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Summer Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Summer Hill is located 7 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council.
Summer Hill is a primarily residential suburb of Sydney's Inner West, adjoining two of Sydney's major arterial roads, Parramatta Road and Liverpool Road. The first land grant was made in 1794 to former convict and jailor Henry Kable, and the suburb began growing following the opening of the railway station on the Main Suburban railway line, in 1879.
By the 1920s, the suburb had become relatively upper class, with large estates and mansions built throughout the suburb. Some of these still exist today. Following a transition to a working-class suburb in the mid-20th century, when many of the large estates were demolished or subdivided, the suburb today has a "village" character and a mix of medium-density apartment blocks and federation houses.
Characteristics
Unconventional homes in Smith Street, showing both Victorian and Federation influences|thumb
Summer Hill's boundaries are Parramatta Road and Liverpool Road to the north, the rear of the properties on the west side of Prospect Road (with a detour around Trinity Grammar School) to the West, Old Canterbury Road to the south, and the Inner West Light Rail to the east. North of Summer Hill is the suburb of Haberfield, to the east is Lewisham, to the south is Dulwich Hill, and to the west is Ashfield.
Summer Hill has a mix of Federation-era houses, with medium density apartment blocks near the railway station. Local independent business people run most of the shops. The local council has defined a village character for the suburb. Summer Hill is a suburb rich in heritage. More than one hundred properties are heritage listed, and the strong feelings of some residents of the suburb towards protecting the local architecture has seen the introduction of a heritage review, which is expected to add more properties to the heritage register.
Despite formerly being working class, Summer Hill and many of the surrounding suburbs have gradually undergone gentrification over recent years. Culturally, Summer Hill is a blend of medium-density European Sydney suburbia, with Italian influences (which are most evident in Leichhardt to the east and Haberfield to the north), Asian (mainly Chinese) influences (which are most strongly evident in Ashfield to the West), and smaller influences from many other cultures.
History
Aboriginal anthropology
Before the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in 1788, what is now known as Summer Hill was part of a larger area where people of the Wangal and Cadigal nations lived. There is research to show in the greater Sydney region 8000 - 10000 Aboriginal people were resident, fluctuating on seasons and during tribal conflicts. What is now called the Hawthorne Canal (originally Long Cove Creek) appears to have been the boundary between the Cadigal and Wangal Aboriginal nations. Today there is a small park in Summer Hill, called Cadigal Reserve, located at 1-4 Grosvenor Crescent. A bronze plaque placed by Ashfield Council names the reserve after the Cadigal (Eora) group of Koori people. Iron Cove and the mangrove-lined estuaries of the Long Cove and Iron Cove Creeks would have provided a good source of fish and molluscs, the most common food of the coastal tribes in the Sydney Basin. However, the location reported most likely refers to the place now known as Summer Hill Creek, near Orange, New South Wales. The name was used in 1876, for a land subdivision adjacent to the present-day St Andrew's Anglican Church. The name Summer Hill is thought to be a name chosen by the land sub-divider, presumably based on an attachment for England. Local historians regard the suggestion that the name is a derivation of "Sunning Hill" as a dubious story which has no substance.
Places of worship
Wong Tai Sin & Kwan Yin Kur temple|thumb|right
St Patrick's Catholic Church|thumb|left
There are a number of places of worship in Summer Hill. St Patrick's Catholic Church was built in 1874, and is the oldest known building in the suburb. There is also a small primary school associated with the church and located next to it. The building was originally a private home known as Kelvin Grove, and owned by Mrs Jane Drynan. Much of the exterior of the church is original but none of the internal walls were retained when the building was converted into a church. Following Drynan's death, Kelvin Grove was owned or leased by a succession of different people, including the Haberfield real-estate developer Richard Stanton, Croydon brick-maker William Downton, and two sisters named Freeman (one of whom was a nurse). In the 1920s and 1930s Kelvin Grove may have been used as a nursing home. The first mass was celebrated in Kelvin Grove on St Patrick's day 1946, giving the church its name.
Saint Patrick's Catholic Primary School, located on Drynan Street, is a co-educational K to Year 6 Catholic school. The school was founded in 1949 and is part of the Sydney Catholic Schools network.
Commercial area
thumb|left|Summer Hill Square
Smith Street shops|thumb
Summer Hill's shopping precinct is centred around a small town square with good pedestrian access, and is surrounded by cafés and restaurants along Lackey and Smith Streets. The suburb is very small by Australian standards, having a population of just over 7000, in an area of 110 hectares. It features some fine examples of architecture from the 19th and early 20th century.
The Summer Hill flour mill was built circa 1922, utilising the north–south goods railway line that was constructed during World War I. The silos were added from the 1950s onwards. The flour mill has been owned by various companies, including Mungo Scott, Allied Flour & Starch and Goodman Fielder, and then Allied Mills. who have since redeveloped the mill site into a residential and commercial precinct. The precinct is a site for a regular community market for produce and artisan goods.
