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Penwortham South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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Population | 163 (SAL 2021) [1] | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1839 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 5453 | ||||||||||||||
Location | |||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys | ||||||||||||||
Region | Clare Valley | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Frome | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Grey | ||||||||||||||
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Penwortham ( 33°55′S138°38′E / 33.917°S 138.633°E ) is a small town in the Clare Valley, South Australia, along the Horrocks Highway, approximately 10 kilometres south of Clare and 14 kilometres north of Auburn.
Penwortham is surrounded by natural eucalyptus bushland and a section of the Skilly Hills, which in turn forms part of the Mount Lofty Ranges. There are two significant peaks nearby, Mount Oakden named after John Oakden, and Mount Horrocks, named after John Horrocks. The Hill River rises about 3 kilometres east of Penwortham.
The village of Penwortham was founded by settler, pioneer and explorer, John Horrocks (22 March 1818 – 23 September 1846). Horrocks arrived in the colony of South Australia on his 21st birthday, 22 March 1839, less than three years after its proclamation by Governor John Hindmarsh. After meeting Edward John Eyre, who told him of potentially good farmland to the north of Adelaide, John Horrocks and a servant, John Green, set off to find the area Eyre had described to him. Horrocks settled in a region that he believed to be along the Hutt River and named his establishment Hope Farm. Later in 1839, the first stone cottage of the settlement was commenced and, in 1840, Horrocks and his servants built stone stables for horses, which were then very rare and valuable in the new colony. For a short time, this was the only inland European settlement north of Adelaide and Gawler.
The following year saw the completion of an inn, The Derby Arms, which was built to accommodate the many new travellers passing north through Penwortham. The year after that (1842), the first foundations were laid for a flour mill, which did not see full operation until 1856, when all its working parts finally arrived from Europe. 1842 was also the year that the first foundation stone was laid down for the beginning of the manor house at Hope Farm.
Horrocks died in 1846 as a result of a hunting accident at Lake Gill, just north of the present day city of Port Augusta. By that time, Penwortham had become quite an established town and included a butcher, general store, tailor, school and blacksmith. The next year (1847), an unofficial post office began operation, with the local publican, James Bleechmore, acting as postmaster. In 1851, building began on St Mark's Anglican Church. Completion of St Mark's occurred in 1855, with the installation of a bell, turret and porch.
A new era of transport and industry began in 1915, when the construction of the Riverton to Spalding railway line passed through the town. It brought about many changes, and included the demolition of the manor house at Hope Farm, as this was in its direct line. By now, the main industries in the town and surrounding farms were fruit, dried currant and dairy production. These continued until just after the Second World War, when competition from the Riverland meant that a viable industry in the Clare Valley was untenable. As a result, the pre-war advent and post-war continuation of the fledgling wine industry began to flourish in the region.
The Riveton to Spalding railway closed in 17 April 1984 following track damage between Sevenhill and Penwortham. The track was removed in 1989 and the Riesling trail now follows the original alignment.
A monument was built and unveiled on 22 September 1946 commemorating the life, exploration and untimely death of the town's founder, John Ainsworth Horrocks. It was built by Gordon Ross and William Robins and now stands by the side of Main North Road, near St Mark's Church.
Penwortham shares its name with the town of Penwortham in Lancashire, England. Penwortham (in the United Kingdom) was the home of Richard Arkwright, the inventor of the water frame that kick-started the textile industry in the late 18th century. John Horrocks was the grandson of English cotton manufacturer John Horrocks, [2] who has a section of highway in the English Penwortham named John Horrocks Way after him.
Penwortham is a town name with a precise meaning: a settlement on a hill by a ford. Horrocks originally called his settlement Penwortham-on-the-Hill. He was born at his family home of Penwortham Hall, near Preston, Lancashire. The name is a hybrid of the Welsh pen, meaning headland and an Old English word worphamm, meaning enclosed homestead.
This section needs to be updated.(February 2024) |
Pearson Wines are located on the Main Road in an old stone building with cellar door.
St. Marks Church cemetery is the burial place of explorer John Horrocks buried in the adjacent cemetery.
John Horrocks Cottage (formerly Greens Cottage), built in 1839 and owned and operated by the local historical society, opens to visitors on the first Sunday of each month.
The Riesling Trail, on the eastern side links the village to Auburn and Clare for walkers and cyclists looking to take in the ambience of the local countryside.
