Wheelers Hill, Victoria
| Wheelers Hill Melbourne, Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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 Jells Park in Wheelers Hill | |||||||||||||||
  Wheelers Hill Location in metropolitan Melbourne | |||||||||||||||
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| Coordinates | 37°53′56″S 145°10′59″E / 37.899°S 145.183°E | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 20,652 (2021 census)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 2,005/km2 (5,193/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 3150 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 10.3 km2 (4.0 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 23 km (14 mi) from Melbourne | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Monash | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Chisholm | ||||||||||||||
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Wheelers Hill is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 23 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Monash local government area. Wheelers Hill recorded a population of 20,652 at the 2021 census.[1]
At 152m above sea level[citation needed] it includes one of the highest points in metropolitan Melbourne.[2]
History
[edit]Wheelers Hill was named after James Wheeler in 1888, who was an early settler in the Dandenong area.[2] James came out from Kilbride townland, Cavan, Ireland. James married Ellen Reilly née Glynn in 1848 after the death of her husband, Bernard.[citation needed] There was a five-room house on a creek that went down to the Dandenong Creek not far down the road from the Post Office. James had a disagreement with Joseph Jell about the cutting of trees which led to the lands being surveyed. James sold the land in 1854 and moved to Woodend.[citation needed]
The Wheelers Hill Hotel was a post office and stopping point for farmers before a 6 to 8-hour drive to the city by horse to sell their goods. The Wheelers Mansion was destroyed by a fire in the late 1920s. The house was located somewhere to the south of the Wheelers Hill Library. The Post Office opened on 1 January 1869 but was called Mulgrave until 1888.[3]
Today
[edit]Wheelers Hill is home to Jells Park, a major recreational facility of over 127 hectares. It contains 9 km of cycle paths and walking tracks which surround a large lake. Wheelers Hill is known for its trees.
Sport
[edit]- Notting Hill/Brandon Park Cricket Club is the suburb's leading cricket team.
- Wheelers Hill Tennis Club on Sunnybrook Drive.
- Glen Waverley Golf Club at Waverley Road.
Education
[edit]Secondary Schools
Primary Schools
- Wheelers Hill Primary School
- Jells Park Primary School
- Waverley Meadows Primary School
- St. Justin's Parish School
- Brandon Park Primary School
- Good Shepherd Parish School
Private Schools
Public library and art gallery
[edit]The Museum of Australian Photography and the Wheelers Hill branch of the Monash Public Library Service co-located in a building at the corner of Jells Road and Ferntree Gully Road, Wheelers Hill. The architect of the original 1990 Gallery was Harry Seidler.[4] Even though Seidler had designed a further whole cultural precinct beyond the gallery,[5] Seidler's designs for a complete cultural centre were never implemented. Later architects Cox Sanderson Ness designed the adjoining library which has a bay of windows facing a small lake. The Gallery contains a nationally significant collection of Australian photography, of which its permanent collection comprises over 1500 works illustrating the development and evolution of the photographic medium in Australia.
Transport
[edit]There are nine bus services that run in or through the vicinity of Wheelers Hill. Two SmartBus services run through the boundaries of the suburb.
Notable people
[edit]- Chris Cheney, guitarist and lead vocalist from The Living End went to school in Wheelers Hill, attending the Wheelers Hill Secondary College.
See also
[edit]- City of Waverley – Wheelers Hill was previously within this former local government area.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Wheelers Hill (Suburbs and Localities)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ a b Dubecki, Larissa (30 July 2019). "Wheelers Hill: The surprising Melbourne suburb with million-dollar views". Retrieved 8 January 2025.
- ^ Phoenix Auctions History, Post Office List, retrieved 1 April 2021
- ^ Whole cultural precinct designed by Harry Seidler likely in late 1987, as the commissioned Max Dupain photos of the model of the whole scheme date to February 1988. The Gallery was completed in 1990.
- ^ See "Waverley Cultural Centre" (scheme of 1988) page 356 of Harry Seidler: Four Decades of Architecture by Kenneth Frampton and Philip Drew (London and New York: Thames & Hudson, 1992). This scheme was highly praised by modern architecture writer Kenneth Frampton in book's essay "1965-1991 Isostatic Architecture" being pages 86-111 at page 110
