Wahroonga, New South Wales

Wahroonga is a suburb in the Upper North Shore of Sydney[2], in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of Ku-ring-gai Council and Hornsby Shire. Wahroonga shares the postcode of 2076 with the adjacent suburbs of Normanhurst and North Wahroonga.

Wahroonga
Sydney, New South Wales
Marian Clarke Building, Wahroonga.
Population17,371 (2016 census)[1]
 • Density2,118/km2 (5,490/sq mi)
Established1822
Postcode(s)2076
Area8.2 km2 (3.2 sq mi)
Location17 km (11 mi) north-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)Ku-ring-gai Council
Hornsby Shire
State electorate(s)Ku-ring-gai
Federal Division(s)Bradfield
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

History

Wahroonga is an Aboriginal word meaning our home. In the early days of the British colonisation of New South Wales, the main activity was cutting down the tall trees which grew there. Wahroonga was first colonised by the British in 1822 by Thomas Hyndes, a convict who 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.[3] 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.[4] Much of this development occurred in the 1920s and 1930s.[5]

Heritage listings

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

Commercial area

Wahroonga has several small shopping villages, such as Wahroonga Village located near the railway station with several small restaurants, cafes, pharmacies and stores including IGA, Hampden Avenue shopping centre in East Wahroonga and Fox Valley Shopping Centre on Fox Valley Road. The Sydney Adventist Hospital is in Wahroonga, as is Globalstar's Australian office, and the offices of the South Pacific Division of Seventh-day Adventists.

Transport

Wahroonga railway station is on the North Shore & Western Line of the Sydney Trains network. Wahroonga is the Sydney end of the M1 Motorway to Newcastle. Pennant Hills Road’s northern end begins in Wahroonga and intersects the M1 At Pearce’s Corner. The Comenarra Parkway is a minor arterial road that stretches from Thornleigh to West Pymble via Wahroonga and South Turramurra. Transdev NSW’s Upper North Shore services provides provide bus services to the area.

Historical Listings

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.

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[6] and was listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.[17]

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.[18]

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.[19]

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.[20]

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.[21]

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."[22] Between Craignairn and Malvern in Burns Road, Joseland also built Coolabah, another fine Federation Bungalow example.[23]

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.[24]

Wahroonga is known for its tree-lined, shady streets. Notable streets include Burns Road, Water Street and Billyard Avenue.[25][26]

  • Rose Seidler House, Clissold Road
  • The Briars
  • Craignairn heritage-listed home, Burns Road
  • Rippon Grange, heritage-listed mansion, Water Street

Churches

Wahroonga contains a number of churches including Holy Name Catholic Church, St John's Uniting Church, St Andrew's Anglican Church, St Pauls Anglican Church, Wahroonga Presbyterian Church and the Wahroonga Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Parks

Wahroonga Park is located north-east of the railway station, and features a significant number of well established introduced trees, and a children's playground. The Glade, located near Abbotsleigh, has two tennis courts, a half basketball court and a large circular oval where Football and Cricket can be played. 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:

  • Waitara Public School
  • Wahroonga Public School
  • Prouille Catholic Primary School
  • Wahroonga Preparatory School
  • St Lucy's School for children with disabilities

Secondary:

K-12:

  • Knox Grammar Preparatory School
  • St Lucy's School
  • Prouille School
  • St Edmund's School
  • St Leo's Catholic College

Population

Demographics

According to the 2016 census, there were 17,371 residents in Wahroonga. 60.4% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were England 5.6%, China 5.6%, South Africa 2.6%, India 2.2% and New Zealand 1.9%. 71.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin (6.7%), Cantonese (3.1%), Korean (1.7%), Persian (1.2%) and Hindi (1.1%). The most common responses for religion in Wahroonga were No Religion 27.6%, Catholic 21.9% and Anglican 18.8%.[1]

Notable residents
  • Halse Rogers Arnott, medical practitioner, company director and chairman of Arnott's lived in Burns Road[28]
  • Dorothy ('Dot') Butler, bushwalker, mountaineer, and conservationist, lived in Boundary Road[29]
  • David Campese, former Wallaby
  • Grace Cossington Smith, Australian artist and pioneer of modernist painting, attended Abbotsleigh School

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Wahroonga (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  2. "The Wahroonga Guide". SitchU.com.au. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
  3. Ku Ring Gai Historical Society
  4. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Retrieved 1 June 2012.
  5. Book of Sydney Suburbs, Frances Pollon (Angus and Robertson) 1990, page 260
  6. "Highlands". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00034. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  7. "Jack House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01910. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  8. "Rose Seidler House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00261. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  9. "St. John's Uniting Church, Hall and Manse". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01670. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  10. "Purulia". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00184. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  11. "Evatt House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01711. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  12. "Wahroonga Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01280. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  13. "Mahratta and Site". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00708. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  14. "Wahroonga Reservoir (Elevated) (WS 0124)". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01352. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  15. "Simpson-Lee House I". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01800. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  16. "Briars, The". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00274. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  17. The Heritage of Australia, Macmillan Company, 1981, p.2/26
  18. The Heritage of Australia, p.2/33
  19. Wahroonga:Retrieved 6 May 2008
  20. Wahroonga:Retrieved 6 May 2008
  21. "Gatehouse, The (to John Williams Hospital)". New South Wales Heritage Database. Office of Environment and Heritage. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  22. A Pictorial Guide to Identifying Australian Architecture, Apperly (Angus and Robertson) 1994, p.147
  23. Heritage Federation Houses: Wahroonga: Retrieved 17 March 2015
  24. "The Briars". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H09/02148. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  25. "Bloom baby boom". Fairfax. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  26. "Sydney's best streets". Fairfax. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
  27. Abbotsleigh Website
  28. Springwood Historians Retrieved 31 July 2012
  29. "197109 [SBW Magazine Project]". sbw.ozultimate.com. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  30. "Stuart Gerald Inder obituary". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  31. Howard Joseland, architect
  32. Dumas, Daisy (19 November 2012). "Being dumb is almost cool with surprise advertising hit". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 19 November 2012.
  33. "Portrait of Harry Wolstenholme". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 29 December 2011.

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