West Pennant Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. West Pennant Hills is located 27 km north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and Hornsby Shire. It is located halfway between Parramatta and Hornsby at the border of the North Shore and Greater Western Sydney. Pennant Hills is a separate suburb to the east with its own postcode. Commercial area West Pennant Hills is a residential suburb with a commercial area located at Thompsons Corner, also the site of the suburb's government primary school, West Pennant Hills Public School. Cherrybrook railway station is located to the north of West Pennant Hills near Castle Hill Road and nearby there is another shopping complex on Coonara Avenue, where a Woolworths, restaurants and several other small shops are located. History Thompsons Corner is named after Andrew Thompson (1773-1810), a convict (see Scotland Island), who received a grant of in 1796 opposite the signal station in Pennant Hills. Workmen on the railway from Strathfield to Hornsby established a camp and stores depot there in about 1890. During Lachlan Macquarie's governorship (1810–21), a timbersawing establishment stood near today's Thompsons Corner. In those early days the pit-sawyers roamed the countryside, and the saw pits were set up at various places close to forest areas. In the early 1990s, one of the last mills was demolished, having stood at the bottom of Hill Road. The suburb was named for both its geological features and its man-made additions. When Sydney was first established, 'Pennant Hills', applied to the range of hills stretching north from Parramatta. The Pennant refers to a flag pole erected on the area's highest point. During the first years of the Sydney settlement this flag pole with its pennant was a form of early communication between the government in Parramatta and the governor's outer Sydney residence. It was used to signal to Parramatta that the governor was returning to Parramatta after spending time at his retreat in the outer areas of Sydney. When his horse-drawn carriage went past Thompsons Corner, the pennant would be raised and as this was in clear sight of the Parramatta garrison, they would prepare for his return in a few days. Local stories twist this system to say that when the pennant was raised the soldiers would have to stop drinking and clean up