Gawler - Light's Country Town
with Keith ConlonGawler's Jubilee 150 history is called 'Col Light's Country Town' and on Postcards I hit its historical trail to find out why.
From the castle turret like tower of St George's Anglican Church you can see the geography that convinced Adelaide's founder that he should recommend this as the site of its first country town.
The North and South Para Rivers emerge from the hills rising off the Adelaide Plains and fork together. Light's plan for Gawler, complete with parklands, sits in that triangle.
In January, 1839, Light's Barossa survey party had camped at Dead Man's Pass (yes, the rumour was true - they discovered a pioneers body sealed into a tree with clay). By the end of that year, Light had planned the town, his survey firm had laid it out and the first pioneer families had arrived by bullock dray.
Today, Gawler is a growing country town/commuter suburb, and as we discovered in its excellent historical trial, rich past has seen it called the gateway to the north, a colonial Athens, and an engineering marvel. It was given the name of Governor George Gawler, South Australia's second Governor.
There's a memorial window for him in St George's. It reminds us that he was a war hero, leading an infantry charge for the Duke of Wellington at Waterloo.
The Church sits, as Light planned, in one of three squares in the quick, historic and picturesque Church Hill district. Orleana Square commemorates the ship that brought several families to the young colony. The Reids, for instance, took three days to reach their new land grant by bullock wagon - today, visitors from the city make the 40 kilometre journey north in about an hour.
Church Hill is now by passed by the traffic and commerce. Several churches, the old courthouse and school, and Victorian era cottages and houses make it a delightful detour. The well documented walking trail takes heritage seekers past the Union Mill (a reminder of Gawler's 'granary of the province' days), the polychromatic brick mansion, Tortola House, (with distinctive locally cast iron lace) and the deep shadowy riverside glade of Moreton Bay Fig trees (planted by young Dr. Richard Schomburgk) before he became the legendary Botanic Gardens Director).
The marble stature of James Martin looks down on lunch-time strollers on the South Para., He's known as 'The Father of Gawler'. As the fiftieth anniversary testimonial read, he saw the town grow "from a bush hamlet to one of the largest and most picturesque towns in Australia".
That was in good past because his Phoenix Foundry once covered 18 acres and employed 700 men. It produced thousands of Ridley wheat-strippers and agricultural machinery, mining machinery for Kalgoorlie's Golden Mile and more than 250 steam locomotives for the expanding railway system. No. 245, and F Class engine still bearing the "James Martin" and "Gawler" manufacturer's plate is back in the Gawler parklands after travelling a million miles on the state's rail system.
Come December, 1999, it will be a century since James Martin died. Within a few years, drought, depression and the rise of the Islington rail workshops saw his foundry close. Gawler entered a quieter half century, before its commuter area role began.
The signs of a premier and prosperous country town area all up and down Murray Street, Gawler's commercial and shopping centre. Once, everybody heading anywhere north of the town on the map of South Australia siphoned through here.
As townsfolk returned from the Victorian goldfields - often with a good result - Gawler entered its richly cultured phase, earning the description, a 'Colonial Athens'. It was also the home of a group of intellectual larrikins who formed the famous Humbug Society.
An hilarious set of rules concocted upstairs in the Kingsford Hotel included the formal oath, "Flam Bam Sham!" They published a satirical newspaper, "The Bunyip", reckoned to strike terror into the hearts of high flying poo-bahs uttering hoo-haÖbub, instead, its first edition earned them a defamation suit. "The Bunyip" is still the town newspaper, operated by direct descendants of its founder William Barnet.
Gawler's commercial past is on parade in Murray Street. Its early pub, The Old Spot, was once held up by bushrangers. The Old Telegraph Station, with Post Office Tower next door, dates from 1859. It is a sign of early prosperity.
The strands of history came together to create a rich tapestry at the Town hall and Institute, side by side. The coat of arms takes us back to 1839 - it is Governor Gawler's. The industrial marvel of the town's foundries is represented in the iron fence of The Institute; it was cast here and presented by several times Mayor, the same James Martin.
The heritage trail sign outside the Institute trumpets Gawler's reputation last century as the "Colonial Athens". The Institute is now the town library, and in its lofty reading room, it's easy to imagine the era when it was the areas continuous festival of arts and education.
The Gawler Institute ran a national competition in 1859 for a national song - the early stirring's of federation - and so was born "The Song of Australia".
The words of Caroline Carleton and Carl Linger's melody were first sung at the Gawler Institute. Th e 140th Anniversary rendition will ring out across Gawler just before Christmas this year.
Gawler is justifiably proud of its town and country mix today. Its heritage trail is among the best there is anywhere, and the library and the town's regional visitor centre (just off Murray Street on the road to the Barossa Valley) would love to give you a walk brochure and extra guidance.
REFERENCES:
Gawler Colonel Light's Country Town, by Dr Derek Whitelock, published 1989 by the Corporation of the Town of Gawler.Reader's Digest Book of Historic Australian Country Towns published 1982.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Gawler Visitor Centre
Phone: 8522 6814
Email: visitor.centre@gawler.sa.gov.au
Web Site: www.gawler.sa.gov.au
