Cherrybrook, New South Wales

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Cherrybrook is a suburb of Sydney, Australia, it is located within the Hornsby local government area. It is located 25 kilometres north-west of the central business district. The population of Cherrybrook was 18,601 as of the 2001 Census. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics.

1 History
2 Street Names
3 Education
4 Religion
5 Transport
6 Retail Activity
7 Recreation
8 Community
9 External links

[edit] History

Joseph and Mary Ann (nee Thompson) Harrison were married and settled on a block in the area in 1839, planted orchards and built a small timber cottage they called "Cherrybrook Cottage". The name "Cherrybrook" is believed to have come from the fact they grew cherry trees near the creek, which passed through their land.[1] Their 65 acre block, which became known as "Cherrybrook Farm", had been granted originally to Mary Russell during the 1820s. The orchard at Cherrybrook Farm produced peaches, apricots, pears, plums, and citrus fruit. Many years later the property was bought by Eric Vaux, who established a dairy and kept the name Cherrybrook.

In 1959, the land was subdivided to become the first project home village in Sydney. The original bushland was bulldozed, and exhibition homes were built on cut and fill sites, then landscaped. A large number of builders erected their homes with the entire project being promoted through the Australian Women's Weekly. This initial phase was followed by further period of accelerated development during the 1980s.

Over the years Cherrybrook has changed from its semi rural area to a residential boom suburb in the 1980s. Many homes are similar, giving a "utopian" characteristic.

[edit] Street Names

Many of Cherrybrook's streets are named after native plants and trees, historical figures from convict times or from local landowners. When Cherrybrook was being subdivided from 1979 onwards, the developers chose colonial architects as a theme for naming some streets. None of the colonial architects and surveyors were associated with or lived in Cherrybrook.

Francis Greenway Drive - Francis Howard Greenway (1777-1837) arrived in Australia in the convict ship General Hewitt in February 1814, having been convicted of the crime of forgery in 1812 and sentenced to transportation. Befriended by Governor Lachlan Macquarie, Greenway was employed in planning the township of Sydney. He was pardoned in 1816 and appointed as Civil Architect and Assistant Engineer in that year. He is considered a leading exponent of late Georgian architecture in Australia. He designed and built numerous large buildings, many of which are still standing. These include the lighthouse at South Head, St Matthew's at Windsor and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. [2]
Macquarie Drive - Named after the fifth Governor of NSW, Major-General Lachlan Macquarie (January 1, 1810 to December 1, 1821).[3]
Lambe Place - David Lambe (1802-1843), architect and farmer, was born in London in 1802. In May, 1823 he sought employment in Van Diemen's Land and in August he received a promise of a grant of land. Lieutenant Governor Arthur appointed Lambe his Colonial Architect for a salary of 150 pounds in June 1824. He is remembered for his connections with some of Tasmania's oldest extant buildings.
Dawes Place - William Dawes (1762-1836) was a surveyor who laid out Sydney and Parramatta, and built the first observatory in Australia, at what is now Dawes Point, Sydney.
Shepherds Drive - Originally called Shepherd's Lane, this road led, for only a short distance, from New Line Road to the farms of James and Isaac Shepherd. The road ran along the southern boundary of a 60 acre farm granted to James in 1819. He also owned 30 acres on the other side of New Line Road. In 1823 Isaac not only owned 60 acres at the end of Shepherd's Lane but also 100 acres on the southern side of Thompsons Corner, New South Wales. In 1833 Isaac acquired a further 100 acres at the end of Shepherd's Lane.
Purchase Road - John Purchase acquired 189 acres of land at the end of this road in 1854. This road at first was his driveway. He had migrated to Australia in 1838 at the age of 32 with his wife Betsy. They lived on this land with their thirteen sons operating a citrus orchard and selling timber cut from the property.
Booth Place - Named after the Booth family who owned this land.
Jenner Road - Samuel Jenner owned 100 acres here about 1840.
New Line Road - Despite the name, this is one of the oldest roads in the area. It has had many name changes. In 1828 it was "New North Road" in contrast with "Old Northern Road" which it joins at Dural. On re-alignment in 1845 it was named "The New Public Northern Road".
Boundary Road - This road joins New Line Road in Cherrybrook and marks the northern boundary of the Field of Mars Common which was established on August 12, 1804 and comprised 5050 acres. It did not join New Line Road until the 1950s.
Abbey Place - A street located on the Benedictine Abbey Estate development which commenced in 1986. An abbey was built on the site in 1957 but was demolished on May 31, 1988. The Benedictine Nuns sold 45 acres to Trinity Development Company who progressively released land following survey. Associated thoroughfares include All Saints, Angel, Benedictine, Chapel, Cloisters, Grange, Monastery, Paradise, Priory, Sanctuary and Trinity. Paxton Close is also associated with the Benedictine Order.
Tallowwood Avenue - Tallowwood is a very hard timber used for flooring and window skills. It comes from the tree Eucalyptus microcorys.[4]
Boldrewood Place is named after Rolf Boldrewood who wrote "Robbery Under Arms".
Gumnut Road - Gumnuts are the woody seed capsules produced after a gum tree has flowered. This road was formerly called Pogson's Lane until the 1920s.

