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Willoughby is a suburb located on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the
City of Willoughby The City of Willoughby is a local government area on the Lower North Shore of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located north of the Sydney central business district. It was first proclaimed in October 1865 as ...
. The City of Willoughby takes its name from the suburb but its administrative centre is located in the adjacent suburb of Chatswood, which is the local area's major commercial centre.


History


Aboriginal culture


European settlement

There is some conjecture as to how Willoughby was named. Some historians believe it was named after a parish, while others believe that Surveyor-General Sir Thomas Mitchell decided to commemorate Sir James Willoughby Gordon whom he had served during the Peninsular War and was the quartermaster-general in England when the First Fleet sailed to
Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cooks Ri ...
. Captain Arthur Phillip's search for "good land, well watered" led to the discovery and colonisation of the rough shores of Roseville Chase, where Samuel Bates built a farm at Echo Point. Later developments included the building of the first post office in 1871 and the construction of Pommy Lodge in the same year. The latter—a small sandstone building in Penshurst Street—was originally the Congregational Church, which later changed premises. Laurel Bank Cottage, a single-storey home, was constructed in Penshurst Street in 1884. The cottage is now owned and run by the local Masonic Lodge as a function and conference facility. Circa 1920, Telford Lane—between Fourth Avenue and Eastern Valley Way—was created and paved; the method used was the one pioneered by
Thomas Telford Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotlan ...
in England in the nineteenth century. This lane is one of the few surviving examples of the Telford method in Sydney. In 1934, the Willoughby incinerator was built in Small Street, after a design by Walter Burley Griffin. It has been described as "a particularly successful example of an industrial building integrating function with site." Like Telford Lane, the incinerator is listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate. The suburb was home to the headquarters of the Nine Network, under the
callsign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...
of
TCN-9 TCN is the flagship television station of the Nine Network in Australia. The station is currently located at 1 Denison Street, North Sydney. The licence, issued to a company named Television Corporation Ltd headed by Sir Frank Packer, was one ...
for 64 years until it moved to North Sydney in November 2020. Next to this site was the
Channel 9 TV Tower The Channel 9 TV Tower also known as the Willoughby Tower or the TCN-9 TXA TV Tower, was a free-standing lattice tower with square cross section in the Sydney suburb of Willoughby. It was built as the broadcast transmitter for TCN, the Sydney f ...
which at 233 metres high was the tallest in Australia; its demolition commenced in April 2021, to be replaced by 460 new homes.


Heritage listings

Willoughby has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 85-87 Penshurst Street: '' Laurelbank'' * 2 Small Street: Walter Burley Griffin Incinerator, Willoughby


Commercial area

Willoughby has a number of small shops, restaurants and hotels. There are several small groupings of shops, the majority of which are on Mowbray Road, Willoughby Road, Penshurst Street and High Street.


Parks and recreation

Bicentennial Reserve which includes Hallstrom Park, features a soccer field, T Ball & softball fields and a children's playground. Willoughby Leisure Centre features a 25m lap pool, spas, children's pool, swim school, gym, basketball courts, netball courts and baseball field. Flat Rock Gully, built on an old rubbish tip, is bushland with two walking tracks to Long Bay, following the creek line. * Carlson Park * Julian St Park * Willoughby Squash courts * Hallstrom Park * Willoughby Park


Transport

Artarmon Artarmon is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby. History In 179 ...
is the nearest station for Willoughby's residents, on the western border of the suburb. Also, a number of bus routes cover the area. It is close to St Leonards and Chatswood stations. The
Gore Hill Freeway The Gore Hill Freeway is a divided freeway located in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the Highway 1. The primary function of the freeway is to provide an alternative high-grade route from to and to r ...
, a major arterial route into the Sydney CBD, runs along the southern border of Willoughby, with exit from the freeway from Reserve Road and entry from Reserve Road and Willoughby Road. Bus Routes serving Willoughby include: *115 Chatswood –
Pitt Street Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sec ...
via Crows Nest, North Sydney *120 Chatswood – Queen Victoria Building via Warringah Freeway *205 Willoughby East – City Gresham Street via Warringah Freeway *267 Chatswood – Crows Nest via Northbridge
Busways Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Great Lakes, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia. History The orig ...
' Willoughby Bus Depot is located in Willoughby East.


Schools

* Willoughby Public School (K – Year 6) * Willoughby Girls High School (Year 7 – Year 12, girls only) * St Thomas' Catholic Primary School (K – Year 6, Catholic School)


Other

* Willoughby Fire Station, Laurel Street * 1st Willoughby Scouts, Laurel Street * Bridgeview Hotel, Willoughby Road * The Willoughby Hotel, Penshurst Street


Churches

*
Armenian Evangelical Church
*
St Stephen's Anglican Church
*

*

*
Willoughby Presbyterian Church


Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 6,540 people in Willoughby. 62.5% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.7%, China 3.4%, New Zealand 2.2% and Hong Kong 2.0%. 68.9% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.3%, Cantonese 4.1%, Armenian 2.2%, Japanese 2.1% and Italian 1.7%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 32.4%, Catholic 28.4% and Anglican 13.7%. Willoughby is known for a large
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
community, who arrived in the area in the 1960s-1970s. More Armenian families made their home there once an
Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...
was built on Macquarie Street, Chatswood, close to the border with Willoughby. Willoughby contains several Armenian Churches and Community Centres (Cultural Clubs). It is home to the first Armenian Saturday School which still operates on Saturdays at Willoughby Girls High.


Notable residents

* John Davies, gold medal-winning Olympic swimmer for Australia in the 1952 Summer Olympics *
Matthew Reilly Matthew John Reilly (born 2 July 1974) is an internationally bestselling Australian action thriller writer.
". Retrieved 10 ...
, best-selling author * Evonne Goolagong, tennis legend *
Doc Neeson Bernard Patrick "Doc" Neeson OAM (4 January 1947 – 4 June 2014) was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician. He was the front man for the hard rock band The Angels from its formation in February 1976 through to 1999. The band then split ...
, lead singer of The Angels


Gallery


Heritage

Image:1LaurelBankCottage.JPG, Laurel Bank Cottage (1884) Image:(1)Griffin_incinerator_Willoughby_089.jpg, Incinerator designed by Walter Burley Griffin (1934) Image:1TelfordLane.JPG, Telford Lane (c.1920) Image:1PommyLodge.JPG, Pommy Lodge (1871)


References


External links


Willoughby, Willoughby City Council
– community profile
North Willoughby/Willoughby East, Willoughby City Council
– community profile
Willoughby City Council
– Official Willoughby City Council website
Willoughby Girls High School
– Official Willoughby Girls High School website
Willoughby Public School
– Official Willoughby Public School website
1st Willoughby Scouts
– 1st Willoughby Scouts Website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Willoughby, New South Wales Suburbs of Sydney City of Willoughby