Normanhurst, New South Wales


Normanhurst is a suburb on the Upper North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 20 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Hornsby Shire. Normanhurst shares the postcode of 2076 with the adjacent suburb of Wahroonga.

History

Normanhurst was originally known as Hornsby, with the suburb that is now known as Hornsby called Jack's Island.
The land on which Normanhurst stands was granted to Constable Horne, who along with Constable John Thorn, captured bushrangers Dalton and John MacNamara, leader of the North Rocks gang on 22 June 1830. Constable Horne's land became what is now known as Normanhurst and Constable Thorn's land became the neighbouring suburb of Thornleigh.
The construction of the Main Northern and North Shore railway lines in the 1890s brought about a name change. The two lines were joined at a station called Hornsby Junction, whereas the station one stop south on the Northern line kept the name Hornsby. Due to confusion around the similarly named stops, the postmaster demanded that Hornsby station change its name.
The railway station originally known as 'Hornsby', opened on 21 November 1895 and the name was changed by the local community to Normanhurst in 1900.
The first Hornsby Post Office opened on 1 August 1864 and was renamed South Hornsby in 1900 and Normanhurst in 1905.
Normanhurst was derived from the name of a prominent resident, civil engineer Norman Selfe, with hurst being the English word for a wooded hill. Selfe protested against the name change, preferring the name St Normans, which he suggested would have been "more elegant and suggestive". The railway station was renamed in 1900 and was used for the suburb that developed around it.

Heritage listings

Normanhurst has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Normanhurst is divided by Pennant Hills Road, a major north-south thoroughfare that leads north to the M1 Motorway, and south towards Parramatta. However, both the east and west sections have extensive bush access. On the east side, a small section of bush lies between Normanhurst and Fox Valley. This is land occupied by the SAN Hospital. On the western side, the suburb backs onto the southern reaches of the Berowra Valley, a continuous section of bush stretching all the way to Broken Bay. This gives Normanhurst a very "leafy" and rural look. This in turn contributes to making native bird life abundant. The area is home to cockatoos, rainbow lorikeets, kookaburras, noisy miners, native brush turkeys, and powerful owls. Additionally, Normanhurst has several small waterfalls, which promote reptile and marsupial life, such as Eastern grey kangaroos, echidnas and red-bellied black snakes. It also has encouraged the growth of retirement residences in the suburb. The Hornsby Shire Historical Society and Museum is located on Kenley Road.

Commercial area

Normanhurst has a small number of shops close to Normanhurst railway station, which includes cafes, restaurants, Australia Post office, a dry cleaner and a Japanese restaurant.

Transport

Normanhurst is serviced by rail and buses. Normanhurst railway station is on the Northern Line of the Sydney Trains network. Transdev NSW's Upper North Shore service provide bus services to the area.
At the 2016 census, only 31% of employed people travelled to work on public transport and 53.1% by car.
Pennant Hills Road is a major highway in Sydney.

Demographics

At the 2016 census, the suburb of Normanhurst recorded a population of 5,290.5.
;Age and sex distribution: Children aged 15 and under made up 20.3% of the population, compared to the national average of 18.7%. Residents aged 65 and over made up 18% of the total population. 47.9% of residents were male and 52.1% were female.
; Ethnic and cultural diversity : Almost two-thirds of the population were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 5.3%, England 4.4% and India 3.3%. Only 22.1% of the population identified their ancestry as Australian, 24% English, 7.8% Chinese, 7.7% Irish and 7.1% Scottish. The most commonly spoken language at home other than English includes Mandarin 6.1%, Cantonese 2.6%, and Korean 1.8%.
; Finances and housing : The median weekly household income was $2,140, higher than the national average of $1,438. The real estate was correspondingly high with median monthly mortgage repayments at $2,600.
; Religion : The most common responses for religion in Normanhurst in the 2016 Census were No Religion 26.9%, Catholic 26.3%, Anglican 16.9%, and Uniting Church 5.4%.

Schools

Secondary Schools
Primary Schools