Narwee is a
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
southern Sydney, 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 ...
. Narwee is located 18 kilometres south 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 ...
and is part of the
St George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the R ...
area. Narwee is in
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 ...
s of
City of Canterbury-Bankstown
Canterbury-Bankstown Council, trading as the City of Canterbury Bankstown and stylised as CBCity, is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Th ...
and
Georges River Council
Georges River Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the St George (Sydney), St George region of Sydney located south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, in New South Wales, Australia. The ...
. The
postcode
A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...
is 2209, which it shares with neighbouring
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
.
The main street of Narwee is Broadarrow Road, which runs from King Georges Road in
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
to just past Bonds Road in
Riverwood. Broadarrow Road is also the boundary line between the southern part of the
City of Canterbury-Bankstown
Canterbury-Bankstown Council, trading as the City of Canterbury Bankstown and stylised as CBCity, is a Local government areas of New South Wales, local government area in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Th ...
and the northern part of the
Georges River Council
Georges River Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the St George (Sydney), St George region of Sydney located south of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, in New South Wales, Australia. 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, and
Jannali. 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 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, with
Riverwood to the west and
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
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 5,411 people usually resident in Narwee. 43.9% stated they were born in Australia with the top overseas countries of birth being China (15.3%), Hong Kong (3.6%), Philippines (3.6%), Indonesia (2.5%) and Lebanon (2.4%). English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 34.3% of residents and the most common other languages spoken were Cantonese 14.4%, Mandarin 12.8%, Arabic 6.2%, Greek 4.6% and Indonesian 2.4%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were No Religion (29.4%), Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
(19.4%), Islam (10.2%), Orthodox (7.6%) and Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
(6.7%).[
]
References
{{Sydney Georges River Council suburbs
Suburbs of Sydney
Georges River Council
City of Canterbury-Bankstown