Walking in the rain at Gawler South

Gawler South and Railway History Walk

The rain had definitely set in when the group of hardy locals and visitors to Gawler met at the Gawler Railway Station on Friday. This area was first known as Basset Town. The proximity to the home and mill of a wealthy resident is thought to be why the station is a considerable distance from the actual town of Gawler.  It was the first of the railway stations in the area. Built in 1857 the station still has the Station Master's two-storey residence attached to the large station building.  Once a very busy industrial area with mills and foundries sending goods to Adelaide, the station was equipped with rooms for refreshment, a bar, baggage and waiting. A separate building now used as a shop, was a post office and parcel office. The undercover central goods platform where the large East-West goods train came through also had its own refreshment room.

Umbrellas up and away, a group of about twentyfive keen walkers then followed leader Adrian Shackley of the Gawler Environment and Heritage Association around the Gawler South streets. Adrian pointed out houses that had belonged to early residents, many of who had made important contributions to the early town. We saw the bluestone kerbing in many streets, night cart lanes, old barns with Willunga slate shingled roofs, examples of cast iron work made in the different foundries and unique in their own designs, visited The Church of the Transfiguration (1895) - built for the more ordinary folk - and we saw several of the Gawler hybrid bottle brush first propogated in 1937. In 1899 Gawler South formed its own council area. Adrian told us that a survey done recently had counted over 300 stone walls throughout Gawler, several of these were along our walk. Bluestone that came from nearby quarries was used extensively in buildings. We made our way back to the station for a welcoming cuppa and cake in the Gawler Community Gallery now in the Station Master's House. There is nothing quite like a walk around your local area with a guide to make you see and hear how very special it is to the history of South Australia.