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Gawler South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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![]() McKinlay Monument, Gawler, South Australia | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 34°35′53″S138°44′42″E / 34.59806°S 138.74500°E | ||||||||||||||
Population | 28,562 (UCL 2021) [1] [2] | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1839 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 5118 | ||||||||||||||
Elevation | 75 m (246 ft) | ||||||||||||||
Location | 40 km (25 mi) N of Adelaide city centre | ||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | Town of Gawler | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Light | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Spence | ||||||||||||||
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Footnotes | Adjoining localities [3] |
Gawler is the oldest country town on the Australian mainland in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. [4] It is about 40–44 km (25–27 mi) north of the state capital, Adelaide, and is close to the major wine producing district of the Barossa Valley. Topographically, Gawler lies at the confluence of two tributaries of the Gawler River, the North and South Para rivers, where they emerge from a range of low hills.
Historically a semi-rural area, Gawler has been swept up in Adelaide's growth in recent years, and is now considered by some as an outer northern suburb of Adelaide. It is counted as a suburb in the Outer Metro region of the Greater Adelaide Planning Region. [5]
The Kaurna people are indigenous to the Adelaide Plains. [6] A British colony, South Australia was established as a commercial venture by the South Australia Company through the sale of land to free settlers at £1 per acre (£2/9/5d or £2.47 per hectare). Gawler was established through a 4,000-acre (1,600 ha) "special survey" applied for by Henry Dundas Murray and John Reid and a syndicate of ten other colonists.
The town plan was devised by the colonial surveyor William Light, and was the only town planned by him other than Adelaide. William Jacob used Light's plans and laid out the town.
Adelaide became a model of foresight with wide streets and ample parklands. After Light's death, it also became a model for numerous other planned towns in South Australia (many of which were never built). As the only other town planned by Light, Gawler is dissimilar to Adelaide's one square mile (2.6 km²) grid; the heart of Gawler is triangular rather than square, a form dictated by the topographical features. The parkland along the riverbanks and a Victorian preference for public squares are present, but Light was aware that he was planning a village, not a metropolis.
Gawler prospered early with the discovery of copper nearby at Kapunda and Burra, which resulted in Gawler becoming a resting stop to and from Adelaide. Later, it developed industries including flour milling by Hilfers & Co, and the engineering works of James Martin & Co manufactured agricultural machinery, mining and ore-processing machinery and smelters for the mines of Broken Hill and the Western Australian goldfields, and steam locomotives and rolling stock. May Brothers & Co. also manufactured mining and agricultural machinery. [7]
With prosperity came a modest cultural flowering, ("The colonial Athens" was its nickname in the late 19th and early 20th centuries [8] ), the high point of which was the holding of a competition to compose an anthem for Australia in 1859, four decades before nationhood. The result was the Song Of Australia, written by Caroline Carleton to music by Carl Linger. This became, in the next century, a candidate in a national referendum to choose a new National Anthem for Australia to replace God Save the Queen.
Gawler had a horse street tram service from 1879 to 1931. [9]
Boyle Travers Finniss recounts an incident during Colonial light's travels before the Gawler survey. While camping at the Gawler river, they stumbled upon a deceased man buried upright and coated in clay. The tale circulating in Adelaide attributes the man's demise to a party led by Mr. Berhard. Allegedly, while traveling north with a dray, a distressed man emerged from the scrub west of the road and collapsed from hunger and thirst near the Gawler river ford. Despite efforts to save him, he succumbed shortly after encountering the party. They interred him in a tree and covered him in clay to protect his body from wild dogs, dubbing the tree "dead man's tree." The site, known as deadman's pass, lies at the southern end of Murray Street near the river. [10]
Gawler is a commercial centre for the Mid-North districts of South Australia.
Gawler regularly hosts stages of the annual cycling race, the Tour Down Under.
The annual show, named the Gawler Show, was established in 1856 and is South Australia's largest country show. Show attendances regularly attract an estimated 30,000 people over the weekend. [11] The Gawler Show has won the Gawler Australia Day Award for Community Event of the Year in 2010 and 2017. [12]
The Gawler Police XI (The Gawler Police are one of the oldest stations in Australia, as they have been on Cowan Street, Gawler continuously since 1842 [13] ) play against a Salvation Army All-Stars team made up of local civic and business leaders in an annual community charity cricket match for the Hope Cup [14] The 2022 Hope Cup match raised more than $40,000 to assist the homeless population in the community. [15] The match is played at Curdnatta Park (Sandy Creek) which is considered one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in all of South Australia. [16] The Bunyip Newspaper (The oldest regional newspaper in South Australia), awards the Bunyip Medal to the player in the game who best displays the spirit of the Hope Cup on and off the field. [15] The Hope Cup Cricket Match won the Gawler Australia Day Award for Community Event of the Year in 2023 [17] Australian cricket legend Darren Lehmann launched the 2nd Hope Cup at a formal dinner in August 2023 [18] The Gawler Police XI won the Hope Cup in 2022 and retained it in 2023 [19] The 2024 Hope Cup is being launched buy International Stars, Darcie Brown and Henry Olonga in June 2024 [20]
Gawler is just over forty kilometres north of Adelaide city centre along Main North Road. Main North Road was the historic road to the Mid North region of South Australia. North of Gawler, the road is now known as the Horrocks Highway. The Sturt Highway runs northeast from the north side of Gawler, leading to Nuriootpa, the Riverland, Mildura and Sydney. The Barossa Valley Way runs east from the centre of Gawler into the Barossa Valley, and was the original route of the Sturt Highway. The Thiele Highway leads north between the Horrocks and Sturt Highways to Freeling, Kapunda and Morgan. The Northern Expressway is a new highway to the southwest providing a bypass of Gawler as part of the North–South Corridor, Adelaide which will eventually provide a non-stop road from south of Adelaide to Nuriootpa.
