Torrens (postcode 2607) 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

Woden Valley Woden Valley () is a district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The name of Woden Valley is taken from the name of a nearby homestead owned by James Murr ...

district of

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

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 ...

. It is named after Sir Robert Torrens, a former

Premier of South Australia The premier of South Australia is the head of government in the state of South Australia, Australia. The Government of South Australia follows the Westminster system, with a Parliament of South Australia acting as the legislature. The premier i ...

and instigator of the

Torrens title Torrens title is a land registration and land transfer system in which a state creates and maintains a register of land holdings, which serves as the Incontrovertible evidence, conclusive evidence (termed "Defeasible reasoning#Political and judic ...

system of land registration. The suburb was gazetted on 12 May 1966.

Location and description

Looking North East from Mount Taylor ACT

The suburb is located along the district of Woden's southern edge. It adjoins the suburbs of Pearce,

Mawson Sir Douglas Mawson (5 May 1882 – 14 October 1958) was a British-born Australian geologist, Antarctic explorer, and academic. Along with Roald Amundsen, Robert Falcon Scott, and Sir Ernest Shackleton, he was a key expedition leader during ...

and

Farrer Farrer may refer to: People * Alisha Farrer (born 1993), Australian actress and model * Austin Farrer (1904–1968), English theologian, philosopher, and friend of C. S. Lewis * Buster Farrer (1936–2025), South African cricketer * Claude Farrer ...

. It is bounded by Beasley Street to the north, Athllon Drive to the east, and the

Canberra Nature Park The Canberra Nature Park is a series of 33 separate protected areas in and around Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, ranging from bushland hills to lowland native grassland. Many of the areas have previously been cleared for grazing, but ...

to the south. To the west the skyline is dominated by the Mount Taylor nature reserve. Torrens contains a small shopping centre, a neighbourhood oval, and Torrens Primary School.

History

The name was proposed by "contemporaries of Sir Robert Torrens; SA pioneers and politicians" and gazetted on 20 September 1928; the suburb was gazetted on 12 May 1966. Streets in Torrens are named after

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n pioneers.

Geology

Deakin Volcanics green-grey and purple

rhyodacite Rhyodacite is a volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of those plutonic rocks that are intermediate in composition between monzogranite and granodiorite. Rhyodacites form from rapid ...

is under the suburb, but only exposed in the south east quarter. The rest is covered by

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

alluvium Alluvium (, ) is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluvium is also sometimes called alluvial deposit. Alluvium is ...

. The south west has Deakin Volcanics green grey, purple and cream

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

with the corner topped off with Deakin Volcanics red-purple and green grey rhyodacite.

References

{{Woden Valley Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra