Heritage South Australia

The Coober Pedy Opal Festival, running 13th-15th June, is celebrating its 37th year. The festival celebrates Coober Pedy’s heritage, community and local businesses.
The three-day festival has many events including a free guided walk organised by the Coober Pedy Historical Society.

Find out more here: https://www.opalfestival.com.au/

Two State Heritage Place in Coober Pedy are preserved dugouts. The first is a ‘Three-roomed dugout, including the ground within two metres of the dugout space’, confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 2001. The other is the Coober Pedy Catholic Church & Presbytery, confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1980. Reputed to be the first Underground church in Australia, the church opened in June, 1967.

On Antakirinja Matu-Yankunytjatjara Country.

Image: DEW Files. Three-roomed dugout, c.2002 & Coober Pedy Catholic Church & Presbytery, n.d.

On this day 2nd June 1973, the Festival Theatre was opened by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. The Festival Theatre is just one aspect of the Adelaide Festival Centre State Heritage Place, confirmed in the SA Heritage Register in 1997.

The multi-purpose Festival Theatre was built to seat nearly 2000 people and is Adelaide’s largest proscenium theatre. Overall, the Adelaide Festival Centre gives the Arts in South Australia a tangible form and signifies an era of development for South Australia’s cultural profile.

On Kaurna Country

Image: Artwork of the construction of the Adelaide Festival Theatre by Mervyn Smith, 1973. State Library of South Australia, PRG 1678/23/9/7A.

On this day, 30th May 1863, the furnaces of the Brompton Gasworks, 1 - 21 Chief Street, Brompton, were fired for the first time.

The Brompton Gasworks was confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 2018 and demonstrate South Australia's industrial development from 1863 to 1964. The Brompton Gasworks are the only surviving former 19th and early 20th century coal carbonisation gasworks industrial site in SA, highlighting an industry no longer practiced today. They also have a special association with what became the SA Gas Co, an organisation of historic importance to South Australia.

On Kaurna Country
Image: S.A. Gas Co's works, c. 1900. State Library of South Australia B-21543

The Barr Smith Library – University of Adelaide, North Terrace was confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1982.

The Library itself is the main library for the now Adelaide University and was constructed between 1932-33, using money gifted from the Barr Smith Family in memory of Robert Barr Smith. In his life, he had bequeathed several large sums of money to purchase books for the University of Adelaide. The Library building was designed in the Georgian Revival Style by the architecture firm Woods, Bagot, Laybourne-Smith and Irwin and is a direct evolution of the University’s Mitchell Building.

On Kaurna Country
Image: Barr Smith Library Exterior and Reading Room, 1932. State Library of South Australia, B-7831-1 & B-7831-2

This week is the last week of South Australia’s History Festival and we are continuing to feature events. Today we highlight ‘Secrets of the Strathalbyn Clock Tower’, Saturday 30th & Sunday 31st May, 10am-3pm. This guided tour highlights graffiti and associated stories from the last 130 years within the church’s tower.
St Andrew's Uniting (former Presbyterian) Church, Alfred Street, Strathalbyn was confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1983. The Church was completed c.1869 and was designed in the Gothic Revival style. It is significant in the early settlement and character of Strathalbyn and the clock in the Church’s bell tower is a notable inclusion of the church.

Find out more here: https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/events/secrets-of-the-strathalbyn-clock-tower/

Image: St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Strathalbyn c.1900. State Library of South Australia, B-74699

On this day, 23rd May 1883, the cast-iron and poly-chrome brick gates of the Adelaide Zoo opened for the first time.

The Main gates and walling - Adelaide Zoo, Frome Road, were confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1986 and were built in 1882-83. These main gates are illustrative of the development of the Adelaide Zoo. Several other State Heritage Places are integral parts of the Adelaide Zoo, including the Rotunda, Administration Building (Former Director’s Dwelling), the Elephant House and the Head Keepers Cottage.

On Kaurna Country
Image: DEW Files, 2003

Salem Baptist Church, 30 Victoria Street, Gumeracha, was built in 1846 and was one of the first Baptist Churches built in South Australia. it is currently the oldest Baptist Church in the State continuously used for such a purpose, approaching its 180th year of operation. It is also one of the earliest buildings constructed in the Gumeracha area.

On Kaurna Country
Image: DEW Files, No date.

The Torrens Island Quarantine Station Complex, 114 Grand Trunkway, Torrens Island, was confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 1993. It was established in 1855 as the first line of defence against the transmission of infectious diseases into the colony and is associated with human and animal quarantine practices in South Australia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It demonstrates the standardisation of quarantine legislation and innovations in medical sciences and disease control at the turn of the twentieth century and provides a unique insight into the experience of thousands of migrants arriving by sea.

Bookings have opened once again for seasonal tours of the Torrens Island Quarantine Station. Find out more here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1569465

On Kaurna Country
Image: Quarantine Station, Torrens Island. State Library of South Australia, B-4071.

We’re continuing to highlight events for the South Australian History Festival. Today we highlight “Rolling Up Their Sleeves: Tanunda Town Walk”. This walk, starting at Tanunda Community CWA Hall, takes visitors along Tanunda’s historic main street to share stories of the women who created the Barossa Cookery Book.
The Barossa Cookery Book was created by the women of the Barossa in 1917 during WW1 and has continued to evolve for greater than 100 years. Originating at the State heritage listed Former Tanunda Institute, 28 Murray Street, Tanunda, the Barossa Cookery Book is still available for purchase and is now in its 35th Edition and includes 1000 recipes.

Find out more here: https://festival.history.sa.gov.au/events/rolling-up-their-sleeves-tanunda-town-walk/

On Ngadjuri Country
Image: Cover of The Barossa Cookery Book 35th Edition (2019), Barossa Regional Gallery.

Bethany Pioneer Cemetery, 197 Bethany Road, Bethany, was confirmed as a State Heritage Place in 2002.
Bethany Pioneer Cemetery is the oldest Lutheran cemetery in the Barossa Valley and it serves as a record of and a memorial to the pioneer Lutheran families who were some of the first settlers in this area of the Barossa. Much of the Cemetery is associated with settlement sponsored by English businessman and banker, George Fife Angas during the 1840s.

On Ngadjuri Country.
Image: DEW Files, 2000.