ASHTON
Ashton was named by an early landowner, George Hunt of Teringie, Norton Summit, in 1858 for his birthplace of Ashton, Northamptonshire, England. A subdivision of nine workmen’s allotments was laid-out by Hunt in 1869 along the Main Eastern (now Lobethal) Road by Hunt. Allotment 1, at the road intersection, formed the basis of the original township and remains the focal point for the township. By the 1890s Ashton had a general store and butcher, post office, church, Rechabite Hall and a scattering of houses, vegetable and fruit gardens. A cooperative cold store was built near Ashton in 1947 by local fruit and vegetable growers. Most of the orchards have now gone, so to be replaced by vineyards growing wine grapes. In addition to the gardening properties, Ashton has been home to two well-known nursery businesses, Ross Roses (originally operated as Messrs Bishop & Ross) and Weald View Gardens (fuchsias).
BASKET RANGE
The origin of the name Basket Range is uncertain but it is probably descriptive of the local landscape in which a large basin, dissected by watercourses, is surrounded by tiers of hills. The name was first used in Council Rate Assessments in 1856 but was not consistently used until about 1890. For much of this time, the area was generally referred to as Deep Creek, the name of a local watercourse. Geographically, Basket Range is a north-south ridge that runs from Deep Creek in the north to Greenhill Road in the south. This ridge is in the centre of a large area that is completely encircled by hills that form a pound or ‘basket’.
It has also been suggested that the name is derived from the practice of German settlers from the Hartz Mountains, probably at Lobethal or German Flat (near Lenswood), who in the 1840-1850s carried their produce to market in Adelaide in large wicker baskets mounted on their backs. The main route from Lobethal to Adelaide, known as the Bullock Track, passed through the area. By the 1920s, Basket Range township had a church (1881), school (1885), post office and a motor garage. A white marble World War I memorial was erected by the community in 1919 at the main road intersection. Other notable sites at Basket Range include the superb Heritage-listed stone arch bridge on Deep Creek (constructed in 1867), Basket Range Stone Quarries, a community-owned hall (1964) and CFS facility, a superb Royal Windsor Oak tree (planted at the school in 1937 to commemorate the coronation of King George VI), and Camelot Restaurant, a castle-like building built in 1936. Basket Range was once one of the largest cherry-growing areas in Australia and in the early 1950s staged a number of Cherry Blossom Festivals.
CAREY GULLY
Originally known as Carey’s Gully or Paddy Carey’s Gully, this township was reputedly named by (or for) Patrick (Paddy) Carey whose identity remains a mystery. No person by this name held a timber-cutting licence or owned land in the area. It has been suggested that ‘Paddy Carey’ might have some association with Irish folklore. The area, originally referred to as Forest (or Forrest) Road, was first settled by timber-cutters but was developed in the 1860s for market gardens and fruit orchards. Carey Gully has never had a discreet township site but houses were built in proximity to the church and the general store, located about 1.5 km apart. Fruit is grown yet at Carey Gully, in particular strawberries, apples, cherries and wine grapes.
CHERRYVILLE
An early resident, Samuel Bungay, reputedly named this locality after the Native Cherry (Exocarpos cupressiformis), which was abundant in the area. This is one of the steepest parts of the Adelaide Hills Council district with the large Sixth Creek valley located below the township. The area was first settled in the early 1850s by stockholders and timber-cutters such as the Bungay and Merchant families who later developed fruit orchards there. The name Cherryville was first used in about 1892 before when the area was generally simply known as Sixth Creek. Prior to the Black Sunday bushfires of January 1955, Cherryville was a large cherry-growing district. A few fruit orchards, producing cherries and plums, remain. The small township once had a church (built in 1899), school (at first known as Marble Hill Public School), and store/post office.
CASTAMBUL
Castambul is a locality on Gorge Road near Batchelor and Corkscrew roads. Castambul was the name of a grazing property owned by pastoralist Price Maurice (1818-1894) and was named for Kastamonu in northern Turkey. An old cottage on Batchelor Road, dating from about 1856 was the head-station homestead. Maurice had extensive ‘runs’ on Eyre Peninsula and in the Gawler Ranges. Price Maurice’s Castambul and Fourth Creek stations covered 6380 acres (2580 ha). He introduced and bred Angora goats from Kastamonu in northern Turkey. The Castambul estate was sold following Price Maurice’s death.
GREENHILL
Greenhill takes its name from Green’s Hill, the prominent hill above Burnside over which the original line of the Greenhill Road passed prior to being rerouted in 1855-1857. (Green’s Hill is now within Greenhill Recreation Park). The identity of the person for whom the hill was named has not been determined. When James Warland of Burnside took up land in the area for grazing in the 1860s his property was described as being ‘on the Green-hill road’.