The scenic drive to the Skillogalee Valley, west of the Main North Road (Horrocks Highway), can be accessed from Penwortham. The drive runs past several well-known cellar doors, including Mitchell Wines, Penna Lane Wines, Kilikanoon Wines, and Skillogalee Wines and Restaurant.
Penwortham is in the District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys, the state electoral district of Frome, and the Australian House of Representatives Division of Grey.
The Clare Valley wine region is one of Australia's oldest wine regions, best known for Riesling wines. It lies in the Mid North of South Australia, approximately 142 km north of Adelaide. The valley runs north-south, with Horrocks Highway as the main thoroughfare.
John Baxter was an Irish convict who became an Australian pioneer, overlander, explorer, and offsider of explorer Edward John Eyre.
The Riesling Trail is a 35 kilometres long walking and cycling track located in the Clare Valley, South Australia. Established for recreational purposes, it runs between Auburn and Clare, passing through several towns and villages along the way, including Leasingham, Watervale, Penwortham and Sevenhill. The trail is named after Riesling, the most important white grape variety in the Clare Valley wine region. It continues 8 kilometres north of Clare to the area known as Barinia.
Watervale is a town on the Horrocks Highway in the Clare Valley, South Australia, approximately 9 kilometres north of Auburn and 15 kilometres south of Clare. It is surrounded by a number of small wineries and several B&Bs. The Riesling Trail runs past the town to the west, between the Highway and the Skilly Hills. The town has a number of 19th-century heritage buildings, including the former Stanley Grammar School, which now provides private bed and breakfast accommodation.
Auburn is a small town in the southern edge of the Clare Valley, in the Mid North of South Australia.
The town of Clare is located in South Australia in the Mid North region, 136 km north of Adelaide. It gives its name to the Clare Valley wine and tourist region.
John Ainsworth Horrocks was an English pastoralist and explorer who was one of the first European settlers in the Clare Valley of South Australia where, in 1840, he established the village of Penwortham.
The Skilly Hills are a range of hills which make up part of the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia's Mid North region.
Mintaro is a historic town in the eastern Clare Valley, east of the Horrocks Highway, about 126 kilometres north of Adelaide, South Australia. The town lies at the south-eastern corner of the Hundred of Clare, within the Clare Valley wine region. Established in 1849, Mintaro is situated on land which was bought originally by Joseph and Henry Gilbert, which they sub-divided into 80 allotments.
The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded by members of the Jesuit order in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest Aloysius Kranewitter, is in homage to the seven hills of Rome.
Leasingham is the name of a hamlet on the southern edge of the Clare Valley, in the Mid North of South Australia. It is approximately 117 kilometres from the state's capital, Adelaide and 17 kilometres south of the town of Clare.
Polish Hill River is a small town in the Mid North region of South Australia, between the towns of Sevenhill and Mintaro.
The Wakefield River is an ephemeral river that flows to an estuary in the Australian state of South Australia.
Grosset Wines is an Australian winery based in the Clare Valley wine region of South Australia.
The Hill River is an ephemeral river located in the Mid North region of the Australian state of South Australia.
John Jackson Oakden, pastoralist, was an English explorer of South Australia, part of the European exploration of Australia, and a pioneer runholder of the Canterbury region of New Zealand.
John Hill was an English explorer of South Australia and part of the European exploration of Australia. Hill was the first European to see and traverse the Clare Valley.
The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about 100 kilometres north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill River. The valley is traversed by the Horrocks Highway and the towns in the valley along that route from south to north are Auburn, Leasingham, Watervale, Penwortham, Sevenhill and Clare. The geographical feature has given rise to the Clare Valley wine region designation, a notable winegrowing region of Australia.
The Spalding railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network which branched from the Peterborough line at Riverton and passed through the Clare Valley to Spalding. The line opened from Riverton to Clare on 5 July 1918, being extended to Spalding on 9 January 1922. The cessation of railway services was a consequence of the Ash Wednesday bushfires in February 1983, which caused major damage to infrastructure between Sevenhill and Penwortham. The line was formally closed on 17 April 1984.
Hill River is a locality in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia, about 127 kilometres north of the Adelaide city centre. It is bisected by the Hill River, an ephemeral stream from which it derives its name. Its boundaries were created in January 2001 for the “long established name.”