Marrickville
Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia. Marrickville is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the largest suburb in the Inner West Council local government area.
Marrickville sits on the northern bank of the Cooks River, opposite Earlwood and shares borders with Stanmore, Enmore, Newtown, St Peters, Sydenham, Tempe, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park and Petersham. The southern part of the suburb, near the river, is known as Marrickville South and includes the historical locality called The Warren.
Marrickville is culturally diverse, and contains both low and high density residential, commercial and light industrial areas.
Geography
Marrickville is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, Australia. Most of Marrickville is contained in a valley as part of the broader Cooks River basin.The suburb's south-east has more foliage than elsewhere in the suburb. A path follows the Cooks River where many bird species live, including spoonbills, lorikeets, pelicans and some kingfishers.
History
Early
The Cadigal people of the Eora Nation have lived in the area for tens of thousands of years, calling it Bulanaming. The Gumbramorra swamp, forming the eastern border of Marrickville, was an important source of bird and plant life for the Aboriginal people. Along the Cooks River, Richardson's lookout was an important observation point.The first Europeans to use the area were escaped convicts, who hid in the difficult to navigate bushland and swamps. It was also known among early Europeans as a plentiful source of timber for boatmaking.
William Beckwith received the first land grant in the area in 1794, obtaining. Between 1799 and 1804, Thomas Moore received, using the land for timber. The barrister Robert Wardell later purchased Moore's land and more to create a estate. Like Moore, Wardell used his land for its timber, and also dealt with trespassers who fell trees and took their wood. He was murdered in September 1834 by escaped convicts, and his estate subdivided.
To the area now came stonemasons for the local sandstone and market farmers for the water supply. These new settlers came from a diverse range of countries, including China, Italy, Germany and Scotland. In 1855, the village of Marrickville was created with the subdivision of Thomas Chalder's Marrick Estate, attracting shops, churches and houses. The new village derived its name from Chalder's homeland of Marrick, England; the addition of -ville was suggested by another resident. Besides the market gardeners and stonemasons, the area was populated with professionals including members of parliament and architects. The surroundings still included bushland, but now also had dairy farms alongside the market gardens.
A municipality
In 1861, Marrickville became a municipality. By the end of the decade, the suburb had a reputation of being rural and attractive. Dairies supplied the area and Sydney more broadly. In 1857 or 1864, pastoralist and politician Thomas Holt built a Victorian Gothic mansion known as 'The Warren'. The building was outfitted with many amenities, including an art gallery and Turkish baths. It was later occupied by Carmelite nuns and for artillery training. Despite being demolished in 1919, the area it occupied is still known by some residents as The Warren. In 1878, the first municipal building was constructed, a town hall. Other structures built around this time included a school in 1864, a post-office in 1865, and a new train station in 1895.Around the time of the creation of the Aboriginal Protection Board in 1883, there are few records of Aboriginal people in the broader Cooks River area. Most Aboriginal people in the area were relocated by authorities to the suburb of La Perouse, although some remained and continued to fish the river.
During the late 1880s, market gardens were converted into brick pits, and the industry became mechanised. Large houses were demolished to make way for brick pits, land was subdivided to create cheap accommodation for their workers and the Gumbramorra swamp was drained. The area now contained the largest brickmaking firms in Sydney, and the population had become working class. As of 1892, Marrickville had a population of 12,500. Although the pits ultimately emptied of clay, other industries such as wool, steel and automotive established themselves in Marrickville in the 1890s, and the suburb grew faster than its neighbours.
During the 1920s, Marrickville contained a large Irish-Catholic population, and was a Labor Party stronghold. Included among these was Joseph Cahill, who later served as the Premier of New South Wales. Industry was particularly strong in the interwar period, when almost all men and women were employed. The local industry was a source of pride, and exhibitions were put on displaying the products. Production was assorted, including guitars, radios, chocolate and boots; particularly prominent was wool. Dances during this period were very popular, and an orchestra was created, the first made by a suburban council.