Some of the land at Greenhill was subdivided for a housing development in the 1950s and the name Greenhill was given to the subdivision. Much of the remainder of what was Warland’s property and that of Sir Samuel Davenport on the southern side of Greenhill Road now forms part of Cleland Conservation Park. Greenhill’s best known historic building is the Wine Shanty. Originally a house, dating from about 1860, it became a licensed shop in 1875. It was operated by Mrs Elizabeth Brewer until 1886 and then by her son, William. The licence passed to the Kent family who traded until 1915. The Kents were also associated with View Point (opposite the wine shop), the ruins of which remain in Cleland Conservation Park.
MONTACUTE and MONTACUTE HEIGHTS
This locality was named for Montacute, Somerset, by pastoralist and businessman Hon. John Baker (1812-1872). Baker was from South Petherton, Somerset but his association with Montacute or Montacute House, if any, is not known. The name Montacute was originally applied to a copper mine on Sixth Creek with which Baker was associated in 1843. The discovery of copper was followed by a gold find in 1846, reputedly the first in Australia. The gold rush was short-lived and ended with the discovery of gold in eastern Australia. Many of the old shafts and adits and the mine captain’s residence (on Corkscrew Road) remain as reminders of this early mining era.
Montacute developed in two discreet sections, on either side of the ridge that separates Fifth and Sixth creeks, with road access being along the Torrens Gorge and Fifth Creek, respectively. A tortuous, steep road known as Corkscrew Road linked the two areas. A feature on that road is a waterwheel that powered a sawmill. The mill cut timbers for the post and rail fencing for the construction of Gorge Road in the early 1920s. Orchards and gardens developed at Montacute after the gold mining period and it remains a fruit growing area producing cherries and other stone fruits and lemons. The scattered township included two churches, a general store and post office, a public school and an institute. St Paul’s Anglican Church, erected in 1885, was rebuilt after being burnt in the Black Sunday bushfires of January 1955. Many of the areas old buildings no longer serve their original purpose; probably the oldest surviving public building, the simple stone Wesleyan Chapel, dating from 1862, is now a private residence.
MARBLE HILL
Marble Hill is a locality just to the south of Cherryville. It is best known as the site of the former summer residence for the Governor of South Australia, built in 1878-1880. The name of the hill on which the residence was built was known as Marble Hill from about 1867. It was probably mistakenly given the name in the belief that the white quartz that occurs in the area was marble. The impressive Victorian Gothic residence and its ornamental gardens were destroyed by the Black Sunday fires of 2 January 1955. The residence has since been maintained as a ruin although the National trust of South Australia undertook the rebuilding of the coach-house and sections of the main residence. The property is now privately-owned and is being restored. Close by Marble Hill was the residence of Sir Richard Chaffey Baker (1841-1911), first President of the Senate, 1901-1906. His house, The Bungalow, was also destroyed by the Black Sunday bushfires.
MOUNT LOFTY
The summit of Mount Lofty, at 727m above sea level, was named by British navigator Matthew Flinders in 1802. The summit has been a drawcard to visitors from the first days of settlement and by 1840, a cairn and flagpole had been put in place. An obelisk built in 1885 acted as a shipping navigational aid and it became a memorial to Flinders on the centenary of his sighting, 22 March 1902. The tablet was unveiled by the Governor, Hallam Lord Tennyson. A kiosk was also built at the summit to provide refreshments for visitors including those brought on the popular Tourist Bureau tours of the Adelaide Hills. The kiosk was burnt in the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983. The Mount Lofty summit ridge became a popular place for well-to-do Adelaide families to build a summer retreat and some grand homes resulted. Many of these were damaged in the 1983 bushfires including Mount Lofty House, built by lawyer, pastoralist and land developer Arthur Hardy in 1855-56, which was restored as a function facility. Adjoining Mount Lofty House is Mount Lofty Botanic Garden. In 1948 the Adelaide Botanic Gardens sought a hills location where temperate higher altitude plants could be established; planting commenced in 1959 and the gardens opened to the public in 1977.
NORTON SUMMIT
Norton Summit derives its name from an early resident, Robert Norton (1809-1891), who settled here in the late 1830s. The locality was originally known as the Company’s Tiers, then as Grassy Flat and from the 1860s as Norton’s Summit. Timber was processed here at a mill owned by The South Australian Company (hence the name Company’s Tiers).
By 1851 another settler, William Henry Sutton, had reputedly established a licenced house where the steep road from Third Creek reaches the ridge; he called the location Sutton’s Summit. This story is doubtful as he did not obtain a wine licence until 1866 and his Scenic Hotel was not licenced until 1873 by when the name Norton’s Summit was in general use. Local folklore suggests that friendly rivalry ensued, perhaps somewhat calmed by Sutton’s son marrying Norton’s daughter.
A discreet township developed at Norton Summit with a hotel, general store and post office, blacksmith, butcher, churches, two private schools (and later a Government school), and the East Torrens District Council’s chambers (built in 1902).
