Croydon is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

in the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

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 ...

. It is located west of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

. Croydon is split between the two

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 ...

s of

Municipality of Burwood The Municipality of Burwood (also known as Burwood Council) is a local government area in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The mayor of the Municipality is Cr. John Faker, a member of the Labor Party. The ...

and the

Inner West Council Inner West Council is a local government area located in the Inner West region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Inner West LGA makes up the eastern part of this wider region, and was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merg ...

. The suburb is nestled between the commercial centres of Ashfield and Burwood. It is bounded by Parramatta Road to the north,

Iron Cove Creek Iron Cove Creek (also known as Dobroyd Stormwater Channel), a southern tributary of the Parramatta River, is an urban stream west of Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour, located in the Inner West (Sydney), inner-western Sydney suburbs of Croydon, New S ...

to the east, Arthur Street to the south and a number of different streets to the west. To the north are Kings and Canada Bays on the closest reach of the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

, to the northwest is Concord Hospital and the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

complex at

Homebush Bay Homebush Bay is a bay on the south bank of the Parramatta River, in the west of Sydney, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official suburb of Sydney, a ...

. To the south is

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Racecourse. The suburb shares its name with

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, a large district and borough in the south of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The

traditional owners Native title is the set of rights, recognised by Australian law, held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups or individuals to land that derive from their maintenance of their traditional laws and customs. These Aboriginal title rig ...

of the land on which Croydon is situated are the

Wangal The Wangal people (; Wanngal or Won-gal) are a clan of the Dharug Aboriginal people whose heirs are custodians of the lands and waters of what is now the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, centred around the Municipality of Strathfield, ...

people of the

Eora The Eora (; also ''Yura'') are an Aboriginal Australian people of New South Wales. Eora is the name given by the earliest European settlers to a group of Aboriginal people belonging to the clans along the coastal area of what is now known as ...

nation.

History

The suburb is named after

, a town in

, England.

Aboriginal anthropology

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area now known as Croydon was part of the land which the

people lived. Their focus of tribal land was believed to be centred on

Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other words Arts and media * ''Concord'' (video game), a defunct 2024 first-person sh ...

and stretched east to the swampland of Long Cove Creek. The land was heavily wooded at the time with tall

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

s, blackbutts and

turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthine, terebenthene, terebinthine and, colloquially, turps) is a fluid obtainable by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Principall ...

s covering the higher ground and

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

s, swamp oaks and swamp mahoganies in the lower swampy ground of

. The diet of the Wangal was primarily fish so they spent most of their time living near the shores of the

and fishing in

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s. The land away from the river shores provided fruits, berries and edible plants as well as

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Didelphimorphia, or (o)possums, an order of marsupials native to the Americas ** Didelphis, a genus of marsupials within Didelphimorphia *** Common opossum, native to Central and South America *** Virginia opossum, ...

and

kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s, which were killed both for food and their skins.Coupe, S&R: ''Speed the Plough'', page 9-20. Ashfield Municipal Council, 1988 CroydonNSWmuralElizabethSt

The arrival of the

First Fleet The First Fleet were eleven British ships which transported a group of settlers to mainland Australia, marking the beginning of the History of Australia (1788–1850), European colonisation of Australia. It consisted of two Royal Navy vessel ...

in 1788 and the start of modern Australia had, as one could expect, an influence on the people living in the area. One of their leaders,

Bennelong Woollarawarre Bennelong ( 1764 – 3 January 1813) was a senior man of the Eora, an Aboriginal Australian people of the Port Jackson area, at the time of the first British settlement in Australia. Bennelong served as an interlocutor between ...

, befriended the first governor of New South Wales,

Arthur Phillip Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...

, and was taken by him to

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. After establishing the colony at

Sydney Cove Sydney Cove (Eora language, Eora: ) is a bay on the southern shore of Sydney Harbour, one of several harbours in Port Jackson, on the coast of Sydney, New South Wales. Sydney Cove is a focal point for community celebrations, due to its central ...

in early 1788, a second settlement was established at Rose Hill (now called

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

) later that same year to establish farms to feed the people. Within a year or so, a rough land route had been established between the two settlements, traversing through the territory of the Cadigal, Wangal and Burramattagal people. This rough track later became the main artery of the expanding Greater Sydney and, as the northern boundary of what is now Croydon, influenced modern settlement in the area.

