Leadlight of Inner Western Sydney

Sydenham Road is one of the oldest roads in Marrickville The name Sydenham, like many of the names in the inner west of Sydney comes from the suburb of Sydenham near London. Sydenham Road was originally known as Swamp Road, which was a trach that lead northwest from where Sydenham Railway Station is now. The swamp was the Gumbramorra Swamp and this was to play a significant part in the development of Marrickville and Sydenham Road.

 

There have been numerous involving Sydenham Road and the button to the right links to the subdivision plans downloaded from the State Library of NSW. These numerous subdivisions have occurred from the 1860’s as the farmlands, large estates and market gardens were subdivided for housing. Travelling from the north western end of Sydenham from Livingstone Road provides an interesting perspective. On the slightly higher ground there are parks and free standing residences, in the middle, near Henson Park, the density of the housing increases but from Victoria Road east the land use is industrial

 

 The industrial area of Sydenham Road is flood prone to this day. One of the most infamous development o Sydenham Road was the Tramvale Estate of 1881 that created small houses on flood prone land. In 1889 the Cooks River flooded and the swamp filled and so did the Tramvale Estate. The poor workers ad lost to the elements and the rapacious developers. Over time the residences were demolished to make way for industry.

 

Given the early development and the fact that most of the housing was for poor workers there is very little leadlight in Sydenham Road.