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Wahroonga, New South Wales

Coordinates: 33°43′06″S 151°07′07″E / 33.7183°S 151.1187°E / -33.7183; 151.1187
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Wahroonga
Sydney, New South Wales
Marian Clarke Building, Abbotsleigh School, Wahroonga.
Map
Population17,853 (SAL 2021)[1]
Established1822
Postcode(s)2076
Elevation202 m (663 ft)
Area8.2 km2 (3.2 sq mi)
Location18 km (11 mi) north-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)Ku-ring-gai Council
Hornsby Shire
State electorate(s)Wahroonga
Federal division(s)Bradfield (Hornsby Shire and limited Ku-ring-gai Council parts of suburb to be moved to Berowra at next election)
Suburbs around Wahroonga:
Hornsby
Waitara		 North Wahroonga North Turramurra
Normanhurst
Thornleigh		 Wahroonga Turramurra
Pennant Hills Warrawee South Turramurra
Grave of Gertrude Mary Appleton, last member of the Brown family, who played a large part in developing Wahroonga

Wahroonga is a suburb in the Upper North Shore of Sydney,[2] in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. North Wahroonga is an adjacent separate suburb of the same postcode.

History

Wahroonga is an Aboriginal word meaning our home, likely originating from the Kuringgai language group.[3] Early British colonists of New South Wales utilized the area for its tall trees. Wahroonga was first colonised by the British in 1822 by Thomas Hyndes, a convict who later became a wealthy landowner.

Hyndes's land was later acquired by John Brown, a merchant and timber-getter. After Brown had cleared the land of timber, he planted orchards. Later, Ada, Lucinda and Roland Avenues were named after three of his children.[4] His name is in Browns Road, Browns Field and Browns Waterhole on the Lane Cove River. The last member of the Brown family was Gertrude Mary Appleton, who died in 2008 at the age of ninety-three. She is buried in the cemetery of St John the Baptist Church, Gordon.

After the North Shore railway line was opened in 1890 it became a popular place for wealthy businessmen to build out-of-town residences with large gardens. Wahroonga Post Office opened on 15 October 1896.[5] Much of this development occurred in the 1920s and 1930s.[6]

Sydney Adventist Hospital was opened in Wahroonga by the Seventh-day Adventist Church on 1 January 1903.

Today, Wahroonga exists primarily as a gentrified garden suburb. Its tree-lined streets retain much of its state-heritage historic houses in styles of residential architecture.

Housing

Wahroonga is known for its tree-lined, shady streets and well maintained gardens. Notable streets include Water Street, Burns Road, Iloura Avenue and Billyard Avenue.[7][8]

Heritage listings

Wahroonga has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Highlands, in Highlands Avenue, is a timber house designed by John Horbury Hunt and built in 1891 for Alfred Hordern. Hunt was a Canadian architect who used the Arts and Crafts style and the Shingle Style popular in North America. Highlands is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register[9] and was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.[20]

Architect William Hardy Wilson designed and built his own home, Purulia, on Fox Valley Road. Built in 1913, the home is in the Colonial Revival style and became, according to some observers, a prototype for North Shore homes. It is listed on the Register of the National Estate.[21]

Berith Park, in Billyard Avenue, was designed by F. Ernest Stowe for Alfred Smith, who bought the land in 1897. The house was finished circa 1909.[22]

Westholme, in Water Street, was designed by Howard Joseland in the Arts and Crafts style for John Bennett, one of the pioneer developers of Wahroonga. Bennett came from England but migrated to Australia with his wife and acquired property at Wahroonga in 1893. Westholme was built in 1894. Another house was added at the other end of the block, but this was demolished in 1991 after changing hands several times.[23]

The Gatehouse, in Water Street, was originally part of the John Williams Hospital. The hospital also includes the Federation mansion Rippon Grange, designed by Howard Joseland. The Gatehouse is listed on the local government heritage register.[24]

Craignairn, at the corner of Burns Road and Cleveland Street, was also designed in the Arts and Crafts style by Howard Joseland. The client was Walter Strang.

Joseland also built his own home Malvern two doors away from the Strang home in Burns Road. An example of the Federation Bungalow style, it has been described as "unpretentious and solidly comfortable."[25] Between Craignairn and Malvern in Burns Road, Joseland also built Coolabah, another fine Federation Bungalow example.[26]

The Briars, in Woonona Avenue, is built on land that was granted to John Hughes in 1842, and later divided into four estates. Jessie Edith Balcombe built The Briars on one of these estates in 1895. It is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. 'The Briars' is connected to Napoleon Bonaparte; the house having been built for a grandson of the East India Company Agent who hosted Napoleon at the start of his exile. The house possesses some architectural similarities, and shares its name, with the building on St Helena.[27]

The Rose Seidler House, in Clissold Road, built by Harry Seidler between 1948 and 1950, was one of the first examples of modern residential architecture in Australia.

Commercial areas

The main shopping and commercial area is the Wahroonga Village located adjacent to the west side of the railway station. It has a variety of stores including several cafes, restaurants, health stores and boutiques as well as an IGA supermarket.