Early British settlement

Governor Phillip showed great reluctance to grant large amounts of land to his colonists, restricting land grants to the towns and people actively planning to farm the land. After his return to England in 1792, acting governor Major

Francis Grose Francis Grose (before 11June 173112May 1791) was an England, English antiquary, drawing, draughtsman, and lexicographer. He produced ''A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue'' (1785) and ''A Provincial Glossary, with a Collection of Local ...

and his successor Captain William Paterson pursued the opposite policy granting large swathes of land to their friends prior to the arrival of the second official governor

John Hunter John Hunter may refer to: Politics *John Hunter (British politician) (1724–1802), British Member of Parliament for Leominster * John Hunter (Canadian politician) (1909–1993), Canadian Liberal MP for Parkdale, 1949–1957 *Sir John Hunter ( ...

in 1795.Coupe, S&R: ''Speed the Plough'', page 22-26. Ashfield Municipal Council, 1988 The first land grant in the Croydon area was to Captain John Townson in April 1793 who received on

Parramatta Road Parramatta Road is the major historical east-west artery of metropolitan Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, connecting the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD with Parramatta. It is the easternmost part of the Great Western Highway. S ...

stretching west from

and south to what is now Queen Street. Further grants were made in 1794 to: Private J Eades (25 acres on Parramatta Road to the west of Townson's holding); James Brackenrig (30 acres on the other side of Eades's land);

Augustus Alt Augustus Theodore Henry Alt (1731 – 9 January 1815) was a British soldier and Australia's first Surveyor General of New South Wales, Surveyor-General. Early life Augustus Theodore Harman Alt was born to father Jost Heinrich (anglicised to Just ...

, the first

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

-general of NSW, (100 acres stretching south from Townson's land to roughly what is now Thomas Street); and Sarah Nelson (15 acres west of the southern corner of Alt's land in the area now known as Malvern Hill). Alt was the first to take up residence on his land, naming it 'Hermitage Farm'. However, his house was burnt down by a group of indigenous people (possibly led by

Pemulwuy Pemulwuy ( /pɛməlwɔɪ/ ''PEM-əl-woy''; 1750 – 2 June 1802) was a Bidjigal warrior of the Dharug, an Aboriginal Australian people from New South Wales. One of the most famous Aboriginal resistance fighters in the colonial era, he is n ...

) in 1797 and he didn't return to Croydon, establishing himself in neighbouring Ashfield, and selling his property to John Palmer. HighburyEstate1881

By 1820 a large part of the area had been subsumed by Joseph Underwood's large 'Ashfield Park Estate'. This property remained largely intact for more than 40 years, until it was subdivided into large blocks after the death of Elizabeth Underwood in 1858. By this time its proximity to the

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

made it a desirable area (the station was originally called Fivedock). One of these subdivisions was the 'Highbury Estate', on part of which Anthony Hordern, son of the founder of the great retail firm,

Anthony Hordern & Sons Anthony Hordern & Sons was a major department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail space, Anthony Hordern's was once the largest department store in the world. The historic Anthony Hordern building, w ...

, eventually built his house 'Shubra Hall', just beyond the west border of Ashfield. It later became part of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, the current boundaries of which give an idea of the extent of the Hordern property. The

College A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

, including Shubra Hall, the main school building and the Meta Street entrance gates, is now listed on the Register of the National Estate. From around 1800 to 1860, development in the area was slow with the

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

s gradually being cleared for

orchard An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit tree, fruit- or nut (fruit), nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also so ...

s and grazing land. The area was a haunt of

bushrangers Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia, and applied to ...

in the 1820s with two major thoroughfares, Parramatta Road to the north and

Liverpool Road Liverpool Road is a street in Islington, North London. It covers a distance of between Islington High Street and Holloway Road, running roughly parallel to Upper Street through the area of Barnsbury. It contains several attractive Terraced ho ...

to the south providing regular opportunities for holdups. In 1855, the Sydney-Parramatta railway was built through the area which led to a housing boom around the stations at Ashfield and Burwood. This in turn led to local governments forming in the two areas with the land divided roughly equidistant between the two centres. In 1874 a new station was built on the boundary of the two areas and was named

Five Dock Five Dock is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Five Dock is located 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Canada Bay. Location Fi ...

after another settlement to the north. Because Five Dock was actually a long way north some confusion ensued and Ashfield Council renamed the station in 1876 to

after the suburb in

. The suburb remains divided between the two neighbouring councils to this day.

Population growth

The first developments were on the northern side of the station around Edwin and Elizabeth Streets.

