Kenthurst is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia 39 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of

The Hills Shire The Hills Shire (from 1906–2008 as Baulkham Hills Shire) is a local government area in the Greater Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is north-west of the Sydney central business district, and encompasses stre ...

. It is part of the Hills District region. Kenthurst is a semi-rural suburb with blocks of land on an average of . Features of the suburb include a large park (Kenthurst Park), a shopping village and park complex, numerous schools, two petrol stations, a function centre, a rural fire service station and a public swimming pool. Home of the Kenthurst “Bush Boys” Soccer Club.

History

The original inhabitants of the Dural area were the

Darug people The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

. Kenthurst is derived from the English County of

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

and ''hurst'' meaning a woody hillock or clearing. The area was originally known as Little Dooral and later Little Dural. In 1886 a public meeting was held to discuss a change of name. Charles Gibb was the main agitator who declared that the settlement needed a more elegant title. "Kent Forest" was suggested as an appropriate name for the area where settlers from

County that had settled in the area, but it wasn't popular and eventually Kenthurst was chosen. The meeting applied to the government ministry for permission to change the name, which was successful and was in general use from 1887. In the 1890s, Dural and the Hills district was the chief supplier of citrus fruit for most of Australia. Poultry and vegetable farms also flourished. Kenthurst Post Office opened on 1 August 1887.

Shopping complex

The Kenthurst shopping complex features a post office, supermarket, butcher, bottle shop, hairdresser and other shops. Outside the village centre there are several preschools and a second real estate agent. There are numerous local businesses in the area such as timber yards, florist, wholesalers, earthmovers and other similar businesses.

Village green

The village green is situated across Nelson St from the shopping village. It features a public swimming pool, a basketball/netball court, barbecue facilities, a playground, park benches and a large grassed area. The village green is maintained b
Kenthurst Rotary

Schools

Schools within Kenthurst include: * Kenthurst Public School (public, primary) * St Madeleine's (Catholic Systemic, primary) * Marian College (Catholic Systemic, secondary) *

The Hills Grammar School The Hills Grammar School (commonly referred to as Hills Grammar) is an independent nonsectarian co-educational early learning, primary and secondary day school, located in Kenthurst, a suburb in the Hills district of Sydney, New South Wales ...

(private, K-12) * Kenthurst Preschool (community-based, not-for-profit)

Sport and recreation

Kenthurst has its own cricket club
soccer club
netball club and village green maintained b
Kenthurst Rotary

Demographics

At the 2016 census, the suburb of Kenthurst recorded a population of 5,037 residents. Of these: ; Age distribution : The distribution of ages in Kenthurst was fairly similar to the country as a whole. Kenthurst residents' median age was 42 years, compared to the national median of 38. Children aged under 15 years made up 19.4% of the population (national average was 18.7%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 17.9% of the population (national average was 15.8%). ; Ethnic diversity : 78.0% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 4.2%. 52.4% of people had both parents born in Australia. 84.5% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Italian at 2.3% ; Religion : The most common responses for religion were Catholic 37.1%, Anglican 19.7% and No Religion 18.9%. ; Finances : The median weekly household income was $2,604, compared to the national median of $1,234. Real estate values were correspondingly high: the median mortgage repayments were $3,000 compared to the national median of $1,438. ; Housing : Most (89.1%) private dwellings were family households and 10.0% were single-person households. Stand-alone houses accounted for 95.2% of dwellings. The average household size was 3.4 people.

Agriculture

The suburb is home to a large number of whole-sale nurseries.

Notable residents

Don Burke Donald William Burke (born 16 July 1947) is an Australian television presenter, television producer, author and horticulturist. He is best known as the longtime host of '' Burke's Backyard'', a lifestyle program produced by his wife's company ...

(born 1947), television personality * Andrew Leeds (born 1965), Australian rugby player * James Millar (born 1980), theatre actor and writer * Greg Page (born 1972), singer, musician and actor

References

{{Sydney The Hills Shire suburbs Suburbs of Sydney The Hills Shire