Sydney Suburbs, continued: Baulkham Hills, Bayview, Beacon Hill

Continuing the look at Sydney’s suburbs . . . 

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Baulkham Hills:

Location:

• 31 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, mostly within the local government area of The Hills Shire, with a small portion south of the M2 Motorway in the City of Parramatta.

Name origin:

• The name Baulkham Hills was given to the area by Andrew McDougall, a settler from Buckholm Hills, County of Roxburgh, Scotland. The name reminded McDougall of his homeland,

About:

• The Baulkham Hills area was originally home to the Bidjigal people, who are believed to be a clan of the Darug people, who occupied all the land to the immediate west of Sydney. The best-known Aboriginal person from that time is Pemulwuy, a Bidjigal leader who led an Indigenous resistance movement against the British forces, including sacking farms in Castle Hill, before his eventual capture and execution by the British militia. 

• Pemulwuy's head was preserved in spirits and sent to England to Sir Joseph Banks accompanied by a letter from Governor King, who wrote: "Although a terrible pest to the colony, he was a brave and independent character." Repatriation of the skull of Pemulwuy has been requested by Sydney Aboriginal people. But it has not yet been located in order to be repatriated. In 2010 Prince William announced further search attempts and stated he would return Pemulwuy's skull to his Aboriginal relatives if and when found.

• Settlement began in 1794 when Governor Hunter officially granted the first parcel of land on the Hawkesbury Road to William Joyce, a pardoned convict.

• Mostly free settlers such as Thomas Bradley, James Bean, Andrew McDougall, John Smith, George Suttor, Israel Raynor and Matthew Pearce stocked their land with cattle and sheep and cleared the bush to plant crops of wheat and maize. With the arrival of George Suttor and his citrus trees, orchards began to spring up all over the district and proved a more worthwhile crop than wheat or maize. By 1887, large areas of new land from Parramatta to Castle Hill were being used to grow oranges, apples, plums, peaches and apricots. This continued into the early part of the 20th Century and has steadily declined since. 

• A lot of people will know Baulkham Hills as the site of the Bull and Bush pub. That hotel was sold in 2015. The new owners propose to preserve the hotel and to add a beer garden but to reduce the space by half, It is further proposed that alongside will be two six storey and eight storey residential buildings fronting Windsor Rd, with 15 and 18 storey towers behind them.

Gallery:

Pemulwuy (note that he had a turned eye)

Depiction from Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre

Nearby Carlingford, 1912

Looking north along Pennant Hills Road from corner of Church Street (now Marsden Road) and Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford. Drinking fountain at left (installed 1911 and removed 1929). Post Office and general store. Pennant Hills Wireless Telegraph Station in distance at right (opened 1912).

Baulkham Hills Station and Goods Yard, which is now the site of the bowling club. The station was closed in 1930 due to traffic problems and financial losses.

Subdivison sale poster

George Suttor

Baulkham Hills town centre will be transformed under a proposal to redevelop the Bull ‘n’ Bush Hotel. Picture: Planning proposal submitted to The Hills Shire Council

Proposed development showing the Bull & Bush Hotel on the corner.

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Bayview:

Location:

• 31 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region.

Name origin:

• Bayview takes its name from a description of its location, providing a "view" across "Pittwater". Governor Arthur Phillip took a short journey of exploration from Manly to this area in March 1788 and named it Pitt Water after William Pitt, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom at the time. Captain John Hunter prepared a map showing the bays and inlets in 1792. The name Bayview was used by the post office established in 1882 and the suburb took its name from that.

About:

• A number of tetrahedron tank traps can be found off Pittwater Road on the water side in Bayview. These tank traps are a little-known remnant of WWII defence along Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Gallery:

You can see why it's named Bayview

68 Minkara Road, Bayview, NSW, sold on 22 Jun 2016 $7,050,000

Another sale in Minkara Road

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Beacon Hill:

Location:

• 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern Beaches region.

Name origin:

• Beacon Hill was given the title when the Department of Lands built a trigometric beacon there in 1881.

About:

• Less than 3 months after the arrival of the First Fleet, Governor Phillip explored the area. His records show that he walked through thick forest (today’s French’s Forest) and climbed a hill from which a fine view was obtained. The same imagination that named Beacon Hill after the beacon on the hill has named the hill from which Governor Phillip looked out Governor Phillip Lookout.

• To commemorate Phillip’s expedition, in 1929 a brick monument with brass directional plate was commissioned by the Manly Warringah-Pittwater Historical Society. It was removed during World War II for fear that the enemy could use it to their advantage.

• In 1970 the original plate was reinstated with a new stone monument. The commemorative wall at the Warringah Road entrance incorporates bricks from Phillip’s birthplace, with the bronze bust installed in 1991.

• The military occupied the summit and kept contact with defences at North Head and Middle Harbour. Several Sydney beaches were fortified with armed soldiers and barbed wire, including Collaroy, Dee Why and Freshwater. A camouflaged cottage remained at the lookout for decades until its removal in 1965.

Gallery:

Beacon Hill

The trig station at the top of the lookout.

Governor Phillip memorial at the lookout.

A storm destroyed the flagpole in April 2015

A new flag pole installed. 

 Please tell me they are not pushing it in place with the back of the ute.