Seven 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 ...
in 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 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 ...
, located North 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 ...
. Seven Hills is within the local government areas of the
City of Parramatta
The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a Local government in Australia, local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between th ...
and
Blacktown City councils.
Name
The name 'Seven Hills' is thought to be affiliated with
Matthew Pearce, a settler in Sydney who was granted 160 acres (65 ha.) of land in 1795. Pearce named his allotment Kings Langley Farm and in that lot, he could observe seven nearby hills. The "seven hills" observed by Pearce could possibly have been the surrounding areas, which are hilly and today have "hill" in their name, such as
Castle Hill,
Baulkham Hills
Baulkham Hills (;) is a suburb in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located within north-west of the Sydney central business district mostly within the Loca ...
,
Rooty Hill,
Prospect Hill,
Beaumont Hills,
Rouse Hill and
Constitution Hill.
[Jack Brook ''The Seven Hills – A village divided, a suburb united'' 2004 ]
Though the origin of the name of the suburb still remains undocumented. Furthermore, the name was frequently used by 1803 when a notice in the
Sydney Gazette
''The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser'' was the first newspaper printed in Australia, running from 5 March 1803 until 20 October 1842. It was a semi-official publication of the government of New South Wales, authorised by Governo ...
that was about the dispersion of flour from stores to the residents at "
Castle Hill, Seven Hills and other outposts".
History
Prior to European settlement in the 1790s, the area now known as Seven Hills was originally settled and occupied for hundreds, if not thousands, of years by
indigenous peoples
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
who most probably would have identified with the
Warmuli and
Toogagal clans, of the
Darug
The Dharug or Darug people, are a nation of Aboriginal Australian clans, who share ties of kinship, country and culture. In pre-colonial times, they lived as hunters in the region of current day Sydney. The Darug speak one of two dialects o ...
nation.
The vicinity of Seven Hills was first visited by Europeans very early on in the settlement of the colony of New South Wales, possibly as early as April 1788 by
Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip (11 October 1738 – 31 August 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer who served as the first Governor of New South Wales, governor of the Colony of New South Wales.
Phillip was educated at Royal Hospital School, Gree ...
or more certainly by
Watkin Tench
Lieutenant General Watkin Tench (6 October 1758 – 7 May 1833) was a British military officer who is best known for publishing two books describing his experiences in the First Fleet, which established the first European settlement in Australia ...
in June 1789.
The first land grant by the colonial administration (in what was then known as the "District of Toongabbee") was to an ex Marine soldier, John Redmond in May 1793,
whose grant of was adjacent to a track which later became Station Road. At least 13 further grants were made in this area before 1800. Matthew Pearce (1762–1831) was granted ) in 1795, which he named after Kings Langley in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, where he was said to have been born. George Best and John Pye Snr were given land grants in Seven Hills in 1796.
The area of the Pearce grant bounded by the present Old Windsor Road, Seven Hills Road, Chapel Lane (in what is now
Baulkham Hills
Baulkham Hills (;) is a suburb in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located within north-west of the Sydney central business district mostly within the Loca ...
) and Toongabbie Creek became known as Seven Hills from about 1800, because his farm was situated near the seventh hill along the road from Parramatta. In 1804 part of the Cumberland Plain in an area which later became the Grantham Estate was reserved for use as Prospect Common and at some time after this possibly around 1819 two land grants were made to Samuel Haynes and Samuel Dent.
Seven Hills encompassed a much larger area than now and as late as 1900, landowners as far afield as the modern suburbs of
Bella Vista,
Glenwood, and
Parklea identified their properties as being located in Seven Hills. In the period 1959 to the 1970s, housing schemes excised land that was previously part of Seven Hills to create the suburbs of
Lalor Park and
Kings Langley
Kings Langley is a village, former manor and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, north-west of London and to the south of the Chiltern Hills. It now forms part of the London commuter belt. The village is divided between two local governme ...
.
[
The railway from ]Parramatta
Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
to Blacktown Road station (now Blacktown
Blacktown is a suburb in New South Wales, Australia, west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Sydney, Greater Sydney.
History
Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area of ...
