Ashgrove is an inner suburb of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. The suburb is located 5km west of the Brisbane CBD. Ashgrove is a leafy residential suburb, characterised by its hilly terrain and characteristic Ashgrovian houses built in the early 20th Century. While many of the surrounding suburbs have seen an increase in the number of residential apartments built in the past decade, Ashgrove still remains predominantly a suburb of detached single dwelling houses.

Geography

• West Ashgrove:
• Central Ashgrove:
• Locality of St Johns Wood:

Attractions

There are also many old Queenslander homes in the area, generally referred to as the Ashgrovian style. Ashgrove also contains the neighbourhood of Ithaca, which is the home of the Broncos football club, Ithaca campus of Brisbane North Institute of TAFE, St. Johns Wood, a small area surrounded by Enoggera Creek, and Dorrington.

History

Ashgrove was originally inhabited by the Aboriginal Turrbal tribe. Waterworks Road was built on a Turrbal pathway that led to Mount Coot-tha - a place of the honey-bee Dreaming. Growth in Ashgrove started in 1856, with the sale of land which housed one of the first homesteads in the area, The Granite House. Sale of crown land stopped in 1875, when all available land was purchased. Soon after sale of land stopped, the first school (Ashgrove State School) and post office was established in 1877.

In 1924 the tramline was extended from Red Hill to Ashgrove, along Waterworks Road, connecting the suburb with the rest of Brisbane. The tram line closed on Monday 5 August 1968. 1940 saw the start of Marist College Ashgrove, with its first headmaster, Brother Ignatius. In 2006 Ashgrove celebrated 'Ashgrove 150', an event organised by the Ashgrove Historical Society to commemorate 150 years of Ashgrove (1856-2006).

Education

Local schools include Marist College Ashgrove, Mt St Michael's College Ashgrove, Ashgrove State School, Mater Dei Catholic Primary School,St Finbarr's primary school and Oakleigh State School.

Clubs and sports

Most well known, "Jeeps" (GPS Rugby), is one of the oldest established clubs in the area. The grounds date back to 1887, and since then the club has contributed 29 players to the Wallabies

The ground also hosts the Valley Cricket Club, which has provided both Queensland Sheffield Shield players and Australian players, including Matthew Hayden and Allan Border.

In addition to Jeeps, there is a large Scouting group in St Johns Wood/Ashgrove.

Notable people from Ashgrove

• Kevin Rudd, Australia's current prime minister boarded at Marist College Ashgrove as a child.
• Andrew Stockdale from Wolfmother lived in Ashgrove as a child and attended Ashgrove State School.
• Bill Ludwig OAM, Australian trade union official, is National President and Queensland state secretary of the Australian Workers' Union (AWU).
• John Eales, former captain of the Wallabies lived in Ashgrove actually Keperra and attended Marist College.
• Keith Urban Country Music Singer (Married to Nicole Kidman) attended Ashgrove State School (Primary).
• Anthony Herbert (Former Australian Rugby Wallaby) went to Marist and still lives in Ashgrove.

References

• Brisbites: Suburban Sites (History)
• ourbrisbane.com website - Ashgrove section