Gawler

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title: "Gawler" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["gawler,-south-australia", "suburbs-of-adelaide", "towns-in-south-australia", "1836-establishments-in-australia"] topic_path: "geography/australia" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gawler" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox Australian place"]

FieldValue
typetown
nameGawler
statesa
imageGawler primary school.jpg
captionGawler Primary School
lgaTown of Gawler
postcode5118
alternative_location_mapAustralia SA metro Adelaide
pushpin_map_captionLocation in greater metropolitan Adelaide
coordinates
pop
est1839
elevation75
maxtemp22.4
mintemp10.3
rainfall440.3
stategovLight
fedgovSpence
dist140
dir1N
location1Adelaide city centre
near-nWillaston
near-neWillaston
near-eGawler East
near-seGawler East
near-sGawler South
near-swWillaston
near-wWillaston
near-nwWillaston
footnotesAdjoining localities
::

| type = town | name = Gawler | state = sa | image = Gawler primary school.jpg | caption = Gawler Primary School | lga = Town of Gawler | postcode = 5118 | alternative_location_map = Australia SA metro Adelaide | pushpin_map_caption = Location in greater metropolitan Adelaide | coordinates = | pop = | est = 1839 | elevation = 75 | maxtemp = 22.4 | mintemp = 10.3 | rainfall = 440.3 | stategov = Light | fedgov = Spence | dist1 = 40 | dir1 = N | location1 = Adelaide city centre | near-n = Willaston | near-ne = Willaston | near-e = Gawler East | near-se = Gawler East | near-s = Gawler South | near-sw = Willaston | near-w = Willaston | near-nw = Willaston |footnotes=Adjoining localities Gawler, established in 1839, is the oldest country town in the state of South Australia. It was named after the second Governor (British Vice-Regal representative) of the colony of South Australia, George Gawler. It is about 40 - 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 two tributaries of the Gawler River, the North and South Para rivers, where they emerge from a range of low hills.

Historically a semi-rural area, Gawler has been swept up in Adelaide's growth in recent years, and is now counted as a suburb in the Outer Metro region of the Greater Adelaide Planning Region. The town had a population of 28,562 in the 2021 Census.

History

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Gawler_around_1869.jpg" caption="Gawler in around 1869"] ::

The Kaurna people are indigenous to the Adelaide Plains. 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 or £2.47 per hectare).

The township of Gawler was established to cater for travellers to the mid-north of the colony, and in 1840 consisted of "a very good inn, one public house, police barracks, two smiths shops, six dwelling-houses, and thirty-four inhabitants". A 4000 acre special survey was applied for by Stephen King, H. Dundas Murray, and a syndicate of ten other colonists. The survey for Murray's syndicate was carried out in 1839 by William Jacob for the firm of Light, Finniss, & Company, of which Col. William Light (died 6 October 1839) was a founder. By 1842 Gawler had a main thoroughfare named Murray Street, and a town square named Light Square.

Thanks to Colonel Light, Adelaide was a model of foresight with wide streets and ample parklands. After Light's death, it became a model for numerous other planned towns in South Australia (many of which were never built). Gawler is dissimilar to Adelaide's one square mile (2.6 km²) grid; the heart of Gawler is triangular rather than square, a form dictated by the topographical features. The parkland along the riverbanks and a Victorian preference for public squares are present, but Gawler was a village, not a metropolis. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Gawler_Murray_Street_in_2018.jpg" caption="Modern-day Murray Street in Gawler, 2018"] ::

Gawler prospered early with the discovery of copper nearby at Kapunda and Burra, which resulted in Gawler becoming a resting stop to and from Adelaide. Later, it developed industries including flour milling by Hilfers & Co, and the engineering works of James Martin & Co manufactured agricultural machinery, mining and ore-processing machinery and smelters for the mines of Broken Hill and the Western Australian goldfields, and steam locomotives and rolling stock. May Brothers & Co. also manufactured mining and agricultural machinery.

With prosperity came a modest cultural flowering, ("The colonial Athens" was its nickname in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), the high point of which was the holding of a competition to compose an anthem for Australia in 1859, four decades before nationhood. The result was the Song Of Australia, written by Caroline Carleton to music by Carl Linger. This became, in the next century, a candidate in a national referendum to choose a new National Anthem for Australia to replace God Save the Queen.

Gawler had a horse street tram service from 1879 to 1931.

|type= Australia |1921|1776 |1933|1676 |1947|2328 |1954|2473 |1961|5639 |1966|6645 |1971|6959 |1976|8596 |1981|9433 |1986|11354 |1991|13835 |1996|15484 |2001|16779 |2006|20006 |2011|23957 |2016|26472 |2021|28562 |source=Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

Deadman's Pass

Boyle Travers Finniss recounts an incident during Colonial Light's travels before the Gawler survey. While camping at the Gawler river, they stumbled upon a deceased man buried upright and coated in clay. The tale circulating in Adelaide attributes the man's demise to a party led by Mr. Berhard. Allegedly, while travelling north with a dray, a distressed man emerged from the scrub west of the road and collapsed from hunger and thirst near the Gawler river ford. Despite efforts to save him, he succumbed shortly after encountering the party. They interred him in a tree and covered him in clay to protect his body from wild dogs, dubbing the tree "dead man's tree." The site, known as deadman's pass, lies at the southern end of Murray Street near the river.

