Vinegar Hill
Battle of Vinegar Hill Memorial
The first battle fought on Australian soil between government troops (with local defence support) and rebel forces was the Battle of Vinegar Hill fought in and around Rouse Hill on 5 March 1804.
The Battle took place when British troops caught up with a group of convicts who had escaped from Castle Hill Convict Farm.
The convicts had planned to march on Parramatta and Sydney, stealing weapons from small farms as they went, and encouraging any convicts working at the farms to join them. The alarm was raised, and troops from Sydney quickly marched to Parramatta and then headed in pursuit of the convicts, who had turned around and headed for Windsor. By the time the troops caught up with the convicts on the hills near Windsor Road, there were about 200 convicts involved.
Because the ringleaders of the convicts were Irish, the battle became known as the Vinegar Hill Rebellion, or the Battle of Vinegar Hill, after an uprising at Vinegar Hill, in County Wexford, Ireland in 1798. Many Irish political prisoners were sent to Australia after their defeat at that time. Those who chose to fight a second time in search of their own liberty wore the words "Liberty and Equality" on their hat bands as had their countrymen in Ireland.
The spirit and words became the catchcry of the better known skirmish fought by rebelling miners at the Eureka Stockade in Victoria some fifty years later.
This pioneering spirit and determination to achieve something better for themselves and their families is marked by the erection of a permanent Memorial to the Battle of Vinegar Hill. It is dedicated to all the people who strove to win in a harsh land, whatever their nationality and their social position.
The exact location of the battle is no longer known, but after an inquiry in 1982, it was agreed that a spot in the Castlebrook Lawn Cemetery would be marked by a memorial.
The incident was commemorated from 1983 onwards, and in 1984 Blacktown City Council resolved to conduct a National Design Competition for a permanent memorial.
The intention was for the memorial to commemorate the battle, but also to commemorate the pioneering spirit of the early non-indigenous settlers. The judges chose the design submitted by Ivan Polak and Vladimir Sitta for its "bold and prominent sculptured idea, symbolising the foundation and growth of the nation [which] will be appreciated from a distance as well as close-up".
The monument consists of three plaques — one marks the unveiling, one outlines the details of the battle and the third tells the story of the growth of Australia from 1788.
The monument was unveiled by the Hon. E G Whitlam, AC, QC on March 5, 1988.
Battle of Vinegar Hill Memorial sculpture, 1988