Castle Hill is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, located 34 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district"Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 17 April 2019. Linear distance from the centre of Castle Hill to Sydney GPO, calculated using Google Maps' Measure Distance. and 9.5 kilometres north of Parramatta."Google Maps". Google Maps. Retrieved 17 April 2019. Linear distance from the centre of Castle Hill to Parramatta, calculated using Google Maps' Measure Distance. It is within the Hills District region, split between the local government areas of The Hills Shire and Hornsby Shire.

History

Indigenous history

The land that is now called Castle Hill was originally home to the Bidjigal people, who are believed to be a clan of the Darug people, who occupied all the land to the immediate west of Sydney. The best-known Aboriginal person from that time is Pemulwuy, a Bidjigal leader who led the resistance movement against settlers during the Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars, including sacking farms in Castle Hill, before his eventual capture and killing by bounty hunter Henry Hacking.

The Bidjigal people are today commemorated by Bidjigal Reserve which straddles the suburbs of Castle Hill, , North Rocks and West Pennant Hills.

European settlement The first European visitors to the district were led by Governor Phillip in April 1791 accompanied by an entourage. Travelling from Parramatta reaching the 'hills' following the Aboriginal trails, which today are overlaid by the Windsor and Old Northern Roads. As Governor he needed to find new country for settlement and farming land for crops so as to feed a struggling infant colony.

Governor King began Third Government Farm there on 8 July 1801, referring to it as "Castle Hill" on 1 March 1802. The majority of the convicts who worked the prison farm were Irish Catholics, many having been transported for seditious activity in 1798. They were branded "politicals" and exiled for life, never to return.

The first free settler in Castle Hill, a Frenchman Baron Verincourt de Clambe, in unusual circumstances received a grant of 200 acres (81 ha) in 1802. It has been suggested that locals of the time commonly referred to de Clambe's house ("The Hermitage")The Hermitage – Historic Funeral Home in Sydney as "The Castle" because of the Baron's noble status.The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia

On Sunday night 4 March 1804, the convicts rose up as one in what was to become known as the Castle Hill convict rebellion, also known as the Second Battle of Vinegar Hill.

In later years, the area became filled with market gardens and orchards which supplied Sydney. As Sydney expanded, the orchards disappeared and were replaced with a sprawl of suburban dwellings, retail and commercial establishments and light industry. The Hills Shire Council commemorates the shire's former role as an orange-growing area with the Orange Blossom Festival each year.

Castle Hill Post Office opened on 1 January 1869.

20th century In the past Castle Hill was serviced by the Rogans Hill railway line to Parramatta to take the rural area's produce to the city. However, it was closed in 1932, due to competition with buses, trucks and cars.

Local landmarks include: Castle Hill House (circa 1844) on Old Northern Road, which has a local-government heritage listing;Castle Hill House NSW Office of Environment & Heritage The public school (1879), Old Northern Road, also with a LG heritage listing;Castle Hill Public School NSW Office of Environment & Heritage The former parsonage (1866), Parsonage Road;The Old Parsonage NSW Office of Environment & Heritage The former church, Old Northern Road, now converted to commercial use.

A notable part of Castle Hill's cultural history was the period from the post-war period until 1968 in which Nobel laureate Patrick White and his partner Manoly Lascaris lived at 74 Showground Road in a house they named "Dogwoods". For much of that period, they worked several hectares of farmland at the site. White wrote several of his most well-known novels while at Castle Hill; the suburb formed the basis of fictional settings for the novels The Tree of Man, The Solid Mandala, Riders in the Chariot, the collection of short stories The Burnt Ones, and the play The Season at Sarsaparilla. In his work, Castle Hill went variously by the names of "Sarsaparilla" and Durilgai". White based several characters on his experience of local individuals in Castle Hill at the time.

Heritage listings Castle Hill has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Gilbert Road: Third Government Farm 221 Old Northern Road: St Paul's Anglican Church, Castle Hill (former)

Demographics

Summary Selected data from for Castle HillPopulationEstimated residents on census night40,874Estimated ATSI population on census night157Cultural and language diversityAncestry, top responsesEnglish21.4%Chinese20.2%Australian 19.4%Indian7.4%Irish 7.1%Language, top responses (other than English)Mandarin11.4%Cantonese4.8%Korean3.1%Hindi2.3%Persian (excluding Dari) 2.0%Religious affiliationReligious affiliation, top responsesNo religion, so described29.6%Catholic23.7%Anglican11.3%Hinduism6.2%Not Stated4.6%Median weekly incomesPersonal incomeMedian weekly personal incomeA$931% of Australian median income115.7%Family incomeMedian weekly family incomeA$2,858% of Australian median income134.8%Household incomeMedian weekly household incomeA$2,551% of Australian median income146.1%Dwelling structureDwelling typeSeparate house73.7%Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse10.9%Flat or apartment15.3%

Population According to the , there were 40,874 residents in Castle Hill. 53.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 9.2%, India 5.4%, England 3.0%, South Korea 2.5% and Hong Kong 1.9%. In Castle Hill 54.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 11.4%, Cantonese 4.8%, Korean 3.1%, Hindi 2.3% and Persian 2.0%. The most common responses for religion in Castle Hill were no religion 29.6%, Catholic 23.7%, Anglican 11.3%, and Hinduism at 6.2%.

