| Minchinbury Sydney, New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
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.jpg) The Jet at Minchinbury | |||||||||||||||
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| Population | 5,778 (2021 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2770 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 57 m (187 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 38 km (24 mi) west ofSydney | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Blacktown | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Mount Druitt | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | McMahon | ||||||||||||||
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Minchinbury is a smallsuburb inwesternSydney, in the state ofNew South Wales,Australia. Minchinbury is located 38 kilometres (24 mi) west of theSydney central business district, inBlacktownlocal government area and is part of theGreater Western Sydney region.
Minchinbury is predominantly a residential area with a small commercial/retail area in the centre and industrial/commercial zones in the westernmost part.[2]
Minchinbury takes its name from the property named by CaptainWilliam Minchin who was granted 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) land in 1819 on his retirement by GovernorLachlan Macquarie.[3] William Minchin was the Principal Superintendent of Police and Treasurer of the Police Fund in the colony. The Minchinbury property was largely undeveloped and primarily used to graze cattle by the Minchin family and various lessees. After the death of William in 1821, the property passed to his only daughter Maria Matilda. In 1838, Maria Matilda and her family were lost at sea, leaving no descendants of William Minchin alive today. Minchin's brother, George, who resided in Canada, inherited the property.
In 1859, George Minchin, appointedJohn Nodes Dickinson, anNSW Supreme Court official as trustee. In February the Minchin estate, totalling 1220 acres was sold to Dr Charles McKay, a practitioner fromKilrea inIreland, for £2,100. McKay was already a landowner of 20,110 acres during the 1860s and one of the largest landowners in the area and it was under his ownership that the grape vines were first planted on the Minchinbury Estate.
During the 1860s, the McKay family established a vineyard on the site as well as cultivating silkworms. By 1879 the wines from Minchinbury received three awards at the Sydney Garden Palace Exhibition.
In 1881, Dr McKay listed his extensive properties in the Minchinbury area for sale, due to financial difficulties. The advertisement by Charles Moore & Co Auctioneers described the property as follows;
“...600 acres in various sizes could be sold in sections if desirable. Minchinbury embraces 60 acres of enclosed land, and planted with about 50,000 vines in full bearing...A trap dike of blue metal runs through the Minchinbury from west to east which will be invaluable to parties contracting for blue metal for Sydney Streets. There is also a hill of trap tuff, the deposit from an extinct volcano.
This is hard and durable stone used for some years on a portion of the Great Western Road. A tramway could be inexpensively made from the quarries to Rooty Hill Station. Fine clay for brick making and good building sandstone can also be obtained. There are three wine cellars, two sixty feet by twenty, on sixty by thirty, capable of storing one hundred thousand gallons of wine and wells, tanks and lagoons with never failing water supply".
Despite this publicity, the land did not sell until 1895 when Dr McKay was able to sell all of it to James Angus.
The vineyards continued to be cultivated and produced high-quality wines. The new owner, James Angus, continued to expand the wine production, and he also established a quarry, a piggery, dairy and olive trees on the land.
James Angus began to expand the winery and continued to until the sale of the property in 1913. Angus sold the vineyards and cellar complex toPenfolds Wines but retained a major portion of the estate for his family, He was killed when he was hit by a train atRooty Hill station in 1916.[4]
Minchinbury was the second vineyard bought by Penfolds in New South Wales, the first being Dalwood, nearBranxton in theHunter Valley. With properties in New South Wales andSouth Australia they were claimed to be the largest wine producer in theBritish Empire.
Minchinbury was Penfolds' first venture into sparkling wines and it became famous for itschampagne. Penfolds stopped operations at the winery in 1978.[5]
Many Streets name in Minchinbury derives fromwine type, wineries, or wine regions such asSherry,Pinot, andBarossa.
Along the southern side of theGreat Western Highway there are several notable landmarks:
Although Minchinbury is mainly a residential area, It also has several commercial area complexes.
Minchinbury is a home toAldi Australia Head Office,Woolworths Sydney regional distribution centre,StarTrack depot,Salvation Army Head Office,National Storage, numerous automotive workshops, logistics company, manufacturer, and construction-related stores. Minchinbury is regarded as an institutional investment-grade location, well supported by major corporates including Aldi, Woolworths and StarTrack.[7]
There are currently several commercial/retail centres in Minchinbury including:
Minchinbury also has Minchinbury Neighbourhood Centre, a community hall that can be used for numerous occasions.[10]
In 2021, the largest religious group in Minchinbury is Western (Roman) Catholic 34.4%, No Religion 16.1%, Islam 12.8%, Anglican 8.3% and Not stated 4.5%. There are several churches in Minchinbury and one Mosque including:
Minchinbury also the home of Pinegrove Memorial Park and Lung Po Shan Chinese Memorial Gardens, a large burial and cremation memorial spaces in Sydney's Greater West.
According to the2021 census, Minchinbury had a population of 5,778. The largest ancestries in Minchinbury were Australian 22.0%, English 17.7%, Filipino 11.5%, Indian 4.8% and Maltese 4.6%. 58.7% of people were born in Australia. Other countries of birth included Philippines 7.7%, Fiji 2.9%, New Zealand 2.5%, India 2.2% and Pakistan 1.9%. 55.8% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken included Arabic 6.7%, Tagalog 5.3%, Hindi 2.8%, Urdu 2.5% and Turkish 2.1%.[1]
TheGreat Western Highway runs along the northern border, while theM4 Motorway runs along the southern border. TheWestlink M7 motorway runs along the eastern border. There is a regular bus service (Busways 729) to and fromMount Druitt andBlacktown.
Minchinbury Public School serves Kindergarten students through to Year 6. In the M Centre, Minchibury there are two Registered Training Organisations,National Training Masters with the Western Sydney Campus andArrow Heavy Vehicle Driving School.
Minchinbury features clubs forPioneers Netball Club,Soccer,Cricket,Athletics andRugby league (Minchinbury Jets JRLC).
Minchinbury is thetype location of theMinchinbury Sandstone.
33°47′S150°50′E / 33.783°S 150.833°E /-33.783; 150.833
