to an historical society or heritage organisation-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities Places of formal community gatherings-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities Places of informal community gatherings-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities Living in a university college-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Social institutions-Activities and organisational arrangements for the provision of social activities Developing exclusive clubs-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities bowls-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities Providing public sporting facilities-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities swimming-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities Private sporting facilities-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities badminton-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities Competitive running-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities Competitive running-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities tennis-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities football-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities Athletics-
8. Culture-Developing cultural institutions and ways of life Sport-Activities associated with organised recreational and health promotional activities squash-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Ken Woolley, modernist architect-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Lt.-Governor Major Francis Grose, governor, soldier-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with James Jones, French-trained gardener, Sydney Botanic Garden staff-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Edmund Blacket, Government Architect-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Walter Liberty Vernon, Government Architect 1890-1911, private architect-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Sir John Sulman, architect and town planner-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Walter Burley and Marion Mahony Griffin architects and landscape architects-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Charles Moore, Director Botanic Gardens and garden maker, 1848-96-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with William Sharp Macleay FRS, FLS, public servant, scholar and naturalist-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Professor Leslie Wilkinson, first Dean of Architecture, Sydney University-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with the Hon. William Charles Wentworth, explorer, politician, fathor of the Constitution-
9. Phases of Life-Marking the phases of life Persons-Activities of, and associations with, identifiable individuals, families and communal groups Associations with Sir Charles Douglass, pastoralist-

Assessment of significance

SHR Criteria a)
[Historical significance] 		The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park is of state significance for its historical connection that dates back to the foundation of the colony. The site encompasses a portion of the original 1000 acre (404.685 ha) 'Kanguroo Ground' reserved by Governor Arthur Phillip in August 1790. Inclusive of timbered land, prominent ridges, and valleys with fresh water sources, this tract of land was designated for church (400 acres), Crown (400 acres) and school (200 acres) usage. The site is a vestige of the latter two areas.
The later leasing of the part of this land to military officers (Grose Farm) and its use for agistment, agricultural experimentation, farming education, a stockade for convicts and establishment of a female orphan school provides an understanding of the cultural history of the local area.

The University of Sydney is of state significance as the oldest university in Australia used continuously for university purposes and created within a few years of the foundation of university education in Australia. The buildings, grounds layout, and features demonstrate major changes in tertiary education, public building planning and design, landscape and streetscape design, and social attitudes to institutions over that period.
A key aspect of the heritage significance of the University grounds is the continuity of planning, development and use from the first buildings in the early 1850s to the present time. Despite expansion and infill development, many planning axes, alignments and building groupings established progressively through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries remain as prominent and defining features of the University.

The site is of state heritage significance for its continuity of provision of sporting and leisure facilities to the people of Sydney and NSW. Sport also has been an important factor in University student life and in the use of the University grounds. The sporting facilities at the University contributed significantly to the retention of open space and green buffers between the built forms of the campus.

The site has held socially and nationally significant sporting events such as horse racing (pre and post university), rugby football (oldest club in Australia), cricket, tennis and hockey (including inter-state and international matches) and Sydney's first in-ground public pool (King George VI, Victoria Park).
Victoria Park has been a place of continuous children's play & leisure activities for over 130 years, with a playground being a feature of the Park since 1912.

The Camperdown campus is of state heritage significance for pioneering tertiary education for women in NSW. In 1881 the University of Sydney Senate decided unanimously to admit women to the University on equal terms with men, thus being the first university in NSW to admit female students (1882). In 1892 the Women's College opened as the first university college for women in NSW and Australia. The second university college for women in NSW, Sancta Sophia College opened in 1925 as a residential college for Catholic Women.
The arrival of women to the university greatly influenced the development of the University, its recreational and sporting facilities.

The site is of state significance as the primary location of student movements of the 1960s and 70s. The University of Sydney's Student Action for Aborigines (SAFA), led by Aboriginal student activist Charles Perkins, organised a bus tour of rural towns in northern New South Wales from 12 to 26 February 1965, departing from the University. The Freedom Rides drew attention to inadequacies in Aboriginal housing and living conditions and instances of racial segregation in rural towns and thus supported Aboriginal people in challenging the status quo.
After the introduction of conscription for military service in 1965 the University of Sydney became a rallying point for anti-conscription demonstrations and protests, with the Front Lawn the scene of mass rallies of unprecedented size. Many of the anti-war movement rallies began at the University before marching into the city centre, including 10,000 marching down Broadway to attend Moratorium 1 on 8 May 1970.
SHR Criteria b)
[Associative significance] 		The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park has state significance for its association with a large number of notable people who were involved in the development and expansion of the University, its lands, the buildings, landscape and grounds. These include the initial land owners, those responsible for and involved in the initial establishment of the University as an institution, and the architects and designers who have designed and constructed the principal buildings and landscapes throughout each campus and developed the master plans for the place.

As a long-standing tertiary institution, there are necessarily a large number of people who have been associated with the place that are of importance, not only in NSW or Australia, but potentially worldwide. In particular, there are many academics, former students and chancellors that have contributed to the fields of science, history, politics, medicine and health, the arts, business, engineering and law, who have strong associations with the place.

In regard to the University of Sydney as an historic cultural landscape, there are a number of people who were involved in the initial establishment and subsequent development of the University and so have strong associations with the place. These include the following:

PERSON - ASSOCIATION/CONTRIBUTION
Governor Arthur Phillip - Reserved part of 'Kanguroo Ground' for future church, Crown and school usage (1790).

