Berowra, New South Wales

Berowra  is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Berowra is located 38 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Hornsby Shire. Berowra is south-east of the suburbs of Berowra Heights and east of  Berowra Waters.

Location
Berowra is bounded to the east by the F3 Sydney-Newcastle Freeway, Pacific Highway and main northern rail line. Berowra Valley Bushland Park sits to the west and to the north is the Muogamarra Nature Reserve. Cowan Creek is located to the east. Berowra is 227 meters above sea level.

Commercial area
Berowra is largely residential with a small retail precinct lining the Pacific Highway near the train station. In May 2007 a new shopping complex opened on Turner Road in Berowra Heights. Leading up to the opening, the Berowra & District Community raised over $750,000 in BSX listed shares to buy a franchise of the Bendigo Bank. The Community Bank became one of the first to open its doors in the new complex. This was a landmark development for the future prospects of the area as the last Bank in the area closed its doors in 1996.

Transport
By road, Berowra has access to the F3 Sydney-Newcastle Freeway heading north or south and is approximately 15 minutes drive from the major regional shopping centre of Hornsby, New South Wales. The Berowra railway station is serviced by trains from both the North Shore Line and the Newcastle and Central Coast railway lines providing regular services to Sydney and the Central Coast / Newcastle areas.

History
Berowra is an Aboriginal word that means place of many winds. The Berowra area has many Aboriginal carvings and is the place that found the world’s oldest living amphibian fossil.

European settlement
One of the early land grants in the Berowra area was to John Crumpton in 1867. George Collingridge was granted 88 acre in 1880 and played a part in having the Northern railway line extended, so that a station was opened at Berowra in 1887. He also supported the building of a post office in 1900 and a road to Berowra Waters which opened in 1902. Mary Wall was granted 60 acre of land near Goodwyn Road off the Pacific Highway in 1887. Part of her grant meant she had to be there once a week and so she would walk at night through the bush from Surry Hills and tend to her farm.

The area grew when the Pacific Highway and railway were built and settlers loved the fishing and surrounding bush. Mainly living in tents, the original settlers lived a tough existence and helped everyone. The first school was set up in Mary Wall's house before it was moved to what is now the Old District Hall at the roundabout, on the corner of Berowra Waters Road and Crowley Road.

Schools
Berowra has two public primary schools (Berowra Public and Wideview Public), plus St Bernards (a Catholic primary school), and Berowra Christian Community School (years K-6)

Churches

 * St Mark's Anglican Church
 * Berowra Baptist Church
 * St Bernard's Catholic Church
 * Berowra Uniting Church

Demographics
At the 2006 census, the population of Berowra (postcode 2081) was 4,281, split evenly: 50.1% (2,143) males and 49.9% (2,138) females.

Of the 1,496 dwellings in Berowra, 85% are freestanding houses with the remainder consisting of townhouses or units, according to the 2001 census. At the time of the 2001 census, 99 people stated they lived in caravans. It is likely these would have been residents of the now-closed La Mancha Caravan Park located on the Pacific Highway and slated for redevelopment as medium density housing. The median weekly household income is $1,200 - $1,499 and the mean household size consists of 3.1 individuals.

Notable residents

 * Matt Dunning, rugby union player
 * Margaret Preston (former resident) artist
 * Rolf de Heer (former resident) film director