It's a quiet, peaceful area, powered by agriculture.

But it was once one of the most important regions in the whole of Australia, according to regional historian Jill Skirving.

British settlers first came across Norfolk Plains after the establishment of Port Dalrymple in about 1804.

It got its name from the Norfolk Islanders who had been relocated to Tasmania from Norfolk Island, to encourage them to take roots in the area.

The Islanders did not, however, settle in the area, and pieces of farming land were purchased by other British settlers in 1813.

Primary stakeholders in the area at the time of establishment included the Cressy Company (formerly known as The Establishment) as well as the Archer Family.

The Cressy Company held land that included Cressy House, Richmond Hill and The Hermitage.

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Brickendon, Woolmers, Panshanger and Woodside were properties that were owned by the four Archer brothers: Thomas, Joseph, William and Edward Archer.

It was between these two groupings, as well as a number of other farming settlers, that the area known as Norfolk Plains would take shape.

No one has a more apt knowledge of the history of the area than Jill Skirving, who served as a tour guide at Woolmers Estate from 1996 to 2012.

Mrs Skirving said the work done by both groups - the Cressy Company and the Archer family - transformed Norfolk Plains into an area that supported the whole of Australia at the time.

"This was the breadbasket for the establishment of Australia," she said.

"They grew the wheat, the barley, and all the crops they needed.

"It wasn't only for human consumption; they were able to support the sheep and the cattle that they were bringing out from England as well."

Mrs Skirving said as Sydney did not have very good soil at the time, Norfolk Plains became the perfect land for developing resources to supply the settlement.

"This was the first area that they found suitable land for growing the crops that they needed," she said.

"They also had plentiful water with the rivers."

The land was developed using convict labourers lent to the landowners.

Mrs Skirving said the work of the convicts was vital in ensuring that Norfolk Plains would be successfully established quickly.

"I don't think we appreciate just how much the convicts set us up," she said.

"The convicts did all the hard work. They built the houses, they built the bridges.

"If they hadn't had the free labour it would've been slow."

The records of properties in the area are rife with famous figures, and dramatic changes in ownership. 

Take Richmond Hill Estate.

Established in the early 1800s and now known as luxury accommodation site The Granary, its walls have contained all sorts of goings-on over the past 200 years. 

James Brumby initially owned the estate before the Cressy Company purchased it from him, and Cressy Company manager and solicitor James Toosey took it over.

After a fall-out with his son he named the inheritors of the property as the Anglican Church, where it became a theological college training ministers for the Church of England.

Among those trained was the father of Lord Bernard Montgomery, a known and decorated Field Marshal during the Second World War.

Mrs Skirving said it was amazing to think that a young Lord Montgomery had played in the yards of Richmond Hill Estate.

Nowadays many of the historic sites that were built in Norfolk Plains, including Woolmers, Brickendon, Richmond Hill and Panshanger still stand.

Mrs Skirving said preserving these sites of immense historic value was important, and we are lucky to have people who will invest in them - but that it was difficult to continue to financially support estates given the restrictions held on authenticity.

"It probably makes it harder for people to take on ownership of something where there are those rules put in place," she said.

"Everyone's got to put something in if they want that history to be retained."