) was completed as a single line in 1860. A stationmaster's residence and siding were constructed near a level crossing at what was to become Toongabbie Road (later Seven Hills Road) in December 1863. A platform was built in 1869, and stops at the station were scheduled in the timetable from September of that year. The road bridge on Seven Hills Road across the railway line was constructed in 1975, replacing the level crossing.
Grantham Heritage Park
The Haynes and Dent lots were acquired in 1897 by William Chadwick. Chadwick commissioned a Sydney architect, Byera Hadley (later to become the leading architectural academic in NSW), to build a large house on the land which he named "Melrose". A much smaller house known as "Drumtochty" had been built around 1890 on the estate, to the south, at the corner of Seven Hills Road and what is now Australorp Avenue.
In 1901 the property was acquired by John Rabone who commenced a poultry breeding and experimental farm which he named "Grantham Poultry Stud". In 1906 there was a further change in ownership and the farm was under the control of Martin & Co owned by a Mr Francis Martin. In 1912 the company appointed James Hadlington who concurrently held the position as the state Department of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
's "Poultry Expert".
By 1917 Australia was confronting the problem of providing suitable employment for both able-bodied and disabled veterans of the First World War. This led to the development of soldier settlement
Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlement ...
schemes. Hadlington persuaded the state government to acquire the farm for such a scheme it being thought that ex-servicemen including those disabled and even limbless would be able to make an adequate living for themselves and their families from poultry farming. The transfer took place in July 1917 and the area of the farm nearer Seven Hills Station fronting (what is now) Grantham Road was subdivided into eleven blocks for married men with the balance becoming a poultry breeding, stock and feed storage and training facility named "Grantham State Poultry Farm".
Initially the ex-servicemen trainees on the farm were housed in tents but by 1918 barracks-like accommodation had been put up near Seven Hills Road. The small farms were initially taken up by "maimed settlers" who occupied small houses which had been built for them and their families. As with other such schemes some of the settlers found it hard to make a living from agriculture despite establishment loans and sustenance payments and by 1922 some of the original occupiers had abandoned the project leaving the blocks for other ex-servicemen to take over. Over the next three decades the farms were turned over to other activities or further subdivided and by the 1950s none were being used for poultry farming although many such enterprises had been successfully established in the surrounding districts principally by migrants from Europe.
In 1923 the "Grantham State Poultry Farm" was no longer required for the settlement scheme and passed to the Department of Agriculture for use as a demonstration farm and named the "Government Poultry Farm". In 1939 the farm's function changed to one of experimentation and research aimed at improving the quality of the poultry farming in the state. This led to yet another change in name with the farm becoming known as "Poultry Experiment Farm, Seven Hills". From the 1940s the farm was the site of ground breaking research (notably by Professor Bill McClymont and Dr Len Hart) into poultry husbandry and nutrition leading to significant improvements in the efficiency of poultry farming in Australia and overseas. This was officially recognised when the name was changed to the Poultry Research Station in 1960.
In 1971 a new building was erected to house research and administrative functions of the research station and (later) offices of the NSW Egg Marketing Board.
By 1983 the site was known as "Agricultural Station, Seven Hills" and operations had begun to wind down. Much of the Department of Agriculture land was declared surplus to requirements and by 1989 the station had closed and the land sold off for residential development.
In 2004 the remnant of the estate including "Melrose", "Drumtochty" (by now moved to the northern end of the estate) and the administrative building were acquired the City of Blacktown. In 2008 a plan for the use of the administration building as council offices and the development of the lands as a heritage park was announced and public comment was invited. The remnant portion has been named "Grantham Heritage Park". The entire estate, including ''Melrose'' and ''Drumtochty'', is heritage-listed.
The park lands contain some of the last vestiges of Cumberland Plain
The Cumberland Plain, also known as Cumberland Basin, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. An IBRA biogeographic region, Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term ...
woodlands and the Grantham Heritage Park Memorial commemorating the soldier settlers and trainees.
Heritage listings
Seven Hills has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
* 37-39 Roger Place: Dayton House
* 71 Seven Hills Road: Grantham Poultry Research Station
* 313 Seven Hills Road: St Andrew's Anglican Church
Demographics
As of the :
*The most common ancestries were Australian 20.5%, English 19.1%, Indian 12.0%, Chinese 5.7% and Irish 5.2%.
*50.6% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were India 12.2%, Sri Lanka 4.2%, Philippines 3.4%, China 2.5% and New Zealand 2.0%.