Anthony Hordern Anthony Hordern & Sons was a major department store in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With 52 acres (21 hectares) of retail space, Anthony Hordern's was once the largest department store in the world. The historic Anthony Hordern building, w ...

built his grand home 'Shubra Hall' in 1869 while many of the shops along Edwin Street North were built in the 1880s. Many houses in the areas surrounding Edwin Street North and Elizabeth St are also of the Victorian style popular in the 1880s and 90s. The 1880s and 90s also saw the establishment of the suburbs first schools with Croydon Public School in 1884, and the Presbyterian Ladies' College relocating from Ashfield in 1891. The southern side of Croydon remained largely undeveloped until the early 20th century. The Malvern Hill Estate was subdivided in 1909 and designed as a model suburb like Haberfield with wide tree-lined streets and houses built in the then-modern

Federation style Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

(a variation of

Arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

). Part of the development was the Strand shopping strip, which has survived intact to this day and is now heritage listed in its entirety. Since

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, little has changed in Croydon generally. While there have been some blocks of flats built in that time, they account for only around 10% of dwellings in Croydon and many of them are

art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

blocks from the 1930s which fit in with the general heritage feel of the area. From the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Croydon saw significant growth with both population increases and suburban expansion. In that period, there was a major boom in residential development as people moved from the inner city to the outer suburbs in search of more affordable housing and larger homes. Many houses built during this era were typical of post-war suburban development, featuring modest bungalows and semi-detached homes.

Heritage listings

Croydon has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Great Southern and Western railway: Croydon railway station * Boundary Street:

Shubra Hall Shubra Hall is a heritage-listed former semi-rural suburban estate and mansion residence and now administration building for school purposes at Boundary Street in the Sydney suburb of Croydon, New South Wales, Croydon, Municipality of Burwood, ...

* Paisley Road:

Croydon Sewer Vent The Croydon Sewer Vent is a heritage-listed sewer ventilation stack located on a small parcel of land adjacent to 12 Paisley Road, Croydon, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was designed and built by the Metropolitan Board o ...

Infrastructure

Commercial area

Croydon's principal commercial area is located around the railway station. The Strand, south of the railway line, is the primary commercial strip. It features a number of commercial properties, most of which contain residential

units Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

above them. A TAB, two real estate agencies, two grocery stores and various restaurants, cafés and bakeries are among the shops on The Strand. The older Edwin Street precinct, north of the line, consists mainly of specialist businesses such as an accounting firm, engineering firm, and printing shop. Some retailers on the southern side of

also fall just inside Croydon's boundaries. CroydonNSWHealthCentre

Health

From 1893 to 1994, the Western Suburbs Hospital was situated on the corner of

and Brighton Street. After remaining unoccupied for nearly 10 years, it was replaced in the early 2000s with a community health centre and two aged care facilities: Holy Spirit Croydon and The Brighton. Both of these facilities are operated by

Catholic Health Australia Catholic Health Australia represents 75 hospitals and 550 residential and community aged care services and comprises Australia's largest non-government not-for-profit grouping of health and aged care services. Catholic Health Australia was establish ...

, and each facility houses over 100 residents.

Education

Croydon has four schools: two primary and two secondary. The suburb's oldest school is Croydon Public School, a primary,

co-educational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

public school, established in 1883. Over 700 students currently attend the school, which is located on Young Street. The suburb's other primary school is Holy Innocents Catholic Primary School, a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, co-educational

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

, established in 1924. It is a much smaller school than Croydon Public School, with a total enrolment of around 200 students. Holy Innocents is located on Queen Street opposite Burwood Girls High School which, despite its name and proximity to Burwood, is in fact situated within the boundaries of Croydon. Currently about 1200 students attend the secondary public school for girls, which was established in 1929. Another school for girls is

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney The Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (PLC Sydney) is an independent Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primary and Secondary school, secondary school for girls, located in Croydon, New South Wales, Croydon, an Inner West ...

(PLC Sydney), an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

, R-12, day and

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

. The school was established in 1888 but did not move to its current Croydon location until 1891. Around 1150 girls currently attend the school. PLC Sydney is similar to the nearby Burwood Girls High School in that the vast majority of girls from both of these schools are not residents of Croydon, but instead travel to school from surrounding suburbs.

Transport

Croydon railway station is served by the

Inner West & Leppington Line The Leppington & Inner West Line (numbered T2, coloured light blue) is a commuter rail service operated by Sydney Trains, serving the inner west and south-western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The service commences from the City Circle, headi ...

of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

network. Like most stations on the Inner West section of the line, it is served by all-stations services every fifteen minutes in both directions: east to the city and west to

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. The name o ...

