Fairbridge Children's Park

Fairbridge Farm operated on Wiradjuri land near Molong NSW from 1938 to 1974. It was envisaged as a home and training school for disadvantaged British children. Nearly a thousand children aged between four and eighteen were sent to the farm from the UK. Their parents were promised that the children would receive family-like care, and that they would enjoy opportunities that would not have been possible at home.

In practice, boys were trained as farm labourers and girls as domestic servants. Formal education was limited. The conditions were harsh and the hours long. The care provided was often of poor quality; at times abusive. The people of Molong and the surrounding farming community, however, were very supportive of the farm. Their compassion and kindness proved to be a haven for many of the children.

As the former residents aged, and the original farm village fell into disrepair, the Old Fairbridgians Association sought to create a lasting memorial to their shared experience. With minimal resources, but strong community support, they developed the Fairbridge Children's Park, which opened in 2020. The Park is situated on land which was part of the original farm.

The park’s layout follows the children’s journey in four themed precincts connected by a central path along an iconic stretch of Molong Creek. The creek was a source of great pleasure to the Fairbridge children while they were at the farm and now holds a special significance for them.

Around 10 percent of the child migrants joined the armed forces after they left Fairbridge. A dramatic Military Service Memorial installed at the park celebrates them.

The park serves to preserve an important chapter of Australian and UK history. There are lessons to be learned from the mistakes of the past. The extraordinary resilience of the Old Fairbridgians and the compassion shown by the people of Molong and the surrounding farming community are to be acknowledged and remembered.

Awards:

2024 Switzerland Braun Publishing - selected for publication for Contemporary Landscape Architecture - Masterpieces around the World
2021 National Trust Heritage Award for Education and Interpretation
2021 Australian Institute Landscape Architects, National Landscape Architecture Award for Cultural Heritage
2021 Australian Institute Landscape Architects, NSW Landscape Architecture Award for Cultural Heritage
2021 Australian Institute Landscape Architects, NSW Landscape Architecture Awards Regional Achievement Award for Western NSW
2021 The Landscape Association Awards, Co-Ordinated Landscapes Commercial and Civil Construction