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History

The park land was originally part of the 34,539 acre Castle Hill Government Farm that operated from 1801-1811when Governor Macquarie closed the farm and decided to grant much of it to settlers.

In January 1818 James Duff was granted 60 acres that was located from the southern end of the park site north almost to Rogans Hill. The land was leased to John Delany 20 July 1820. It then passed through the hands of: - John Gregory & John Copoon 9 October 1823; John Rogan 10 September 1825; Lucy Havens & Thomas Hyndes 8 November 1845; Thomas, Jane, Lucy Jane & Mary Whiteside 29 March 1855; Lucy Jane Whiteside & Algernon James Metcalfe 28 February 1879; Edmunde Harte Acres 11 March 1884; Robert Hardie 1887 (He built a four roomed cottage named Craigowen on the 35 acre property in 1889 and founded Hardie & Gorman in 1872); George Sargent 1906 (He and wife Charlotte founded Sargent’s Pies, renamed the property Garthowen and enlarged the house); John Strang December 1920.

Garthowen - built on the ridge line at Castle Hill

In 1879 Metcalfe allowed the weatherboard Independent Order of Good Templars Hall to be built on what is now the southern end of the park. It was the first public hall erected in Castle Hill and was destroyed by fire in May 1884 and rebuilt by August of the same year. The Methodists purchased the hall in 1909 and moved it to the northern side of Castle Hill Public School in Old Northern Road to use as a church.

In 1921 Strang’s Garthowen Estate was subdivided and an auction sale held on 9 April. The NSW Government Railways acquired the park site for construction of the Castle Hill Railway Station. From 1910 a tramway had operated from the Woollen Mills to Castle Hill. This was converted to a railway with the Castle Hill Station opened on 28 January 1923 and an extension to Rogans Hill opened on 24 November 1924. Castle Hill Railway Station was not manned so the junior porter sold tickets on the steam train. Due to financial difficulties and increased vehicle traffic on the roads, the railway was closed on 31 January 1932. By June 1934 all tracks had been removed. The site became Castle Hill Park. A new plaque commemorating the railway was erected in Heritage Week April 2002. There is also an old railway signal from the era.

The ANZAC Memorial Hall was built on the southern end of the park site in 1935 after the railway station and goods yard were demolished. The hall was used for many local functions such as dances and school speech days. Movies were shown in the hall until 1938 when a new cinema was built in Castle Hill. The building then became the first Castle Hill RSL Club and in 1974 was converted to the Castle Hill Community Centre. From 1974 the basement or “Dugout” became the home of The Hills District Historical Society Museum. This building was demolished in 2005 after the new Castle Hill Library and Community Centre was opened in Castle Street in 2004.

Councillor Arthur Whitling

A new War Memorial (replacing a previous smaller one erected by Castle Hill RSL Club) was completed in May 2001 in the northern end of the park and incorporates a Cenotaph and Remembrance Pool. It was funded by contributions from Baulkham Hills Shire Council, Castle Hill RSL Club Ltd, and Commonwealth Government’s “Australia Remembers 1945-1995” initiative. An earlier memorial had been unveiled on 20 April 1969.

On 26 Jan 1989 the park was renamed in honour of Arthur Whitling who was a councillor from 1908 – 1948 serving as Shire President for 19 of those 40 years with the longest consecutive period being from 1928 until 1941. In 1910 he sold a house and land to Council for their first Council Chambers and opened a Grocery Store next door (Piazza site). From 1924 - 1946 he operated a new shop (with General Store, Bakery, Post Office and Telephone Exchange) on the southern corner of Old Northern and Crane Roads.

Arthur Whitling died in 1960 and is buried in Castle Hill Cemetery. You can view his gravestone and read his story by clicking HERE.