Burswood Park
Burswood Park, located on the doorstep of the city beside the Burswood Casino complex and a short walk from The Causeway, is one of Perth's most popular recreation areas, where families are encouraged to relax and enjoy the jogging and cycling trails, riverside walks and many picnic spots within the attractive parks and gardens.
A unique regeneration program which commenced in 1986 has transformed an unloved refuse area into unique parklands, encouraging the return of bird life, including many indigenous bird species. Today more than 40 varieties of birdlife and water fowl call Burswood Park home. Visitors can identify and enjoy the local fauna guided by Birdlife interpretation plaques located throughout the Park.
Citizen of the Year Lake is the tranquil centrepiece of the Park, named in honour of Western Australia's prestigious Citizen of the Year awards, with names of recipients displayed on plaques fixed to the cobbled limestone edge of the adjoining dais.
Another major landmark of Burswood Park is the stunning sculpture of Western Australian black swans majestically rising from their nest, which captures the spirit and life of the State's treasured Swan River. Close by is the Swan Shell, designed to reflect the movement of a swan in flight, the graceful structure of the Swan Shell soars above the surrounding parklands. It is a popular venue for concerts and outdoor events.
The sculptures at Burswood Park have been acclaimed as significant works of art, with their unique placement on the Burswood Park Heritage Trail reminiscent of many popular sculpture gardens found in European cities.
The history of Western Australian is brought to life for visitors who follow the unique Heritage Trail which in time will wind through the Park. The Trails convenient rest areas feature bronze sculptures of historic figures and tableaux.
Pioneer Henry Camfield is remembered with one of numerous fine sculptures on the Heritage Trail. Camfield settled in the area in 1829 naming it "Burrswood" after his family home in Kent. Henry experienced deprivation and constant crop failures leading to near starvation in the harsh Western Australian environment. The sculpture is based on an excerpt from a letter home, in which he said "We are told we should get our subsistance from the sweat of our brow, but I never read we should sweat, strive to get on honestly and starve..."
Joggers, cyclists and fitness enthusiasts regularly use the foreshore trail that winds along the banks of the Swan River. Discover superb scenery on the 3,400 metre trail which links into the network of dual use paths around Perth's waters. The trail goes all the way from the Causeway to Windan Bridge, which carries the Graham Farmer Freeway over the Swan River. A walkway beneath the road deck takes joggers and walkers to the East Perth side of the river, where a riverside path leads both up and downstream.
The voyage of Captain Willem de Vlamingh to the unknown South Land in 1696 signifies one of the earliest European attempts to make cultural and commercial contact with the Australian continent. A sculpture of de Vlamingh sculpture stands as a tribute to early Dutch seafarers at the furtherst point up the river to which he came in January 1697. The stature was unveiled in 1997 in celebration of the 300th anniversary of de Vlamingh's naming of the Swan River. It was De Vlamingh who named Perth's Swan River.
Henry Camfield, who emigrated from England to the Swan River Colony in 1829, with two indentured servants and their families, was granted 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) of land opposite Claisebrook. Camfield named the estate after his father's farm, Burrswood, near Groombridge in Kent.
The area was a low-lying peninsula leading to a ridge and steep, sandy hill with scrubland beyond. The peninsula became Burrswood Island in 1841 when Burswood canal was cut to offer a more direct route to Guildford, which had previously been encumbered by mud flats. By this time, the land was earning income and Camfield let it to tenants until he sold it in 1871. A statue of Henry Camfield is located in Burswood Park surrounding the entertainment complex today.
Burswood developed as two separate entities - the Burswood Island region, and the southernmost part which was part of Victoria Park until the 1990s.
During the 1890s, the railway including the Bunbury Bridge to Armadale was built through the area. The current spelling of Burswood was a result of a misspelling on the station signage. Western Australia's first golf course (9-hole) was built at Burswood Island in 1895 - the clubhouse was a mud hut - and in 1899 a racecourse was also built. In 1902 it became the Belmont Park Racecourse, and in 1906 the Goodwood railway station, which later became Belmont Park railway station opened. From 1900 until 1943 there were two racecourses Goodwood and Belmont Park, but Western Australian Turf Club bought both over and closed the second one down.
Efforts were made to establish a residential district at "Riversdale Estate", but the use of Burswood Island as part of a sewerage filtration system (1906-1934) and the existence of various light industries from the 1910s onward worked against development. Residents in the area requested a change of name and in 1921, the name Rivervale was adopted.
In 1985, the development of the Burswood Island Resort, including a casino, rehabilitated the name and the suburb was gazetted as Burswood in 1993, also including the residential area of Victoria Park south of Burswood Road. Burswood today contains Crown Perth and the Belmont Park racecourse.
