Epping

Epping is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Melbourne's Central Business District.

Epping is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Whittlesea. Epping had a population of 32,200

A village reserve was surveyed in 1839, where Epping later developed. The village was named Epping, after Epping Forest, in 1853, by which time a hotel (from 1844) and a Catholic school were established. Epping Post Office opened on 1 September 1857. The Epping Road Board was established a year later. In 1870 the area around Epping became Darebin Shire, which was renamed Epping Shire in 1893 until it was united with Whittlesea Shire in 1915. By the time the Shire was created, Epping township contained several churches, hotels and a state school, as well as church school. Farmers of Irish origin predominated, but English, Scots and Germans settled there. There were several dairy farms. The Melbourne to Whittlesea railway (1889–1960) had a station at Epping and the main areas to benefit were the transport of milk and quarry products.

The original Epping township is on higher ground west of the Darebin Creek (the Catholic Church being the only one not to have moved from lower flood-risk land). Several older buildings are constructed in bluestone, plentiful in the surrounding volcanic plains.

Major suburban development took place from the 1970s onwards and the northern fringes of the area are currently in the process of being developed for housing.

During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, Epping was one of the more heavily affected areas of Melbourne as it was host to several large virus outbreaks including the Epping Gardens Aged Care outbreak which claimed the lives of 38 elderly residents during the second wave in Melbourne.