William Penfold, one of the first settlers in the area, subdivided land he had bought in the Hundred of Munno Para in 1856 to create the township of Penfield. The area was commonly known as Peachey Belt or Peachy Belt. The boundaries have changed over the years, the original township being overshadowed by the government acquisition of land immediately south of the early town centre since the 1940s for construction of military facilities such as the Penfield munitions factory. As a result, much of the modern peri-urban locality of Penfield is used for industrial purposes rather than residential and the original town centre is no longer a population centre.
The remaining part of the Zoar Bible Christian Church, built in 1855, is the small cemetery.
History
Before European settlement, the Kaurna people inhabited the land.[2]
In 1833, in the Hundred of Munno Para, Peter Peachey, a surveyor, showed interest in South Australia. Noted in Robert Gouger's journal from December of that year, Peachey expressed his desire to be among the initial settlers. This aligns with the period when plans for colonizing South Australia were taking shape in London. Later, Peachey worked as an overseer on Parnaroo station under his uncle George Williams' ownership. His contributions are further documented in John Lewis' book 'Fought and Won.'[3]
The district was surveyed in 1849, as part of the Hundred of Munno Para. Early settlers arrived in the area in the 1850s, clearing the land to grow cereal crops and graze animals. William Friend Penfold was one of the first to buy land there, and in 1853 he opened the Plough and Harrow Hotel (which closed in 1893 and was destroyed by fire in 1899).[4] In 1856 he subdivided land he had bought on section 4057, and a village was laid out at the junction of Penfield and Argent Roads (the Argents being another family of early settlers).[5][6] That intersection is now surrounded on three sides by RAAF Base Edinburgh.
Most of the settlers were converted over to the Bible Christian Church (a Methodist denomination) by Reverend Samuel Keen of Angle Vale.[7] The Zoar Bible Christian Church was built in 1855, which was demolished in 1956, although the small cemetery remains.[5][6] (It is near the Max Fatchen Expressway, accessed from Argent Road or the Stuart O'Grady Bikeway.[8])
In the early years, the village had two general stores, a police station, the church and the hotel. Penfield Post Office opened around 1856 and closed in 1951.[9] A government school was opened in 1874 and remained open until about 1940.[5][6] Another church, Sturton Primitive Methodist Church was further south, and the building still stands in the RAAF property, visible from Sturton Road.[10]
Two possibilities as to the origin of the area's former name, Peachey (or Peachy) Belt, which persisted until 1858, have been suggested: that it came from the native peach trees, or quandongs, which covered the area; or that the surveyor was Peter Peachey and the name came from him.[5]
A report in The Register on 10 November 1859, from a meeting in Peachey Belt, mentions a dinner given by James Philcox (a land speculator who named Evanston) at "Smidt's Hotel" before his departure from the colony in 1853. It is not clear whether this referred to the Plough and Harrow or another hotel in the wider area. The report says that Philcox had urged his 13 tenants to turn their attention to the cultivation of vineyards.[11]
In September 1940, with the onset of World War Two, the Commonwealth Government compulsorily acquired a large percentage of land at Penfield leading to the re-development of the area to build an explosives and filling factory known as the Salisbury explosives factory, a section of the district eventually being renamed to Edinburgh, South Australia. The Government paid a low price for the land, between £10 and £14 per acre at the time, causing conflict between the government and landowners. However, the importance of the war overruled the landowners' objections, and the farming families were evicted from their land, leading to the destruction of the township of Penfield. After the war, the munitions factory at Salisbury was repurposed as laboratories for the Woomera Range, originally known as the Long Range Weapons Establishment (LRWE),[12]initially Britain's vulnerability to attack by the new ballistic missile technology became apparent in the latter stages of World War II when German V2 rockets were launched from The Hague in Holland and directed on to London,[13] The (LRWE) initially transitioned into the Weapons Research Establishment (WRE), it eventually became the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO). The Edinburgh Airfield was opened in 1954, following the decision that the Mallala airport was no longer practical.[14]
21st century
The boundaries have varied several times before the current precise boundaries were set.[15]
In the 2010s, the eastern part of what was then Penfield was developed for residential housing.[16] On 31 October 2017, this section was excised from Penfield and a new suburb of Eyre was created on the north side of Womma Road and western side of Stebonheath Road.[17]
The City of Playford is a local government area of South Australia in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It was named in recognition of Sir Thomas Playford, who played a part in the development of the area, and was South Australia's premier from 1938–1965. The city covers an area of 345 km2 (133 sq mi), and is home to over 90,000 residents. Playford was the fastest growing local government area in South Australia in the 2010s.
