Orchard Hills 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 ...

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 ...

49 kilometres west 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

City of Penrith A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

. It is part of the

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

region.

History

Orchard Hills takes its name from the orchards located on the area's undulating hills at the turn of the 20th century. In 1806, Governor Philip King granted in what is now Orchard Hills to

Mary Putland Mary Bligh, Lady O'Connell (later Putland and later O'Connell) (1783–1864) was the Lady of First Government House, Sydney, Government House, New South Wales, Australia during the period her father William Bligh was the Governor of New South Wa ...

, the daughter of the incoming governor,

William Bligh William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was a Vice-admiral (Royal Navy), Royal Navy vice-admiral and colonial administrator who served as the governor of New South Wales from 1806 to 1808. He is best known for his role in the Muti ...

. She named the property Frogmore. In Rev. Samuel Marsden built ''

Mamre Mamre (; ), full name "Oaks of Mamre", refers to an ancient religious site originally focused on a single holy tree growing "since time immemorial" at Hebron in Canaan.Niesiolowski-Spano (2016). At its first location, Khirbet Nimra, a pagan tre ...

'', a two-storey Colonial Georgian homestead on the west side of what is now Mamre Road. The homestead was constructed of sandstone and is listed on the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

and the local government heritage register. It is now used as a function centre and is open for guided tours. Adjoining the Frogmore Estate was the York Estate, originally owned by the York family. When it was subdivided in the late 1880s, the land was mainly sold for

orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

and

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s. By the early 1900s a

rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry are typically desc ...

community had established in the area and a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

developed. The Mount Hope

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

Church was built in 1904 and the York Estate Public School was built in 1910. Until this time the area had no consistent name being known by different people as Frogmore, York and Mount Hope. A public meeting was called in October 1910 at the new school to choose a name and Orchard Hills won the day.

Description

Orchard Hills is located in the centre of the City of Penrith. Sydney Water's supply pipeline is its southern boundary line, while the suburbs of and border the suburb to the east. and are northern neighbours and , and the rural areas of and comprise the western boundary. Orchard Hills has a predominantly rural character with undulating hills and scenic vistas. Its landscape is mainly overlaid with orchards and grapevines with some housing development in recent years. This suburb epitomizes the City of Penrith's vision of a region with a harmony of urban and rural qualities.

Heritage listings

Orchard Hills has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Mamre Road: ''Mamre''

Transport

In June 2020, a station at Orchard Hills on the Western Sydney Airport line due to be completed in 2026, was confirmed.

Climate

References

External links

Mamre Official Website
{{Sydney Penrith suburbs Suburbs of Sydney City of Penrith