The University of Sydney, university colleges and Victoria will soon be listed on the State Heritage Register.
The university, often recognised as one of the world's most beautiful campuses, and its surrounds will join other registered heritage including the Queen Victoria Building, Sydney Town Hall, the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
“It is only fitting that Australia’s oldest university should be on our State Heritage Register,” says NSW heritage minister Gabrielle Upton.
As part of the listing, a number of the University’s most well-known buildings have been marked as having ‘exceptional’ significance to the state, including the Quadrangle, the Old Teacher’s College, the Holme Building, the Anderson Stuart Building and the JD Stewart Building.
“The Main Quadrangle Building, the Anderson Stuart Building and the Gate Lodges comprise what is arguably the most important group of Gothic and Tudor Revival style architecture in New South Wales and potentially Australia,” says Ian Kelly, the University of Sydney’s Heritage Consultant.
“Throughout history a number of architects have influenced the site, from Edmund Blacket in the 1850s, Professor Leslie Wilkinson in the 1920s and the Government Architect’s Office in 1960s, just to name a few.
“In particular, Blacket’s location of the Great Hall and the eastern side of the Quadrangle, built between 1854 and 1862, utilised the existing landscape to provide a dramatic presentation of the University on approach from the city, a setting that still remains to this day.”
The listing also recognises the university’s associated residential colleges, including the Women’s College, the first university college for women in Australia, which was individually listed on the State Heritage Register in 2005.
“This is a time to celebrate, to reflect on the history and the culture of this unique cultural landscape, and to preserve and protect the heritage values of the University of Sydney, University College and Victoria Park for years to come,” says Upton.
