Epping
A commercial and retail centre, the suburb of Epping lies 18 kilometres to the north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Hills District. Epping is the most north-eastern area of the City of Parramatta. North Epping is a separate suburb to the north and under a different council, Hornsby Shire. Until 2016, parts of Epping were under three different councils: Hornsby Shire, City of Ryde and City of Parramatta. A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that all of Epping be amalgamated into the City of Parramatta, and this became effective on 12 May 2016.
Epping railway station is a junction station on the North Shore, Northern and Western Line of the Sydney Trains network. It will also be a junction station on the new rapid transit Sydney Metro Northwest when the line is scheduled to be completed in 2019.[ As of October 2018 the Epping to Chatswood railway line is closed for an estimated seven months, to be integrated into the Sydney Metro Northwest line.
Epping is also well-serviced by bus facilities by State Transit and Hillsbus. The M2 Hills Motorway runs along the northern border to the Sydney CBD. Epping Road is a major arterial road in the area that runs east from the railway station to the Pacific Highway.
Epping is on the state government's list of 'priority precincts', thanks to its excellent rail and bus links providing access to Chatswood, Macquarie Park, Macquarie University, Macquarie Centre and the city. A $550 million M2 upgrade has been completed and the North West Rail Link is due for completion in 2019 and will provide a direct link to the Norwest Business Centre.
Epping Aquatic and Leisure Centre (also known as Dence Park Aquatic Centre) , features a heated outdoor 50-metre pool, a warmer heated 'learn to swim' pool, a covered toddlers' play pool, a gymnasium and a kiosk/coffee shop. A range of classes and training is held at the centre. Location: off 26 Stanley Road, Epping.
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Epping has many open spaces and parks, one of its most popular being Boronia Park. It is very much geared towards families and children, and features a scooter/bike track, a nature based play area and wooden play equipment, featuring a train, fire engine and bike see saws. The park's facilities also include a playing field with a cricket pitch, shade cloth, BBQs and a grassed area with plenty of trees and open spaces. There are public toilets next door, street parking, a cafe over the road with other eating options close by around the Epping railway station. Location: 37 Bridge Street, Epping, within walking distance of the railway station.
Remnants of the Devlins Creek causeway, Epping, part of the historic Great North Road (1826-36)
Extending north from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, the 240 km Great North Road was built between 1826 and 1836 by re-offending convicts stationed at Newcastle. The road originally passed through Baulkham Hills along what is now called Old Northern Road to Wisemans Ferry. In 1829 Surveyor General Thomas Mitchell developed a shorter route which branched north from the Parramatta Road at Five Dock. A ferry crossed the Parramatta River from Abbotsford to Bedlam Point at Gladesville. The road then followed the present line of Victoria Road, Blaxland Road, continuing north to join the original line of road from Castle Hill at Dural. In a reserve in Woodlark Place, Castle Hill are the remains of small masonry abutments where Mitchell's road crossed Pyes Creek.
A convict built causeway across Devlins Creek is visible at Epping on land between Beecroft Road and the railway underneath the bus flyover of the M2 Tollway.
This walk, via Terry s Creek, is the most direct bush route between Eastwood and Epping stations. Terry s Creek waterfall features as a wonderful spot to unwind and enjoy the bush. The walk up to Eastwood Station visits the open grassy Forrester Park, another nice place to take a break along this walk. The walk starts from the eastern side of Epping Station, crossing over the street at the pedestrian crossing and heads up Pembroke St. The walk heads up the slight hill passing a Dentist s and church on the left. The walk ends at Eastwood Railway Station. Moderate track. Distance: 4.1 km one way.
Cheltenham railway station
The neighbouring suburb of Cheltenham is 21 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Cheltenham is small residential suburb with a distinctive English atmosphere, with a number of 19th Century mansions on tree-lined streets. Cheltenham shares its postcode of 2119 with Beecroft and has sometimes been viewed as simply part of that suburb. Most residents of Cheltenham see themselves as distinct from Beecroft, although local issues are addressed together in the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust.
Cheltenham takes its name from a house built by William Chorley, a Sydney tailor and men s outfitter, who acquired the land when it was released from the Field of Mars Reserve. He named the house after his birthplace of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. Chorley asked the government to build a station here and to name it after his property when it opened in 1898. Sutherland Road was named for John Sutherland, Minister for Public Works from 1887 to 1889.
Cheltenham railway station is on the on North Shore, Northern & Western Line of the Sydney Trains network. The M2 Hills Motorway runs along the southern border of the suburb.
