Macquarie Arms Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at Thompson Square, Windsor, City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as the Royal Hotel. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999. History The lower Hawkesbury was home to the Dharug people prior to European colonisation. The proximity to the Nepean River and South Creek qualifies it as a key area for food resources for indigenous groups. The Dharug and Darkinjung people called the river Deerubbin and it was a vital source of food and transport. Governor Arthur Phillip explored the local area in search of suitable agricultural land in 1789 and discovered and named the Hawkesbury River after Baron Hawkesbury. This region played a significant role in the early development of the colony with European settlers established here by 1794. Situated on fertile floodplains and well known for its abundant agriculture, Green Hills (as it was originally called) supported the colony through desperate times. However, frequent flooding meant that the farmers along the riverbanks were often ruined. In 1794, a broader area in modern-day Windsor including the hotel site was first alienated for European purposes in a grant made by Francis Grose of thirty acres to Samuel Wilcox, who named it Wilcox Farm. It is likely that land clearance and agricultural activities as well as some building works took place during this period and during the subsequent of occupation. It was incorporated into a larger holding of 1500 acres known as Peninsula Farm in the early nineteenth century. On 1 January 1810, Governor Lachlan Macquarie replaced Governor Bligh. Under Macquarie's influence the colony prospered. His vision was for a free community for white colonists, working in conjunction with the penal colony. He implemented an unrivalled public works program, completing 265 public buildings, establishing new public amenities and improving existing services such as roads. Under his leadership Hawkesbury district thrived. He visited the district on his first tour and recorded in his journal on 6/12/1810: "After dinner I chrestened the new townships...I gave the name of Windsor to the town intended to be erected in the district of the Green Hills...the township in the Richmond district I have named Richmond..." the district reminded Macquarie of those towns in England, whilst Castlereagh, Pitt Town and Wilberforce were named after English statesmen. These are often referred to as Macquarie's Five Towns. Their localities,