*The most common responses for religion were Catholic 23.1%, No Religion 19.9%, Hinduism 14.6%, Anglican 8.5% and Not stated 6.8%.
*49.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Tamil 6.0%, Punjabi 4.7%, Hindi 3.9%, Arabic 2.6% and Mandarin 2.4%.
Commercial areas
Seven Hills Plaza
is a major 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, ...
in Seven Hills. It is located adjacent to Prospect Highway and slightly to the south-west of the railway station. It was originally opened in 1960 as Seven Hills Regional Shopping Centre. The Seven Hills Plaza shopping centre has remained relatively unchanged since the early 2000s (with the exception of a modernised parking number plate and boom gate system) and is like a time capsule
A time capsule is a historic treasure trove, cache of goods or information, usually intended as a deliberate method of communication with future people, and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians. The preservation of holy ...
when compared to nearby shopping centres such as Blacktown's Westpoint and Paramatta's Westfield shopping centres.
There are a very large number of industrial and commercial developments contained in the area to the north of the railway bounded by the Prospect Highway, Abbott Road to the north, Old Windsor Road to the west and Blacktown Creek to the south. The studios of broadcasting station Hope 103.2 FM and the NSW Fire Brigade Station, built in 1995 are situated on the southern side of Leabons Lane near the junction with Seven Hills Road South.
Residential areas
The suburb is predominantly residential. Florida Place, a cul-de-sac
A dead end, also known as a ''cul-de-sac'' (; , ), a no-through road or a no-exit road, is a street with only one combined inlet and outlet.
Dead ends are added to roads in urban planning designs to limit traffic in residential areas. Some d ...
, is typical of many residential streets in Seven Hills especially those south of the railway. The buildings show a transition from the mid 20th century single storey
A storey (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or story (American English), is any level part of a building with a floor that could be used by people (for living, work, storage, recreation, etc.). Plurals for the wor ...
mixed construction dwellings with an average of approx 100 m2 floorspace on 600 to 900 m2 blocks to replacement two storey brick veneer
Masonry veneer walls consist of a single non-structural external layer of masonry, typically made of brick, stone or manufactured stone. Masonry veneer can have an air space behind it and is technically called "anchored veneer". A masonry vene ...
dwellings built in the 2000s with twice to three times the floorspace.
Leabons Lane, is typical of streets that are used as transport corridors with a mix of residential and light commercial use. Despite being narrow it is a busy thoroughfare linking the residential areas of south Seven Hills with Blacktown. Note the plethora of signage, traffic calming devices and utility poles strung with overhead power and TV cabling typical of streetscapes in western 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 ...
.
Transport
Seven Hills is located in an ideal section of Western Sydney when it comes to transport and logistics.
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 ...
provides regular services from Seven Hills railway station to Central railway station in 34 minutes. The suburb incorporates the localities of Grantham (the Grantham Estate) and Grantham Heights. The actual seven hills are situated along the Old Windsor Road between Westmead and where today's road intersects Norwest Boulevard, Bella Vista.
Seven Hills railway station is a major interchange on the North Shore & Western Line
The North Shore & Western Line (numbered T1, coloured orange) is a commuter rail service operated by Sydney Trains, serving the North Shore, parts of the Inner West and Western Suburbs of Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the State ...
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 in excess of 2000 commuter parking spaces. Seven Hills Railway Station has the most commuter parking of any station in Western Sydney with there being more and more new parking lots being built around the station. Seven Hills is located approximately 32 km by rail or 34 minutes travel from Central railway station, on the railway line to Penrith.
The M2 Hills Motorway
M2 Hills Motorway is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the National Highway west of Pennant Hills Road. Owned by toll road operator Transurban, it forms majority of Sydney's ...
, M4 Motorway
The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is the third longest motorway in the United Kingdom, running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh ele ...
and Westlink M7 are three major arterial roads that link Seven Hills to other parts of Sydney. The Prospect Highway and Seven Hills Road are other major roads in the suburb.
CDC NSW
CDC NSW is a bus operator in New South Wales, Australia. It is an umbrella brand of ComfortDelGro Australia established in 2017 to cover the latter's New South Wales operations, some of which had been owned by ComfortDelGro since 2005. It was sub ...
provides regular services to Sydney CBD, Macquarie Park
Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government ...
