Avalon, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Avalon is located 35 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
, in the local government area of Pittwater Council
Pittwater Council
Pittwater Council is a Local Government Area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs which comprise the Pittwater LGA were detached from the Warringah local government area in 1993...
, in the Northern Beaches
Northern Beaches (Sydney)
The Northern Beaches is an informal term used to describe the northern coastal suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located near the coast of the Pacific Ocean...
region.
History
Avalon was named after the mythical AvalonAvalon
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 pseudohistorical account Historia Regum Britanniae as the place where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was forged and later where Arthur was...
, a legendary island in Celtic languages
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
mythology. According to legends, Avalon was an earthly paradise and the final resting place of King Arthur
King Arthur
King Arthur is a legendary British leader of the late 5th and early 6th centuries, who, according to Medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the early 6th century. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and...
.
European settlement
The first land grant in the area was 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) to John Farrell in 1827. A 400 acres (1.6 km²) land grant was made to Father John Joseph Therry in 1833, who fought hard for the recognition of the Catholic Church in the colony. He built a church in this area but his plans for a settlement never eventuated. In the 1920s, the area was still known as 'Priest's Flat'. Arthur J Small handled a subdivision in 1921 and chose the name Avalon.Commercial areas
Avalon features RSL, bowling and sailing clubs; a supermarket, shops, cafes and a cinema.Sport and recreation
Avalon Beach is a surfingSurfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
beach and has a 25 metre salt water rock pool at the south end. Avalon Beach Surf Life Saving Club members patrol Avalon Beach. Several former surfing world champions are also past or current Avalon residents.
Avalon Soccer Club, established 1982, has over 80 teams and 1000 registered players. Avalon Junior Rugby League Club has contributed several players active in the Australian National Rugby League. Avalon also has a small nine hole golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
course.
Culture
An episode of the American television show, BaywatchBaywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
, was shot at Avalon Beach in the late 1990s. Producers of the show, seeking to relocate from their California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n base due to cost constraints, proposed a full relocation to Avalon. However, following complaints from residents (supported by former world surfing champion and local property owner Mark Warren
Mark Warren
Mark Warren may refer to:*Mark Warren , British football official*Mark Warren , English defender* Mark Warren, member of the British music group :zoviet*france:...
), the series moved instead to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. The anti-Baywatch supporters were led by former Pittwater mayor Alex McTaggart who was subsequently elected to NSW State Parliament for two years.