Narwee is a suburb in

southern Sydney Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively know ...

, 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. Narwee is located 18 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Narwee is in local government areas of City of Canterbury-Bankstown and

Georges River Council Georges River Council is a local government area located in the St George region of Sydney located south of the CBD, in New South Wales, Australia. The Council was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of the Kogarah City Council and Hurs ...

. The postcode is 2209, which it shares with neighbouring

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...

. The main street of Narwee is Broadarrow Road, which runs from King Georges Road in

to just past Bonds Road in Riverwood. Broadarrow Road is also the boundary line between the southern part of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown and the northern part of the

areas.

History

Narwee is an Aboriginal word meaning "sun", an appropriate name for an area once called 'Sunning Hill Farm'. The language and dialect it was derived from is unclear. A number of Sydney suburbs developed during the 1930s have similar allegedly Aboriginal names, the origins of which are uncertain, including nearby

Panania Panania, a suburb of local government area City of Canterbury-Bankstown, is located 23 kilometres inner south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney ...

, and

Jannali Jannali is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Jannali is located 28 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire. The majority of land use in ...

. Jannali supposedly means "moon" and was apparently named at the same time as Narwee, as a "sister suburb". The name Narwee was adopted when the railway station opened on 21 December 1931. People living there at the time were mostly poultry farmers and market gardeners, and a city florist had a large garden west of the railway station. After the railway came through, people bought up land for residences. Little building was done during the Depression and World War II, but the suburb grew rapidly in the 1950s, when the area was settled by young families. The post office opened in 1948. Narwee Primary School is built on land given in 1809, to Richard Podmore, a free settler, who came to New South Wales as a soldier in the N.S.W. Corps in 1792, on the ship "Pitt". Land between today's Penshurst Road and King Georges Road belonged to Richard Tuckwell, another soldier from the same Company. At the time of the land, the area was covered with a very thick ironbark forest. Tuckwell and Podmore sold their grants to Patrick Moore and Robert Gardner, both ex-convicts, in 1819 and 1820, and "Bob the Gardener", as he was known, began to clear trees and develop a farm on Podmore's grant, which he called "Sunning Hill Farm". The property was later extended to cover Emery's grant next door. This was farmed by Gardner's adopted son, Thomas Gardner Whitehall. At that stage there were very few farms in the district. Men earned a living by cutting down the trees and selling the logs for firewood and timber to build houses and boats. Narwee did not exist as a locality; it was called "Bob the Gardner's Farm", and there were so few people living in the area that bushrangers could easily hide for weeks in the forest without being discovered.

Commercial area

The main shopping strip is located in Broad Arrow Road parallel with and adjacent to Narwee railway station. Like many small suburbs, Narwee was formerly served by two banks (Westpac and Commonwealth) and many small shops. Both banks have now closed, although the post office remains. Narwee Hotel is located just 2 mins from Narwee train station

Transport

Narwee railway station is on the

Airport & South Line The Airport & South Line (numbered T8, coloured green) (''commonly called the East Hills Line)'' is a suburban commuter rail line in Sydney, Australia. It connects the Sydney central business district with the southwestern suburbs via Sydney Ai ...

of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban-suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...

network, with Riverwood to the west and

to the east. For details of bus services see Narwee railway station.

Churches

The largest church in the area is Narwee Baptist Church.Bringing the hope of Jesus to our local community and the world
Narwee Baptist Church

Schools

Narwee has a public school and once had a high school. Narwee High School was located at the suburb's highest point but closed in 2001. It has been redeveloped into a complex of residential houses.

Population

According to the , there were 4,956 people usually resident in Narwee. 43.7% stated they were born in Australia with the top overseas countries of birth being China (15.1%), Hong Kong (4.0%), Indonesia (2.0%), Lebanon (1.8%) and Greece (1.8%). English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 35.0% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Cantonese 15.1%, Mandarin 11.5% and Arabic 4.9%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

(21.4%), no religion (20.9%) Anglican (8.7%),

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

(8.4%), and

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

(7.2%).

References

{{Sydney Georges River Council suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Georges River Council City of Canterbury-Bankstown