Gawler railway station was the terminus of the railway from Adelaide from 1857. The railway was extended to Kapunda in 1860. Gawler became a junction station when a branch was constructed into the Barossa Valley in 1911. This is the line that provides the Gawler Oval and Gawler Central (originally named North Gawler) railway stations in Gawler. Neither lines are now used beyond Gawler and Gawler Central is now the terminus of the metropolitan rail services from Adelaide.
Gawler's horse-drawn tram service opened in 1879. It operated for both goods and passengers from the railway station along what is now Nineteenth Street (then known as part of Murray Street) and Murray Street (the town's main street) to a terminus near where the Gawler Central station is now. It passed the James Martin & Co engineering factory, providing a convenient way to deliver heavy equipment such as locomotives manufactured there. Broad gauge locomotives were taken directly on the tramway, narrow gauge were transported on specially-built flat-bed trucks. [21] There were also sidings at May Brothers and Company, Roedigers, and Dowson's Mill. [22] The tram closed in 1931 replaced by a bus, and the tracks lifted soon after. [23] [9]
The tram route is now part of Adelaide Metro bus route number 491. [24]
The Gawler Greyhound Racing Club hold greyhound racing meetings at the Showgrounds on Nixon Terrace. [25] The Club held its first meeting on 12 July 1971. [26]
Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions along the route.
Barossa Valley Way is the main road linking most of the major towns of the Barossa Valley in South Australia, designated as route B19 for its entire length. It is 35 km long, roughly following the North Para River.
Light Regional Council is a local government area north of Adelaide in South Australia. It is based in the town of Kapunda, and includes the towns of Freeling, Greenock, Hansborough, Hewett, Roseworthy and Wasleys.
The Town of Gawler is a local government area located north of Adelaide city centre in South Australia containing Gawler and its suburbs. The corporate town was established in 1857 due to the township's residents' dissatisfaction at being governed by three different district councils.
Main North Road is the major north–south arterial route through the suburbs north of the Adelaide City Centre in the city of Adelaide, South Australia, and linking to Gawler on Adelaide's outer north-eastern fringes.
Lyndoch is a town in Barossa Valley, located on the Barossa Valley Highway between Gawler and Tanunda, 58 km northeast of Adelaide. The town has an elevation of 175m and an average rainfall of 560.5mm. It is one of the oldest towns in South Australia.
Gawler railway station is located on the Gawler line. Situated in the South Australian town of Gawler, it is 39.8 kilometres (24.7 mi) from Adelaide station.
Gawler South is a suburb of the South Australian town of Gawler, located in the northern Adelaide metropolitan area region, 43 km north of Adelaide. It is bordered by the South Para River and the suburbs of Gawler, Gawler West, Evanston, Evanston Park and Bibaringa.
The Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association, more commonly referred to as the BL&GFA, is an Australian rules football competition based in the Barossa Valley, Gawler Region and Light Region of South Australia, Australia. Just 42 kilometres north of the state capital of Adelaide, the BL&GFA is an affiliated member of the South Australian National Football League. In 2022, Nuriootpa secured the premiership cup for a record equalling eighth time. The current president of the League is Mick Brien and the major sponsor of the league is the Grant Burge Winery.
The South Gawler Football Club is a country Australian rules football club, founded by James Fitzgerald in the Gawler South area of the town of Gawler, South Australia, in 1889. The Lions, who wear royal blue and white stripes, currently compete in the Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association. Their club and oval today situated at Eldred Riggs Reserve, Evanston, in Gawler.
Kapunda Football Club, nicknamed The Bombers, is an Australian rules football club, based in Kapunda, South Australia, that competes in the Barossa Light & Gawler Football Association.
Gawler Bypass is a major north–south route in the outer northern suburbs of the city of Adelaide, South Australia, connecting Main North Road to the Sturt Highway, bypassing Gawler. The route was built in 1963 in an attempt to redirect traffic on the national highway out of Gawler town centre. It has been upgraded and realigned several times since then.
Evanston Gardens is an outer northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the Town of Gawler.
The Bunyip is a weekly newspaper, first printed on 5 September 1863, and originally published and printed in Gawler, South Australia. Its distribution area includes the Gawler, Barossa, Light, Playford, and Adelaide Plains areas. Along with The Murray Pioneer, The River News, and The Loxton News,The Bunyip was now owned by the Taylor Group of Newspapers and printed in Renmark.
The Morgan railway line or North-West Bend railway was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network.
Barossa zone is a wine zone located in central South Australia west of the Murray River and which occupies the Barossa Valley, the Eden Valley and some adjoining land. The zone which is enclosed by the Mount Lofty Ranges zone on three sides and by the Lower Murray zone to its east, contains two wine regions which have received appellation as Australian Geographical Indications (AGI). These are the Barossa Valley and Eden Valley regions. The Barossa zone also includes a broader area around these two defined regions. The zone received AGI in 1996.
The Gawler Football Club was an Australian rules football club that was founded in June 1868 based at Gawler in the Township of Gawler about 39 km to the north-north east of Adelaide, South Australia.
The Leader is a weekly newspaper that was first published in Angaston, South Australia on 24 July 1918, and continues being published to the present day in the Barossa Valley. It was the first English-language newspaper covering any part of the Barossa Valley, apart from the Kapunda Herald.