Wealth Castle Hill residents have a personal income that is 15.7% greater than the median national income.

The median weekly income was $931 compared to $805 on a national level; the family income was $2,858 compared to the national average of $2,120; the household median weekly income was $2,551 compared to the national average of $1,746.

Commercial areas

Castle Hill's commercial area centres on a section of the Old Northern Road at the suburb's eastern side. Its southern side is an older, traditional shopping strip, with the modest-sized Castle Mall shopping centre. Its northern side is dominated by the large Castle Towers shopping centre, with two department stores as well as two Event cinema multiplexes (giving a total of 16 Cinemas). A new library and community centre, with a unit apartment building on its upper floors, opened next to Castle Towers in 2004.

Work has finished by the local council to convert the stretch of Old Northern Road between Castle Mall and Castle Towers, into a plaza walk way. The main traffic road has been diverted through the nearby, Terminus Street. A$900 million plan to add 80,000 square metres to the Castle Towers Shopping Centre has been approved, which will result in Castle Towers becoming the largest shopping centre in New South Wales, with a total of 190,000 square metres of active floorspace.

Castle Hill also has a light industrial area at the suburb's western side. It is linked with the commercial area by Showground Road. The Castle Hill Showground and location of the former Hills Shire Council Chambers and Hills Centre are adjacent to this area which now also include another smaller shopping centre, Showgrounds Village anchored by a Woolworths supermarket.

Residential areas

Castle Hill is a mix of low to medium-density housing, with exception to a few apartment complexes. In 2005 year under the NSW Housing Strategy Hume Avenue was rezoned to medium density, to allow for low rise unit, and town house developments.

The largest residential area in Castle Hill is located at the two sides of Showground Road, sandwiched between the commercial and the industrial area. Smaller residential areas are located at the east of the commercial area, as well as the suburb's north-east (part of Hornsby Shire, separated by Old Northern Road and Castle Hill Road). These consist almost entirely of free-standing houses. Several government and private schools, as well as an RSL Club, are located within these areas. To the north of Showground Road lies suburban, with approximately 1000 homes, the Samuel Gilbert Public School, Castle Glen Oval and the Knightsbridge Shopping Court. South of Showground Road, and to the east of Old Northern Road, lies the East Excelsior section of the suburb, known for its leafy streets, mature gardens and established homes on large land parcels, which is adjacent to Bidjigal Reserve. Managed by a community Trust, Bidjigal Reserve is about 186ha of bushland located within the Sydney suburbs of Castle Hill, West Pennant Hills, Beecroft, Cherrybrook, North Rocks and Baulkham Hills. There are many walking trails, and three marked tracks: Platypus loops along creeks from the entrance at Excelsior Ave; Burraga follows creeks and climbs Bald Hill from Platypus track, and the Murri Yanna begins at Aiken Road or Heidi Place and follows Darling Mills Creek to North Parramatta.

Transport The bulk of Castle Hill residents own private vehicles and travel to work using these, however bus services and the Sydney Metro Northwest run to the suburb. The Sydney Metro North west stops at both the main commercial area and the hills Showground.

Private vehicle use to travel to work either as a passenger or the driver was 34.6% as of the 2021 census, and 67.8% as of the 2016 census; in 2021 3.7% of people used public transport to travel to work compared to 17.6% in 2016; 6.1% of people were working at home in 2016 compared to 47.6% in 2021.

Bus Castle Hill is well served by private buses operated by CDC NSW which provides express services to Sydney CBD, as well as Parramatta, Pennant Hills, West Pennant Hills, Beecroft, Dural, Hornsby, Macquarie Park, Baulkham Hills, Rouse Hill, Cherrybrook and Busways, which provides services to Stanhope Gardens, Kellyville, Glenwood, Bella Vista and Blacktown. Castle Hill is served by the following services:

CDC NSW

600 – Pennant Hills to Parramatta via Cherrybrook and Baulkham Hills 603 – Rouse Hill Town Centre to Parramatta via Kellyville, Glenhaven and Baulkham Hills 604 – Dural to Parramatta via Hills Showground, Jasper Road and Churchill Drive 610X – Castle Hill to Queen Victoria Building via M2 Motorway 626 – Kellyville to Pennant Hills via Hills Showground and Cherrybrook Station 632 – Rouse Hill to Pennant Hills via Norwest, Tuckwell Road, Anglican Retirement Village and Cherrybrook Station 633 – Rouse Hill to Pennant Hills via Beaumont Hills, Kellyville, Hills Showground and Cherrybrook Station 634 – Castle Hill to Castlewood Estate 635 – Castle Hill to Beecroft via Anglican Retirement Village, Cherrybrook Village, Cherrybrook Station and West Pennant Hills 637 – Castle Hill to Glenorie 638 – Castle Hill to Berrilee 639 – Castle Hill to Kenthurst 651 – Rouse Hill to Epping via T-Way, Kellyville, Hills Showground, West Pennant Hills and Beecroft 660 – Castle Hill to Parramatta via Hills Showground, Crestwood and Winston Hills 662 – Castle Hill to Parramatta via Tuckwell Road and Norwest

Busways 730 – Castle Hill to Blacktown

Rail