Davenport Olives: The original grove at Palmer and later at Beaumont House in the Adelaide Hills Region of South Australia

They're so common when driving around the city's parklands that many of us have probably never stopped to consider the fascinating history associated with the olive groves of Adelaide. From the parklands at Gilberton to the groves adjacent to one of Adelaide oldest and most prominent buildings - the Adelaide Gaol - olive trees are scattered throughout the green spaces set aside by Colonel William Light.

But they weren't Light's vision. Sir Samuel Davenport deserves much of the credit for the introduction of the humble olive into South Australia. It's at a little known heritage-listed olive grove on the outskirts of Palmer near Mannum that Davenport's experiment took shape. It contains trees sourced from the olive groves of the Duke of Wellington in Spain.

Now Edward Vercoe harvests the fruit from the grove first planted in the 1870s by a man who had a vision for the emerging colony of South Australia. Edward Vercoe explains:

“He obviously had a big picture of olives in this area and this is actually an experimental block that he initially planted to see how they went. We believe it’s one of the oldest operational blocks in Australia. He had an idea of the ‘three golds’ for South Australia - the gold of the grain, the gold of the grape and the gold of the olive.”

Now the golden juice of olives from the Palmer grove forms the basis of Edward Vercoe's Cicada Sir Samuel Davenport range. It's the rekindling of an old visionary's dream and allows South Australians to taste the oil from some of the first trees planted in the State.

But the story of the once discarded olive grove extends across the hills to the leafy suburbs of Adelaide and Beaumont House. Once the residence of Adelaide's first Anglican Archbishop, Bishop Short, it was later purchased by Sir Samuel Davenport who added the most intriguing touches like the Italianate veranda.

As Rainer Jozeps of the National Trust explains, it’s more reminiscent of Tuscany or Umbria than colonial Australia.

“Samuel Davenport was a great world traveller. He was very much involved in the world exposition movement. Every two years there were big world expos happening in different cities around the world. And he would travel to every one of these expos so he became a defacto Commissioner for South Australia."

"And he was very much involved in putting on displays particularly of the olive oil that he was very interested in producing here. I'm sure that the influences that he picked up in all of his travels are reflected here in Beaumont House.”

Early photos show Davenport's city address well before the suburbs of Beaumont and Burnside spread over the nearby hills. And so too did the obligatory olive trees which form a part of these historic grounds.

Beaumont House is at 631 Glynburn Road, Beaumont. And for a taste of Sir Samuel Davenport's dream keep an eye out for the Cicada range. It's on sale at various outlets including The Providore Stall in the Central Market and the Hyde Park Gourmet Supermarket. If you have any further questions please email info@postcards.sa.com.au