Grange
Postcode: 4051
Grange is an inner-northern suburb of Brisbane, capital of the Australian state of Queensland. It is located 5 km north of the central business district, on the southern side of Kedron Brook. In 2001, the population of Grange stood at 3,941.
Prior to the arrival of European settlers, the Grange area consisted of areas of open grassland and thinly-wooded plains. Urban development of the area commenced in 1903 with the subdivision of T. K. Peate’s property into “the Grange Estate”. The name of the suburb is derived from that of Peate’s property: “Grange” is believed to be an Old English word meaning granary.
According to the Real Estate Institute of Queensland, the average house price in the suburb of Grange in 2005 was $432,500. Many houses in the suburb are of the Queenslander architectural style.
Originally, the Old English word ‘grange’ was used to describe a small country house and its collection of farm buildings. It was fitting, then, that an early settler in this inner-western Brisbane region, T.K. Peate, should call his 2.2ha holding The Grange on account of the fact that his modest homestead adjoined a tannery and fellmongery.
The Grange of today, with its pleasant mix of parkland and lovely Federation homes – many of them being enthusiastically renovated – is a far cry from the suburb’s early days when the lack of roads and rail transport meant that settlers had to literally hack their way through dense bush and scrub.
Some of the bush has been retained in reserves such as Grange Forest Park which has recently been lovingly restored and revegetated by the park management team.
Set in rolling hills and gullies through which Kedron Creek winds, the park’s additions include nesting boxes which are attracting a growing variety of birdlife to enrich the exercise regime of people keeping trim on the 2km walking trail and the bike track.