Coniston ( ), is a suburb of

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

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. At the , it had a population of 2,267. Coniston is just north of the Port Kembla Steelworks and includes the Greenhouse Park, a one time waste pile converted into a natural park area with a weather station. The hill, known locally as "The Overseer" has a lookout over the city and Port Kembla. Coniston is also bordered to the west by the hill suburbs of Mangerton and Mount Saint Thomas. Coniston has a variety of businesses including The Coniston Hotel, formally Gilmore's Hotel, a bakery, 24 Hour petrol station and several other specialty stores. Coniston has long been serviced with its own Bulk Billing Medical Centre, Coniston is also well known for its successful football club, Coniston FC.

History

Coniston takes its name from HMS ''Coniston'', a British naval vessel that visited the Illawarra during the early 1800s. Its name was formerly known as Mount Drummond, after J. Drummond, a landowner of the area. Originally inhabited by the

Tharawal people The Tharawal people and other variants, are an Aboriginal Australian people, identified by the Yuin language. Traditionally, they lived as hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans with ties of kinship, scattered along the coasta ...

, European settlement began in the early 19th century and the area was later used for industries of agriculture and coal mining. In 1923, with the construction of the

Illawarra railway line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra railway or the South Coast line) is a Commuter rail, passenger and Rail freight transport, freight railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry, New South Wales, Bomaderry in New So ...

, Coniston was transformed into a residential suburb, now part of Wollongong.

Sport

Coniston is also home to the Coniston Football Club. The juniors play at McKinnon Park, and the seniors play at J.J.Kelly Park. Coniston Football Club participate in the Illawarra Premier League, having won the 1981, 2001, and 2023 grand finals.

Transport

Coniston railway station is the suburb's main train station. Coniston has multiple bus stops which are served by Premier Illawarra.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census, there were 2,267 people in Coniston. The most common ancestries were English 26.6%, Australian 25.8%, Macedonian 11.8%, Irish 8.6% and Scottish 8.0%. 64.8% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (now the Republic of North Macedonia) at 6.7%. 62.9% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Macedonian 9.4%. The most common responses for religion in Coniston were No Religion 34.9%, Catholic 16.3%, Eastern Orthodox 14.2% and Anglican 7.6%.

References

External links