Cinema Complex and shops, Gawler
Is the first country town in the state of South Australia, and is named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is located 44 km (25 miles) 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 four tributaries of the Gawler River, the North and South Para rivers, where they emerge from a range of low hills.
History
The town plan was devised by the colonial surveyor William Light, & was the only town planned by him other than Adelaide. William Jacob used Light’s designs & laid out the town.
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 per hectare). Gawler was established through a 4000 acre (1618 hectare) “special survey” applied for by Henry Dundas Murray & JohnReid as well as a syndicate of ten other colonists.
Gawler in around 1869
Adelaide became a model of foresight with wide streets & ample parklands. After Light’s death, it also became a model for numerous other planned towns in South Australia (lots of of which were never built). As the only other town planned by Light, Gawler is dissimilar to Adelaide’s six square mile (2.6 km²) grid; the heart of Gawler is triangular than square, a form dictated by the topographical features. The parkland along the riverbanks as well as 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 & Burra, which resulted in Gawler becoming a resting stop to & from Adelaide. Later, it developed industries including flour milling & manufacturing steam locomotives.
With prosperity came a modest cultural flowering, the high point of which was the holding of a competition to compose an anthem for Australia in 1859, five decades before nationhood. The result was the Song Of Australia, written by Caroline J Carleton to music by Carl Linger. This became, in the next century, a candidate in a national referendum to pick a new National Anthem for Australia to replace God Save the Queen.
Gawler had a horse street tram service from 1879 to 1931.
Culture
Gawler is a commercial centre for the Mid-North districts of South Australia and, increasingly, a dormitory town for Adelaide. The hit Australian television program about the McLeod sisters, McLeod’s Daughters, is shot at “Kingsford”, a working property outside Gawler’s northeastern fringe.
Former Australian cricketer Darren Lehmann was born in Gawler in 1970.
Layout
The housing lots have been arranged in several different directions. This takes into account the stages of development around the suburb. There is a north-south grid orientation around the south-westerly section of the suburb (by the railway station). The shopping precinct along Adelaide Road provides a grid-fashion at approximately 45 degrees to the south-westerly grid. A Housing Trust subdivision was built in the post-World War Two period on the river flats, between the South Para and the Gawler Rivers.
The suburb today
A new subdivision during the 1990s was started on the foothills, adjacent to the South Para River. The shopping precinct is still very commercially viable, extending Gawler’s central business district across the Adelaide Road Bridge (on the South Para River) along an almost one kilometre road length.
Governance
Gawler South is governed at the local level by the Town of Gawler. Gawler South lies in the state electoral district of Light and the federal electoral division of Wakefield.
Things to see
Historic Buildings
Old Bushman Inn
Located on King Street at the northern end of the main town, the Old Bushman Inn (sometimes called the Old Bushman Hotel) was erected by the architect Robert Robertson in the early 1840s. It is widely accepted that the great South Australian explorer, John McDouall Stuart (the man who carved a route from Adelaide to Darwin), stayed in the hotel on his way north. By the 1880s the hotel was the centre of the town’s social life. Today it is a superb example of an early Australian hotel.
Light Square
Just along the road from the Old Bushman Inn is an amusing relic of Colonel Light’s obsession with geometric orthodoxy. Light Square was created on the town plan to be the site for the Church of Scotland. The church was never built but the neat square still stands.
Gawler Congregational Church
Across the square and in Cowan Street heading south-west is the Gawler Congregational Church, a stone and brick quoin building which was completed in 1861. It was to have been completed in 1851 but the gold rush to Victoria reduced the congregation to such a point that even the preacher decided to follow his flock to the goldfields.
Gawler Court House
Across the street (still in Cowan Street) is the Gawler Court House. So obsessive was Colonel Light that he allocated this position for the Court House when he drew up the town plans in 1839. The building was constructed until 1881. It is a typical piece of handsome late Victorian architecture.
St Georges Anglican Church
At the bottom end of Cowan Street, and dominating the streetscape, is St Georges Anglican Church. It is a typical church built by accretion. The foundation stone was laid in 1858, the nave was opened in 1864, the transept and chancel were added in 1885 and the tower was completed in 1909. If you enter the church you notice that on the northern side there is a stained glass window with the Gawler Coat of Arms on it.
St Peter and St Pauls Roman Catholic Church
Continue to the end of Cowan Street and in front of you is the red brick, twin towered Roman Catholic church which was completed in 1897. Now return to the town’s main street, Murray Street.
Pioneer Park
This attractive park is located opposite King Street. It is one example of where Colonel Light’s plan has not come to fruition. Originally planned as the town cemetery it is now a pleasant park in easy reach of the town centre.
H. B. Crosby, Drapers
There is a generation of Australians who remember the ‘flying fox’, a wonderful device which took money from the counter to an accounts section (usually on a mezzanine level) where the change was provided. The change and a receipt then came whizzing back to the counter. By the late 1980s there were only three left in Australia – one in Charters Towers (now in the museum), one in the general store in Winton and this remarkable one in Gawler. It is located on the western side of Murray Street. Fortunately, although it does not suit modern shopping methods, the store owners have recognised the value of their ‘flying fox’. It certainly attracts visitors to the store. Something not to be missed. A unique piece of Australian history. Today H.B. Crosby’s is really ‘time stood still’ stuff. They’ve been filmed by national television because the store is still preserved as a remnant of the 1940s. The building, originally known as Essex House, was constructed in 1905.
Historic Buildings in the Main Street
In two blocks of the main street south of H.B. Crosby’s there are a run of fine public and commercial buildings including the Gawler Institute (1870) which is now the town library. It is notable for its ground level iron balustrade which was the first smelted in South Australia; the Town Hall (1878) a typical impressive Victorian edifice made from local bluestone; the National Australia Bank (1881) which is a typical Italianate style bank of its era; the Old Spot Hotel; the Gawler Post Office (1866) with its clock tower famous for its inaccurate lettering (have a look at the eastern clock and notice that IV should be VI – the blame has been attributed to the clock manufacturers); the Old Telegraph Station (the oldest public building in Gawler dating from 1859); the Kingsford Hotel (1858); the State Bank of South Australia – a Victorian Renaissance building completed in 1911 (well after the Victorian era); and the South End Hotel which dates from 1859. There is an excellent ‘Historic Gawler – A Walking and Cycling Tour’ brochure which includes information on nearly 40 buildings in the town and provides useful maps of both the centre of town and the surrounding area.
Just Driving Around
One of the great appeals of Gawler is to just drive around. There are so many old buildings and interesting locations which are not listed on any historic map and yet are worth finding for yourself. The town truly has an incredible range of old buildings. Typical of these houses in 12 King Street which is not listed in any catalogue of historic houses and yet it captures perfectly the charming historic quality of the town.
Dead Man’s Pass
This decidedly ‘western’ name is the result of Colonel Light and his surveyor discovering a body in a tree when they arrived at this pleasant ford in 1837. Until 1849 it was necessary to cross the ford to enter Gawler. At that time a bridge was built. Located at the southern end of Murray Street it is now a pleasant park beside the river. Ideal for picnics.
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