Chirnside Park is a suburb in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, 38 km east from Melbourne's
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
, located within the
Shire of Yarra Ranges
The Shire of Yarra Ranges, also known as Yarra Ranges Council, is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the outer eastern and northeastern suburbs of Melbourne extending into the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges. It has ...
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
. Chirnside Park recorded a population of 11,779 at the .
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History
From 1838, the area formed part of the extensive pastoral run of Thomas Chirnside
Thomas Chirnside (1815–1887) was a pastoralist.
Background
In 1815, Thomas Chirnside was born to Robert and Mary () Chirnside in the Scottish village of Cockburnspath. In the 1820s and the 1830s, thousands of Scots were spurred on by poverty ...
, that was developed further by a succession of owners until the 1920s. The original sub-division of Chirnside Park was, at that time, known as Mooroolbark
Mooroolbark is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 37 km East of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Mooroolbark recorded a population of 23,059 at the .
Mooroolba ...
Park. Around of mainly rich black basalt
Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...
ic soil was grazed and cultivated, watered from two perpetual springs.
In 1921, George Chirnside sold Werribee Park, moving the family's stud herds and the contents of Werribee Park Mansion
Werribee is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the local government area of the City of Wyndham. Werribee recorded a population of 50,027 at the 2021 census.
Werribe ...
to Mooroolbark Park. George Chirnside died in 1941, and permission to sell the estate was given in 1950, being finalised some years later. Subdivision was approved in 1956 by the Shire of Lillydale
The Shire of Lillydale (note spelling difference from the suburb of Lilydale) was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1856 until 1994.
...
, with the residential area centred on the two-storey stone homestead, country club and golf course, named Chirnside Park in 1962 in honour of Thomas Chirnside.
Amadeo DeVincentiis, an Italian from Abruzzo
Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...
, also owned great swathes of what is now known as Chirnside Park. However, he sold the land for a paltry amount in the 1960s, from which the fortunate purchasers stood to make a hefty profit. DeVincentiis spent thousands attempting to rescind the sale, but failed.
Formerly West Lilydale, the surrounding region became known as Chirnside Park in the 1970s, the Post Office opening on 25 September 1979.
Chirnside Park today
Nominally a suburb of Melbourne, Chirnside Park is also a satellite community of Lilydale. Thus the services that cannot be met in the nearby shopping complex are found elsewhere. The residential area was originally structured around a large 18-hole golf course, although that has now been closed and a new estate known as Cloverlea has been built on the site, with dwellings on the north-eastern corner now completed. Further residential development has occurred to the west and north. Some new medical facilities have arrived recently, Chirnside Park Family Clinic being one of them.
Most of the suburb still retains a rural flavour, extending well into the Yarra Valley to the north, with commercial wineries, orchards and livestock farming, as well as large residential estates. The Heritage Golf and Country Club, designed by Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...
, is situated in the north-west corner of the suburb, on the Yarra River
The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia.
The lower st ...
. The Chirnside Park Shopping Centre is within the suburb.
Schools
Private Schools
* Oxley College (Chirnside Park).
* Most Private Schools offer P-12 education.
Government Schools
* Chirnside Park Primary School
Sport
The suburb has an Australian Rules
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
football club as well as a Netball Club (established in the late 1990s), the Chirnside Park Panthers, competing in the Eastern Football League and Lilydale & Yarra Valley Netball Association.
Chirnside Park is also the home of the St Edmunds Basketball Club,
Demographics
At the , Chirnside Park had a population of 9,872 people.
The median age of the Chirnside Park residents was 39 years of age, one year over the Australian average. 75.4% of residents were born in Australia, compared to the Australian average of 66.7%. The other top responses for country of birth were England 5.3%, Italy 1.7%, and New Zealand 1.3%.
When asked about religion, the most common response was "No Religion" (35.1%), followed by Catholic (23.3%), and Anglican (11.9%).
References
External links
St Edmunds 'Saints' Basketball Club
Oxley College Co-Educational Christian School
Chirnside Park Primary School
{{Shire of Yarra Ranges suburbs
Suburbs of Melbourne
Yarra Ranges Shire