Three Premiers of South Australia lived here – Hon. John Baker (Premier 1857), Hon. Thomas Playford (Premier 1887-89, 1890-92) and Hon. Sir Thomas Playford (Premier 1938-1965).
Two significant properties developed at Norton Summit in the mid-1840s; Charles Giles’ Grove Hill orchard and nursery, and John and Isabella Baker’s Morialta (see Morialta), an extensive grazing property and vineyard. Features of Norton Summit include the picturesque, steep orchards in the Third Creek gully below the township, the beautiful hilltop St John’s Anglican Church (built 1873), Summit Community Centre and statue of Sir Thomas Playford, Scenic Hotel, war memorial and CFS facility.
PICCADILLY
It has long been assumed that the name was derived from Piccadilly, London. However, present opinion is that it is derived from a Kaurna word that sounds very much like ‘Piccadilly’.
Local lore relates that in about 1853 Emma Young (wife of a local gardener, John George Young) named the area for Piccadilly, London (her family lived at Kensington). A second claimant for this same origin is Mary Jones, a young English cook employed at Arthur Hardy’s house at Mount Lofty in about 1862. Early residents of the area described the locality as either Mount Lofty or New Tiers.
The name probably derives from the Kaurna word ‘piccoddla’, the ‘locality of the eyebrow’. Piko is Kaurna for ‘eyebrow’ and the dual form would be pikodla (‘two eyebrows’), just as yurreidla is the ‘two ears’, both names referring to body parts of the giant kangaroo stretching along the Mount Lofty Ranges (also see Uraidla). Piccadilly developed into a productive market gardening area, little of which now remains. Wine grapes are now extensively grown on former gardening properties. A small township developed and included a general store and post office, a church and an institute (also the offices of the former District Council of Crafers). Features of the area today include Mount Lofty Botanic Garden, Woodhouse Activity Centre and Mount Lofty Golf Club. Woodhouse, owned by Scouts Australia SA Branch, dates from 1848 and is one of the oldest surviving grand homes in this part of the Adelaide Hills. Its original owner was George Milner Stephen, Advocate General and Acting Governor, and later, Sir Richard Davies Hanson, Premier of South Australia (1857-1860) and first Chancellor of the University of Adelaide (1874-1876).
SUMMERTOWN
The Summertown township developed on the Greenhill Line of Road during the 1860s. The general locality was known as the New Tiers or Mount Lofty until the name of Summer Town came into use in about 1874 when a postal name for the area was needed. The storekeeper, Thomas Bonython Percival, referred to the place as Summer Town – he considered it was the ideal place to live during summer. After about 1890, the name was generally written as a single word.
Summertown developed quickly into a busy little town surrounded by market gardening and orchard properties. It shares the productive Uraidla and Piccadilly swamps with the township of Uraidla.
The original Summertown General Store was built by Thomas Bonython Percival in 1874-75. Percival operated the store until he built a second, larger store in about 1883 on the other side of Greenhill Road (where the present day store is located). Next door to the new store was the Mount Lofty Hotel; this fine two-storied building was built in 1884-5. It was first licenced in 1888, and the first licensee was John Whyte Harris. (Harris was also the owner and operator of a store in Uraidla). T.B. Percival operated the new general store until 1901 when the business passed to his son Ernest W. Percival. In addition to the store and hotel, Summertown had two churches, an institute, a butcher, a baker and four blacksmiths, clearly demonstrating the importance of smithies in the days of horses and carts. The best-known and longest operating of these was Frank J. Caust & Son from 1895 until 1957. The CFS premises now occupy this site.
TERINGIE
Teringie is a suburban area between Norton Summit and Magill, adjacent to Morialta Conservation Park. The origin of the name is not known but it may be based on a Kaurna Aboriginal word. The name was originally applied to the property and homestead of George Hunt Snr (also see Ashton) who owned land here from 1854 until 1869. The Teringie subdivision dates from about 1966 and the name Teringie was given to the subdivision at this time.
URAIDLA
Uraidla is derived from the Kaurna Aboriginal name for this locality, Yurreidla, meaning ‘two ears’ or ‘place of two ears’. This refers to the similarity of nearby mounts Lofty and Bonython when viewed against the western skyline to the ears of the giant kangaroo stretching along the Mount Lofty Ranges, a mythical creature in Kaurna lore.
A small township developed at Uraidla from the 1860s and by 1900 included a hotel (licensed in 1865), public school, institute, two churches, police station, four blacksmiths, a butcher, a general store and bakery, and two other stores.
The productive Uraidla-Piccadilly swamps were drained and developed for market gardening. Part of the valley was known as Chapel Valley after the Mount Lofty Bible Christian Chapel and cemetery. A lovely model of the stone chapel now stands on the site (on Swamp Road), surrounded by the cemetery with its many 19th century headstones. An ongoing feature of Uraidla and Summertown is the annual ‘Uraidla Show’ staged by the Uraidla & Summertown Horticultural and Floricultural Society Inc. since 1883.