Marsfield

Marsfield is a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Marsfield is a suburb on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Marsfield is located 16 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde.The suburb is noted for its proximity to a number of leading scientific and tertiary educational institutions such as CSIRO, Macquarie University, the Macquarie Park Business Park and Macquarie University Hospital.

The suburb's name is derived from Field of Mars, the original name in the early days of British colonisation of Australia, given to the area by Governor Arthur Phillip in 1792.

The whole area between the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers was originally known by its Aboriginal name Wallumatta. The aboriginal name survives in a local park, the Wallumatta Nature Reserve, located at the corner of Twin and Cressy Roads, North Ryde.

In 1792 Governor Phillip began the granting of parcels of lands to Royal Marines, and the area was referred to on Phillip's maps as the Field of Mars, named after the Roman Field of Mars probably because of the military link. The area was later part of the suburb of North Ryde, and many consider that Marsfield is still a part of the greater North Ryde area. Field of Mars was also the name for the parish proclaimed in 1835.In 1874, following extensive debate including a Parliamentary Select Committee, the government resumed the Common for sale and settlement by small farmers, using the money to fund bridges across the Parramatta River at Gladesville and Iron Cove.

The land was subdivided into small farms of between 0.4 and 1.6 ha (1–4 acres), and released for sale in stages, starting in 1885.Many of the streets in Marsfield and bordering suburbs, mainly Eastwood and Macquarie Park, are named after famous historical conflicts or battles, such as Abuklea Road, Agincourt Road, Alma Road, Balaclava Road, Bannockburn Road (West Pymble), Blenheim Road (North Ryde), Buffalo Road (Gladesville), Busaco Road, Corunna Road, Cressy Road (East Ryde), Crimea Road, Culloden Road, Fontenoy Road, Khartoum Road, Plassey Road, Talavera Road, Taranto Road, Torrington Road, Trafalgar Place, Vimiera Road, Waterloo Road.

In 1894, the "Municipality of Marsfield" formed its own local government, splitting from Ryde Municipality.Stately, historical Curzon Hall was built in the 1890s by Harry Smith and named after his wife Isabella Curzon-Smith. The house was bought in 1921 by the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul which established St Joseph's Seminary on the premises. It now serves as a function centre.

Until the 1950s, substantial parts of the North Ryde/Marsfield area were part of the "Green Belt" which prevented building houses on lots of less than 2 ha (5 acres).

The Marsfield-North Ryde Green Belt boundaries were revised and in December 1959, 688 ha (1,700 acres) of land was rezoned. The last Green Belt land was released in September 1969 to build Macquarie Shopping Centre and Macquarie University.