Culture

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/McKinlay_Monument,_Gawler,_South_Australia.jpg" caption="McKinlay Monument, Gawler"] ::

Gawler is a commercial centre for the Mid-North districts of South Australia.

Gawler regularly hosts stages of the annual cycling race, the Tour Down Under.

The annual show, named the Gawler Show, was established in 1856 and is South Australia's largest country show. Show attendances regularly attract an estimated 30,000 people over the weekend. The Gawler Show has won the Gawler Australia Day Award for Community Event of the Year in 2010 and 2017.

The Gawler Police XI (The Gawler Police are one of the oldest stations in Australia, as they have been on Cowan Street, Gawler continuously since 1842) play against a Salvation Army All-Stars team made up of local civic and business leaders in an annual community charity cricket match for the Hope Cup The 2022 Hope Cup match raised more than $40,000 to assist the homeless population in the community. The match is played at Curdnatta Park (Sandy Creek) which is considered one of the most picturesque cricket grounds in all of South Australia. The Bunyip Newspaper (The oldest regional newspaper in South Australia), awards the Bunyip Medal to the player in the game who best displays the spirit of the Hope Cup on and off the field. The Hope Cup Cricket Match won the Gawler Australia Day Award for Community Event of the Year in 2023 Australian cricket legend Darren Lehmann launched the 2nd Hope Cup at a formal dinner in August 2023 The Gawler Police XI won the Hope Cup in 2022 and retained it in 2023 The 2024 Hope Cup was launched by International Stars, Darcie Brown and Henry Olonga in June 2024 The All-Stars won in November 2024 with Federal Member for Spence Matt Burnell MP as part of the team the Cup was presented after the game by 2024 AFL Sir Douglas Nicholls Honoree Sonny Morey. The 2025 Hope Cup was launched by Cricket legend Ian Chappell while the South Australian Government Premiers Department invested a further $10,000 into the Hope Cup.

Transport

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/TransAdelaideRailwayMap.svg" caption="A map of the [[TransAdelaide]] railway network."] ::

Gawler is just over forty kilometres north of Adelaide city centre along Main North Road. Main North Road was the historic road to the Mid North region of South Australia. North of Gawler, the road is now known as the Horrocks Highway. The Sturt Highway runs northeast from the north side of Gawler, leading to Nuriootpa, the Riverland, Mildura and Sydney. The Barossa Valley Way runs east from the centre of Gawler into the Barossa Valley, and was the original route of the Sturt Highway. The Thiele Highway leads north between the Horrocks and Sturt Highways to Freeling, Kapunda and Morgan. The Northern Expressway is a new highway to the southwest providing a bypass of Gawler as part of the North–South Corridor, Adelaide which will eventually provide a non-stop road from south of Adelaide to Nuriootpa.

Gawler railway station was the terminus of the railway from Adelaide from 1857. The railway was extended to Kapunda in 1860. Gawler became a junction station when a branch was constructed into the Barossa Valley in 1911. This is the line that provides the Gawler Oval and Gawler Central (originally named North Gawler) railway stations in Gawler. Neither lines are now used beyond Gawler and Gawler Central is now the terminus of the metropolitan rail services from Adelaide.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Tram_Bridge,_Gawler_B-19378.jpeg" caption="Horse Tram crossing the bridge in Gawler"] ::

Gawler's horse-drawn tram service opened in 1879. It operated for both goods and passengers from the railway station along what is now Nineteenth Street (then known as part of Murray Street) and Murray Street (the town's main street) to a terminus near where the Gawler Central station is now. It passed the James Martin & Co engineering factory, providing a convenient way to deliver heavy equipment such as locomotives manufactured there. Broad gauge locomotives were taken directly on the tramway, narrow gauge were transported on specially-built flat-bed trucks. There were also sidings at May Brothers and Company, Roedigers, and Dowson's Mill. The tram closed in 1931 replaced by a bus, and the tracks lifted soon after.

The tram route is now part of Adelaide Metro bus route number 491.

The Gawler aerodrome is an airport serving the town of Gawler. It was built in 1941 and was used as a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) base, before now becoming the home of the Adelaide Soaring Club and the Gawler Airfield Squadron of the Australian Air League.

Racing

Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club

Horse racing began in Gawler in the 1840s, very early in the history of the town. A racecourse in the vicinity of Gawler South was soon established and the principal race of the state was held there in the latter part of the decade. It did not follow the circular layout that is almost universal in Australia but was straight: horses had to sprint to the end of the track, go around a post and race back to the winning post.