Lieutenant Governor Francis Grose - Original leaseholder (1792)

William Charles Wentworth - Member of the Legislative Council who initiated the formation of the University of Sydney (1849), Great Hall and East range (1855) and St Pauls College (first stage 1857) Legislative Council

Edward William Terrick Hamilton - First Chancellor of the University (1851-1854)

Sir Charles Nicholson - First Vice Chancellor of the University (1851-1853)

The Rev. John Woolley - First Principal of the University, appointed to the Chair of Classics and Logic (1852-1866)

The Rev. William Binnington Boyce, The Hon. Edward Broadhurst, Sir John Bayley Darvall, The Rt. Rev. Charles Henry Davis, The Hon Sir Edward Deas Thomson (Also an original trustee of Victoria Park 1870), Alfred Robert Denison, The Hon. Sir Stuart Alexander Donaldson, Edward Hamilton, The Hon. James Macarthur, The Hon. Francis Lewis Shaw Merewether, Sir Charles Nicholson, Bartholomew O'Brien, The Rev. William Purves, His Honour Sir Roger Therry, The Hon. William Charles Wentworth - Original 16 members of the Senate appointed by proclamation of the Governor. (1851)

Edmund Blacket (former NSW Colonial Architect) - First architect for the University of Sydney and responsible for the core buildings the Quadrangle Building. (1854-62)

Charles Moore - First Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens - responsible for the design of the plantings in Victoria Park and University Place in front of Quadrangle (1880)

James Barnet (NSW Government Architect) - Architect for the University of Sydney and part of the Anderson Stuart Building. (1883-92)

Edmund Barton - Graduate of the University, Senate member and Member of the NSW Parliament, representing the seat of the University of Sydney (1879-80). Later, Prime Minister of Australia

Walter Liberty Vernon (NSW Government Architect) - Architect for the University of Sydney and responsible for the first whole of site plan for the place.

George McRae (NSW Government Architect) - Architect for the University, developed a plan for the whole of the place (1914), resulting in the formalising and development of Science Road.

Walter Burley Griffin - Architect who developed a whole of site plan for the University focussing on landscape and visual and planning axes. (1915)

Leslie Wilkinson - First chair of the Faculty of Architecture and architect for the University of Sydney whose campus plan (1920) further developed Griffin's ideas for the place, many aspects of which survive today. Also integrated a diversity of buildings in Science Road.

Eben Gowrie Waterhouse - A linguist, landscape designer and international camellia expert, Waterhouse worked in collaboration with Wilkinson. The pursuit of beauty, a guiding Interwar philosophy, informed their selection and placement of courtyard planting schemes, street tree avenue planting and character trees. (1920s-1930s)

Mary Elizabeth Brown and Isola Florence Thompson - The first women to enrol (1882) at and graduate (1885) from the University of Sydney

Helen Phillips, Jane Foss Russell, Isabel Fidler - The Tutors to Women Students: (Phillips, 1891-92) (Russell, 1892-99) (Fidler, 1899-1939) The position was established to assist women students in adapting to university life.

Charles Perkins - a key member of the University of Sydney Student Action for Aborigines that was formed in 1964 to organise the Freedom Ride and was the first university student body in New South Wales dedicated to support Aboriginal rights. Perkins was the first Aboriginal person to head an Australian government department.
SHR Criteria c)
[Aesthetic significance] 		The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park is of state significance for a number of fine examples of architecture and landscape design. These aesthetic values relate to:

The Main Quadrangle Building, Anderson Stuart Building, and Gate Lodges, together with St Paul's College, St John's College and St Andrew's College, comprise what is arguably the most important group of Gothic and Tudor Revival style architecture in Australia, and the landscape and grounds features associated with these buildings, including Victoria Park, contribute to and support the existence and appreciation of their architectural qualities and aesthetic significance;

The cultural landscape reflecting directly the influence of E.T. Blacket (1850s), W.L.Vernon (1890s), W.B. Griffin (1910s), Professor L. Wilkinson (1920s) and the Government Architect's Office (1960s) in shaping the place. In particular, Blacket's location of the Great Hall and East Range of the Quadrangle (1854-1862) utilised the site's topography to provide a dramatic presentation of the University on approach from the city, a setting with planning axis that still remains. The site retains many of Blacket's and Wilkinson's planned spatial relationships between the buildings experienced via views, vistas, planned and visual axes as well as roads and paths, along with Wilkinson and Professor E. G. Waterhouse's work in beautifying and unifying buildings and their settings;

The University of Sydney and Victoria Park as connected landscapes, with planted features, including individual specimen trees, avenues of mature trees, open lawns, designed gardens and courtyards. The open spaces and roadways contribute to the aesthetic significance of the place and significant axial views. Across the site there are landscapes and gardens which demonstrate Picturesque (1850s-1890s), Arts and Crafts (1890s-1917) and Georgian Revival/Mediterranean (1915-1940s) aesthetic characteristics;

Victoria Park for its landmark location on the intersection of two major thoroughfares (Parramatta Road and City Road), as an "Approach Reserve" to the University of Sydney and its visual relationship to the University of Sydney. The Park retains substantial components of its formative 19th century 'picturesque' planning and design including fabric, spaces, layout, its Victorian character and importantly, the grand avenue linking City Road and the remaining original gate lodge to the tower of the Main Building of the University;

