West Pennant Hills, New South Wales

West Pennant Hills is a suburb located in the Hills District region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. West Pennant Hills is located 25 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of Hornsby Shire and The Hills Shire. Pennant Hills is a separate suburb and Thompsons Corner is a locality in the suburb. West Pennant Hills is colloquially referred to as 'West Penno'.

Commercial area
West Pennant Hills is largely a residential suburb with a commercial area located at Thompsons Corner, also the site of the suburb's government primary school, West Pennant Hills Public School. Although the nearest train stations, Beecroft and Pennant Hills, are some distance away, the suburb is well serviced by buses.

History
The suburb was named for both its geological features and its man-made additions. When Sydney was first established, Pennant Hills', applied to the range of hills stretching north from Parramatta. The Pennant refers to a flag pole erected on the area’s highest point. During the first years of the Sydney settlement this flag pole with its pennant was a form of early communication between the government in Parramatta and the governor’s outer Sydney residence. It was used to signal to Parramatta that the governor was returning to Parramatta after spending time at his retreat in the outer areas of Sydney. When his horse drawn carriage went past Thompsons Corner, the pennant would be raised and as this was in clear sight of the Parramatta garrison, they would prepare for his return in a few days. Local stories twist this system to say that when the pennant was raised the soldiers would have to stop drinking and clean up the streets after running amok in his absence.

In 1850, at a time when the combined population of Field of Mars Common and Castle Hill numbered fewer than 3,000 people, Henry Parkes approved, on behalf of the Board of National Education in New South Wales, the appointment of local patrons for the commencement of Pennant Hills Public School. Botany, Fort Street, Smithfield and Pennant Hills were the first metropolitan schools under the control of the newly constituted Board. The school first opened under the name of Pennant Hills Public School when the township of Pennant Hills was centred on the ridge at the intersection of Pennant Hills and Castle Hill Roads, which was a trading point on the way north. When the railway station line came through the area, a new school was built in 1925 closer to the railway station, to be known as ‘Pennant Hills East’. West was added to the name of the original school and it became ‘Pennant Hills West’ and eventually the area around Thompsons Corner became known as West Pennant Hills.

Thompsons Corner is named after Andrew Thompson (1773-1810), a convict (see Scotland Island), who received a grant of 100 acre in 1796 opposite the signal station in Pennant Hills. Workmen on the railway from Strathfield to Hornsby established a camp and stores depot there in about 1890. During Lachlan Macquarie's governorship (1810-21), a timbersawing establishment stood near today's Thompsons Corner. In those early days the pit-sawyers roamed the countryside, and the saw pits were set up at various places close to forest areas. In the early 1990s, one of the last mills was demolished, having stood at the bottom of Hill Road.

Churches and Schools
West Pennant Hills is home to St Matthews Anglican Church, on the corner of New Line Road and Castle Hill Road. West Pennant Hills has a government primary school, West Pennant Hills Public School (est. 1850) one of the oldest public schools in New South Wales.

Parks and recreation
Tourist attractions include Cumberland State Forest (NSW) and the popular Koala Park Sanctuary.

Demographics
Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the 2006 census records the population of West Pennant Hills as 16,485 residents, with 8,068 males and 8,417 females. The median age of people in West Pennant Hills was 39, compared with 37 for the whole of Australia. For West Pennant Hills residents aged 15 and over, 61.4% of people were married, 29.7% had never married, 5.1% were separated or divorced and 3.8% were widowed.

Place of Birth In the 2006 Census, 89.8% of people living in West Pennant Hills were Australian citizens. 62.2% of people were born in Australia, with 4.6% born in Hong Kong, 4% in England, 2.7% in China, 2.6% in India and 1.8% in Malaysia.

Languages In the 2006 Census, 70.1% of people only spoke English at home, while 8.5% spoke Cantonese, 3.1% spoke Mandarin, 2% spoke Korean, 1.5% spoke Arabic and 1.1% spoke Sinhalese.

ReligionIn the 2006 Census, 28.7% of people identify themselves as Catholic, 20.3% of people are Anglican, 14.4% have no religion, 6% belong to the Uniting Church and 3.7% belong to the Presbyterian and Reformed Church.