THE Rising Sun Inn was one of Sydney’s early roadside taverns, first licensed in 1840, and which continued to service travellers along Windsor Road for about 20 years before the site was purchased by the Catholic Church.

The inn was located at the corner of Windsor and North Rocks Road, near the banks of Hunts Creek. Today the site is occupied by St Monica’s Catholic Church, which was established on the site in 1888.

The pub seems to have closed for business in 1860. However, the building was still standing in 1893.

The Cumberland Argus revealed that the The former ‘Rising Sun’ was located opposite the Parramatta Woollen Mills on busy Windsor Road. The newspaper reported on April 1, 1916:

THIS very interesting illustration, is re-produced from ‘The Illustrated Sydney News,’ of May 6, 1854, kindly sent to us by Mr. J. Richardson Clark.

The illustration appeared at the top of an advertisement, which was as follows:

MORT and CO. have received instructions to sell by public auction at their Rooms, Pitt-street, on WEDNESDAY, 10^th May, at 11 o’clock a first-rate public-house, known as the “Rising Sun,” situated at Parramatta, on the Windsor Road, being the first house of accommodation for parties arriving at Parramatta from Windsor and the northern country. The house has been licensed for fourteen years, a guarantee that the business is a good one and returning a profitable income. The house, which is most substantially built of brick, stands upon a stone foundation, and is replete with every convenience suitable for a first-rate inn. It contains a good verandah, bar and tap-room adjoining, with a cupboard of a large size, three parlours, one of which is 21 feet by 14 feet, and three bedrooms, pantry, kitchen attached to house by a covered way, with scullery in rear of kitchen, a fowl-house, and two paved courtyards. The outbuildings consist of a well-built six-stall stable, with hay loft above, and coach-house adjoining, all built of brick; also an open twelve-stall stable for teams. A large stable yard on one side, and garden on the other, with the usual out-offices. There is also a capital cellar, flagged with cut stone. The premises stand upon a block of land having a frontage of 119 feet to the Windsor Road by a depth of 119 feet adjoining the property of Thomas Ashby, Esq. The verandah is flagged with cut stone, as well as the courtyards, and there is abundance of water in Hunt’s Creek, close to the premises, which has all along supplied the establishment. The house has acquired a good name, and consequently established a lucrative business, and is now parted with as the proprietor is des0irous of relinquishing business and retiring. Possession can be given on the1st July ensuing. Any party with a little capital, desirous of embarking in a lucrative business, will do well to inspect the premises and watch this sale. A good roadside inn is perhaps as paying a concern as any in the colony; for independent of the direct profits of that business, many opportunities occur of purchasing produce on its way to Sydney, and as these premises are well situated for speedy communication with Sydney, the state of the market can be easily ascertained and acted upon. The advantages of a property like this can only be appreciated when the new line of road from Bathurst by way of Mount Tomah is opened, and the whole of the traffic of the western country is brought along this road. The country is not only much better adapted for this purpose, but the distance would be greatly curtailed, and there can be no doubt but that this will be the direct route. View of the house and plan of the pre-mises can be seen at the Rooms. Terms at sale.

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Categories: NSW hotels, Parramatta Hotels, Sydney hotels

Tags: Parramatta NSW, Rising Sun Hotel