Individual buildings that demonstrate high quality architectural design and contribute greatly to the overall aesthetic character of the University as a whole including: R.D Watt Building (1912-16); Heyden-Laurence Building (1899); Holme Building (1910-12); Union Refectory (1922-24, 1939-41); Old Geology Building (1895); Macleay Building (1887); Botany Wing (1925); War Memorial Art Gallery (1953-1958); Main Quadrangle Building (1854-1924, 1966); Pharmacy (1888-1890); Bank Building (1854); Badham Building (1888); John Woolley Building (1908), Manning House (1917); Edward Ford Building (1930); Physics Building (1925); J.D. Stewart Building (1910-12); Round House (1920-21); Baxter's Lodge (1939-40); Fisher Library (1958-62); Fisher Library Stack (1967-1971); Chemistry Building (1958); Anderson Stuart Building (1885); and Gate Keeper's Lodge (1898); and St Paul's College (1859), St John's College(1862), St Andrew's College (1876), The Women's College (1892), Wesley College (1917)and Sancta Sophia College (1925);

The sporting facilities at the University and Colleges contributing significantly to the retention of open space and green buffers between the built forms of the campus. They are traditional open spaces that are readily associated with university and college life, and they form a strong element of the traditional campus form; and

Site features such as the boundary treatments, gateways, artworks (sculptures) and memorials that individually and together contribute to the overall aesthetic and historic character of the University as a whole.
SHR Criteria d)
[Social significance] 		The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park has substantial social values at state level for a range of affiliated communities and groups. These values are attached to the whole of the University, each of the colleges, campuses and individual faculties, Victoria Park, as well as smaller precincts, vistas, buildings and features in the grounds. These values may be associated with experiences and memories that these places may hold and include:

Association as a major place for academic and professional groups and events;

Association as a major place for sporting groups and events;

Association as a communal cultural space known for its museums, cultural groups and events;

The University as a place of social protest eg. Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, and the 1965 Freedom Ride;

The amount of cultural material that exists for the place e.g. the number of artworks, media stories and publications with the University as a subject matter;

The Park's sense of place, as a landmark major open space within inner-Sydney, a passive recreation area, and for the active use of the Victoria Park Swimming Pool;

The swimming pool as a focus of over 60 years of water-based recreational activity within the Park for the local and broader community;

The Park being used for major events and gatherings including an unofficial Aboriginal tent embassy (2000-2004), the Yabun Festival of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures held annually on 26th of January, and the annual Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras Fair Day;

Over 130 years of children using Victoria Park as a place of play; and

Eminent men and women who are University graduates, academics and chancellery demonstrating a major association to all aspects of Australian society and the nation's development.
SHR Criteria e)
[Research potential] 		The cultural landscape is of state heritage significance for its ability to demonstrate activities of the colonial era (1792-1855) associated with Grose Farm, convict stockade and orphan school. The potential for significant archaeological evidence of the post-European settlement period relates to the pre-university land use of Grose Farm, and the early development of the
University and Park.

The heritage significance of the place from a heraldic perspective is paramount within New South Wales and probably Australia. The cultural landscape features such a wide array of coats of arms and crests installed over such a broad period of time; and as such provides a unique prism for research and analysing the history of Sydney, of New South Wales and of Australia.
SHR Criteria f)
[Rarity] 		The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park contain a number of buildings and landscapes that are rare or unique and of state significance. These include:

The Main Quadrangle Building, the Anderson Stuart Building and the Gate Lodges, together with St Paul's, St John's and St Andrew's Colleges, as a rare composition, comprise what is likely to be the most important group of Gothic and Tudor Revival style architecture in New South Wales and potentially Australia;

The structure of the University as a non-denominational, non-residential institution with provision for residential colleges to be located on the ridges, viewed across the valley from the Main Buildings by the four religious denominations represented a unique approach to the institution's design;

The long axis and grand triple avenue (of which major remnants remain) linking City Road to Edmund Blacket's Main Building tower being a rare example of a Blacket landscape design;

Victoria Park as a contemporarily planned setting for a major 19th century university campus, being a reserve associated from its beginnings with the first university in Australia;

Landscape and planted features from the early 1880s of individual specimen trees and avenues of mature trees, including rare plantings in cultivation in Sydney (e.g. Combretum erythrophyllum, Ficus superba var., Muelleri and, possibly, Ficus macrophylla subsp. columnaris and Quercus acutissima);

Botanical collections such as camellia plantings by E.G.Waterhouse and rare cultural landscape groupings of significant trees;

The intactness of the groupings of buildings across the history of the development of the site (i.e few have been demolished);
All the above, that individually and together contribute to the overall unique and historic character of the site as a whole.
SHR Criteria g)
[Representativeness] 		The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park is of state significance as an item that demonstrates principal characteristics of a class of NSWs cultural place or environment as the site:

Is one of the finest examples of connected landscapes in NSW with a continuous history from pre-colonial times to today. The University grounds are inextricably linked to Victoria Park and reflect Governor Phillip's designated land reserve (1789) for school, Crown and church purposes, with an allowance for the "formation of a park and garden in connection therewith". The developed landscapes having retained the topography and much of the original landform. The site retains elements of the early colonial Grose Farm, the establishment of the University and the colonial landscaping;

Contains what is likely to be the most important group of Gothic and Tudor Revival style architecture in New South Wales and potentially Australia;

Demonstrates the aspirations of colonial Sydney to shape its own society, polity and ideals, which ultimately led to the establishment of the University of Sydney and University Colleges by Acts of Parliament in 1850 and 1854 respectively. The University is a tangible representation of the early development of NSW and the development of the state and nation. It represents an important part of the development of NSW and Australia into the country that we see today. It is a significant example of the influence of government-funded education. The distribution of the University colleges around the periphery (separating the teaching buildings from the residential), stressed the communal nature of the University as a whole;
Represents a microcosm of the development of architectural design, town planning and landscape design in New South Wales and Australia;

