Edgecliff is a small

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 Eastern Suburbs of

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 ...

. Edgecliff is located 4 kilometres east 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 ...

, in the

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 ...

of the

Municipality of Woollahra Woollahra Municipal Council (or Woollahra Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is bounded by Port J ...

. The postcode is 2027. Edgecliff is surrounded by the suburbs of

Double Bay Double Bay is a harbourside eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Municipality o ...

Woollahra Woollahra ( ) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local go ...

Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...

Rushcutters Bay Rushcutters Bay is a harbourside inner-east suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. The suburb of Rushcutters Ba ...

and Darling Point. The property prices are very high because it is close to the city and many homes provide views of

Port Jackson Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta ...

(Sydney Harbour).

History

Edgecliff takes its name from its geographic siting. The rocky cliff of the suburb was extensively quarried in the early day of European settlement. The area was dominated for some time by the Glenrock property, on the north side of New South Head Road. Sir Edward Knox built ''Fiona'' in 1864 after having it designed by J. F. Hilly. It has been described as "a

Classical Revival Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassic ...

two-storey mansion" and was made of sandstone. Other elements of the estate included ''Glenrock'', an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

residence designed by David MacBeath and built by John Marks circa 1870. There were also substantial gates of wrought iron and sandstone. The building was demolished when New South Head Road was widened, but the gates survived. Also on the estate was the Dower House, a Victorian

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

house of sandstone, built some time after 1842 by Whistler Smith. The estate is now the site of Ascham School, and the above items are on the National Estate. In September 1894, a cable tram service opened, which operated from King Street in the city to Ocean Street in Edgecliff. The powerhouse driving it was located at Rushcutters Bay. Unlike other trams of the era which were driven by steam, the cable ran in a gutter between the tracks. The cars gripped the moving cable to advance and released it to stop. It operated until 1905 when the

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

line was electrified. Edgecliff railway station opened in 1979, when the Eastern Suburbs railway line was opened from Central to Bondi Junction.

Heritage listings

Edgecliff has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * 8 Albert Street: Fenton and surrounds

Demographics

At the , the population of Edgecliff was 2,499. Most people in Edgecliff came from Anglo-Celtic backgrounds with the most common ancestries being English 33.8%, Australian 24.2%, Irish 14.5% and Scottish 10.4%. 58.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 6.9%. 77.6% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 42.5% and Catholic 18.5%. Housing in Edgecliff is high density and most occupied private dwellings were apartments (69.9%). Most of the remaining dwellings were semi-detached (23.6%).

Commercial area

Commercial developments are located on New South Head Road. The Edgecliff Centre is a commercial building with retail space close to the transport services and office space above. Edgecliff Eastpoint is a

shopping centre A shopping center in American English, shopping centre in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences), shopping complex, shopping arcade, ...

above Edgecliff railway station and below the bus interchange. Image:Edgecliff Eastpoint.JPG, Edgecliff Eastpoint, bus interchange on roof Image:Edgecliff post office.JPG, Former post office and telephone exchange Image:Edgecliff bank.JPG, Former bank

Transport

Edgecliff railway station is an underground railway station on the Eastern Suburbs Line 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 serving Edgecliff. During peak times the station sees trains every 3 to 5 minutes, during off peak times trains arrive around every 8–10 minutes. A bus interchange is located above the railway station.https://transportnsw.info/sites/default/files/document/2017/05/edgecliff_station_accessible.pdf

Schools

Ascham School and one of Sydney Grammar's preparatory schools are on the Edgecliff borders. The Weigall Sports Field and White City, which both belong to Sydney Grammar School, are also located nearby. Image:Edgecliff Ascham 3.JPG, Ascham Girls' School gates Image:Edgecliff Ascham 1.JPG, Glenrock, Ascham Girls' School (on the National Estate) Image:Edgecliff Ascham 2.JPG, Ascham Girls' School Image:Ascham Girls' School.jpg, Ascham Girls' School; the sandstone building in the centre is Fiona, built in 1864 (on the National Estate)

Sport and recreation

Since 1908, Edgecliff has been represented in one of Australia's most popular sporting competitions, the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

, by the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

, officially known as the Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club.

References

{{Sydney City of Sydney suburbs Municipality of Woollahra Suburbs of Sydney