Wistaria Gardens Since 1906

Celebrating 111 years of Parramatta's unique Federation-style Gardens established for the Asylum on the riverland to the north west of Parramatta Park.

A Brief History of the Wistaria Gardens.

The Wistaria Gardens are situated on the north-eastern edge of Parramatta Park and are dissected by Domain Creek at its’ mouth on the Parramatta River. The area was originally part of the 500 acres set aside by Gov. Arthur Phillip in 1788 as the Governor’s Domain. In the mid-1850s, the government decided to sell off a large proportion of the Domain which had by then grown to some 2000 acres keeping 200 acres for the recreation of the people of Parramatta (Parramatta Park).

Dr Richard Greenup, the Medical Superintendent of the then ‘Parramatta Lunatic Asylum” petitioned the Colonial Secretary for some of the Domain Land for a Farm to serve the institution, which was granted by 1859. Dr Edward Waldegrave Wardley, in his Annual Report on the Asylum in 1867, noted that 26 acres was now under cultivation. At the same time a smaller acreage was granted to the Roman Catholic Orphanage which was later given to the asylum, and this is the land on which the Wistaria Gardens were later developed.

The man largely responsible for the construction of the Gardens and the house within was Dr William Cotter Williamson (Medical Superintendent 1900 – 1921). Dr Williamson had an interest in botany and horticulture, and during the 1880s he had been the Asylum’s Assistant Medical Officer. During this time he influenced the plantings on the northern campus of the Asylum grounds with a collection of exotic trees, including rare palms and pine species. When Dr Williamson became the Medical Superintendent, he convinced the Department of Mental Hospitals of a need for a new official residence. The Government Architect Walter Liberty Vernon designed the new residence and construction began in 1906. Once completed Dr Williamson named the house “Glengarriff”, after a favourite and picturesque part of Ireland.

The Gardens won the admiration of visitors to adjacent Parramatta Park who would gather at the fences to see inside. There was also a pair of Black Swan that attracted much media interest for several years in the 1920s, who nested and brought up families within the Gardens and on the Parramatta River. Bowing to public interest, the Medical Superintendent Dr Guy Percival Underwood Prior opened the Gardens to the public in 1929 for a small entry fee. In 1930 Dr Prior allowed the sale of raffia, needlework and toys made by the patients from stalls in a small area of lawn within the gardens. The Wistaria Fete was born and has continued to this day every September, the funds raised going towards patient amenities.

The Wistaria Gardens have been slightly reduced in area since 1907, but continue to occupy about 2. 5 hectares of land. In the past garden “follies” in the form of “Torii” Gates, Arbours, Arches, Covered Walks, Aviaries and Lych Gates in an Edwardian interpretation of a Japanese garden once graced the site. Only remnants remain today. Plans to demolish Glengarriff and about half of the garden area in the late 1980s saw a community backlash that ultimately saved the site with the National Trust listing the gardens in 1994. Famous photo of the Wistaria Gardens c. 1950 (Originally taken by Joyce Compton).