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Overview

Camden Park was designed by colonial architect John Verge for wool pioneers and agricultural entrepreneurs John and Elizabeth Macarthur.  Since its completion in 1835, Camden Park has been recognised for its fine architecture, its connection to the Macarthur family and to the many and varied contributions made by this family to the development of agriculture in Australia. In all, seven generations of John Macarthur’s descendants have resided at Camden Park.

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Camden Park House was designed as the centrepiece of the property “Camden Park”,  which was established in 1805 when the Colonial Secretary Lord Camden, ordered Governor King to grant 5,000 acres (2,023 hectares) of land in the Cowpastures area fronting the Nepean River near Mt. Taurus to John Macarthur. By the late 1830's this land had expanded by grant and purchase to around 28,000 acres (11,300 hectares).

Camden Park House, history, Georgian architecture, Jphn Verge, 1835, wool pioneers

Camden Park ranks amongst the most important historic houses in Australia. It does so by combining an almost unrivalled set of characteristics and attributes:

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  • The character and quality of its design

  • A high degree of intactness and authenticity of fabric

  • The quality of its setting, landscaping and garden that remain substantially intact

  • A rich and substantial collection of furniture and fine arts from its early days

  • A substantial documentary collection

  • Continuity of family ownership and contribution to the social history of Australia by the Macarthur family

  • Camden Park's association with the early development and history of a number of industries in Australia, including wool, viticulture, dairying and horticulture

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Camden Park House, history, Georgian architecture, Jphn Verge, 1835, wool pioneers
Camden Park House, history, Georgian architecture, Jphn Verge, 1835, wool pioneers
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