Lilyfield, New South Wales

Lilyfield Sydney, New South Wales
Sensory Park in Leichhardt Park
Lilyfield
Coordinates	33°52′23″S 151°9′58″E / 33.87306°S 151.16611°E / -33.87306; 151.16611Coordinates: 33°52′23″S 151°9′58″E / 33.87306°S 151.16611°E / -33.87306; 151.16611
Population	7,342 (2011 census)
• Density	3,340/km2 (8,640/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	2040
Area	2.2 km2 (0.8 sq mi)
Location	6 km (4 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	Inner West Council
State electorate(s)	Balmain
Federal Division(s)	Grayndler
Suburbs around Lilyfield: Rodd Point Drummoyne Rozelle Haberfield Lilyfield Glebe Annandale Leichhardt Forest Lodge

Lilyfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lilyfield is located 6 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council.

Lilyfield is nestled in between the suburbs of Annandale, Rozelle and Leichhardt and is bounded to the west by Iron Cove. Originally a working-class area, today Lilyfield like many inner-city suburbs is becoming increasingly gentrified. Property investors, eager to capitalise on the suburb's proximity to the Sydney CBD, have purchased many of the original workers' cottages to renovate or develop. Although predominantly middle class, the suburb still retains some of its working-class roots and like its neighbouring suburbs, is home to people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

Popular belief has it that the area was once farmland and was named for the lilies that reportedly grew in the fields. However, its name origin remains unclear. Lilyfield was originally part of the suburb of Leichhardt.

The most dominant landmark in the area is the former Callan Park hospital. This was built on land acquired from the Callan Estates, a property between Balmain Road and Iron Cove. A psychiatric hospital was designed by James Barnet, the government architect, based on an asylum in Kent and utilising the principles of Dr Kirkbride, an American psychiatrist. Completed in 1884, the hospital was known until 1914 as the Callan Park Hospital for the Insane; the main part of the hospital, a cluster of sandstone buildings, was called the Kirkbride complex.