Beecroft, New South Wales

Beecroft is a suburb on the Upper North Shore[2][3] of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 22 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of Hornsby Shire and City of Parramatta.[4]

Suburban home in Beecroft

Beecroft
Sydney, New South Wales
Suburban home in Beecroft
Population9,396 (2016 census)[1]
 • Density1,842/km2 (4,770/sq mi)
Postcode(s)2119
Area5.1 km2 (2.0 sq mi)
Location22 km (14 mi) north-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)
State electorate(s)Epping
Federal Division(s)
Suburbs around Beecroft:
West Pennant Hills Pennant Hills Pennant Hills
West Pennant Hills Beecroft Cheltenham
Carlingford Carlingford Epping

Beecroft resides the upper section of Lane Cove National Park, and is one of the oldest established suburbs in New South Wales. The suburb is notably affluent, and is characterised by leafy streets and large federation homes on big blocks of land.[5]

History
Beecroft Community Centre

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. Beecroft Post Office opened on 10 February 1890.[6] Due to the strength of the temperance movement in Beecroft at that time there have never been any hotels in Beecroft. 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.[7][8]

Beecroft Cheltenham History Group
Lorne House, now part of Arden Anglican School, was designed by George Sydney Jones (1868 – 1927)

The BCHG was founded in 1987 by local history enthusiasts to record the history of Beecroft and Cheltenham and to collect and preserve photos and other historical information relative to the area. Since 2005 the BCHG has been part of the Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust.[9] In 1995 a book covering the history of Beecroft and Cheltenham up to 1914 was published.[10] In 2004 a book on walks around the district was published.[11] In 2005 a book about the Beecroft Children’s Library was published.[12]

Commercial area
Shops at Beecroft

The majority of commercial activity conducted in Beecroft is concentrated within a couple of blocks. Although not large by Sydney standards, it is nonetheless important in servicing the suburb and its immediate area, including neighbouring suburbs such as Cheltenham and Epping. 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.

As of 2016, a large portion of houses and commercial shops in the block have been knocked down to make room for new units and shops. Beecroft Place (at the corner of Hannah Street and Beecroft Road) was officially opened on the 20th of September 2017 with a Woolworths supermarket as its anchor tenant.

Beecroft shopping district was one of the first shopping districts in New South Wales to ban the use of plastic bags. This included Woolworths Beecroft to be the first Woolworths Supermarket to ban plastic bags in the state.[13]

Transport
Beecroft railway station

Beecroft railway station is on the Northern Line of the Sydney Trains network. In addition to passenger railway traffic, the Main Northern Line also acts as an intercity and freight train thoroughfare passing through Beecroft. Beecroft is also serviced by various bus routes including route 553 from State Transit and routes 651 and 635 from Hillsbus.[14]

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.[15] 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.

Churches

The Anglican Church was especially prominent in Beecroft society, but the suburb has three churches within its boundaries:

  • St John's Anglican Church[16]
  • Beecroft Uniting Church[17]
  • Beecroft Presbyterian Church[18]

Education

Beecroft has four Primary Schools, an independent Anglican school and a high school on the border of Carlingford:

Sport and recreation
A walking track in the part of Chilworth Reserve known as "Byles Bush", at the end of York Street.

Beecroft has a number of recreational facilities within its boundaries. Beecroft is home to Pennant Hills Golf Club,[19] a lawn bowls club now known as "The Beecroft Club" (previously "Beecroft Bowling and Recreation Club"),[20] a lawn tennis club,[21] as well as general park space at the Village Green, walking trails through Chilworth Reserve and other forested areas.

Population

Demographics

At the 2016 census of Population, there were 9,396 residents in Beecroft.

Ethnic diversity
64.8% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 7.2%, England 3.1%, Hong Kong 2.8%, India 2.3% and Sri Lanka 1.7%. 66.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 8.6%, Cantonese 6.5%, Korean 2.4%, Tamil 1.3% and Hindi 1.2%.
Religion
The most common responses for religious affiliation were No Religion 28.1%, Catholic 21.2% and Anglican 16.8%.[1]
Income
Beecroft has an average weekly household income of $2,523, above the national average of $1,438.
Housing
The majority of dwellings (90%) were separate houses. The average people per household is 3.1.

Notable residents

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Beecroft (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  2. "Ray White, Australasia's largest real estate group | residential | commercial | rural | projects | hotels | marine |". www.raywhite.com.
  3. "Beecroft Suburb Review & Profile". 21 March 2020.
  4. "Postcodes Australia - Qpzm". qpzm.com.au.
  5. "Info". www.belleproperty.com. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  6. Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List". Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  7. Beecroft and Cheltenham, The Shaping of a Sydney Community to 1914 (Beecroft Cheltenham History Group Inc, 1995). ISBN 0-646-24286-5
  8. "Hornsby Shire Council - History of Beecroft". Hornsby Shire Council. 2 May 2018.
  9. Beecroft-Cheltenham History Group Welcome Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  10. Beecroft-Cheltenham History Group (1995), Beecroft and Cheltenham : the shaping of a Sydney community to 1914, The Group, ISBN 978-0-646-24286-6
  11. Barker, Helen; Goldberg, Lesley; Bartho, Catherine; Beecroft-Cheltenham History Group (2004), Beecroft and Cheltenham heritage walks, The Group, retrieved 19 January 2020
  12. Dortins, Emma; Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust; Beecroft-Cheltenham History Group. Library Sub-Group (2005), Beecroft Children's Library : giving the gift of reading, 1942-1998, Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust, ISBN 978-0-9758343-0-5
  13. "Bag Free Beecroft". Total Environment Centre.
  14. Beecroft Station Transport for NSW
  15. "Ozroads: NSW Metroad 2". www.ozroads.com.au.
  16. "St John's Beecroft - Home". www.beecroftanglicans.org.au.
  17. "Home". beecroftuniting.org.
  18. "Home | Beecroft Presbyterian Church". beecroftpresbyterian.org.au.
  19. "Contacts - Address". www.pennanthillsgolfclub.com.au. Pennant Hills Golf Club. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  20. "The Beecroft Club". www.thebeecroftclub.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  21. "Beecroft Lawn Tennis Club". www.beecrofttennis.com.au. Retrieved 29 October 2016.
  22. Beecroft Cheltenham Civic Trust – 109 Copeland Road Retrieved 30 April 2014

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