The neighbouring suburb of Beecroft is 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Beecroft was orchard country before its suburban development. The railway arrived in 1886 and Sir Henry Copeland, Minister of Lands, conducted a survey of the area to determine its suitability as a residential area. He named the suburb after the maiden name of his two wives, Hannah and Mary Beecroft, (two sisters he married in succession). Their names are also remembered through the respective naming of the suburb's east-west streets; Hannah Street, Copeland Road and Mary Street. The bushland and amenity of Beecroft has been largely preserved due to the efforts of the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust which has been very active since its inception in 1958.
Beecroft railway station is on the North Shore, Northern and Western Line of the Sydney Trains network. Prior to the construction of the M2 Hills Motorway, Beecroft's main road thoroughfare was commissioned as part of Sydney's Metroad system of major arterial roads and throughways.
Carlingford is a neighbouring suburb on the north-eastern outskirts of the Greater Western Sydney region. It is on the south-eastern outskirts of the Hills District and western outskirts of Northern Suburbs. Carlingford railway station is the terminus of the Carlingford Line on the Sydney Trains network. The Carlingford Line, which opened on 20th April 1896 as a private railway, then as a public line on 1st August 1901 is a mostly single-track line. There are limited services outside of peak hours. The M2 Hills Motorway, part of the Sydney orbital road, runs through northern Carlingford providing a route to the city and North Sydney. Since the Westlink M7 Motorwaywas finished, completing the Sydney Orbital, it has replaced the Cumberland Highway as the north-south national highway.
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Yarralumla Wildlife Sanctuary in North Rocks follows the bushland valleys of Hunts and Pages Creeks, tributaries of Darling Mills Creek which flow into Lake Parramatta. A haven for local native flora and fauna, the 2.3 km long reserve has a walking trail beside the creeks which can be accessed from Statham Avenue and Northam Drive, North Rocks and Lindisfarne Crescent, Carlingford. Upstream from the confluence of the two creeks, Pages Creek passes over a particularly beautiful waterfall. It can be accessed with ease from Palmview Crescent, North Rocks or Ferndale Avenue and Edinburgh Avenue, Carlingford.
Hunts Creek and Seville Reserves are part of a small corridor of bushland linking with Lake Parramatta through a network of significant bushland remnants on the The Kings School property. There are other, larger bush patches, such as Bidjigal Reserve and Pennant Hills Park, within a few kilometres. This is important because some of the more mobile animals, such as parrots and bats, can make use of the wider, regional habitat by moving between these patches. Backyards with native trees, grasses and shrubs can also form an important part of the habitat network.
The neighbouring residential suburb of Beecroft is 21 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. The valley has been shaped by the Ponds Creek, around which many of the area's parks are located. The valley is bounded by both steep and gentle slopes feeding into the creek. The Ponds walk is a marked 6.6 kilometre track which follows the Ponds and Subiaco Creeks from Eric Mobbs Memorial Park in Carlingford to Jim Crowgey Reserve in Rydalmere. This walk follows a number of the parks in the Dundas Valley area.
Dundas and surrounding areas were originally known as "The Ponds", a name still reflected in The Ponds Creek. The first private land grants in Sydney made in 1791 were in what is now North East Dundas and adjoining Dundas Valley and Ermington. This consisted of land grants to 14 former convicts and their families along the Ponds and Subiaco Creeks. In the early 1800s a number of the early settlers sold their grants to Lieutenant William Cox of the NSW Corps. Cox's holdings spread from Brush Farm into Dundas Valley where he grazed sheep and cattle and grew corn and wheat. Gregory Blaxland purchased Brush Farm in 1806.
Thomas Mitchell opened a quarry in 1832 on the site of the park that now bears his name. The quarry was a supplier of blue metal , used in road construction, into the 20th century. The 'blue metal' was quarried by convicts and carried to Ermington Wharf where it was ferried to Sydney. The quarry exposed a large volcanic formation between 200 and 250 million years old. Due to the geological significance of the area, it was visited by a number of famous scientists, including Charles Darwin and Douglas Mawson.
The name Dundas was first used in the area in 1799, taken from a parish of the same name in England, although it is also claimed the area was initially named after Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. The area was developed during the 1950s and 1960s with the construction of public housing. A number of streets in Dundas Valley are named after ships of the First Fleet (Sirius, Supply, Alexander, Charlotte and Friendship) and the Second Fleet (Neptune).
Eastwood, located 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, is a neighbouring suburb. Originally thought to have been inhabited by the Wallumedegal Aboriginal tribe, who lived in the area between the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, the area was first settled by Europeans shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, from land grants to Royal Marines and NSW Corps, and was named "Eastwood" by an early Irish free settler, William Rutledge. Today it is a large suburban centre in the north of Sydney of over 14,000 people, with a large shopping area. Eastwood has a large population of Asian descent with immigrants from China transforming the commercial precinct in the past decade.
