Beacon Hill, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Beacon Hill
city = Sydney
state = nsw


caption = Beacon Hill Summit from Beacon Hill Oval
lga = Warringah Council
postcode = 2100
est =
pop = 5,994 [On the night of August 7, 2001. cite web |url=http://www8.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?locationLastSearchTerm=Beacon+Hill&locationSearchTerm=Frenchs+Forest&newarea=SSC11161&submitbutton=View+QuickStats+%3E&mapdisplay=on&areacode=SSC11161&geography=&method=&productlabel=&producttype=QuickStats&topic=&navmapdisplayed=true&javascript=true&breadcrumb=PL&topholder=0&leftholder=0&currentaction=104&action=401&textversion=false&subaction=1 |title=Census QuickStats: Beacon Hill (State Suburb) |publisher=Australian Bureau of Statistics |accessdate=2007-06-17]
area =
propval =
stategov = Wakehurst
fedgov = Mackellar, Warringah
near-nw = Oxford Falls
near-n = Oxford Falls
near-ne = Cromer
near-w = Frenchs Forest
near-e = Narraweena
near-sw = Allambie Heights
near-s = Allambie Heights
near-se = Brookvale
dist1 = 17
dir1 = north-east
location1= Sydney CBD

Beacon Hill is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Beacon Hill is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Warringah Council and is part of the Northern Beaches region.

History

Beacon Hill was given the title when the Department of Lands built a trigometric beacon there in 1881. [ "The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8 ]

Aboriginal culture

Little is known of local aboriginal culture in the Beacon Hill area but other local areas towards the sea have a rich and diverse aboriginal background. There are some aboriginal carvings in rocks to the north of Red Hill.

European settlement

Daniel Egan, a member of the NSW Parliament, purchased two 40 acre (16 ha) parcels of land on the 5 October 1857.

By 1932 the following families were living in Beacon Hill: Adams, Blackford, Brightwell, Brooker, Brown, Carney, Clarke, Cornish, Daines, Graham, Hayles, Hood, Hopkins, Jack, Kemp, Keys, King, Lornham, McConnell, Murphy, Newling, Pope, Prescott, Reynolds, Rose, Silverthorne, Sims, Smith, Spilstead, Thew, Wheatley, White, Wilson and Woolfe. Of these names, the Brooker, Cornish, Daines, Reynolds, and Spilstead families have local streets named after them. Most of the houses in the suburb were built in the boom days after World War II, in the 1950s and 1960s. [ A History of Beacon Hill and its schools - Bruce, Jill B. 1943 - ISBN 0-7316-2170-0 (no copyright)]

Transport

Beacon Hill is serviced by Sydney Buses. For many years there have been plans put forward, then withdrawn again for a heavy rail line to be added to the CityRail network to service the northern beaches. Most residents therefore drive motor vehicles to get around.

Since 1980 traffic congestion has steadily increased on the roads around Beacon Hill. Some road closures have been implemented, notably the closures of Tristram Road and Boyer Road, to prevent rat running traffic. Traffic calming devices were installed and remain an issue for local transportation reliant primarily on private motor vehicles.

In recent years, with the opening of new schools and facilities in the Oxford Falls valley area (to the west and north west of Beacon Hill), traffic volume has increased on the very narrow and dangerous Oxford Falls Road. This has become an increasing concern for local residents of the area as the population has increased and medium density housing policies deployed.

Landmarks

Governor Phillip Lookout

This lookout is located atop Beacon Hill itself. Views of almost the entire eastern half of the Sydney region may be had from the summit which is approx. 152 metres (500 ft) above sea level.

Views extend from the southern outskirts of Sydney, west to the Blue Mountains and north to Gosford and the Central Coast. The skyline of the city is to the south. Ships, pleasure craft, and occasional migratory whales can be seen out to sea in the east.

The lookout is popular with locals on New Year's Eve when the firework displays across Sydney Harbour are clearly visible, approximately 11 kilometres (7 miles) to the south.

The lookout is reached via Warringah Road. There is a small parking area adjacent to the road with stairs leading to a pathway and the summit.

Red Hill

Red Hill, not to be confused with Beacon Hill, is located at the northern end of the suburb behind the former Beacon Hill High School site. From here there are views across to the Governor Phillip Lookout, and onwards to the city. The views to the north are over the eastern sections of the Garigal National Park, to Cromer and beyond into the Pittwater Council areas of Elanora, Narrabeen and Ingleside.

Red Hill played a part in many childhood adventures of the locals over the years. The hill was latticed with many tracks, caves and "hideouts". On the southern side of the hill between Reynolds Crescent, Spilstead Place and a point approximately half way up the hill stood an old house. The house burnt down in the 1970s and (from all accounts) was uninhabited. Known locally as "the house", it was ringed by a small dirt track that had worn away in the river sand lining the banks of South Creek. During the period of the early 1970s this track had become popular with local mini bike enthusiasts.

Children also played many other games during the school holiday periods including "playing soldiers" in and out of the washaways across the top of the hill. Adjacent bushland (which still survives today on the northern side of the hill) provided local children with many adventures over the years. There are several bush tracks which connect the Cromer Valley with the hill and back over the other side to the residential area of Beacon Hill itself. One of the first meetings of the Beacon Hill Bushfire Brigade took place in a cave on Red Hill.

Community services and organisations

The nearest police station is in Frenchs Forest. The nearest ambulance station is in Belrose. The nearest fire stations are in Dee Why (69) or Beacon Hill (RFS).

Governor Phillip Lookout Trust

The trust was gazetted on 9 December 1966 and was charged with the responsibility not only of protecting and developing the area as an historical feature of the district, but also for the preservation and propagation of the native flora and fauna that surrounds the lookout. The first meeting took place on 10 April 1966.

Members of the trust were Mr R.O. Healey, M.L.A. Patron, Mrs M Smith, Mrs D. Wilson, Mr K.M. Rabbidge, Mr K. Watts, Mr M. Thornley, Mr C.E. McDonald and Mr N.R. Wilson. [ The Beacon Hill Story - a Memorial to Governor Phillip - C.E.McDonald & Governor Phillip Lookout Trust (Undated) (no copyright)]

The Save Beacon Hill High School Committee

This committee was established by locals who were unhappy with the closure of Beacon Hill Technology High School in 2002, due to the re-structuring of the local high school systems to create the Northern Beaches Secondary College. Many of the members believe that the closure of Beacon Hill was illegal, and that the site should remain an education centre in the public domain and not developed into housing. [ Development Application for Beacon Hill High School http://www.warringah.nsw.gov.au/documents/2006041152_000.pdf]

Beacon Hill Bushfire Brigade

The first meeting of what was to become the Beacon Hill Bushfire Brigade took place in October 1948 and in 2008 celebrated its 60th year of continuous service to the community.

References

External links

Mapit-AUS-suburbscale|long=151.25602|lat=-33.75229 [http://www.placeopedia.com/?5711 Placeopedia Map]