Places to visit in and around Callan Park NSW

The shell middens on Callan Point help us to understand how the Wangal people lived on the land that we know today as Callan Park. They are clear evidence of how the Wangal clans hunted, gathered and processed food.

Shell middens consist of discarded shell and bones, animal remains, ash and charcoal. They are a way for us to understand how Aboriginal people were living on the shores of Sydney Harbour for thousands of generations before European settlement. This was a time in the middle of the last Ice Age, when Sydney Harbour was a river valley and giant marsupials are thought to have inhabited the area.

The shell middens help us understand the lives of the Wangal clan as they moved throughout the harbour, gathering food and camping in bark shelters or caves.

Natural formations in the landscape, such as rock overhangs and caves, were the perfect place for First Nations people who sought them out for shelter and refuge. The proximity to the river allowed them to take an unimpeded view of the river and protected them from the elements when fishing.

From here, we know the Wangal clans caught fish from canoes or from the banks with hook and line or spears. They gathered and roasted shellfish and also ate mammals such as possums, bandicoots, kangaroos, wallabies and flying foxes and birds' eggs.

This is a special place, as Callan Point is the only section of shoreline that has not been subject to major land reclamation since European settlement. From Waterfront Drive, walk towards Callan Point where there is access to a small beach.

Callan Park has over a kilometre of waterfront onto beautiful Iron Cove on the Parramatta River. You’ll enjoy expansive views westwards across the cove and there are many picturesque places to explore along the water’s edge.

Accessible from the Bay Run, the Iron Cove Foreshore at Callan Park is popular with families and many people spend time in the area after they use the Bay Run or simply to promenade on the Bay Run next to the water.

Waterfront Sports Ground is a great place to kick a ball or exercise your dog, and with picnic tables overlooking the water, this is the place to enjoy a relaxing day and a magical afternoon view.

Future upgrades will create even more waterfront parkland.

When you’re exploring Callan Point, look out for several rock engravings and free-form motifs that are etched into the sandstone outcrops.

While some of these are attributed to First Nations people who used the site for hunting and gathering, others may have been etched in more recent times – when the site was the home of the 'Callan Park Hospital for the Insane'.

You'll also discover exceptional – and unique – artworks that reflect the First Nations' history and culture of the site and area.

Just half a per cent of the original extent of the Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest remains in Sydney, yet here in Callan Park is a rare piece of this vegetation for the Inner West.

These forests occur close to the boundary between shale and sandstone on more fertile soils where there’s higher rainfall. With Callan Park being rich in sandstone, this is the perfect environment for these trees.

Now, many of us get to enjoy the species and try to imagine a long time past when these trees were more prevalent – mainly thanks to the efforts of Bushcare volunteers. Over two decades, this busy team has increased the diversity and number of species growing here; in turn, the forest attracts migratory birds and other native species.

Visit the Bushcare site near North Crescent and Waterfront Drive.

The Kirkbride was the first purpose-built psychiatric hospital in NSW. Designed by Government Architect James Barnet, it is named for Thomas Kirkbride, who developed the treatment and concept of ‘moral therapy’ in the 1870s for people living with psychiatric disorders.

The buildings were designed for recovery in an environment of beauty and nature. The moral therapy thinking was that architecture was more important than medical therapies, which meant that many of NSW’s institutions benefited from lovely gardens and new wards and facilities between the 1860s and the 1880s.

The Sydney College of Arts has leased the buildings since the 1990s. While they’re closed to the public, you can view them from many vantage points outside the sandstone walls and from within Callan Park.

Callan Park is home to two distinct war memorials. The first, near Gate A entrance, was built during World War One. It is built in a Spanish style and commemorates those who have served.

The second, the Sydney Harbour Bridge memorial near Waterfront Drive, has been attributed to Aboriginal serviceman Douglas Grant, who had returned from the war and was living in the Callan Park Repatriation wards. The memorial was unveiled in 1921 and sits next to the first purpose-built repatriation hospital ward, Building 497.

Garry Owen House and its attached estate was well known in the area for its gardens, with many plantings moved to the Botanic Gardens when The Kirkbride was built. The house was used as a ward for male patients during and after the hospital’s construction. It is currently the headquarters for Writing NSW and small agencies connected to the literary fields.

The house sits on a higher elevation, providing views to the Parramatta River. It was one of the first buildings on the site (c.1880), constructed on a curved earth terrace projecting from the slope with commanding views over Iron Cove.

You can get to the house from Gate A on Balmain Road – it is near the Kirkbridge buildings.