Sutton Forest is a small

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

in the Southern Highlands,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Wingecarribee Shire Wingecarribee Shire is the local government area of the Southern Highlands in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of the Sydney central business district and is part of regional Capital Countr ...

. It is located 5 km southwest of

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in the Wingecarribee Shire. It is located on the Illawarra Highway, which connects to Wollongong and the Illawarra coast via Macquarie Pass. Moss Vale has severa ...

on the

Illawarra Highway Illawarra Highway is a short state highway in New South Wales, Australia. It connects Wollongong to the Southern Highlands and links Princes Highway and Hume Highway. It is named after the geographical area it crosses, the Illawarra region. ...

. Sutton Forest was originally granted, then owned by Navy Chief officer, Captain John Nicholson who recently immigrated from Scotland to Australia. This privately owned estate was originally 700 acres, this is where John Nicholson lived and died. Sutton Forest is located in an agrarian setting and is surrounded by farms, vineyards and is home to manor homes and estates. It is in one of the oldest areas settled by Europeans in Australia after Sydney and is somewhat reminiscent of an English village due to the temperate Southern Highlands climate and high rainfall. Sutton Forest comprises two churches, an inn, and two specialty shops. In 2004, a proposal to locate Sydney's second airport in Sutton Forest met with fierce opposition from locals. It was one of the first colonial settlements outside Sydney and thus has many heritage buildings such as the Hillview Heritage Hotel which was built in 1850s.

Etymology

In 1819 it was named by Governor

Lachlan Macquarie Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (; gd, Lachann MacGuaire; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, an ...

after

Charles Manners-Sutton, 1st Viscount Canterbury Charles Manners-Sutton, 1st Viscount Canterbury, (9 January 1780 – 21 July 1845) was a British Tory politician who served as Speaker of the House of Commons from 1817 to 1835. Background and education A member of the Manners family headed b ...

, a speaker of the House of Commons. The surrounding area is part of the lands administrative unit of the Sutton Forest Parish.

Population

According to the , Sutton Forest had a population of 477. 81.2% of people were born in Australia and 88.4% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were Anglican 33.5%, Catholic 23.5% and no religion 22.0%. At the 2021 census, 504 people were recorded at Sutton Forrest.

Churches

* All Saints' Anglican Church and Churchyard * St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church and Churchyard File:All Saints' Anglican Church, Sutton Forest.jpg, All Saints' Anglican Church File:St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Sutton Forest.jpg, St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church

Hotels

*Sutton Forest Inn and Bistro * Peppers Manor House, Sutton Forest also known as Mount Broughton.

School

* Sutton Forest Public School

Heritage listings

Sutton Forest has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Golden Vale Road:

Golden Vale The Golden Vale () is an area of rolling pastureland in the civil province of Munster, southwestern Ireland. Covering parts of three counties, Limerick, Tipperary and Cork, it is the best land in Ireland for dairy farming. Historically it ...

* Old Illawarra Highway: Hillview * 217 Oldbury Road: Whitley

Notable residents

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

and

Keith Urban Keith Lionel Urban (born 26 October 1967) is an Australian-American musician, singer, guitarist and songwriter known for his work in country music. Recognized with four Grammy Awards, Urban also received fifteen Academy of Country Music Award ...

own ''Bunya Hill'', a 45 hectare estate and cattle stud farm within the village.

References

* ''Exploring the ACT and Southeast New South Wales'', J. Kay McDonald, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1985

External links

Sutton Forest
Towns of the Southern Highlands (New South Wales) Hume Highway Wingecarribee Shire {{Wingecarribee-geo-stub