The smaller commercial centres are the Hampden Avenue shopping strip in east Wahroonga, and Fox Valley Shopping Centre on Fox Valley Road in south west Wahroonga.

There is also a commercial area at the intersection of Fox Valley Road and The Comenarra Parkway which contains the Sydney Adventist Hospital, Globalstar's Australian office, and the offices of the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists.

Sports

Sporting representation in Wahroonga often differs between the Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. Wahroonga is home to Knox Grammar School a traditional Rugby Union. In Rugby League Wahroonga is located in the district of the North Sydney Bears, officially the North Sydney District Rugby League Football Club. Despite exiting from the NRL after the 1999 season, North Sydney remains the only Rugby League team without NRL Representation to have a junior rugby league district, in which clubs compete in a joint district competition with clubs in the Manly Warringah District, and teams in Wahroonga are the Ku-ring-gai Cubs, who represent the vast majority of Wahroonga, and the Asquith Magpies who represent the Hornsby Shire parts of the suburb

Transport

Wahroonga railway station is on the North Shore railway line, with frequent Sydney Trains services to Central and Hornsby.[28]

Wahroonga is the Sydney end of the M1 Motorway to Newcastle. The Pacific Highway connects Wahroonga by road with the rest of the North Shore and Pennant Hills Road's northern end begins in Wahroonga and intersects the M1 Motorway at Pearce's Corner. The Comenarra Parkway is a minor arterial road that stretches from Thornleigh to West Pymble via Wahroonga and South Turramurra. Wahroonga is also the northern end of the NorthConnex motorway tunnel.

CDC NSW's Upper North Shore services provide sporadic bus services to parts of Wahroonga such as the 576 to Turramurra Station.[29]

Parks

Wahroonga Park is located to the north-east of the railway station, and features a significant number of well established introduced trees, a rose garden and a children's playground. The Glade, located near Abbotsleigh, has an oval, two tennis courts, a half basketball court and cricket nets. There is also a small Blue Gum High Forest, next to the tennis courts. Browns Field is a small sporting oval, formerly a historic logging area. Sir Robert Menzies Park is a small park located within Fox Valley.

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is located north of Wahroonga. It is the second oldest national park in Australia and is very popular, offering many walking tracks, picnic spots and Aboriginal sites with rock carvings. The park has a large proportion of the known Aboriginal sites in the Sydney area.

Schools

Primary:

Secondary:

K–12:

  • The Briars
    The Briars
  • Craignairn heritage-listed home, Burns Road
    Craignairn heritage-listed home, Burns Road
  • Rippon Grange, heritage-listed mansion, Water Street
    Rippon Grange, heritage-listed mansion, Water Street
  • Rose Seidler House, Clissold Road
    Rose Seidler House, Clissold Road
  • Knox Grammar Preparatory School
    Knox Grammar Preparatory School
  • St Lucy's School
    St Lucy's School
  • Prouille School
    Prouille School
  • St Edmund's School
    St Edmund's School
  • St Leo's Catholic College
    St Leo's Catholic College

Population

Demographics

According to the 2021 census, there were 17,853 residents in Wahroonga. 59.3% of people were born in Australia, the most common other countries of birth were China (excluding Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan) 8.2%, England 4.9%, India 2.9%, South Africa 2.6% and Hong Kong 1.9%. 67.9% of people only spoke English at home, other languages spoken at home included Mandarin (10.2%), Cantonese (3.5%), Korean (1.8%), Hindi (1.4%) and Persian (1.3%). The most common responses for religion in Wahroonga were No Religion 35.5%, Catholic 19.5%, Anglican 16.4% and Uniting Church 3.7%; a further 4.5% of respondents elected not to disclose their religion.[31]

