The village of Berrima is widely recognised today as the best-preserved example of a Georgian village on the Australian mainland. The Berrima of today was created by a fortunate series of events.

Its time of promise and growth came to an abrupt end when in 1867, the railway bypassed the village. For the next hundred years, there was little or no development, and then, in the 1950's it became a stopover for cars and trucks on their way between Canberra and Sydney. While this was good for the economy of the town, crossing the road had become a nightmare for pedestrians, and most of the inhabitants of the village were delighted when, in 1989, the town was bypassed by the South Western Freeway. Today visitors to Berrima can experience the quiet charm and romance that comes from those features of the village which remained frozen in time and which now so wonderfully portray those earlier times.