Has been a major landmark of Sydney and NSW since its inception and reflects a fulfilment of Governor Phillip's designated land reserve (1789) for school, Crown and church purposes, with an allowance for the "formation of a park and garden in connection therewith". Prominence of the University was created with the placement of Edmund Blacket's Main Quadrangle Building on the crest of Petersham Ridge, with sweeping views up to it from the main artery leaving the city, Parramatta Road. The positioning of the building was a conscious statement of the importance of the University. Victoria Park is unique within NSW as a contemporarily planned setting for a major 19th century university campus. Overall, many features of this large site retain their integrity from the date of their establishment. Such features include the alignment of the site boundaries and their treatments, the internal layout of many of the roads, the configuration of buildings and gardens and the uses of the buildings and precincts; and

Is held in high esteem by the local community, local council, students, graduates, academics, staff, benefactors and sporting club members as an iconic place of historic, academic, cultural, sporting, recreational and social pursuits and events.
Integrity/Intactness: Overall, many features of the University of Sydney and University Colleges retain their integrity from the date of their establishment. Such features include the alignment of the site, boundaries and their treatments, the internal layout of many of the roads, the configuration of buildings and gardens and the uses of a number of the buildings and precincts.

The remnant Victoria Park is one of Sydney's more intact Victorian landscape designs and still conveys a sense of the skill with which it exploited the natural drainage system and topography. It retains substantial components, including fabric, spaces, layout and Victorian character of its formative 19th century planning and design.

Despite being complicated by continuous redevelopment and re-interpretation of its cultural heritage elements, study of the fabric of the place and the related documentary evidence indicates that most of the components of the place could be restored or reconstructed to an earlier known configuration if this was considered appropriate.
Assessment criteria: Items are assessed against the PDF State Heritage Register (SHR) Criteria to determine the level of significance. Refer to the Listings below for the level of statutory protection.

Recommended management:

Recommendations

Management CategoryDescriptionDate Updated
Recommended ManagementProduce a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) 
Recommended ManagementReview a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) 
Recommended ManagementPrepare a maintenance schedule or guidelines 
Recommended ManagementCarry out interpretation, promotion and/or education 

Procedures /Exemptions

Section of actDescriptionTitleCommentsAction date
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - Grounds Conservation Management Plan (Revised) - Darlington Campus CMP endorsed 8 July 2019. See SF19/8231. Jul 15 2019
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - St Johns College CMP endorsed 4 March 2020. See SF23/126240. Mar 4 2020
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - Chemistry Building University of Sydney Conservation Management Plan CMP endorsed 5 March 2020. See DOC19/1057746. Mar 5 2020
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - Anderson Stuart Building Conservation Management Plan Issue F - 20 December 2019 CMP endorsed 10 May 2022. See DOC22/697122. May 10 2022
57(2)Exemption to allow workStandard Exemptions ORDER UNDER SECTION 57(2) OF THE HERITAGE ACT 1977

Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977.

I, the Hon James Griffin MP, Minister for Environment and Heritage, pursuant to subsection 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977, on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales do by this Order, effective at the time of publication in the New South Wales Government Gazette:

1. revoke the order made on 9 November 2020 and published in the Government Gazette Number 318 of 13 November 2020; and

2. grant the exemptions from subsection 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 that are described in the attached Schedule.

The Hon James Griffin MP
Minister for Environment and Heritage
Signed this 2nd day of June 2022.

To view the standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 click on the link below. 		Jun 17 2022
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - Macleay Building University of Sydney Conservation Management Plan CMP Endorsed 30 June 2023. See DOC22/1063738. Jun 30 2023
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - A14 Quadrangle. CMP endorsed 30 June 2023. See DOC22/1127239. Jun 30 2023
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - Badham, Bank and Pharmacy Buildings CMP endorsed 30 June 2023. See DOC22/1127239 Jun 30 2023
CMP-EndorseConservation Plan submitted for endorsementCMP Endorsed - Edgeworth David Building CMP Endorsed 30 June 2023. See DOC22/1063567 Jun 30 2023
57(2)Exemption to allow workHeritage Act - Site Specific Exemptions Exemption Order for The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park listing on the State Heritage Register (SHR) No. 01974 under the Heritage Act 1977

I, Penny Sharpe, the Minister for Heritage, pursuant to section 57(2) of the Heritage Act 1977 (the Act), on the recommendation of the Heritage Council of New South Wales dated 4 December 2023, do by this Order:

1. revoke the order made on 2 August 2018 and published in the NSW Government Gazette Number 85 of 31 August 2018.
2. grant an exemption from section 57(1) of the Act in respect of the engaging in or carrying out of any activities described in Schedule C by the owner, manager, mortgagee or lessee (or persons authorised by the owner or manager) of the item described in Schedule A on the land identified in Schedule B.

This Order takes effect on the date it is published in the NSW Government Gazette.

Dated this 18th day of December 2023.
The Hon Penny Sharpe MLC
Minister for Heritage

SCHEDULE A
The item known as The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park, SHR No. 01974, situated on the land described in Schedule B.

SCHEDULE B
The item known as The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park, SHR No 01974, located as identified on the plan catalogued HC Plan 2734 in the office of the Heritage Council of New South Wales.

SCHEDULE C
The following specified activities and works to an item do not require approval under section 57(1) of the Act.

1. THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

The below site specific exemptions apply to the land designated as the University of Sydney within the curtilage of The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park State Heritage Register item.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS
1) An endorsed conservation management plan is one endorsed by the Heritage Council of NSW or its delegate.
2) A non-endorsed conservation management plan must meet the following conditions:
a. It must contain a 'gradings of significance' section which identifies and grades the fabric and spaces of the building according to the Heritage Council of NSW grading system outlined in Assessing Heritage Significance: Guidelines for assessing places and objects against the Heritage Council of NSW criteria (May 2023) and include plans and sections which visually depict the identified gradings.
b. It must be prepared by a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.
c. It must be prepared in accordance with the requirements for a detailed and best-practice conservation management plan as outlined in the Heritage Council of NSW document Statement of best practice for conservation management plans (2021).
d. It must be consistent with the Heritage Council of NSW documents: Guidance on developing a conservation management plan (2021) and Conservation Management Plan checklist (2021).
e. It must be approved by the University of Sydney heritage expert and the University of Sydney Heritage Advisory Group.
3) The attached plan is a simplified version of Figure 4.1 on page 105 of the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (2019).
4) Otherwise, all other terms are defined according to the Glossary of Terms contained within the current Heritage Council of NSW Standard Exemptions.

[ATTACHED PLAN - Please see images of HMS item record or NSW Government Gazettte 596 of 22 December 2023. Attached plan is titled 'University of Sydney - Buildings identified to be of exceptional and high significance in the Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019)'.]

GENERAL CONDITIONS
These general conditions apply to the use of all the site specific exemptions and must be complied with:
1) For the purposes of the site specific exemptions an endorsed conservation management plan takes precedent over a non-endorsed conservation management plan for a building.
2) Anything done under the site specific exemptions must be carried out by people with knowledge, skills and experience appropriate to the work (some site specific exemptions require suitably qualified and experienced professional advice/work).
3) The site specific exemptions do not permit the removal of relics or Aboriginal objects. If relics are discovered, work must cease in the affected area and the Heritage Council of NSW must be notified in writing in accordance with section 146 of the Heritage Act 1977. Depending on the nature of the discovery, assessment and an excavation permit may be required prior to the recommencement of work in the affected area. If any Aboriginal objects are discovered, excavation or disturbance is to cease, and Heritage NSW notified in accordance with section 89A of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974. Aboriginal object has the same meaning as in the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.
4) Activities/works that do not fit strictly within the exemptions described below require approval by way of an application under section 60 of the Heritage Act 1977.
5) The site specific exemptions are self-assessed. It is the responsibility of a proponent to ensure that the proposed activities/works fall within the site specific exemptions.
6) The proponent is responsible for ensuring that any activities/works undertaken by them meet all the required conditions and have all necessary approvals.
7) Proponents must keep records of any activities/works for auditing and compliance purposes by the Heritage Council of NSW. Where advice of a suitably qualified and experienced professional has been sought, a record of that advice must be kept. Records must be kept in a current readable electronic file or hard copy for a reasonable time.
8) It is an offence to do any of the things listed in section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977 without a valid exemption or approval.
9) A person guilty of an offence against the Heritage Act 1977 shall be liable to a penalty or imprisonment, or both under section 157 of the Heritage Act 1977.
10) Authorised persons under the Heritage Act 1977 carry out inspections for compliance.
11) The site specific exemptions under the Heritage Act 1977 are not authorisations, approvals, or exemptions for the activities/works under any other legislation, Local Government and State Government requirements (including, but not limited to, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974).
12) The site specific exemptions under the Heritage Act 1977 do not constitute satisfaction of the relevant provisions of the National Construction Code for ancillary works.
13) Activities or work undertaken pursuant to a site specific exemption must not, if it relates to an existing building, cause the building to contravene the National Construction Code.
14) In these exemptions, words have the same meaning as in the Heritage Act 1977 or the relevant guidelines, unless otherwise indicated. Where there is an inconsistency between relevant guidelines and these exemptions, these exemptions prevail to the extent of the inconsistency. Where there is an inconsistency between either relevant guidelines or these exemptions and the Heritage Act 1977, the Act will prevail.
15) The Heritage Manual (1996, Heritage Office and Department of Urban Affairs & Planning) and The Maintenance Series (1996 republished 2004, NSW Heritage Office and Department of Urban Affairs & Planning) guidelines must be complied with when undertaking any activities/works on an item.

EXEMPTION 1.1: EXISTING APPROVED DEVELOPMENT
All works and activities in accordance with a current and valid development consent in force at the date of gazettal for listing on the State Heritage Register, including any development application approved at the time of gazettal on the State Heritage Register.

EXEMPTION 1.2: ENDORSED CONSERVATION MANAGEMENT PLAN - WORKS, ACTIVITIES AND USES
Any activities, work, and use identified as exempt in accordance with the policies specified in a conservation management plan endorsed under the Heritage Act 1977.

EXEMPTION 1.3: GENERAL EXEMPTION
For all buildings not graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:
(i) External alterations that do not increase the building envelope or change its character (excluding demolition); and
(ii) Internal alterations.

EXEMPTION 1.4: BUILDING INTERIORS AND EXTERIORS - REPAIRS TO SIGNIFICANT FABRIC
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:

Specified activities and works
(i) Repair (such as refixing and patching) of damaged or deteriorated significant fabric.
(ii) Replacement of missing, damaged, or deteriorated significant fabric that is beyond further maintenance.