. Seven bus services pass through Croydon: * The 461 travels down Parramatta Road between Burwood and the city * The 418 travels down Liverpool Road between Burwood and Kingsford * The 480 and 483 also travel down Liverpool Road between

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

and the city * The 490 and 492 travel from Drummoyne to Burwood via Queen Street, Croydon. They then travel through the southern part of Croydon with the 492 continuing on to Rockdale and the 490 continuing to

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD and is part of the St George, New South Wales, St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of ...

* The 491 travels down Frederick Street and Elizabeth Street between Five Dock and Ashfield and then on to Hurstville Croydon is sandwiched between two major roads:

and

. Within Croydon itself, there is only one road bridge (Meta St bridge) over the railway line which connects the north and south parts of the suburb. Up until 1948, Croydon and neighbouring Croydon Park were also serviced by electric tram services running between Ashfield Station and the respective terminuses at Mortlake and Cabarita Park. These were subsequently replaced by routes 464 and 466.

Landmarks

Churches

* All Saints of Russia is a Russian Orthodox Church, Chelmsford Avenue. * Holy Innocents Catholic Church Webb Street * Malvern Hill

Uniting Church The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) is a united church in Australia. The church was founded on 22 June 1977 when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost a ...

, designed by

Alfred Newman Alfred Newman (March 17, 1900 – February 17, 1970) was an American composer, arranger, and conductor of film music. From his start as a music prodigy, he came to be regarded as a respected figure in the history of film music. He won nine Acad ...

. * St Christophorous is a German-speaking Catholic Church in Edwin Street. * St Gabriel Syrian Orthodox Church * St Joseph's Maronite Catholic Church
St James' Anglican Church Croydon
*

Sydney Missionary and Bible College Sydney Missionary and Bible College (SMBC) is an independent, evangelical interdenominational Bible college A Bible college, sometimes referred to as a Bible institute or theological institute or theological seminary, is an evangelical Chris ...

Houses

Croydon features many of the inner west's most sought-after addresses due to its grand homes, larger blocks and family friendly streetscapes. As of 2011, the majority of dwellings were separate houses (63.6%). Croydon is a quiet village-like suburb with mostly detached housing built in the early part of the 20th century in what is known as

Federation Bungalow Federation architecture is the architectural style in Australia that was prevalent from around 1890 to 1915. The name refers to the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, when the British colonies of Australia collectively became the Commonw ...

California Bungalow California bungalow is an alternative name for the American Craftsman style of Residential area, residential architecture, when it was applied to small-to-medium-sized homes rather than the large "ultimate bungalow" houses of designers like Green ...

styles. The suburb caters for first-home buyers, while the wealthy may also find homes in the Malvern Hill Estate, a well-established pocket of prestigious homes that rarely come on the market and sell for more than $900,000. As of January 2016, the median house price of Croydon stood at $1,435,000. The Malvern Hill area of Croydon was designed as a model suburb in 1906 by surveyors Atchison and Schleiser. Like the nearby Appian Way area in Burwood and the 'garden suburb' Haberfield, the aim of the development was to have modern houses on large blocks of land with wide streets. Most of the houses are

s or similar Federation-era designs. Just east of Malvern Hill, in the Ashfield Council part of the suburb, is the grand Gads Hill Villa built by former Ashfield mayor Daniel Holborow and the nearby St James Anglican Church.

Parks

Centenary Park is a large open park with a barbecue area, bike tracks, play equipment, basketball court, two synthetic cricket nets and two playing fields that are used for cricket, rugby and football. Burwood Soccer Club and ACC Cricket Club play some home matches at the park. The Western Suburbs Leagues Bowling Club (Wests Sports) is located next door to the park. Also adjacent is the Bede Spillane Dog Park, situated on the corner of Croydon Road and Queen Street. The other major sporting park in Croydon is Blair Park, which borders Burwood Girls High School and is situated just 200 metres west of Centenary Park. It contains one sporting field as well as a playground and a dog off-leash area, both adjacent to the sports field. Wangal Park, situated directly north of Blair Park, is currently undergoing redevelopment by

Burwood Council The Municipality of Burwood (also known as Burwood Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Inner West (Sydney), inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The mayor of the Municipality is ...

. The area, which was originally a brickpit, will feature three

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s, boardwalks, educational signage and various amenities. Stage one of construction was opened in 2015, and works are expected to be complete in 2016. Croydon is also home to various smaller parks and reserves: Reed Reserve, Froggatt Crescent Reserve, Prowse Reserve, Anthony Street Reserve, and Bridges Reserve.

