Eastwood, New South Wales Totally Explained

Everything about Eastwood New South Wales totally explained

Eastwood is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastwood is located 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of the City of Ryde and the City of Parramatta. Eastwood is also split between the Lower North Shore region and the Hills District.
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 marines and NSW Corps, and was named "Eastwood" by an early Irish free settler, William Rutledge. Today it's a large urban centre in the north of Sydney of over 14,000 people, with a large shopping area. Over the past few decades Eastwood has become increasingly multicultural and has a large Chinese and Korean community. Eastwood is best known as the place of where the Granny Smith Apple was first grown.

Geography

Eastwood is located at the edge of the Hornsby Plateau with the suburbs of Dundas Valley and Denistone on its southern and western sides as the land falls away down to the Cumberland Plain. 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.

History

Eastwood was named after the property of Irish free settler, William Rutledge. The area was originally heavily timbered.

Aboriginal Culture

The Wallumedegal Aboriginal tribe lived in the area between the Lane Cove River and Parramatta River, which was known as Walumetta.

European Settlement

The area was first settled by Europeans shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 and was part of the Field of Mars.
   The area of Eastwood was originally granted between the years of 1790 and 1803 to marines of the NSW Corps. John Love, a private was granted 90 acres here in 1794, described as North Brush, in the Field of Mars Common. The land was then acquired by William Kent who already held land in what is now Epping. The land was purchased by William Rutledge for 288 pounds in 1835, who built Eastwood House in 1840. This house is now part of Marist College Eastwood. In 1863 Edward Terry purchased the estate and upon his death in 1905, the estate was sub-divided.
   In 1886, the railway line from Strathfield to Hornsby was opened, with a station here originally called Dundas. This was changed a year later to Eastwood, named after the Eastwood Estate.
   The commercial centre underwent a major upgrade in the early 1980s. Rowe Street, which originally ran across the railway line through a level crossing was turned into a mall between The Avenue and West Parade, and the 1940s bridge built in First Avenue for crossing traffic was replaced with a six-lane bridge. This bridge was to service the planned County of Cumberland Scheme "County Road" (linking Eastwood with Macquarie Park), a road project in the local area which has been controversial among locals..

Commercial Area

The Eastwood commercial district is located around Eastwood Railway Station. The Eastwood Shopping Centre is a shopping mall, which includes major retailer Woolworths, is located in the town centre and opens on to the Eastwood Plaza. The Plaza features a fountain and several cafes with outdoor seating. Eastwood is becoming well known as an Asian shopping precinct, with specialty stores, supermarkets and many restaurants run by Chinese, Korean, Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, and Indian retailers, beside the existing Greek and Italian retailers. The multicultural background of its residents has created a good collection of Chinese, Cantonese, Korean, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Lebanese, Vietnamese, and Singaporean restaurants and eateries in the area.

Transport

Eastwood is relatively well served by public transport. Eastwood Railway Station is located on the Northern Line. The station opened in 1886, and it takes approximately 25-30 minutes to travel to Central. Intercity services also service Eastwood station between Central, Newcastle and the Central Coast region.
Numerous bus services also operate from the small interchange outside the station. These include the 545 route between Parramatta and Chatswood, the 544 route between Auburn and Macquarie University, and the 515/X15 service to the Sydney CBD. Eastwood is also served well by roads, and is located close to the trunk routes of Metroad 6 (Marsden Road), and Victoria Road.

Landmarks

Brush Farm House - former home of Gregory Blaxland, one of the explorers of the Blue Mountains.
Eastwood House - the former home of Edward Terry, the original landowner of the estate on which Eastwood is now built.

Eastwood once featured a lake which gave the names Lakeside Road and The Lakeside Road Uniting Church. This lake was later converted to an oval which is used for soccer matches and by local schools. Eastwood is also home to the Corrective Services Academy, a training centre for prison officers.

Housing

Housing consists of many Californian Bungalow and Federation homes, especially in streets located closer to the station. More post World War 2 homes can be seen further from the station, especially to the north of Terry Road. While most of Eastwood is residential, with one or two-storey detached houses and villas, the area surrounding the town centre boasts buildings up to seven storeys high. In 2006 the City of Ryde developed a Control Plan for the Eastwood Town Centre, which includes the provision of buildings of up to ten storeys high in the shopping and railway areas. Former industrial parts of the suburb are also undergoing redevelopment. The former brickworks site is being converted into a housing estate.

Churches

Eastwood Baptist Church

Exclusive Bretheran Church

Lakeside Road Uniting Church (former Methodist Church)

Macquarie Chapel - Pastor Richard Quadrio started the church in 2001. It is combined with Macquarie Presbyterian Church.

St Andrew's Uniting Church - (former Presbyterian Church)

St Kevin's Catholic Church - this church was built in 1993 to replace the original church, which is now the library of the local Catholic school (St Kevins.)

St Phillip's Anglican Church

Schools

Eastwood Heights Public School

Eastwood Public School

Kent Road Public School

Marist College Eastwood (Catholic Secondary School for Boys)

St Kevins Eastwood (Catholic Primary School)

Culture and Events

Eastwood is well known as the place of where the Granny Smith apple was first grown. This is celebrated each October with the Granny Smith Festival which attracts over 60,000 people each year.

Population

Today it's a large urban centre in the north of Sydney of over 14,000 people. Migrants from southern Europe began settling here from countries such as Italy and Greece from the 1960s and since the beginning of the 1990s, a relatively high percentage of immigrants from Hong Kong, China, Korea and a few other southeast-Asian groups have settled in the area. Today, over 45% of residents were born overseas.

Further Information

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