5. Health and Justice

The first convict hospitals in Parramatta occupied this site by the river. Early hospitals were basic; a tent hospital was the first built and the conditions for the convicts were rough. So basic were the facilities in early Parramatta that the waste from this site drained into the town’s water supply.

At the Heritage Pavilions you can view significant archaeological items from the colonial era. Brislington and the old courthouse tower nearby stand as reminders of the city’s early days and mark the focus on order and justice in the early town. Today these city blocks erupt with impressive new structures in one of Australia’s largest legal precincts.