Relevant standards
(i) Significant fabric must be identified as such in the endorsed or non-endorsed conservation management plan for the building.
(ii) All works and activities must be in accordance with the endorsed or non-endorsed conservation management plan for the building.
(iii) All exterior works and activities must be in accordance with the policies of the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019).
(iv) Specified activities must not impact the heritage significance of the item.
(v) The repair must maximise protection and retention of significant fabric and conserve existing detailing.
(vi) The repair must be sympathetic to existing fabric in appearance, material, and method of affixing.
(vii) The composition of elements of the fabric (such as renders, mortars, and timber species and metal types) are to remain the same (unless intrusive fabric).
(viii) Specified activities and works must be undertaken by a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

EXEMPTION 1.5: BUILDING INTERIORS - INTERNAL RECONFIGURATIONS
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:
(i) Internal reconfiguration of rooms or spaces, where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance as identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and is otherwise consistent with the policies of the endorsed conservation management plan.
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed conservation management plan for a building, the internal reconfiguration of rooms or spaces, under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
b. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
c. All activities are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

EXEMPTION 1.6: BUILDING INTERIORS - INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SYSTEMS AND AUDIO-VISUAL EQUIPMENT
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:
(i) The installation and upgrade of information technology systems and audio-visual equipment, where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance as identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and is otherwise consistent with the policies of the endorsed conservation management plan.
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed conservation management plan for a building, the installation and upgrade of information technology systems and audio-visual equipment, under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
b. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
c. All activities and works are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

EXEMPTION 1.7: BUILDING INTERIORS AND EXTERIORS - DISABILITY ACCESS
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:

Building interiors:
(i) All works and activities to provide disability access in accordance with the Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards 2010 where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and is otherwise consistent with the policies of the endorsed conservation management plan.
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed conservation management plan for a building, the provision of disability access in accordance with the Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards 2010, under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
b. All activities and works must be reversible.
c. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
d. All activities and works are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

Building exteriors
(i) All works and activities to provide disability access in accordance with the Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards 2010 where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019) and is otherwise consistent with the policies of these endorsed conservation management plans.
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed conservation management plan for a building, the provision of disability access in accordance with the Disability (Access to Premises - Buildings) Standards 2010, under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan or the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019).
b. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan and the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019).
c. All activities and works are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

EXEMPTION 1.8: BUILDING INTERIORS - FIRE SUPPRESSION SYSTEMS
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:
(i) All works and activities to install and upgrade fire suppression systems (such as sprinklers) where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and is otherwise consistent with the policies of the endorsed conservation management plan.
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed conservation management plan for a building, all works and activities to install and upgrade fire suppression systems (such as sprinklers), under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
b. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
c. All activities and works are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

EXEMPTION 1.9: SECURITY SYSTEMS
For activities and works to install and upgrade security systems (including security cameras, swipe card readers, people counters, electronic room booking panels, security bollards, alarm systems and gate automation systems) across different areas of the University of Sydney as defined and conditioned below.

Campus domain
All works and activities to install and upgrade security systems under the condition that all works and activities are in accordance with the policies of the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019).

Building exteriors
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:
(i) All works and activities to install and upgrade security systems where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and is otherwise consistent with the policies of this endorsed conservation management plan and the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019).
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed Conservation Management Plan for a building, all activities and works to install and upgrade security systems, under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
b. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan and the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019).
c. All activities and works are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

Building interiors
For all buildings graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan:
(i) All works and activities to install and upgrade security systems where this work does not adversely impact fabric or spaces having exceptional or high significance identified in the endorsed conservation management plan for that building and is otherwise consistent with the policies of the endorsed conservation management plan.
(ii) In the absence of an endorsed conservation management plan for a building, all works and activities to install and upgrade security systems, under the condition that:
a. Activities and works do not adversely impact fabric or spaces identified as having exceptional or high significance in a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
b. All activities and works are in accordance with the policies of a non-endorsed conservation management plan.
c. All activities and works are carried out under the supervision of a suitably qualified and experienced heritage professional.

EXEMPTION 1.10: CAMPUS DOMAIN - GENERAL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS
Works and activities to allow general maintenance and repair under the condition that all activities and works are in accordance with the polices of the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019):
(i) Tree surgery or tree removal where considered necessary for the health of a tree, or the safety of the public or staff, provided a concurrent proposal for a replacement is implemented in accordance with the University of Sydney Tree Management Plan;
(ii) Pruning of less than 30 per cent of the canopy of trees within a two (2) year period as recommended by a qualified arborist and approved by the University of Sydney heritage expert for the tree's health or public safety reasons;
(iii) Routine horticultural maintenance, including lawn mowing, cultivation and pruning;
(iv) Repair of damage caused by erosion and implementation of erosion control measures;
(v) Maintenance, repair and resurfacing of existing roads, paths, fences and gates;
(vi) Maintenance and repair of any pools and fountains, structures, monuments, statues and works of art, including temporary relocation for conservation or protection, with restoration to the original location within 18 months;
(vii) Maintenance, repair and resurfacing of sports fields and other sports courts; and
(viii) Maintenance and repair of retaining walls.

EXEMPTION 1.11: CAMPUS DOMAIN - WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO FURNITURE AND FIXTURES
The installation, relocation, removal and maintenance of park furniture, barbeques, play equipment, light poles, bollards and fixtures where the University of Sydney heritage expert is satisfied that the proposal is consistent with the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019) and will not materially affect the heritage significance of the university as a whole or any buildings or area in which they are to be undertaken.

EXEMPTION 1.12: CAMPUS DOMAIN - WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO STATUES, MONUMENTS, POOLS AND FOUNTAINS
Management of statues, monuments, pools and fountains, including minor maintenance and minor repair of any artwork, monument, pool, fountain or work within the campus where the University of Sydney heritage expert is satisfied that the works will not materially affect the heritage significance of the area in which they are to be undertaken.

EXEMPTION 1.13: CAMPUS DOMAIN - SERVICES AND UTILITIES
Works and activities to allow for the maintenance and repair of services and utilities:
(i) Maintenance and repair of services and utilities, including communications, gas, electricity, water supply, waste removal, irrigation and drainage;
(ii) Upgrade of services and utilities, including communications, gas, electricity, water supply, waste removal, irrigation and drainage, where the University of Sydney heritage expert is satisfied that the activity does not materially affect the heritage significance of the area in which it is located; and
(iii) Installation, maintenance and removal of waste bins in accordance with the University's waste management policies.

