Chapel Hill is a western suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Chapel Hill had a population of 10,511 people.

History

left|thumb|Methodist Church, celebrating its diamond jubilee, 1932

The suburb takes its name from the Primitive Methodist chapel built on the top of the hill in 1874. The church opened on Sunday 28 March 1875. The current church was built in 1955, with the historic church retained as a community facility. As the church is located on a highpoint within the area, the suburb takes its name from this church on the hill. In 1942, due to fears of a Japanese invasion during World War II, the school evacuated to Washpool. In 1945 the school returned to the Indooroopilly site where it operated as a boys' home rather than as an industrial school. In 1968 was renamed Cooinda Salvation Army Home for Boys, but was renamed again in 1969 to be Alkira, Salvation Army Home for Boys. It closed in 1983 due to a loss of funding. As at 2021, the site is still owned by the Salvation Army, but has been reduced to The buildings of the former boys' home are no longer extant.

Chapel Hill State School opened on 23 January 1978. with an enrolment of 152 pupils after the Queensland Government acquired of land in 1976. In 1979 the first teaching block and covered area were built, and by 1982 there were 324 pupils justifying building a separate library, so it could move out of the Administration block. A number of demountable buildings were acquired as the population increased, and in 1997 a new hall was rented. In June 2012 the Ross Perry Resource Centre was opened; named after retiring principal Ross Perry. The school uniform was designed in 1977 and was changed slightly in 1994. It was also changed in 2013.

Demographics

In the , Chapel Hill had a population of 10,168 people.

In the , Chapel Hill had a population of 10,113 people, 50.7% female and 49.3% male. The median age of the Chapel Hill population was 41 years of age, 3 years above the Australian median. 64.1% of people living in Chapel Hill were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 71.1%; the next most common countries of birth were England 5.8%, South Africa 3.1%, New Zealand 2.9%, China 2.2%, India 1.4%. 78.5% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were 3.8% Mandarin, 1.3% Cantonese, 0.9% Spanish, 0.9% German, 0.8% Korean. Chapel Hill has a highly educated population with over 49% of residents holding a bachelor's degree or above, compared to the Australian average of 22.0%.

In the , Chapel Hill had a population of 10,511 people.

Education

thumb|Chapel Hill State School, 2014

The suburb of Chapel Hill falls into the catchment of Chapel Hill State School, Indooroopilly State School, and Kenmore State School. In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 744 students with 52 teachers (43 full-time equivalent) and 27 non-teaching staff (17 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. A major shopping centre, Indooroopilly Shopping Centre, is in neighbouring Indooroopilly and there are supermarkets in neighbouring Kenmore.

The only church in Chapel Hill is Chapel Hill Uniting Church located on the hill at 9 Chapel Hill Road (corner of Moggill Road, ). The church hall was originally a Primitive Methodist chapel built in 1875, and the suburb takes its name from this chapel on the hill. There is a small closed cemetery beside the church (). Although the cemetery is located on the same parcel of land as the church, it was established as a general cemetery and not associated with the church.

The Chapel Hill State School hall is sometimes used for numerous events such as local, state and federal elections and weekly church services.

Many locals take advantage of the hiking and walking trails in Mount Coot-tha Reserve which climb to the summit of Mount Coot-tha and overlooks Brisbane. Native fauna and flora are often seen on these paths. Some of these trails also attract mountain bikers on the weekends. A popular spot for locals is the Green Hill Reservoir off Chapel Hill Road which includes an off-leash area for dogs and of the city so it is usually crowded during events hosting fireworks, such as Brisbane Riverfire. Running and exercise groups often also use this area in the early hours. There are bike paths in the suburb which link up to roads and bikeways that ultimately stretch through the western suburbs to the Brisbane CBD.

The Cairns Aged Care Centre is at 724-730 Moggill Road (). It is operated by the Salvation Army.

Parks

There are a number of parks in the area:

  • Alana Court Park ()
  • Ardes Street Park ()