Kirkham Stables is a heritage-listed former horse stud and dairy and now vacant building and beef cattle farm at Kirkham Lane in the south-western Sydney suburb of Narellan in the Camden Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1816 by John Oxley. It is also known as Kirkham Stables and Precinct. The property is privately owned. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 11 August 2000. History The Camden region was originally occupied by the Gundungurra people. Soon after settling Sydney Cove, colonists set out to explore the Sydney region. When soils around Sydney Cove proved unsuitable for cultivation, a second settlement was established at Rose Hill (later Parramatta) in late 1788. The first Europeans known to have explored the Camden area were Captain Watkin Tench, Lieut. William Dawes and surgeon George Worgan in 1790. Tench noted the country around Camden as a plain with few trees and sandy soil, while the area closer to the Nepean River was thickly wooded. The area was little disturbed until cattle which had escaped soon after the First Fleet's arrival were re-discovered in the Camden area in 1795. The area became known as the "Cow Pastures". Access and settlement was restricted in the area to protect and nurture the cattle. The first grant in the area was to John Macarthur in 1805. He would eventually amass a vast estate of here. A number of grants were made in the area following the overthrow of Governor Bligh in 1809. To counteract the influence of John Macarthur, Governor Macquarie began distributing land on the northern and eastern sides of the Nepean River. One of the largest he made was to Surveyor-General, John Oxley, in 1810. Oxley family One of the first land grants in the area was to John Oxley. Present-day Kirkham Lane defines the eastern boundary of his original grant. In 1815 his holding expanded to with purchase of adjacent land. Oxley named his grant Kirkham, after the Abbey in Yorkshire, where he was born. In 1816 he erected a large house and other farm buildings which included the stables building. The stable Oxley built included horse boxes, storage areas to the rear, a loft and some rooms that were used for accommodation. Farm workers and convicts are rumoured to have stayed in the building when the farm population was at its highest.