Pymble, 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...
on the Upper North Shore 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...
. Pymble is located 16 kilometres (10 mi) north-west 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 Ku-ring-gai Council
Ku-ring-gai Council
Ku-ring-gai Council is a Local Government Area in the North Shore region of Sydney. It includes the suburbs of Lindfield, Killara, Gordon, Pymble, St Ives, Turramurra, Warrawee, and parts of Roseville, and Wahroonga. The region is named after the Kuringgai tribe who once inhabited the area...
.
West Pymble
West Pymble, New South Wales
West Pymble is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. West Pymble is located north-west of the Sydney Central Business District in the local government area of Ku-ring-gai Council...
is a separate suburb, surrounded by Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park
Lane Cove National Park is a small national park located within metropolitan Sydney. The park islocated about ten kilometres north-west of the Sydney CBD...
.
History
Based on settlers accounts the land that came to be known as Pymble was traversed by and at least periodically inhabited by what was by that time the "remains" of the Cammeraigal clan or tribe of the Kuringai (also known as Guringai) Aborigines. The Cammeraigal had owned the land between the Lane Cove River, Hawkesbury and east to the coast. They would travel from grounds at Cowan Creek to the Parramatta River via Pymble - passing west through the land where PLC now stands, through the Lane Cove Valley and North Ryde. En-route they would reportedly hold corroborees at the current site of the Pymble Reservoir in Telegraph Rd and "camped on the hill...at the junction of Merrivale Rd and Selwyn St." According to Robert Pymble II "the Aborigines had faded out by about 1856, mainly because of smallpox."Pymble is named after Robert Pymble (1788–1861), an influential early settler whose 1823 land grant comprised some 600 acres, around half the land of the region. The other half (plus a large part of St Ives) was granted to Daniel der Matthew's, another influential settler who established the first saw mill in the area.
The region was important to the early Sydney colony as a major supplier of timber for a wide variety of uses. The main timber varieties were Blackbutt, stringy and iron bark and blue gum. In later years it was also an important supplier of agricultural produce. It became widely known for the high quality of its produce and especially for its oranges which had been introduced to the area by Robert Pymble sometime around 1828 and which by later years were grown extensively throughput the region by numerous different growers following land sub-divisions.
Eventually agriculture and small farming gave way to residential development with residential sub-divisions commencing around 1879. The first bank - the Australian Joint Stock Bank - was established in 1888 in a then prominent house known as Grandview built on Pymble Hill ca 1883 by the son of local hotelier Richard Porter. Porter had opened the Gardener's Arms Hotel, also on Pymble Hill, in 1866. From this time the centre of commercial activity came to be at the top of the hill around the Pacific Highway and Bannockburn Rd area, but with the railway station being located by necessity at the bottom of the hill development began to shift gradually and inexorably towards the new railway station at the foot of the hill.
Today Pymble is a predominantly residential area with tree-lined streets, many substantial homes and gardens, numerous parks, nature reserves, and active pockets of commercial activity.
Landmarks
Prominent landmarks include Pymble Station and Pymble Hill (Pacific Highway). The station is naturally the centre of transport, shopping and social activities whilst Pymble Hill affords the viewer an aerial view of the distant Chatswood skyline.Buildings
Significant buildings include: Ku-ring-gai Town Hall, the former Wesleyan Chapel and St Swithun's Anglican Church. The Town Hall, situated at the top of Pymble Hill on the Pacific Highway was formerly a Catholic Church and is an example of the Inter-War Spanish Mission architectural style which is likely the only of it's kind in Pymble. The former Wesleyan Chapel, cnr Mona Vale Rd and Knowlman Ave, was built in 1879. It was the second church built in Pymble and today is the oldest remaining building in Pymble. St Swithun's, in Telegraph Road, was built circa 1938 and is an example of the Inter-War Gothic style.Significant houses include: Grandview, Merrivale and the Eric Pratton house Coppins. Grandview is a two-storey, Georgian structure made of sandstone that has reverted to private use and is on the Register of the National Estate. Merrivale is a local stately home in the Regency style and is considered one of the finest examples of it's kind in Ku-ring-gai. The Eric Pratten House was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and built in 1935. It is one of three large houses designed by Griffin in Ku-ring-gai and is important as most of his residential buildings were single storey. It is an example of the Art Deco/Prairie style. Other architectural styles to be found in the suburb include: inter-war Californian bungalow, Federation, Federation Queen Anne, Federation Free style, and Georgian revivalist.