After WWII
After World War II, immigrants, particularly from Greece, settled in the suburb, drawn by job opportunities and cheap housing. Greek immigrants opened many shops along Marrickville Road despite prejudice against Southern Europeans. In this period, Aboriginal people migrated to Sydney from the country and beyond, settling in particular in Marrickville with its cheap accommodation and proximity to jobs. They have since stayed close to the river, holding themselves as its custodians. In 1948, Marrickville merged with the neighbouring municipalities of St Peters and Petersham, forming the Marrickville Municipal Council.Beginning in the 1970s, factories in Marrickville closed, with some moving away from the city to cheaper and larger land. The area became increasingly residential, although some industry was retained. The following decade, Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants came into Marrickville, starting shops and restaurants along Illawarra Road. In the 1990s, the area gained a reputation for crime after a series of stabbings at the local high school and heroin-related crimes.
During the 2000s, Marrickville had begun to gentrify. Property prices increased, and crime went down. Young professionals entered the area and accordingly the percentage of people born overseas decreased. Trendy restaurants and shops, such as farmers markets and coffee shops opened up; this development was compared in the media to that of the nearby suburb Paddington.
By 2017, Marrickville was among the most prominent suburbs in the Sydney hipster subculture, with a young population and many bars and vegetarian and vegan establishments. During the early 2020s, it was repeatedly voted among the "coolest neighbourhoods in the world" by Time Out magazine.
Heritage listings
Marrickville has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:- Marrickville railway station
- Carrington Road: Sewage Pumping Station 271
- Garden Street: Sydenham Pit and Drainage Pumping Station 1
- 96–106 Illawarra Road: Marrickville Town Hall
- 274A Marrickville Road: Marrickville Post Office
- 24, 26 Premier Street: Premier Street Sewer Vent and Cottages
- Thornley Street: Cooks River Sewage Aqueduct
Demographics
48.1% of the population of Marrickville were born overseas, higher than the 39.4% of New South Wales residents and 36.7% of Australians as a whole. The top places of birth outside of Australia were Vietnam, Greece and England, the first two far above the national average of 1% for Vietnam and 0.4% for Greece. A similar number of Marrickville residents reported their ancestry as English as those who reported being of Australian ancestry, below the national averages, whilst Irish, Greek, and Scottish were the next highest responses; noting that respondents could select up to two ethnicities. Residents identifying as being of Greek ancestry were far above the national average. 417 residents identified as being Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Other statistics from the :
- 62.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 7.0%, Vietnamese 6.9%, Arabic 2.4%, Portuguese 1.8% and Cantonese 1.8%.
- Finances: The median household weekly income was $2,170 compared to the national median of $1,746. This difference is also reflected in real estate, with the median mortgage payment being $2,600 per month, compared to the national median of $1,863.
- Transport: On the day of the census, 7.5% of employed people used public transport as at least one of their methods of travel to work and 24.3% used car.
- Housing: 47.2% of occupied residences were flats, units or apartments, 32.0% were separate houses, 18.5% were semi-detached, and 2.2% were other dwellings. The average household size was 2.3 people.
- Religion: The most common response for religion was No Religion ; the next most common response was Catholic at 17.7%; the third most common response was Eastern Orthodox at 8.5%.
Culture
Marrickville contains several restaurants and artisan grocers. Before the suburb was gentrified, Vietnamese bakeries and restaurants, and Greek delis existed throughout; although these remain, they are less dominant. Within such Greek food establishments, pork rolls are particularly popular. Marrickville hosts organic markets every weekend.
Liquor establishments, including bars and gin distilleries are prominent in the suburb. Since 2013, a significant number of breweries have been established in the light industrial spaces that exist throughout Marrickville. A 2022 article in The Sydney Morning Herald described it as the "craft beer capital of Australia", and attributed the volume to Marrickville being the closest suburb to the CBD with industrial land, and because residents were supportive of the businesses.