Camden Town Farm owes it's very existence to the late Miss Llewella Davies OAM.
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In her last will & testament Miss Davies, among other things, very generously bequeathed her family farm bordered by Exeter St, Macquarie Grove Road, the Nepean River & Matahil Creek to the people of Camden. This parcel is now known as Camden Town Farm. In her will she specified..... "...I give the farm to the Council of Camden subject to the following conditions.....that the farm be used as a working dairy farm or for some other agricultural pursuit to the intent that it should operate as a working model farm to enable the community to see such a farm in operation at close hand...or if that is not possible as a passive recreation area..." |
The Davies family purchased a farm of 130 acres in 1908. They appeared not to have farmed the land and leased 20 acres on the corner of Exeter and Macquarie Grove Road to Camden Chinese market gardener Tong Hing and others for dairying.
Llewella was the youngest of two children to Evan and Mary Davies. She lived all her life in the family house called Nant Gwylan on Exeter Street, opposite the farm. Her father died in 1945, and Llewella inherited the house and farm on her mother’s death in 1960.
The house Nant Gwylan was surrounded by Camden High School, established in 1956 on a sporting reserve. Despite being approached on several occasions, Llewella refused to sell out to the Department of Education for an extension to the high school.
Llewella, who never married, was born in 1901 and educated at Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School (SCEGGS) in Darlinghurst. The school educated young women in a progressive liberal curriculum that included the classics, scientific subjects, and female accomplishments.
Llewella undertook paid work at the Camden News office for many years and volunteered for numerous community organisations, including the Red Cross and the Camden Historical Society. In 1981 she was awarded the Order of Australia medal (OAM) for community service.
The Llewella Davies Memorial Walkway, a walk in the meadows of the past – Camden History Notes