EXEMPTION 1.14: CAMPUS DOMAIN - ROADS, PATHWAYS AND FENCES
Works and activities to allow the alteration of roads, pathways and fences:
(i) Closure, removal, alteration or construction of roads and pathways in accordance with the endorsed Sydney University Grounds Conservation Management Plan (May 2019);
(ii) Repair, alteration, removal and installation of fences to implement the University's policies; and
(iii) Parking management measures to implement the University's parking policies.

EXEMPTION 1.15: SIGNAGE
Management of interpretative, informative and directional signage:
(i) Installation, alteration and removal of all interpretive, informative and directional signage in accordance with a Signage Manual approved under the Heritage Act 1977.

EXEMPTION 1.16: EVENTS
Works and activities allowing for the management of temporary events:
(i) Temporary use of a section of the Camperdown campus, temporary road closures and the installation of temporary buildings, structures, fencing, facilities, crowd control barriers, stages, lighting, sound and public address equipment and signage for a total period not exceeding two (2) months, where the University of Sydney heritage expert is satisfied that the activity will not materially affect the heritage significance of the campus as a whole or the area in which it is to be undertaken; and
(ii) Temporary installation of exhibitions, artworks, statutes and monuments for temporary exhibitions or events for a total period of less than three (3) months.

EXEMPTION 1.17: EXEMPT AND COMPLYING DEVELOPMENT
(i) Any development, activities and work identified as exempt and complying development in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008;
(ii) For the purpose of clause 2.20(2)(e) of State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021, the development, activities and work described in the site specific exemptions in 1.3 to 1.16 above are taken to involve no more than minimal impact on the heritage significance of the University of Sydney as assessed by a qualified heritage professional;
(iii) For the purpose of clauses 3.16(3)(e) and 3.49 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021, Chapter 3 Educational establishments and childcare facilities, the development, activities and work described in the site specific exemptions in 1.3 to 1.16 above are taken to involve no more than minimal impact on the heritage significance of the University of Sydney as assessed by a qualified heritage professional;
(iv) For all buildings not graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan: Any development, activities and works identified as complying development in the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008; and
(v) For all buildings not graded as having exceptional or high significance in the attached plan: Any development, activities and works identified as complying development in clauses 2.22 and 3.50(1) of State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021, Chapter 3 Educational establishments and childcare facilities.

2. VICTORIA PARK

The below site specific exemptions apply to the land designated as Victoria Park within the curtilage of The University of Sydney, University Colleges and Victoria Park State Heritage Register item.

EXEMPTION 2.1: EXISTING APPROVED DEVELOPMENT
All works and activities in accordance with a current and valid development consent in force at the date of gazettal for listing on the State Heritage Register, including any development application approved at the time of gazettal on the State Heritage Register.

EXEMPTION 2.2: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW GENERAL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
(i) Tree surgery where considered necessary for the health of a tree or the safety of the public or staff;
(ii) Tree removal where considered necessary for the safety of the public or staff provided a concurrent proposal for a replacement species is submitted to and approved by the Council of the City of Sydney's Tree Management Officer;
(iii) Pruning of less than 30 per cent of the canopy of trees within a two (2) year period as recommended by a qualified arborist and approved by the Council of the City of Sydney's Tree Management Officer for the tree's health or public safety reasons;
(iv) Routine horticultural maintenance, including lawn mowing, cultivation and pruning;
(v) Repair of damage caused by erosion and implementation of erosion control measures;
(vi) Maintenance, repair and resurfacing of existing roads, paths, fences and gates;
(vii) Maintenance and repair of any building, structure, monument or work including temporary relocation for conservation or protection; and
(viii) Maintenance, repair and resurfacing of playground and other sports courts.

EXEMPTION 2.3: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW FOR THE MAINTENCE OF SERVICES AND UTILITIES
(i) Maintenance and repair of services and public utilities including communications, gas, electricity, water supply, waste disposal, sewerage, irrigation and drainage;
(ii) Upgrade of services and public utilities where the Council of the City of Sydney is satisfied that the activity will not materially affect the heritage significance of Victoria Park as a whole or the area in which they are to be undertaken;
(iii) Maintenance and upgrade works to buildings undertaken to improve public safety or the suppression of fire which in the opinion of the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design do not impact on the heritage significance of the building or work;
(iv) Installation, maintenance and removal of waste bins to implement the Council of the City of Sydney's waste management policies; and
(v) Extension of irrigation system as necessary to areas currently without this infrastructure.

EXEMPTION 2.4: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 2015 VICTORIA PARK IMPROVEMENTS PLAN
(i) Removal of existing trees and planting of new trees where necessary to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan;
(ii) Removal, construction or alteration of garden beds, hard landscaping and plantings to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan; and
(iii) Closure, removal, alteration or construction of pathways and fences to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Implementation Plan.

EXEMPTION 2.5: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF LAWNS, PLAYGROUND, GARDEN BEDS, HARD LANDSCAPING AND LIVING COLLECTIONS
(i) Removal, construction or alteration of garden beds, hard landscaping and plantings to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan where the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design is satisfied that the activity will not materially affect the heritage significance of Victoria Park as a whole or the area in which they are to be undertaken;
(ii) Alteration of perimeter fencing to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan; and
(iii) Routine horticultural curation, including development and management of displays.