Transport
Pymble railway station is on the North Shore Line of the CityRailCityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network.
TransdevTSL
Shorelink
Shorelink is a commuter bus company serving suburbs on the upper North Shore of Sydney, Australia. On 3 September 2001, the company was acquired by French public transport giant Transdev from the John A Gilbert group, forming a partnership with Transfield Services Limited in 2009...
buses operate route 579 from Pymble Station (departing Grandview St) to East Turramurra and also route 560 from Gordon Station to West Pymble.
There is a taxi stand on the eastern side of the station in Grandview St.
Commercial areas
- Grandview Street, adjacent to Pymble railway station
- Pacific Highway
- Bridge St & West St
Schools
- Pymble Ladies' CollegePymble Ladies' CollegePymble Ladies' College, , is an independent, non-selective, day and boarding school for girls, located in Pymble, a suburb in the North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
, an all-female, K to Y12 independent school - Pymble Public School, a government primary school, located on Crown Road whose alumni includes actors Hugh JackmanHugh JackmanHugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
and Chris LilleyChris LilleyChris Lilley may refer to:*Chris Lilley , Australian comedian*Chris Lilley , technical director, W3C... - Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School (OLPS), a Catholic primary school, located in West Pymble
- Sacred Heart Pymble, a Catholic primary school
- Gordon West Public School, a government primary school, located in West Pymble (in a precinct formerly called West Gordon)
Parks and recreation
- Pymble Park is located on the eastern side of the railway behind the shops in Grandview Parade. This park features many large trees, tennis courts, an enclosed playground and amenities.
- Bannockburn Oval, located in Bannockburn Rd, is a large sports field catering to athletics, cricket, soccer, rugby and other sporting activities.
- The Pymble Soldiers Memorial, located on Mona Vale Rd, is a memorial park dedicated to lives lost in all wars featuring rose beds, formal terraces and a hilltop view.
- Dalrymple-Hay Nature Reserve , Mona Vale Rd, is one of the last remaining blue gum high forests in Sydney. Visitors can "escape from the busy rush of Sydney life with a walk among the majestic tall blue gums and blackbutts. Check out the large hollows in the tree trunks as they burst with colours of the beautiful native birds, such as king parrots, rosellas and lorikeets".
- There are also numerous untouched bush reserves which offer a taste of the original natural beauty of the region. Some include walking paths such as the Sheldon ForestSheldon ForestSheldon Forest is a pocket of urban bushland located north-west of Sydney, Australia in a narrow valley between Turramurra and Pymble.Sheldon Forest is of high conservation status because it contains some of the last remnants of the endangered Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest and Blue Gum High...
track accessible via Warragal Rd. "The track meanders through blue gum tall forest on the ridge tops, riparian forest along the creeks and open forest woodlands on the hill slopes. Sheldon Forest is of high conservation status because it contains some of the last remnants of the endangered ecological communities of Sydney Turpentine Ironbark Forest (STIF) and Blue Gum High Forest (BGHF)"
Notable residents
Past- Robert Pymble
- Daniel Dering Matthew
- Hon. Richard Hill MLC
- William Henry McKeown
- Duncan Carson
- Joan Hammond DBE CMGJoan HammondDame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, DBE, CMG was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and champion golfer.- Early life :...
Present
- John NewcombeJohn NewcombeJohn David Newcombe, AO, OBE is a former World No. 1 tennis player.-Biography:He won seven Grand Slam singles titles, A natural athlete, Newcombe played several sports as a boy until devoting himself to tennis. He was the Australian junior champion in 1961, 1962, and 1963 and was a member of...
, tennis player - Errol FlynnErrol FlynnErrol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
, actor - Hugh JackmanHugh JackmanHugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
, actor - Stirling MortlockStirling MortlockStirling Austin Mortlock is an Australian professional rugby union player. He has scored over 1,000 points in Super Rugby, and nearly 500 test points for the Wallabies. Mortlock is a former Wallaby and Brumbies captain, and the current captain of the Melbourne Rebels.-Early life:Mortlock began...
, Rugby Union player, former Australian Wallabies