In the early 1880s, after a slump in racing, there was a revival and the present-day racecourse at Evanston was first used. The race club was inaugurated in 1883. In 1901, the racecourse was purchased for £1500.

During the Second World War, all race meetings were held in Adelaide, due mainly to a military camp being set up at Evanston.

Following some amalgamations with other clubs, the Gawler & Barossa Jockey Club was incorporated in 1971.

In 1992, the Controlling Body reduced the distribution of Totalisator Agency Board profits, which caused hardship to provincial and country clubs. In the late 1990s, the club was earmarked for closure; however, it persisted and it now describes itself as "progressive".

Greyhounds

The Gawler Greyhound Racing Club hold greyhound racing meetings at the Showgrounds on Nixon Terrace. The Club held its first meeting on 12 July 1971.

Notable people

Notes

References

References

  1. "Search result for " Gawler (Suburb)" (Record no SA0025581) with the following layers selected – "Suburbs and Localities" and "Local Government Areas"". [[Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure]].
  2. [http://shawfactor.com/gazetteer/south-australia/gawler/ History of Gawler] 'Shawfactors'
  3. [http://livingadelaide.sa.gov.au/ Welcome to The 30-Year Plan for Greater Adelaide] SA Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  4. (23 September 2019). "Local Aboriginal Culture".
  5. (24 July 1841). "Official Returns of the Country Sections Cultivated ... for the year 1840". [[South Australian Register]].
  6. (7 April 1950). "Murray St. Was Named After His Grandfather.". [[The Bunyip]].
  7. (14 May 1909). "A Gawler Pioneer". [[The Bunyip]].
  8. (12 October 1901). "Our Illustrations". [[The Evening Journal (Adelaide)]].
  9. (15 January 1927). "Gawler: The Colonial Athens". [[The Observer (Adelaide)]].
  10. (24 June 1842). "Advertising". [[Southern Australian]].
  11. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article92302648 Australasian Institute of Mining Engineers visit to Gawler] ''South Australian Chronicle'', 15 April 1893. Pp 7–8. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  12. [http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article42985131 New Council Chambers, Gawler] ''South Australian Register'' 18 April 1878 p.6 accessed 10 March 2011
  13. [[Australian Railway History. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin]], August/September 1950 pp55-56/75-76
  14. "Statistics by Catalogue Number". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  15. "Search Census data". Australian Bureau of Statistics.
  16. The Romance of Place Names of South Australia, Geoffrey.H.Manning, 1986, p.54.
  17. "Nowandthen.net.au".
  18. (14 January 2021). "Australia Day Community Event of the Year".
  19. Roulston, Stan. (2009). "Glimpses of Gawler and District". Rotary.
  20. Simpkins, Brendan. (29 June 2022). "Blues V Reds". The Bunyip.
  21. SIMPKINS, Brendan. (7 December 2022). "Gawler Police Fill their Cup". The Bunyip Newspaper.
  22. Capel, Andrew. (23 March 2022). "SA's most picturesque cricket grounds".
  23. (4 January 2023). "Gawler Australia Day Awards".
  24. Simpkins, Brendan. (30 August 2023). "Lehmann launches second annual Hope Cup". The Bunyip.
  25. Curtis, Aidan. (22 November 2023). "Police go back-to-back in Hope Cup". The Bunyip.
  26. Curtis, Aidan. (15 May 2024). "Charity Match Eyes off a Hat Trick". The Bunyip.
  27. Curtis, Aidan. (20 November 2024). "Hope Cup Winners All Stars to Successful Skipper". The Bunyip Newspaper.
  28. Curtis, Aidan. (13 November 2024). "Three-peat or maiden win? Hope Cup Teams set to do battle for charity". The Bunyip Newspaper.
  29. Lennon, Ben. (13 August 2025). "Hope Cup More Than A Game". The Bunyip Newspaper.
  30. (December 1982). "Gawler Tramway". Trolley Wire Magazine.
  31. (December 1982). "Gawler Tramway". Trolley Wire Magazine.
  32. (9 May 1931). "Gawler Landmark". [[The Mail (Adelaide)]].
  33. "Route 491 – Hewett Circuit".
  34. "Adelaide Soaring Club Inc {{!}} Adelaide Soaring Club Inc".
  35. (2025-12-17). "Australian Air League – Fun, Friendship, Flying".
  36. Behen, Kay. (2025). "Gawler Barossa Jockey Club".
  37. "Track Details". Gawler Greyhounds.
  38. "Gawler in 1971". History of Greyhound Racing.
  39. Laidlaw, Robert. (2020). "Sonny". Finsbury Green.

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gawler,-south-australiasuburbs-of-adelaidetowns-in-south-australia1836-establishments-in-australia