Transport
Summer Hill is close to the main thoroughfares of Liverpool Road and Parramatta Road; although they are quite congested at peak times.
From 1915, Summer Hill was served by trams from Hurlstone Park. Trams left New Canterbury Road and went down Prospect Road, then swung right onto Smith Street. They turned onto Lackey Street, where they went right and terminated at the station. Low usage and rival buses saw the line closed in 1933, however some remains can be seen.
thumb|[[Summer Hill railway station, Grosvenor Crescent entrance]]
Summer Hill railway station is located on the Main Suburban railway line. The railway station was opened on 15 September 1879, and most of the local shops are clustered close to the station.
There are two stations serving Summer Hill on the Inner West Light Rail. These are - Lewisham West (adjacent to the former flour mill on the border with Lewisham) and Taverners Hill (near Parramatta Road). Access to the city is quicker by train, but the light rail may be used for some cross-regional journeys. It also interchanges with Dulwich Hill railway station on the Bankstown railway line.
There are four Transit Systems routes that service the area - the 480 and 483 follow routes along Parramatta Road and then Liverpool Road, the 461 travels along Parramatta Road and the 413 travels along Junction Road. Additionally, the N70, N71 and N80 NightRide buses on Parramatta Road run between Central and Penrith, Richmond and Hornsby respectively.
The area is also gradually becoming more bicycle friendly, with several bicycle paths in the suburb. The GreenWay is an active transport corridor that opened in December 2025 links the Cooks River to Iron Cove.
Demographics
thumb|Ancestry as determined by birthplace of parents
thumb|right|NASA image of Sydney's central business district and surrounds, with borders of Summer Hill shown in red.
In the , the population of the Summer Hill was 7,288, in an area of 1.1 square kilometres. The population was 52.8% females, 47.2% males. 64.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China (3.7%), England (3.5%), New Zealand (1.9%), South Korea (1.6%) and Philippines (1.5%). 69.8% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 4.8%, Cantonese 1.9%, Korean 1.7%, Spanish 1.6% and Greek 1.5%. The most common responses for religion were No religion (52.8%), Catholic (18.6%), Anglican (5.7%), Not stated (5.3%) and Buddhism (2.8%). The majority of dwelling were flats, units or apartments (63.1%) followed by separate houses (19.6%) and semi-detached, terrace houses, or townhouses (17.0%).
- Dr John Belisario (1820–1900), dentist at the later end of the 19th century, recorded as living in Summer Hill in the 1891 census; first dentist in Australia to administer ether to a patient to carry out dental work.
- Colonel Matron Kathleen Best (1910–1957), first director of the Women's Australian Army Corps.
- Happy Hammond (1917–1998), radio host, television host, and producer.
- Ninian Melville Junior (1843–1897), local furniture maker and member of the NSW Parliament who also became Mayor of Newtown and later Ashfield.
- John Paton (1833–1914), winner of the Victoria Cross for bravery in India in 1857; a Summer Hill park is named after him.
- Arthur Streeton (1867–1943), Australian artist who briefly lived in Summer Hill.
Politics
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:0.5em"
! colspan="3" | 2023 state election
|-
| |
| Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)
| style="background:#ff9;"| 51.49%
|-
| |
| The Greens NSW
| 31.49%
|-
| |
| The Liberal Party of Australia, New South Wales Division
| 12.51%
|-
| |
| Animal Justice Party
| 2.72%
|-
| |
| Sustainable Australia Party - Stop Overdevelopment / Corruption
| 1.76%
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:0.5em"
! colspan = 3 | 2022 federal election
|-
| |
| Labor
| style="background:#ff9;"| 56.02%
|-
| |
| The Greens
| 25.64%
|-
| |
| Liberal
| 10.39%
|-
| |
| Independent
| 1.94%
|-
| |
| FUSION: Science, Pirate, Secular, Climate Emergency
| 1.42%
|-
| |
| Pauline Hanson's One Nation
| 1.38%
|-
| |
| United Australia Party
| 1.34%
|-
| |
| Animal Justice Party
| 1.23%
|}
Summer Hill is in the safe Labor federal electoral division of Grayndler. This seat has been held continuously by Labor (ALP) since the seat was created in 1949. It has been held by current member Anthony Albanese since 1996. Albanese held various ministerial appointments under the Rudd and Gillard governments, eventually becoming prime minister. During the 2010 federal election, Greens candidate former Marrickville Mayor Sam Byrne, received 45% of the vote in comparison to Albanese's 54%. At the 2013 election, Albanese received over 70% of the two party preferred vote, making it currently the ALP's safest seat in the country.
For NSW state elections, Summer Hill is in the Electoral district of Summer Hill, which was created in 2015. It is held by Jo Haylen of the Australian Labor Party.
See also
- Trams in Sydney