Getting to Glamourous Glen Iris

Glen Iris is 10 kilometres south east of Melbourne’s Central Business District. The suburb recorded a population of around 26,000 with a median age of 37 years. Over 70% of the residents were born in Australia. Catholics are the largest religious group at nearly 25% of the total population with 36% following no religion. 75% of the population only spoke English.

Glen Iris acquired its name from the ship on which one of the suburb’s earliest settlers arrived in Melbourne. Captain Thomas Henderson arrived in 1850 in Melbourne on the Iris and purchased a property in Gardiners Creek. A residence also named Glen Iris was built by solicitor J.C. Turner who acquired the land from Captain Thomas Henderson.

Previously, Glen Iris was a farming land that overlooked the Gardiners Creek Valley. In 1865 a Methodist Church was built in the area and subsequently in 1872, a school was also built here. Ten years later in 1882 a small shopping centre was established which continues to function to date.

In 1890 a railway line was established from Burnley to Oakleigh via the Glen Iris Valley (previously also known as the Gardiners Creek Valley). The line joined the Outer Circle line slightly east of Glen Iris and was truncated when the Outer Circle line was partially closed in 1895. The three stations along this route were Tooronga, Gardiner and Glen Iris. Residential change came first when the Malvern section of Glen Iris, which by 1917 also had three tramlines – Malvern Road, turning north into Burke Road, Wattletree Road, terminating at Burke Road and High Street terminating at Glen Iris Railway station.

Two train stations on the Glen Waverley railway line, Gardiner and Glen Iris, are within the suburb. Passing through the eastern part of Glen Iris is the Alamein line, with Burwood Station also within the boundaries of the suburb.

CDC bus No. 612 operates via Glen Iris station to Box Hill Central Shopping Centre and Chadstone Shopping Centre.

Ventura Bus No. 734 operates to and from Glen Iris station to Glen Waverley station.

Yarra Tram No. 6 operates to and from Glen Iris station to Moreland.

The trams made it convenient for commuters to travel to the schools which were subsequently built in the area. These included Sacre Coeur built in 1888 and Korowa Girls’ Schools in 1890 as well as a Caulfield Grammar campus. Several government and independent schools have since been established in Glen Iris including Camberwell South Primary School, Glen Iris Primary School, St Cecilia’s Primary School, and St Roch’s Catholic Primary School.

In 1865 a Wesleyan church was established in the suburb and in 1871 land was granted for a school adjacent to it which is now the Glen Iris Primary School. Glen Iris Post Office opened on 28 August 1890 and an Upper Post Office opened in 1947 and shut down in 1994.

Some of the recreational and sporting facilities include the Harold Holt Swim Centre, a BMX track at Hill’n’Dale Park, Burwood District Bowls Club and a few reserves and ovals, including Hartwell Sports Ground, Ferndale Park and T.H. King Oval. In 1989 the Glen Iris wetlands were developed in the area.

The Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre was built in Glen Iris to commemorate former Prime Minister Harold Holt who was presumed drowned after going missing, at Cheviot Beach, Portsea in 1967. His electoral seat included Glen Iris.

This suburb offers a lot of amenities that will make living here convenient and you are not likely to leave but if you do, you can make the move a lot easier with a SmartBox mobile storage unit. Just call for one and it will be delivered to your door. What you then do is pack it with your precious belongings, lock up the SmartBox and contact us again to pick the unit up. We will store it for you safely until you need it. You can also easily access the storage unit any time if you realise you stored away something that you need urgently.