EXEMPTION 2.6: MANAGEMENT OF INTERPRETIVE, INFORMATION AND DIRECTIONAL SIGNAGE
Installation, removal and alteration of interpretative, information and directional signage and labels in accordance with signage policies adopted by the Council of the City of Sydney.

EXEMPTION 2.7: MANAGEMENT OF ARTWORKS, STATUES, AND MONUMENTS
(i) Installation, relocation and removal of artworks, statues and monuments to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan; and
(ii) Minor maintenance and minor repair of any artwork, statue, monument, fountain or work within the park where the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design is satisfied that the works will not materially affect the heritage significance of the area in which they are to be undertaken.

EXEMPTION 2.8: MANAGEMENT OF LAKE NORTHAM
(i) Maintenance and upgrade works to improve public safety which in the opinion of the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design do not impact on the heritage significance of the lake or item;
(ii) Maintenance and upgrade works to the fountain; and
(iii) Maintenance, alterations and upgrade works to implement the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan.

EXEMPTION 2.9: FURNITURE AND FIXTURES
Installation, relocation, removal and maintenance of park furniture, barbeques, play equipment, light poles, bollards and fixtures where the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design is satisfied that the proposal is consistent with the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan.

EXEMPTION 2.10: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES TO ALLOW FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF TEMPORARY EVENTS
(i) Temporary use of Victoria Park and the installation of temporary buildings, structures, fencing, facilities, crowd control barriers, stages, lighting, sound and public address equipment and signage for a period not exceeding three (3) months in total per annum where the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design, is satisfied that the activity will not materially affect the heritage significance of Victoria Park as a whole or the area in which they are to be undertaken; and
(ii) Temporary installation of exhibitions, artworks, statues and monuments for temporary exhibitions or events for a period of less than six (6) months.

EXEMPTION 2.11: CAPITAL WORKS PROGRAM
Activities related to the Council of the City of Sydney's Capital Works Program where in accordance with the 2015 Victoria Park Improvements Plan and where the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design, is satisfied that the activity will not materially affect the heritage significance of Victoria Park as a whole or the area in which they are to be undertaken.

EXEMPTION 2.12: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES ALLOWING ALTERATIONS TO EXISTING RECENT DEVELOPMENT
All works and activities for minor alterations and additions to current and valid development consents in force at the date of gazettal for listing on the State Heritage Register for Victoria Park where the Heritage Council of NSW or its delegate is satisfied that:
(i) The proposed works are substantially the same as the development for which consent was originally granted, before any modifications to that consent, for the purpose of this exemption only;
(ii) The proposed works will not incrementally or materially increase the impact of the original development consent on significant elements or characteristics of Victoria Park, such as, but not limited to, its setting, tree canopy, curtilage, subdivision and ownership patterns, remnant significant fabric, relics, landscape and natural features, current and historic access routes to significant elements, views to and from the item and its significant features and the capacity for interpretation of its significance; and
(iii) The Heritage Council of NSW has been notified in writing of the proposed works under this exemption before works commence including details of the works and their location, the Manager, Heritage and Urban Design has provided written confirmation that the works and their location will not materially affect the significance of the item, and the Heritage Council of NSW or its delegate has provided written confirmation that the works are exempt.

EXEMPTION 2.13: WORKS AND ACTIVITIES
Works and activities related to the repair and maintenance of the Victoria Park Pool. 		Dec 22 2023

PDF Standard exemptions for engaging in or carrying out activities / works otherwise prohibited by section 57(1) of the Heritage Act 1977

Listings

Heritage ListingListing TitleListing NumberGazette DateGazette NumberGazette Page
Heritage Act - State Heritage RegisterThe University of Sydney, University Col0197431 Aug 18 855710

References, internet links & images

TypeAuthorYearTitleInternet Links
WrittenBritton, Geoffrey2015Sydney University's early landscape: ET Blacket's brush with Cambridge? View detail
WrittenBurton, Craig2002'University Campuses' (entry) View detail
WrittenCrittenden, Victor2002'Shepherd, Thomas (c.1779-1835)' (entry) View detail
WrittenDodd, George, with Bennett, Professor Maxwell2020Pioneering Geologist and National Hero: Tannatt Edgeworth David
WrittenDr Michael Pearson, Duncan Marshall, Dr. Donald Ellsmore, Dr.Val Attenbrow, Sue Rosen, Rosemary Kerr, Chris Betteridge2002The University of Sydney - Grounds Conservation Plan - Volume 1
WrittenEdquist, Dr. Harriet, in Pioneers of Modernism: the Arts and Crafts Movement in Australia2008'Garden Craft'
WrittenEnvironmental Parnership Pty Ltd1992Victoria Park Draft Plan of Management
WrittenGeoffrey Britton Environmental Design & Heritage Consultant2009Conservation Assessment for Victoria Park, City Road, Camperdown, NSW
WrittenHeiss, Anita Aboriginal People and Place View detail
WrittenHowells, Trevor(1949-2015)2006University of Sydney Architecture
WrittenLe Sueur, Angela2016Government Architects - part 2
WrittenMorris, Colleen2002‘Jones, James (b.1839)’ (entry) View detail
WrittenProudfoot, Helen and Morris, Colleen2002'Victoria Park' (entry) View detail
WrittenThe University of Sydney, Campus Infrastructure Services2016The University of Sydney Grounds Conservation Management Plan (Revised)

Note: internet links may be to web pages, documents or images.
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Data source

The information for this entry comes from the following source:
Name: Heritage NSW
Database number: 5056444
File number: EF14/10022

Every effort has been made to ensure that information contained in the State Heritage Inventory is correct. If you find any errors or omissions please send your comments to the Database Manager.

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