Lake Northam

Unique IDPC-000006Alternative titleVictoria Park LakeUniversity WaterholeTypeLakeDescriptionLake in Victoria Park at Camperdown near Sydney University. It is a remnant of Blackwattle Creek which was once a tidal watercourse that extended from Glebe towards the suburbs of Redfern and Waterloo.

The lake is in Victoria Park, an 1000 acre area in the vicinity of Petersham Hill an also known as Kangaroo Grounds.

The area was surveyed and marked out into three subdivisions. Victoria Park and the Grounds of the University of Sydney were part of the central section of 400 acres reserved as Crown Land.

The lake was drained at the turn of the century as a precaution during the outbreak of bubonic plague.

It was remodelled in the 1930s and a rock wall was built around its shores and islands.

It was drained again in 1955 when it was believed a young boy, Roymond Nicholls, may have drowned their but his body was not located in the lake. The lake was reduced in size.

The lake was known as Victoria Park lake until 1967 when it was renamed Lake Northam.

The naming of the lake commemorates the victory of the yacht "Barrenjoey", skippered by William Northam, at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A sculpture of the "Barrenjoey" was placed on an island in the lake.

In the 1990s South Sydney Council rebuilt a bridge over the lake.

Victoria Park was the site of the Tent Embassy protest against the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and has been the venue for Yabun, an annual festival held on 26 January, showcasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, since 2002.External linksBarani - Lake NorthamThe story of Victoria ParkSubject tagsWater

Photograph

Lake Northam, Victoria Park, Camperdown, 2010

Victoria Park Lake reconditioned, corner Parramatta Road and City Road Broadway, 1931

View across Victoria Park Lake, corner Parramatta and City Roads Broadway, 1931

Victoria Park Lake, view looking across lake, corner Parramatta Road and City Road Broadway, 1931

Lake Northam in Victoria Park Camperdown, 1990s

Lake Northam, Victoria Park Camperdown, 1990s

Lake Northam, Victoria Park, circa 1990s

Reconstruction of lake in Victoria Park, Camperdown, 1956

Lake Northam drained, Victoria Park Camperdown, 1955

Victoria Park lake, City Road Camperdown, 1930s

Lake Northam, Victoria Park Camperdown, 1960s

Official opening of Lake Northam, Victoria Park, 1967

Plaque unveiling at Lake Northam Fountain Victoria Park Camperdown, 1967

Lake Northam in Victoria Park Camperdown, 1940s

Item

File - Lake named in honour of Alderman Northam and erection of sculpture, 1964-1969

Plan

Plan - Proposed lakeside improvements Lake Northam, Victoria Park, Parramatta Road Camperdown, 1977

Place

Barrenjoey Memorial Fountain

Lake Northam, Victoria Park Camperdown, 1990s
(A-00033084)

Key dates and actions

Date opened13th July 1967

Relationships

CollectionVictoria Park

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Lake Northam