Orphan School Creek
Thousands of native plants, grasses and trees create a haven for wildlife
Wood Street Park, Orphan School Creek Reserve
A haven for native wildlife has been created in a 6,000 square metre park along Orphan School Creek at Forest Lodge.
Tens of thousands of native plants, grasses and trees have been planted at the Wood Street site – including species that attract native birds including honeyeaters and the rare superb fairy-wren.
The playground at Wood Street
The path is accessible to the elderly, people with a disability and those pushing prams
Orphan School Creek Reserve is located in Forest Lodge between Pyrmont Bridge Road, Johnstons stormwater canal and Wigram Road. It forms part of a continuous public parkland stretching from Larkin Park to Blackwattle Bay.
The upgrade works were finished in late 2009 and the City encourages everyone to visit this natural haven.
The Orphan School Creek Master Plan was adopted in 2003 after extensive community consultation. The Master proposed to establish habitat planting, incorporate a rock-lined stormwater system, provide a local playground and improve public access.
The Wood Street site remediation and revegetation works were carried out by Frasers Development as part of the City Quarter development. The final project stage between Hereford Street and Wigram Road and the Wood Street playground was undertaken by the City of Sydney.
A sandstone sculpture of a nurse looks over the playground
Park features
As well as creating the native flora and wildlife habitat, the upgrade works include:
- A children’s playground with play equipment, a tricycle circuit, sand pit and nature play elements that fit in with the local environment.
- A grass area for relaxation and children’s play.
- A 130-metre path providing access for people with a disability, the elderly and parents with prams. It also helps preserve the native habitat by keeping people off the landscaped areas.
The Wood Street Playground features artworks that reflect the area’s historic significance as the site of Sydney’s first children’s hospital. Sculptor Marlie Kentish Barnes carved a figure of a nurse from a single block of sandstone; the work stands sentinel, watching over the playground.
Other artworks include cot-like structures in the sandpit (plus a stone carving of a teddy bear emerging from the sand) can be climbed and bounced upon.
On the other side of the park at the Creek Street Reserve, three panel artworks have been installed. Designed by Adriana Khobane, a young indigenous artist from Armidale, they combine indigenous and environmental references.
The City is also developing signs explaining the history of Orphan School Creek and the Children’s Hospital. These will be in place by mid 2010.
The playground at Wood Street
History
The suburb name Forest Lodge dates from 1838 when a local businessman and Congregational Church leader, Ambrose Foss, acquired 31 acres of church land.
Surrounded by abundant nature and characterised by ”thick eucalyptus wood, alternating with low scrub land, where wild duck were plentiful,” Foss called his new home Forest Lodge.
In 1801, Governor King and his wife Catherine founded the first orphan school in the colony, located in William Kent’s House in George Street. Finding an income for the school’s long term operation was imperative, so King granted it 500 acres which included Grose Farm, now the University of Sydney. The creek passing through the farm was named Orphan School Creek.
In the 1920s, the creek was channelled and partly covered for prevention against typhoid and other waterborne diseases. Recalling the bushland setting described by Ambrose Foss, the restoration of native plants and a dry creek gully connects a network of open spaces linking Orphan School Creek with Johnstons Canal and Blackwattle Bay.
The reserve is part of a continuous public park stretching from Larkin Park in Camperdown to Blackwattle Bay in Glebe
For more information
Nick Criniti
Contracts Coordinator – Parks
Tel: 02 9265 9333
Fax: 02 9265 9660
Email: ncriniti@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au
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