Cornwallis is one of the smallest suburbs in metropolitan Sydney — the 2021 census recorded just 44 residents. It lies on the Hawkesbury River floodplain between Richmond and Windsor, about 63.5 km north-west of the Sydney CBD, and is bounded in the north and east by the Hawkesbury River. The suburb is almost entirely rural river flats along Cornwallis Road: low-lying turf farms and acreage properties sold as productive 'land holdings' near the Richmond and Windsor town centres. With an elevation of only about 9 metres it is working floodplain country — the March 2021 Hawkesbury flood destroyed the road's drainage system and badly damaged Cornwallis Road before a 250-metre rebuild was completed (NEMA). Quiet, genuinely rural and flood-aware.
At a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Hawkesbury |
| Council (LGA) | City of Hawkesbury |
| Postcode | 2756 |
| Distance to Sydney CBD | Cornwallis is about 63.5 km north-west of the Sydney CBD by road.… |
| Median house price | ~$1.62M (buyer's-agent tracker median house price of $1,623,500, down 3.5% over 12 months, as of Aug 2026 — see notes: the market is extremely thin) (mid-2026) |
| Typical rent | ~$780/week (median house rent per buyer's-agent tracker, Aug 2026; rental stock is very limited) |
Transport
Cornwallis has no railway station; the closest stations are at Richmond and Windsor, both in immediately adjoining suburbs, on the T1 line. Bus services are limited and car travel dominates: Busways' Hawkesbury network lists several routes against the suburb — including 668 (Richmond–Windsor via Glossodia & Wilberforce) and the 675/675A Windsor–Richmond loops via Bligh Park and the RAAF base — but frequencies are sparse across the rural river flats (Busways).
Schools
There is no school within Cornwallis itself — the suburb recorded just 44 residents at the 2021 census. Cornwallis falls within the Windsor Public School government catchment; the school sits about 2 km away in the adjoining suburb of Windsor, and the secondary catchment is Richmond High School in adjacent Richmond.
Shopping & Amenities
Cornwallis has no shops, school or commercial centre of its own — the 2021 census counted only 44 residents. Everyday shopping and services are a short drive away in the adjoining town centres of Windsor and Richmond, which realestate.com.au listings for Cornwallis properties describe as being 'conveniently near Richmond and Windsor CBDs'.
Parks & Outdoors
The Hawkesbury River bounds the suburb to the north and east, giving Cornwallis its signature river-flat landscape. The floodplain is low-lying — roughly 9 metres above sea level — and largely given over to turf farms and rural acreage. A couple of small local parks cover only about 1.5% of the suburb's ~6.8 km², reflecting its working-farm character. The rebuilt flood-damaged stretch of Cornwallis Road, restored with new drainage after the March 2021 flood, is a recent feature of the local landscape (NEMA).
Property Market
The median house price in Cornwallis was around ~$1.62M (buyer's-agent tracker median house price of $1,623,500, down 3.5% over 12 months, as of Aug 2026 — see notes: the market is extremely thin) (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Cornwallis is an extreme thin-data market: CoreLogic via YIP recorded just one house sale in the 12 months to 2026, so any median swings with individual acreage sales. Andrea Monti's buyer's-agent tracker put the median house price at $1,623,500 (down 3.5% over 12 months) with median rent of $781/week as of Aug 2026 (andreamonti). Turf-farm and acreage listings commonly range from the low $1M's to above $2M depending on river frontage and land area. No meaningful unit market exists — the suburb is almost entirely separate houses on rural lots, with a 2021 census population of 44.
New Developments
Minimal. Cornwallis' flood-prone river flats are not a residential-development area and no significant new housing is under way. The main recent infrastructure project is the post-flood rebuild of about 250 metres of Cornwallis Road and its drainage network, completed after the March 2021 Hawkesbury flood destroyed the 1970s-era drainage system (NEMA; Roads Online).
Jobs & Local Economy
Agriculture is the local industry — turf farms and river-flat rural holdings along Cornwallis Road, marketed as productive land near the Richmond and Windsor town centres. With a residential population of only 44, virtually all day-to-day employment is found in the adjoining towns of Windsor and Richmond.
Nearby Suburbs
Freemans Reach, Richmond Lowlands, Richmond, Clarendon, Windsor
Sources & method
Researched 5 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.
Sources cited in this guide:
Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
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