Template:Infobox Canberra Suburb Red Hill (postcode: 2603) is a suburb of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after the northernmost hill of the ridge to the west of the suburb. The ridge is a reserve and managed as part of the Canberra Nature Park. The hill is an element of the central Canberra design axis.
Mugga Way located in Red Hill is often considered Canberra's most desirable home ___location.
Geography
The Red Hill ridge forms the south-west boundary of the suburb. The ridge separates the central Canberra valley from Woden Valley. The northernmost peak is Red Hill, the Davidson Trig is on the middle point, and Mount Mugga is on the southernmost point of the ridge across Hindmarsh Drive.
The ridge is an erosion residual and resulted from the metamorphism of the Yarralumla Formation sediments by a small granite intrusion to the south. This thermal metamorphism toughened the rock and provided the resistant core of the ridge. The granite is deeply weathered and does not outcrop but is evident by the smooth slopes and deep red soils on the lower slopes to the north-west by the road to the Federal Golf Course.
The suburb occupies 487 hectares and has a population density of 6.3 people per hectare.
History
The name 'Red Hill' was gazetted as a suburb name in 1928. This was the name associated with the hill since the days of the early settlers and probably suggested by the red soil in the area. Streets are named after ships and explorers. Mugga Way is named after an Aboriginal word also associated with the locality since the days of the early settlers.
The hill was once part of the Narrabundah lease held by Charles Russell. He grazed sheep but as the suburb became built up, local pet dogs worried them and killed them. He changed to cattle and finally gave up the lease in 1992.
The Red Hill Precinct or "Old Red Hill" is bounded by Mugga Way, Moresby Street, Arthur Circle, Monaro Crescent and Flinders Way. The major streets of this area were included in an outline plan for the early development of Canberra prepared by Walter Burley Griffin in 1918. It streetscape and landscape character reflect 1920s garden city planning.
Residential land in the suburb of Red Hill was offered for sale in the first Canberra land auction conducted on 12 December 1924. By 1929, 22 houses had been built and by 1955 there were 64 houses.
Demographics
The first families moved to the suburb of Red Hill in 1927 and by 1933 the suburb had a population of 132 people. Its population peaked in 1971 with 4100 residents. The population has since declined to 3088 in 2001.
On census night, 7 August 2001, Red Hill had a population of 3088 people. The population number has changed little over the last decade: in 2001 there were 16 fewer people than in 1996 (0.5% fewer); 32 more people than in 1991 (1% more).
The median age was 39 years; an increase over the median age of 37 years recorded in both the 1996 and 1991 censuses.
The mean household size was 2.5 persons.
In the 2001 Census, there were 774 separate houses (69.6%), 174 semi detached, row or terrace houses and townhouses (15.6%), 146 flats, units or apartments (13.1%) and 0 other dwellings (0.0%).
Of all occupied private dwellings in the 2001 Census, 682 were either fully owned or being purchased, which represents (61.2%) of all occupied private dwellings, while 342 (30.7%) were being rented. This compares with 626 (57.1%) either fully owned or being purchased and 398 (36.3%) being rented in the 1996 Census, and 621 (57.6%) either fully owned or being purchased and 379 (35.2%) being rented in the 1991 Census.
These demographics compare with Canberra census results of a median age of 32 years (30 years in 1996 & 29 years in 1991); mean household size of 2.6 persons; 76.4% of houses are separate dwellings and 66.7% of all occupied private dwellings were either fully owned or being purchased. Red Hill has a slightly older population, slightly smaller household size, a smaller proportion of houses are separate dwellings and more dwellings are rented in the suburb compared with Canberra on average.
Suburb amenities
Recreation
Red Hill's most important recreational area is the hill itself. From the Canberra Times Letters to the Editor in May 2000 one resident said:
- “Most Sundays I walk on the slopes of Red Hill in bush that is not pristine, not especially beautiful, but that is there close to where I live, a bit of bush rather than town earth and rock, not bitumen. There is a variety of birds, a miscellany of trees, some of them exotics, a range of weedy but pretty flowers, no doubt snakes, and certainly kangaroos. Ironically, a month ago I saw more kangaroos (a mob of 14) on Red Hill in the centre of Canberra than I saw subsequently during the entirety of a 16-day tour of the Red Centre. This Red Hill bush it can't be called wilderness makes Canberra a better place to live for the many people who do walk there and enjoy its qualities. ”
Schools
Red Hill has a local public primary school and pre school. There is also a Catholic primary school (St Bede's) and the Canberra Grammar School, an Anglican school for boys.
Notable Places
Calthorpes' House
Calthorpes' house at 24 Mugga Way was built in 1927 and both the house and contents survived almost unchanged from that time. It was purchased by the Australian Commonwealth Government in 1984 to be preserved as part of the National Estate and is now open as a museum of domestic history of the post-World War I era.
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The house from the front garden. -
The back garden, including an orchard and vegetable garden. -
An air raid shelter in the back garden, a relic from Wold War II. -
The interior of the air raid shelter.
Boxford
A suburban garden named Boxford is divided into six separate sections, each reflecting the garden history and culture of a different part of the world. The garden has been listed on the ACT Heritage Register.
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Fountain inspired by chapel of Oscar Niemeyer in garden derived from the ideas of Burle Marx a Brazilian garden designer. -
The Japanese garden