, Baulkham Hills
Baulkham Hills (;) is a suburb in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located within north-west of the Sydney central business district mostly within the Loca ...
, Bella Vista, Castle Hill, Blacktown, Toongabbie, Pendle Hill and Parramatta and Busways
Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia.
History
The origins of Busw ...
services to Kings Langley. The 611 bus runs along the M2 Hills Motorway
M2 Hills Motorway is a tolled urban motorway in Sydney, New South Wales that is part of the Sydney Orbital Network and the National Highway west of Pennant Hills Road. Owned by toll road operator Transurban, it forms majority of Sydney's ...
from Blacktown
Blacktown is a suburb in New South Wales, Australia, west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Sydney, Greater Sydney.
History
Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, the area of ...
till Macquarie Park
Macquarie Park () is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 13 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the Local government in Australia, local government ...
with Seven Hills and Macquarie University
Macquarie University ( ) is a Public university, public research university in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the Sydney metropolitan area. ...
being key stops. CDC NSW has two depots in Seven Hills, one on Hartley Road which is CDC NSW Seven Hills and one on Foundry Road which is also the company headquarters.
Climate
Education
Pre-schools
There are at least six early childhood educational facilities located in Seven Hills including two owned and operated by Blacktown City Council
Primary schools
* Bert Oldfield Public School – K-6 government school
* Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School – K-6 Roman Catholic systemic school
* Seven Hills Public School – K-6 government school
* Seven Hills North Public School K-6 government school
* Seven Hills West Public School – P-6 government school
* The Meadows Public School – K-6 government school
Secondary schools
* The Hills Sports High School – 7-12 government high school (formerly known as Grantham High School to 2001) – offers Talented Sports Program and is also location of a Saturday Community Languages School
* Seven Hills High School – 7-12 government high school – with a TAFE on site - also a feeder for the 11-12 Wyndham College
School for special purposes (SSP)
* William Rose School – K-12 school catering for students who have a visual disability plus an additional disability, students who have a hearing disability plus an additional disability and students who are Deafblind.
Notable residents
* Maureen Caird, athlete
* Steve Cummins, rugby union player with the Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...
* Glenn Druery, Ultra Distance cycle racer, grew up in Seven Hills
* Blake Gaudry, 2012 Olympian
* Hamilton Hume
Hamilton Hume (19 June 1797 – 19 April 1873) was an early explorer of the present-day Australian states of New South Wales and Victoria (Australia), Victoria. In 1824, along with William Hovell, Hume participated in an expedition that first t ...
, early explorer, born in Seven Hills
* Felix Lee, Stray Kids
Stray Kids (often abbreviated to SKZ; ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The band consists of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han (musician), Han, Felix (rapper), Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. For un ...
member
* Matt Moran, celebrity chef whose family lived in MacKenzie Boulevard. He attended Metella Road Public School and Grantham High SchoolMatt Moran’s path from Seven Hills to celebrated chef
Daily Telegraph 21 July 2015
*
Nathan Rees
Nathan Rees (; born 12 February 1968) is an Australian former politician who served as the 41st Premier of New South Wales and leader of the New South Wales Labor Party from September 2008 to December 2009. Rees was a Member of the New South Wal ...
, 41st
Premier of New South Wales
The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster system, Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales actin ...
*
Sanford Wheeler, Australian rules footballer
See also
*
Seven hills (disambiguation)
References
The 2001 City of Blacktown Social PlanTime Linefor Seven Hills and Lalor Park
External links
Views of Seven Hills Soldiers Settlement prior to 1920(?)– State Library of NSW set which includes a view of "the homestead" (i.e. Melrose) at the time.
Views of the agricultural station in 1923– State Library of NSW
Shop front in 1965– the "
Vinnies Op Shop" was located near the corner of Best Road and George Street until 2013 when the site was sold for re-development.
Timeline for Seven Hills*
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{{Sydney Parramatta suburbs
Seven Hills, New South Wales">
Suburbs of Sydney
New South Wales soldier settlements">Suburbs of Sydney">Seven Hills, New South Wales">
Suburbs of Sydney
New South Wales soldier settlements
1800 establishments in Australia
Populated places established in 1800
City of Blacktown
City of Parramatta