Bella Vista is located 33 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of The Hills Shire. It is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Western Sydney and is in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bella Vista's Norwest Business Park is home to several Fortune 500 companies, a number of shopping centres, high-rise buildings, and industrial and recreational spaces.

History

thumb|[[Bella Vista (homestead)|Bella Vista homestead, Bella Vista Farm Park, Norwest, NSW]]

In 1799 Joseph Foveaux was granted which, in addition to other purchases, he sold to John Macarthur in 1801. John Macarthur enlarged this through additional purchases until it comprised around . John and Elizabeth Macarthur farmed sheep on this property in addition to their properties at Camden and Parramatta. For much of the time that the Marm The to Elizabeth to manage the various Macarthur properties and flocks. During this time reference is made by her to "my Seven Hills Farm".

Although claims are made by some that the Seven Hills Farm was used exclusively by the Macarthurs for the breeding of their merino flocks, this is clearly not the case as the documentary evidence of the Macarthur papers shows that their Merino rams were paddocked at Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta. The Seven Hills farm was isolated and stock there were always in danger from theft and aboriginal attack. Two of Macarthur's stockmen were killed on the farm by Indigenous Australians in 1805. In fact the sheep at the Macarthur's Seven Hills farm had their genesis in the 600 sheep which were purchased from Foveaux at the same time as the property. What can justifiably be claimed about the site is that it was one of the first major Australian sheep breeding farms and that the results later achieved at Camden with fine merino sheep only followed Elizabeth's efforts at Seven Hills. Part of this land was later acquired by the Pearce family and became known as Bella Vista.

All the buildings on the site today date from this period of its history with no extant buildings from the Macarthur period. In the 1890s, Edward Henry Pearce (1839–1912) of Bella Vista was declared the "largest and most successful orange grower in the colony." Bella Vista was sold by the Pearce family in 1950.

  • Seven Hills Road: Pearce Family Cemetery

Demographics

According to the , there were 8,384 residents in Bella Vista. 48.4% of residents were born in Australia. The other most common countries of birth were, India 10.7%, China 8.7%, Sri Lanka 4.5%, the Philippines 2.1% and England 1.9%. 43.7% of residents spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 12.1%, Hindi 5.1%, Tamil 4.7%, Cantonese 4.3% and Punjabi 4.1%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were No Religion 23.2%, Catholic 21.1%, Hinduism 15.6%, and Islam 5.4%. It has also improved access to Castle Hill, Norwest Business Park and Rouse Hill.

Education

Bella Vista is close to many educational institutions including:

  • Bella Vista Public School
  • Baulkham Hills High School
  • Crestwood High School
  • Crestwood Public School
  • Gilroy Catholic College
  • Glenwood High School
  • Hillsong Church operates the Hillsong International Leadership College
  • Matthew Pearce Public School
  • Model Farms High School
  • St Michael's Primary School

Churches

Nearby churches include:

  • Hillsong Church, located in Norwest Business Park
  • Norwest Anglican Church
  • St Michael's Catholic Church in Baulkham Hills

Notes

References

  • Bella vista farm park