[edit] Education

Cherrybrook is serviced by a number of educational institutions, including Cherrybrook Nursery & Preschool, ABC Developmental Learning Centre, Kindalin Early Childhood Learning Centre, Cherrybrook Community Pre-School, Cherrybrook Public School, John Purchase Public School, Cherrybrook Technology High School, Tangara School for Girls, and Inala, a Rudolf Steiner school supporting individuals with disabilities.

Cherrybrook Technology High School (CTHS) is currently the largest government secondary school in the state with around 1830 students and is growing larger each year, although it was built to accommodate 900 students.

Cherrybrook Public School [5]
John Purchase Public School [6]
Inala [7]
Cherrybrook Technology High School [8]
Tangara School For Girls [9]

[edit] Religion

As with much of north-west Sydney, Cherrybrook also has a comparatively large number of Christian churches of many denominations. These include:

Cherrybrook Anglican Church [10]
Cherrybrook Uniting Church [11]
Cherrybrook Presbyterian Church [12]
Victory Community Christian Church (AOG)[13]
Community Life Church [14]

[edit] Transport

Cherrybrook is close to Pennant Hills, from which station (on Sydney Rail's Northern Line), residents may travel by rail to Sydney CBD, Hornsby and the Central Coast. Hills Buses also service the area, which enables transport to, from and throughout the suburb, as well as to Sydney CBD (Route 620).

[edit] Retail Activity

Cherrybrook's retail needs are serviced by Cherrybrook Village Shopping Centre (owned by JF Meridian Trust), and Appletree Shops. The Village, as it is affectionately referred to, is a fully enclosed, single level neighbourhood shopping centre, and has Woolworths as its major tenant. The Village, opened in 1989, was refurbished in 2004 at a cost of $21.3 million. Apart from Woolworths, the Village includes over 50 specialty stores including restaurants, cafes, and an alfresco dining area, hairdressers, real estate agents, bank branches (Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, and St George), Liquorland, Costi's Seafood, Newsagent, Oracle Books, TAB, Bakers Delight, Michel's Patisserie, Martellis Fruit Market, Civic Video, Australia Post, Subway, Flight Centre, Harvey World Travel, and Gloria Jean's Coffee. Restaurants and cafes include Bella Gelati, La Caretta Italian Restaurant, La Cherrie Chinese Restaurant, The Food Scene, Verve Café Restaurant [15], and Zest Patisserie.

Appletree Shops is a smaller shopping centre meeting residents' day-to-day needs. The shops include a bakery, newsagent, physiotherapist, takeaway shop, supermarket, dentist, chemist and a doctors surgery.

The only other retail activity in Cherrybrook is the Caltex petrol station which is located under the Cherrybrook Village car park.

A few years ago the Chinese restaurant (Cherry Gardens) which was located at the Village was destroyed in a large explosion that was reportedly heard by residents up to 3 suburbs away. The site of the restaurant is now part of the Cherrybrook Village car park, prompting residents to ask the question "What ever happened to Ivan?"

[edit] Recreation

Cherrybrook has a number of recreation areas, such as Greenway Park (Rugby League, AFL, Cricket, Tennis, Baseball, Basketball, Netball, Skate Bowl, Indoor Heated Swimming Pool and a fenced Dog Park), The Lakes of Cherrybrook, Edward Bennett Oval (Soccer, Cricket), Thomas Thompson Park (Tennis, Soccer, Cricket) and a number of other small parks. Cherrybrook also has a number of walking trails and fire trails that are part of the Berowra Bushland Reserve, including the Callicoma Walk.