Government Cottage Archaeological Site is the heritage-listed site of a cottage which served alternately as the base for the Colony of New South Wales' commandant of the Hawkesbury district, house of the district's magistrate and an "informal official residence" for the Governor of New South Wales when in the district. It is located at 41 George Street, Windsor, City of Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia. The original house was built from 1796 to 1815 and demolished 1920-21. It was also known as Commandant's House and Government House. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 4 February 2011. History Before any European settlement the Hawkesbury region was inhabited by the Dharug people. The riparian area along the Hawkesbury River had been a food source for the local Aboriginal people for over 50,000 years and, with relatively frequent floods that spread enriched alluvium throughout the surrounding land, the region was known to be an abundant and reliable resource for food. Following European settlement, the new colonists quickly recognised the agricultural potential of the banks of the Hawkesbury River. This led to intensive farming of the area to supply food to the developing colony that was experiencing severe shortages in the early years. However, following flooding in 1799, 1800, 1806 and 1809, life for the colonists farming the flats of the Hawkesbury River was a hard one, fraught with potential devastation with any inundation of the river. Following the opening of the Hawkesbury district for settlement, the road from Parramatta to Windsor was constructed in 1794. The farming area along the Hawkesbury River, including Green Hills (known as Windsor, from 1810) became the third urban satellite of the colony after Sydney and Parramatta. Windsor grew up as a military and service centre for the Hawkesbury flood-plain and was the location of the colony's richest agricultural land. The Commandant's Cottage, later the Government Cottage was one of a series of buildings constructed under the administration of Governor John Hunter between 1795 and 1800 for military and government purposes, including storehouses, and granaries and soldiers barracks. The location selected was sufficiently high to preclude danger of the building being affected by flood. It replaced a soldier's barracks constructed 1795 which Governor Hunter described in 1796 as a "miserable building". Its location would also enable a clear view of the area over which the Commandant had oversight. The Commandant's Cottage (later