Old Government House, Parramatta

Front view of the Old Government House

The Old Government House and Government Domain is a listed ensemble of the Old Government House, outbuildings and Parramatta Park in Parramatta, now a suburb of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia . The buildings were the residences of twelve of New South Wales' early governors from 1788 to 1865. ^[1]

The Old Government House is Australia's oldest public building. It was built in 1799 on behalf of Governor John Hunter and was later the permanent residence of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who built the outbuildings.^[2]

Due to its national and international importance, the building is 1.1 km² park on August 1 2007 as an ensemble in the National Monument Protection List and on July 31 2010 it was entered in the list of the UNESCO world cultural heritage. It is an example of a Georgian structure of high structural quality.^[3] It was built by convicts and is one of eleven buildings^[4] that document the building culture of early New South Wales as an Australian convict colony as Australian Convict Sites.

The Dharug people lived in this area, whose former presence has been proven by archaeological findings (historical rubbish heaps in the park). Some of the shells found in the rubbish heaps were used to make lime mortar for the construction of the building.