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Lake ParramattaLake Parramatta is the name of both the body of water that is the dammed Hunt Creek, and the nature reserve that surrounds it. The catchment area for the Lake is bounded by North Rocks Rd, Pennant Hills Rd and Hunt's Creek. Entry to the reserve is from Lackey Street, North Parramatta. The reserve is a popular recreational site. HistoryHunt's Creek was dammed in 1856 to provide a clean and ample water supply for Parramatta's growing population. The masonry arch dam wall, designed by Lieutenant Percy Simpson, builder of the Great North Road, was unique to Australia, only eleven others having been built overseas beforehand. When the water supply became insufficient for the town’s use, it was entrusted with its surrounds in 1909 to Parramatta Council as a recreational area. In earlier times, this area was extremely important to Aboriginal people because of the abundant fresh water and diverse range of food types.
Aborigines used Lake Parramatta Reserve, prior to European colonisation of the Parramatta area, extensively on a semi-permanent basis due to the abundance of fresh water and diversity of food types available. Evidence still remains of Aboriginal occupation within the Reserve in the form of remnant shelters, hand stencils, flaking scars and deposits. As far back as 1804 records exist of the Reserve's use as a pleasure ground, specifically around Hunt’s Creek. By 1840, as Parramatta’s population was growing, and likewise its' demand for fresh water, Hunt's Creek was advocated for damming. In 1855 the foundation stone for the dam was laid with all sandstone used for construction quarried from Hunt's Creek, thereby allowing for completion in the following year. This was the twelfth engineered dam built in the western world, and the second arch built universally that involved calculations for its construction. Water from this dam was not reticulated until 1881 when it was required to augment the then dwindling water supply. LocationLake Parramatta Reserve is located 2.2 kilometres north of Parramatta’s central business district. The Reserve totals 93.23 hectares in the area, with approximately 10.5 hectares (11.3%) of it being water surface. The main watercourse entering the Reserve, Hunt's Creek, is a tributary of the Parramatta River. The Reserve's boundaries to the west are cut off by suburban development along North Rocks Road, to the north by Hunt's Creek, to the east by the private bushland and playing fields of The King's School, and to the south by James Ruse Drive. Geologically, the Lake is located on the margins of Wianamatta shale and Hawkesbury sandstone formations, with a resulting variation in vegetation communities. Vegetation communities present at the site include sandstone blue-gum forests, iron bark, Cumberland Plain Woodland vegetation communities and some coastal species such as Banksia serrata. External links
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