Torrens Park is a mainly residential inner-southern suburb of Adelaide

Adelaide

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

, incorporating some of the foothills and adjacent to the original "Mitcham

Mitcham, South Australia

Mitcham is a suburb of Adelaide in the City of Mitcham.Created as a village separate from Adelaide , it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek belonging to the South Australia Company. Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Kaurna aboriginal people...

 Village".

The suburb is in the City of Mitcham

City of Mitcham

The City of Mitcham is a Local Government Area situated in the foothills of eastern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest....

 local government area, the South Australian House of Assembly

South Australian House of Assembly

The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide.- Overview :...

 electoral district of Waite

Electoral district of Waite

Waite is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. Named after Peter Waite, a 19th entrepreneur and philanthropist in the current area of the electorate, it is a 30.6km² urban electorate in Adelaide's inner south-eastern suburbs, taking in the...

 and the Australian House of Representatives

Australian House of Representatives

The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 Division of Boothby

Division of Boothby

The Division of Boothby is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1903 and is named after William Boothby , the Returning Officer for the first election of Members of the House of Representatives in 1901....

.

History

The name was formally submitted for approval in 1945. Torrens Park is named after Sir Robert Torrens

Robert Torrens

Sir Robert Richard Torrens, GCMG was the third Premier of South Australia and a pioneer and author of simplified system of transferring land.-Early life:...

, the third Premier of South Australia and instigator of the Torrens title

Torrens title

Torrens title is a system of land title where a register of land holdings maintained by the state guarantees an indefeasible title to those included in the register...

 land title system. Torrens Park contained "Torrens Park Estate", the residence of Sir Robert Torrens, which today forms part of the campus of Scotch College

Scotch College, Adelaide

Scotch College is an independent, Uniting Church, co-educational, day and boarding school, located on two adjacent campuses in Torrens Park and Mitcham, inner-southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia....

. Although the original gates have recently been removed, the original gatehouse to the Estate is still visible at the corner of Belair Road and Ayr Avenue.

Torrens Park Post Office opened on 24 August 1953 and closed in 1972.

Part of today's suburb was laid out in 1917 from the estate of T. Barr-Smith; various parts of the suburb were originally known as "Glenburnie", Blytheswoodville, Panchito Park, Blythwood Estate and West Mitcham.

Geography

In comparison with most Adelaide suburbs, Torrens Park is quite large. The north end of the suburb is reasonably flat, but as one travels south (towards the foothills) the terrain rises and becomes hilly. Brown Hill Creek

Brown Hill Creek

Brown Hill Creek, in South Australia, , is one of several creeks running in a generally west-north-west direction, draining the western watershed of the Mount Lofty Ranges....

 runs through the suburb from the south-east to the north-west. Due to the foothills, the rainfall in the City of Mitcham is 25-50 per cent higher than the rainfall on the Adelaide Plains.

Torrens Park is also the location of the Mitcham Square Shopping Centre

Mitcham Square Shopping Centre

Mitcham Square Shopping Centre is a shopping mall in the City of Mitcham, located on Belair Road, Torrens Park, an inner southern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia...

.

Demographics

Torrens Park has an ageing population, with a high proportion of professionally qualified people.

Politics

Traditionally, the area has been part of a "blue ribbon Liberal" seat; State member has been Martin Hamilton-Smith

Martin Hamilton-Smith

Martin Leslie James Hamilton-Smith is the member for the electoral district of Waite in the South Australian House of Assembly since 1997...

, and Federal member has been Andrew Southcott

Andrew Southcott

Andrew John Southcott MP is an Australian politician and medical practitioner. He has been the Liberal Party member for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Boothby, South Australia, since the 1996 election.-Early life:...

.

Schools

The only school actually located in the suburb is Scotch College

Scotch College, Adelaide

Scotch College is an independent, Uniting Church, co-educational, day and boarding school, located on two adjacent campuses in Torrens Park and Mitcham, inner-southern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia....

.

Nearby Primary Schools:

• Clapham
• Mitcham
• Colonel Light Gardens

Nearby High Schools:

• Unley
  Unley High School
  Unley High School, located in Netherby, is one of the largest public high schools in South Australia. In recent years the number of students enrolled typically ranges from 1,100 to 1,300, but in the early 1960s the school had a peak enrolment of 2,000 students.The school currently has 30...
  
  
• Urrbrae
  Urrbrae Agricultural High School
  Urrbrae Agricultural High School is a public high school in the state of South Australia, with approximately 1,058 students. The school is located in the Adelaide suburb of Netherby, about south-east of the Adelaide city centre...
  
  
• Pasadena
  Pasadena High School, South Australia
  Pasadena High School is a secondary school located in the southern Adelaide suburb of Pasadena, on the corner of Goodwood and Daws Roads. It was opened in 1964 as Daws Road High School and operated under this name until 2001....
  
  
• Mitcham Girls
• Mercedes College
  Mercedes College (Adelaide)
  Mercedes College is a Catholic, co-educational day school located in Springfield a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia.It was established by the Sisters of Mercy in 1954. Originally a boarding school for girls, it is now a coeducational school...
  
  

Public transport

Public transport to Torrens Park is available through the Belair railway line, to the Mitcham

Mitcham railway station, Adelaide

Mitcham railway station is located on the Belair railway line in Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 8.5 km by rail from Adelaide Railway Station, and is actually located in Lower Mitcham...

 (North-West), Torrens Park (West) and Lynton (South-West) stations. Buses are also available to and from the City along Belair Road.

Route 192 terminates on Kays Road; Routes 194 and 196 pass through the suburb en route to Blackwood Station. Route 171 travels along Princes Rd serving the northern side of the suburb and then via Fullarton Road to the City.