
On the banks of the broad Hawkesbury River on the north-western outskirts of Sydney, 56km from the CBD, Windsor is one of Australia's oldest towns and one of five towns out this way that Governor Macquarie earmarked in the 1790s to produce food for a ravenous and undernourished new colony.
A physically attractive place (although some would have it that recent buildings have destroyed the colonial elegance of the town), Windsor is endowed with a plethora of historic buildings, including architect Francis Greenway's St Matthew's Church, built by convict labour in 1817, making it the oldest Church of England in the country.
The Hawkesbury River has traditionally been an important artery to the Aborigines, too. The Aboriginal Sites Register of the National Parks and Wildlife Service indicates that 193 significant sites are located within 5km of the Hawkesbury River between Windsor and Wisemans Ferry.
While actual figures on the total number of Aboriginal spiritual sites in the City of Hawkesbury are unknown, it has been estimated that the potential number of sites in the area along the local stretch of the Hawkesbury River could top 4000.