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Wahroonga (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "The Wahroonga Guide". sitchu.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. ^ "Word of the week: Wahroonga". 26 June 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  4. ^ Ku Ring Gai Historical Society
  5. ^ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  6. ^ Book of Sydney Suburbs, Frances Pollon (Angus and Robertson) 1990, page 260
  7. ^ "Bloom baby boom". Fairfax. 22 July 2006. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  8. ^ "Sydney's best streets". Fairfax. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Highlands". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00034. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  10. ^ "Jack House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01910. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  11. ^ "Rose Seidler House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00261. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  12. ^ "St. John's Uniting Church, Hall and Manse". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01670. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  13. ^ "Purulia". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00184. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  14. ^ "Evatt House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01711. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  15. ^ "Wahroonga Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01280. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  16. ^ "Mahratta and Site". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00708. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  17. ^ "Wahroonga Reservoir (Elevated) (WS 0124)". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01352. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  18. ^ "Simpson-Lee House I". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01800. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  19. ^ "Briars, The". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00274. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  20. ^ The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.2/26
  21. ^ The Heritage of Australia, p.2/33
  22. ^ Wahroonga:Retrieved 6 May 2008
  23. ^ Wahroonga:Retrieved 6 May 2008
  24. ^ "Gatehouse, The (to John Williams Hospital)". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment & Heritage. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  25. ^ A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Apperly (Angus and Robertson) 1994, p.147
  26. ^ Heritage Federation Houses: Wahroonga: Retrieved 17 March 2015
  27. ^ "The Briars". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H09/02148. Retrieved 26 July 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  28. ^ "Wahroonga Station". transportnsw.info. Redleaf Ave, Wahroonga. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  29. ^ "576 Line Turramurra Station". moovitapp.com. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  30. ^ Abbotsleigh Website
  31. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Wahroonga". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 31 January 2024. Edit this at Wikidata
  32. ^ Smith, Pamela (7 June 2011). "Early Residents - Arnott Family". springwoodhistorians.blogspot.com. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 31 July 2012. Halse Rogers Arnott, his youngest son, qualified at the University of Sydney in 1925, receiving the Degree of Bachelor of Medicine and Master of Surgery. He was created a partner in the Arnott's business in 1902 and remained Chairman of the Board until 1961. In the 1930s Halse designed a house located in Burns Road, Wahroonga. At one time he owned Bulwarra located at Hunters Hill, which was purchased by the actress Cate Blanchett in 2008.
  33. ^ "The Sydney Bushwalker". sbw.ozultimate.com. September 1971. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2020. A Reminder…… Don't forget the farewell barbeque to the Putts at Dot Butler's home, 28-30 Boundary Road, Wahroonga, 7.0p.m. Saturday, 24th September. Dot says: "Bring your own steaks and eating irons… and sleeping bags if you want to stay the night … plenty of space in the back yard bush."
  34. ^ "About the Grace Cossington Smith Gallery". Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 25 June 2024. When Grace Cossington Smith attended Abbotsleigh (c1908-c1910)
  35. ^ "Peter Garrett". The University of Queensland. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024 – via AustLit. Born: 1953 Wahroonga, New South Wales
  36. ^ Maddox, Garry (9 August 2016). "Mel Gibson: "You get barking mad in your 50s"". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 31 January 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024. After his American family moved to Australia from New York state when he was 12, Mel Gibson grew up on Sydney's North Shore. He attended St Leo's Catholic College in Wahroonga, then the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), alongside such actors as Judy Davis, Steve Bisley and Debra Lawrance.
  37. ^ "Stuart Gerald Inder obituary". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 February 2015. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  38. ^ Sams, Christine (4 June 2006). "Return to Oz". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 31 January 2024. The actor, who grew up in the North Shore suburb of Wahroonga, went to school in Sydney before training as an actor in Perth.
  39. ^ Chisholm, Patricia (2006) [1983]. "Richard George Howard (Howard) Joseland (1860–1930)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024. In 1903 Joseland took into partnership his former pupil Hugh Vernon, Walter's son. Although Joseland's work always included a variety of building types, the greater part of his practice was domestic architecture. He built many houses on Sydney's developing North Shore, particularly on the Berry estates at North Sydney and Wahroonga, where for twenty-two years he lived in a house built for himself in 1900. He was in sole practice from 1914 until 1919, when he formed a partnership with Frederic Glynn Gilling, a young English architect. Thereafter he became less active and retired in 1929, selling out to Gilling, who retained the name — Joseland & Gilling is still an important architectural firm.
  40. ^ Davis, Tony (14 August 2020). "Matt Kean's journey from PwC accountant to electrifying Liberal". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 25 June 2024. Kean was born in 1981 and grew up in the upmarket northern Sydney suburb of Wahroonga. He was educated at Jesuit school St Ignatius, Riverview, along with many other future Liberals.
  41. ^ Dumas, Daisy (19 November 2012). "Being dumb is almost cool with surprise advertising hit". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 19 November 2012. McGill, 31, of Wahroonga, says he is thrilled at the uptake - and sees something of an advertising revolution in the song being downloaded on iTunes.
  42. ^ Marshall, Konrad (5 July 2019). "Ellyse Perry: 'Hopefully we're almost at a point where women's sport is, just, sport'". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 1 February 2024. Retrieved 1 February 2024. She grew up in a sporty Sydney home, with a GP mother who once swam and played senior club netball, and a high school maths teacher father who played squash for Australia and top grade cricket, too, as an all-rounder for Sydney University. Mark Perry knew his daughter had talent long before she began starring in sport as a teenager in West Pymble, or even as a pre-teen in South Wahroonga, but further back at their first family home in Thornleigh, when she was only three years old.
  43. ^ Chisholm, Alec H. (1928), "1 photograph : sepia toned; 15.2 x 21.6 cm.", Portrait of Harry Wolstenholme at Wahroonga, Sydney feeding a thrush [1928], G.M. Mathews collection of portraits of ornithologists., nla.obj-150662503, retrieved 29 December 2011 – via Trove
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sydney/Wahroonga.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wahroonga, New South Wales.

33°43′06″S 151°07′07″E / 33.7183°S 151.1187°E / -33.7183; 151.1187

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