Elizabeth is an outer northern suburb of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia, 24 km north of the Adelaide city centre. It is located in the City of Playford. At the 2021 census, Elizabeth had a population of 40,343.
Clarendon is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, about 25–30 kilometres (16–19 mi) south of the Adelaide city centre and now regarded as an outer suburb of Adelaide. It lies within the City of Onkaparinga council area. The Clarendon Weir is located in the town area, on the Onkaparinga River.
Edinburgh is an outer northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Salisbury. The suburb was created in 1997, on land straddling Penfield and Salisbury, that was compulsorily acquired by the Commonwealth Government in 1940 in order to manufacture munitions for the war effort during World War II, and later used for a number of defence-related establishments.
Evanston, formerly Evans Town, is a suburb south of the town of Gawler, South Australia. It contains the Gawler and District College and Gawler Racecourse as well as a supermarket and homemaker centre containing bulky goods stores such as carpet, fishing, electrical and bike and motorbike shops.
Taylor is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. This district is named after Doris Irene Taylor MBE, a leading force in the founding of Meals on Wheels, and Labor activist. Taylor is a 246.2 km2 semi-urban electorate in Adelaide's outer northern suburbs and market gardens on the Adelaide Northern plains. A large portion of the district lives in the western half of the City of Playford and it is regarded as a safe Labor seat. It now includes the suburbs and townships of Andrews Farm, Angle Vale, Bolivar, Buckland Park, Davoren Park, Edinburgh, Edinburgh North, Elizabeth North, Eyre, Macdonald Park, Munno Para West, Penfield, Penfield Gardens, Riverlea Park, Smithfield, Smithfield Plains, St Kilda, Virginia, and Waterloo Corner.
Penfield 3 railway station was located on the Penfield line 25.8 kilometres from Adelaide station in the northern Adelaide suburb which is now called Edinburgh. It was built to service the Salisbury Explosives Factory, built between November 1940 and November 1941.
Craigmore is a large suburb north of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford local government area, just east of Elizabeth and south of Gawler.
Smithfield is a suburb in the northern outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford.
Davoren Park is a suburb at the northern extent of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia in the City of Playford. The suburb was formed as part of a merger between Elizabeth Field and the northern part of Elizabeth West on 11 November 1993. It is named after the Davoren family, who were early pioneers of the area.
The City of Elizabeth was a local government area located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and seated at Elizabeth from 1964 to 1997.
Munno Para is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
Andrews Farm is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
Angle Vale is a semi-rural town on the Adelaide Plains between Gawler and Virginia in South Australia. It is steadily being surrounded by Adelaide's suburban sprawl. It is close to many vineyards and farms. The town includes Trinity College's Gawler River campus, Angle Vale Primary School and Riverbanks College. Some students travel to nearby towns or to Gawler.
In the Hundred of Munno Para the suburb of MacDonald Park was established by MacDonald Reid Pty Ltd in 1964.
Penfield Gardens is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Playford. It is in the urban fringe on the Adelaide Plains, with major industries including market gardening and harness racing horse training.
The Hundred of Munno Para is a cadastral unit of hundred covering the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide north of the Little Para River and the flanking semi-rural areas in South Australia. It is one of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide. It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe, Munno Para being a term from a local Kaurna Aboriginal people meaning golden wattle creek. This name refers to either the Gawler River or the Little Para River.
The Stuart O'Grady Bikeway is a 23 kilometres (14 mi) shared path in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, following the eastern side of the Max Fatchen Expressway. The northeastern end is adjacent to the on ramp from Two Wells Road to the Gawler Bypass. The southwestern end is adjacent to Port Wakefield Road. It is named after Stuart O'Grady.
The District Council of Munno Mara West was a local government area of South Australia on the central Adelaide Plains from 1854 to 1933.
James Philcox was an English land speculator and property developer in the 1840s and 1850s in the colony of South Australia. He is credited with naming the inner eastern Adelaide suburb of Marryatville as well as the outer northern suburb of Evanston. He returned to England to retire in Sussex in 1853.
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