Granny Smith Festival
Eastwood is famous for the Granny Smith apple, accidentally first grown in the suburb by Maria Ann Smith. Every October, the oval and cordoned-off streets become the grounds for the annual Granny Smith Festival, a celebration of the icon with fairground rides, market stalls, street theatres, parades, an apple-baking competition and a fireworks spectacular at the Upper Eastwood Oval.
In recent years the festival has been influenced by the substantial Asian immigrant communities, with Chinese dragon dancers in the Grand Parade and Chinese stallholders. During the same period, Eastwood's annual Chinese New Year Celebrations have broadened their appeal by incorporating concurrent Korean New Year traditions, and have accordingly been renamed the Lunar New Year Festivities.
To the north, Eastwood is bounded by the transport hub of Epping and to its east Marsfield which shares the same postcode of 2122. The suburb is predominantly residential with the main shopping area of Eastwood centred between Rowe Street and Rutledge Street around the railway line. Eastwood is relatively well served by public transport. Eastwood railway station is located on the Main Northern railway line.
The neighbouring suburb of Marsfield is a residential area noted for its proximity to a number of leading scientific and tertiary educational institutions. Marsfield is home to the Macquarie University, the Macquarie Park Business Park, Macquarie University Hospital, Macquarie University railway station and Macquarie Shopping Centre. The suburb's name is derived from Field of Mars, the original name in the early days of British colonisation of Australia, given to the area by Governor Phillip in 1792.
The whole area between the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers was originally known by its Aboriginal name Wallumatta. The aboriginal name survives in a local park, the Wallumatta Nature Reserve, located at the corner of Twin and Cressy Roads, North Ryde. In 1792 Governor Phillip began the granting of parcels of lands to Royal Marines, and the area was referred to on Phillip's maps as the Field of Mars, named after the Roman Field of Mars probably because of the military link. Field of Mars was also the name for the parish proclaimed in 1835.
Many of the streets in Marsfield and bordering suburbs, mainly Eastwood and Macquarie Park, are named after famous historical conflicts or battles.
Cumberland State Forest
The neigbouring suburb of West Pennant Hills is a residential suburb with a commercial area located at Thompsons Corner. The nearest train stations are Beecroft and Pennant Hills, the suburb is also serviced by buses. Attractions include the Cumberland State Forest and the Koala Park Sanctuary.
The suburb was named for both its geological features and its man-made additions. When Sydney was first established, 'Pennant Hills', applied to the range of hills stretching north from Parramatta. The Pennant refers to a flag pole erected on the area s highest point. During the first years of the Sydney settlement this flag pole with its pennant was a form of early communication between the government in Parramatta and the governor s outer Sydney residence. It was used to signal to Parramatta that the governor was returning to Parramatta after spending time at his retreat in the outer areas of Sydney.
Thompsons Corner
Thompsons Corner is named after Andrew Thompson (1773-1810), a convict who received a grant of 100 acres (0.40 km2) in 1796 opposite the signal station in Pennant Hills. Workmen on the railway from Strathfield to Hornsby established a camp and stores depot there in about 1890. During Lachlan Macquarie's governorship (1810 21), a timbersawing establishment stood near today's Thompsons Corner.
Carlingford-Epping Timber drawing, c.1910
he Wallumedegal Aboriginal tribe lived in the area between the Lane Cove River and Parramatta River. In 1792, Governor Arthur Phillip began the granting of parcels of lands to marines, and the area was referred to on Phillip's maps as the Field of Mars, Mars being the Roman god of war. It contained the area of what is now Epping, along with the surrounding suburbs of Ryde and Marsfield.
Epping had an important role in the early years of the colony, particularly during the time of Governor Macquarie when timber from the area was in high demand. Macquarie set up a government sawmill, the Pennant Hills Timbergetting Establishment in 1816. It was originally on the site of the ridge around the present Hull Road at Pennant Hills. In 1819 it was enlarged with addition of a new site along a ridge a little further to the south on the present Oxford Street, Epping. The sawpit was on the western side of Oxford Street (site today of the Catholic Church and adjacent shops) as it sloped down to Devlin's Creek. The camp site for the convicts being on the opposite side where the Epping Methodist church was subsequently built in 1905 over the site of the former convict kitchen.
Epping Railway Station was opened on 17 September 1886 and was first called the Field of Mars station, then renamed Carlingford the following year.
In 1899 the suburb name of Epping was adopted following the suggestion by a local landowner William Midson (1849 1924), after a town near Epping Forest in Essex, where his father was born.[6] At this time, the names of the post office and the railway station were both changed to Epping.
The Seven Television Network had television production studios in Epping until 2009. The site is now occupied by residential apartments.
