Beecroft, New South Wales: Difference between revisions

Beecroft is a suburb of Sydney, Australia, within the Hornsby Shire Local Government Area, about 20 kilometres north-west of the city's central business district. Population (2001): 7,929. Its postcode is 2119.

Beecroft is unusually English in its atmosphere. The Anglican church - formerly the Church of England - was especially prominent in Beecroft society. The suburb itself has three churches within its boundaries; St. John's Anglican (Church of England) Church and Beecroft Uniting Church on Beecroft Road, with Beecroft Presbyterian Church on Mary Street, opposite the school.

Some Photographs of Beecroft

Beecroft Road

Beecroft residents tend to vote conservatively, and for fiscally conservative political parties, while often being socially liberal in their political views. Its leafy, tree-lined steets are reminiscent of a village in the home counties. Some of Sydney's most historically important houses are found in Beecroft, many of which are distinctively Australian, including several Federation houses on one of Sydney's oldest and most expensive residential streets, Malton Road.

History

Beecroft was, before its suburban development, orchard country.

Sir Henry Copeland named the suburb after the maiden name of his two wives, Hannah and Mary Beecroft, who were sisters. These names are remembered through the respective naming of the suburb's east/west streets; Hannah Street, Copeland Road and Mary Street.

Beecroft was also the site of the first specialist children's bookshop in Australia.

Commercial Activity

Beecroft Village retail centre; Hannah Street

The majority of commercial activity conducted in Beecroft is concentrated within a couple of blocks. Although not large by Sydney standards, it is none the less important in servicing the suburb and its immediate area, including parts of Cheltenham. The commercial area is located between Beecroft Road and Beecroft railway station. In keeping with the spirit of the traditional heritage, Old English is used throughout as the typeset of the Beecroft Village arcade. Hannah Street, the Suburb's main Commercial Street, underwent a significant beautification upgrade in 2005, which saw the removal of old trees and their replacement with new ones, planter boxes installed down Hannah Street, the resurfacing and paving of the footpath and a widening on the footpath, particularly near the eastern end of Hannah Street adjacent to the Railway Station.

Transport

Beecroft is served by a railway station on the CityRail network and various bus routes including routes 623 and 635 from Sydney Buses and Hillsbus respectively (formerly the Glenorie Bus Company). The buses stop southbound along Wongala Crescent within 25 metres of the railway station (80 metres by foot). Many of the railway users take advantage of the free commuter parking offered by the State Rail Authority and drive to the station before leaving for their destination by train. In addition to the usual passenger railway traffic, the Main Northern Line also acts as an intercity and freight train thoroghfare passing through Beecroft.

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. Beecroft Road was part of the Metroad 2 thoroughfare which took motorists between Sydney's Central Business District and Windsor via the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Epping and Castle Hill.

Like many of the other suburbs of Sydney, most residents of Beecroft derive employment from outside the immediate area. The most common sources of fixed-location employment include the Sydney Central Business District, North Sydney, Hornsby, Macquarie Centre (in Marsfield), Epping, Chatswood and Parramatta. Some of these links have strengthened in recent years due in part to the construction of the M2 Hills Motorway.

Topography

Like much of the surrounding area of Northern Sydney, Beecroft is located on a number of hills and gullies. Its highest point lies along its Northern frontier along Pennant Hills Road and slopes downward toward the South and the East. The slope poses constraints upon the Main Northern Railway Line, with numerous diesel freight trains subject to stalling while travelling uphill.

Within the suburb, a number of small creeks flow through into the Lane Cove River, including Devlins Creek and Byall Creek. Prior to the construction of the M2 Motorway, the southern end of Sutherland Road was subject to flooding from Devlins Creek during heavy rains.

Amenities

Beecroft is also bestowed with a number of recreational facilities within its boundaries. Beecroft is home to the exclusive Pennant Hills Golf Club, as well as a lawn bowls club near the school, a football pitch at Booth Park, a lawn tennis club, as well as general park space at the Village Green, walking trails through Chilworth Reserve and other forested areas. The central bushlands are known for the presence of the Satin Bowerbird, and many blue objects such as milk bottle tops and clothes pegs from nearby homes can be found in their nests.

Schools

Beecroft has two Primary Schools residing on Beecroft Road, and another Primary, and a High School on the border of Carlingford, New South Wales.

• Beecroft Primary School
• Arden Anglican School

Bordered on North Rocks Rd and Carlingford:

• Roselea Primary School
• Carlingford High School

Notable citizens

• Sir Garfield Barwick (Australian High Court Justice)
• Michael Croft (KAR Expert)
• Private Kearns (Infanteer)
• George Sargent of Australian meat pie fame

Related Texts

• Beecroft and Cheltenham, The Shaping of a Sydney Community to 1914 (Beecroft Cheltenham History Group Inc, 1995). ISBN 0-646-24286-5 [1]