Population

Demographics

According to the 2021 census, Croydon had a population of 10,755 people. It did not have the same level of high density housing found in its neighbours Ashfield and Burwood. 55.1% of dwellings were separate houses with 27.0% apartments and 17.2% terraces, semis or townhouses. The median age of people in the suburb was slightly older (42) than the rest of Sydney and a higher percentage of people owned their homes outright (34.7%) than those paying them off (31.4%). Median loan repayments ($2,700 per month) were much higher than the national figure ($1,8635). Croydon still retains many of the characteristics of the broader Inner West region of Sydney, including a high proportion of residents born overseas. 31.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 16.5%, Italy 6.4%, Lebanon 4.3%, and Vietnam 3.4%. The most common ancestries were Chinese 23.2%, Australian 17.5%, English 17.3%, Italian 9.8% and Irish 8.8%. 51.1% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 11.9%, Cantonese 6.0%, Italian 4.7%, Arabic 4.0% and Greek 3.0%. The most common responses for religion were No religion 36.6%, Catholic 28.2%, Anglican 5.9%, Not stated 5.6% and Orthodox 5.0%.

Notable residents

Notable former and current residents of Croydon include: * Joseph Abbott (1843–1903)wool-broker and politician *

(1731–1815)first surveyor-general of NSW * Bert Appleroth (1886–1952)founder of

Aeroplane Jelly Aeroplane Jelly is a Gelatin dessert, jelly brand in Australia created in 1927 by Bert Appleroth. Appleroth's backyard business, Traders Pty Ltd, became one of Australia's largest family-operated food manufacturers and was sold to McCormick & C ...

Francis Birtles Francis Edwin Birtles (7 November 1881 in Fitzroy, Victoria – 1 July 1941 in Croydon, New South Wales) was an Australian adventurer, photographer, cyclist, and filmmaker, who set many long-distance cycling and driving records, including becom ...

(1881–1941)explorer and author * Margaret Chandler (1934–1963)an infamous murder victim * Eleanor Dark (1901–1985)one of Australia's most significant novelists was born in Croydon *

Freda Du Faur Emmeline Freda Du Faur (16 September 188213 September 1935) was an Australian mountaineer, credited as the first woman to climb New Zealand's tallest mountain, Aoraki / Mount Cook. Du Faur was a leading amateur climber of her day. She was the f ...

(1882–1935) mountaineer * Michael Fitzpatrick (1816–1881)public servant, land agent and politician *

Walter Wilson Froggatt Walter Wilson Froggatt (13 June 1858 – 18 March 1937) was an Australian Economic entomology, economic entomologist. Early life Froggatt was born in Melbourne, Colony of Victoria, the son of George Wilson Froggatt, an English architect, and hi ...

(1858–1937)entomologist, founder of the Naturalists' Society of New South Wales and author *

(1819–1876)shopping magnate, built and lived at Shubra Hall, now part of the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney *

Ern Malley The Ern Malley hoax, also called the Ern Malley affair, is Australia's most famous literary hoax. Its name derives from Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley, a fictitious poet whose biography and body of work were created in one day in 1943 by conservati ...

(1918–1943)a fictitious poet, purportedly lived in Dalmar St, Croydon * Arthur Murchan

Archibald Prize The Archibald Prize is an Australian portraiture art prize for painting, generally seen as the most prestigious portrait prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1921 after the receipt of a bequest from J. F. Archibald, J. F. Archib ...

-winning artist * Sarah Nelsonfirst settler in the Burwood Council area * Sir Bertram Stevens (1889–1973)Premier of NSW from 1932 to 1939 resided at 15 Malvern Street for around 25 years and during his time as Premier * Frederick Wills (1870–1955)artist, photographer and motion picture pioneer

Politics

At the federal level, Croydon is partly in the

Division of Reid The Division of Reid is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. It is on the south shore of Port Jackson, with Sydney to the east; it stretches from Silverwater to Rodd Point. Since 2022 its MP has been Sally Sit ...

(north of the Hume Highway) and partly in the

Division of Grayndler The Division of Grayndler is an Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales. It is currently represented by Prime Minister of Austra ...

(south of the Hume Highway). Part of Croydon was moved into Reid at the redistribution in 2016 and the rest into Grayndler at the 2024 redistribution. At the state level, Croydon is in the NSW state electoral division of

References

External links

Croydon Public School website

Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney website

Burwood Girls' High School website
*

CC-By-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bui ...

] *

] {{DEFAULTSORT:Croydon, New South Wales Croydon, New South Wales, Suburbs of Sydney