TEROWIE and BURRA

24^th March, 2015

We're heading west once more and soon leaving New South Wales and crossing into South Australia. The land is dry and rocky with low scrub. With no large trees to cut down to make cottages and shelters the early pioneers used what was at hand. Although there are long distances between the farms here they all have one thing in common – stone built cottages and barns. Many have been abandoned and are all but gone but some buildings are still in use today. Just before the main turnoff to the Flinders Ranges we roll up to the Quarantine Inspection Station. If you haven't already eaten or disposed of all fresh fruit and vegetables then you must hand them over to the Quarantine Guy. As we have already been this way before we knew the routine and had eaten all our fruit and cooked all our leftover veggies. Bubble and Squeak on toast will be our breakfast for a couple of days. We bypass the Flinders Range turnoff and head south towards Adelaide. By early afternoon we are pulling into the near deserted town of Terowie where we can freecamp at the old railway station.

What a nice sign!  Great to know we are wanted ...

There are no other rigs here so we have the whole place to ourselves.

All set up beside the old railway station at Terowie

After getting set up we take a walk around the railway yards where information panels have been set up displaying photos and stories of what Terowie was like back in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Once the main staging yards for where the two different gauge railway lines from North to South met, the yards were a hive of activity as all freight (and passengers) had to be unloaded and reloaded to continue their journey. The town around the railway yards also grew and was one of the largest inland towns in the state. A plaque at the railway station marks the spot where General Douglas MacArthur and his family alighted from his southbound train after fleeing from the Philippines when the Japanese invaded in the Second World War. 

A small square stone memorial with a plaque stands on the abandoned railway platform at Terowie to mark the spot where General MacArthur gave his 'I will return' speech.

Much to our surprise we find that it was on this railway platform that General MacArthur gave his famous 'I Will Return' speech. We always thought that he gave this speech somewhere much further north – like on a beach in New Guinea or Indonesia. Nope ... it was here in little old Terowie! If this was the USA there would be a massive monument, flags flying all over the place and an interactive pavilion set up with footage being repeatedly screened of the General giving his speech along with a display of all facets of his life and career. At least the townsfolk in Terowie have managed to set up a plaque and an information panel for us wondering travellers. This is obviously no mean feat for the residents as Terowie once had a population of over 2,000, but when the railways finally came to their senses and changed the two gauges to one gauge, the town virtually died overnight. With no need for the trains to unload and reload, the railway workers and their families had to leave to find employment elsewhere. Hotels, guest houses and restaurants lost their customers as trains now chugged through without stopping. In 1989 the railways finally left Terowie with the line being ripped up. We take a walk to the main street just a couple of hundred metres from the railway station. Except for one car at the information centre and another car parked near the corner store the place is deserted.

War Memorial stands in front of old stone building and abandoned hotel in Terowie

We call in at the Information Centre where two women are busy closing up – it is 3pm. They are quite chatty and happy to talk to us. We guess that we may be the only people they have seen all day. It appears that there are only about 150 residents in the town now and although there were grand ideas a few years ago of trying to restore some of the heritage buildings, lack of people and funds has put a stop to these ambitions. After leaving the centre we walked along the street looking at the old shops and businesses. All the buildings were deserted except for the corner store which looked like it was also on its last legs.

Abandoned commercial premises in main street at Terowie

It would be a shame to see this historic town lost to the elements of time and neglect but we can see no way that it will survive without a healthy injection of funds and manpower from outside resources.

Main Street, Terowie - abandoned buildings - it's 3pm - no people - no traffic

The following morning we do not have a long way to go before our next stop. By 10am we are pulling into the heritage town of Burra. Like many of the towns along this journey Burra is a mining town. Copper has played a big role in this town's history and unlike the railway town of Terowie the heritage buildings in Burra have been preserved and the town is active in promoting it for tourism. We check into the council run caravan park which is a short walk away from the centre of town and the Information Centre.

Information Centre is located in this lovely old two storey building in Burra

We purchase a self guided tour of the heritage trail and are given a key which will unlock gates and doors on the heritage trail. We can keep the key for as long as we want and when we leave just hand it in to get back our key deposit. We do a bit of a circuit walk back to the caravan park and pass by a row of cottages near the caravan park. 

Paxton Square cottages

Paxton Square cottages were built by the South Australian Mining Association in 1849 in an attempt to encourage miners to leave their dugouts in the Burra Creek. There were 33 cottages built in rows around a large square. In 1914 the cottages were bought and used as low rent housing for the town. They are now owned by the council and are used as visitor accommodation. Opposite the caravan park we find one of the sites on the Heritage Trail. The key unlocks the gate and behind the high stone fence we find what is left of the Unicorn Brewery Cellars built in 1873. The brewery once boasted a tall malting tower, a cooperage, a steam driven system of pumps and extensive cellars. The brewery was closed in 1902 when new licensing laws would have made the plant obsolete. It was demolished for its stone in 1911 and all that is left is the maze of underground cellars.

Just one of the large underground rooms of the Unicorn Brewery

We spend quite some time wandering around underground – amazed at how many passages and storage space there was. Some of the underground passageways squirrelled off under nearby cottages. Wonder if the occupants of those cottages realise what is directly beneath them? In the morning we hopped in Jeffery and started on our self guided Heritage Trail tour. We passed by the elegant stone built Town Hall and Telegraph Station and the Catholic and Anglican churches before making our way to the road leading to the Burra Mine. From 1845 to 1867 the mine was underground but later worked as an open cut.

Burra Mine open cut - now flooded

The open cut closed in 1981 and the groundwater has returned to its natural level of 50 metres deep in the mine pit. We use our key to unlock a series of gates to gain access to the heritage area of the remains of the mining operations. The Ore Dressing Tower was erected in 1870 to treat ore from the open-cut workings.

Remains of the Ore Dressing Tower

Nearby are the remains of the crusher engine-house that provided power to the Dressing Tower and haulage engine. We drive past the Pumping Engine House and the ruins of mine offices and winding house and arrive at the top of a hill where the powder magazine was situated.

Powder Magazine built in 1847

Erected in 1847 this building is one of the oldest remaining mine buildings in Australia. It was used to store gunpowder for blasting of the ore from the rock faces of the mine. It was constructed well away from the mine workings. 

The actual powder magazine built inside the walled enclosure

With an outside perimeter wall and an arched stone roof to help contain an explosion it certainly was built for strength. Our Heritage Trail tour then guided us through the northern end of Burra past the old railway station, hotels and places of business. Then it was across the creek to the Police Station, Lockup and stables, more hotels, cottages and churches until we arrived at the ruins of the township of Hampton.

Not much left of the township of Hampton

The township was founded in 1857 and was modelled on an English village. It was the home to 30 miners' cottages and a chapel. It was also the site of stone quarries that supplied stone for many of Burra's buildings. The town was virtually abandoned in the 1920's with its last inhabitant leaving in the 1960's.

Back down the hill again we pass more cottages and then the large site which once housed the smelter. Two smelting houses operated on this site – one with 16 furnaces and one with 9 furnaces. In 1851 more than 1,000 men were employed here. After 1861 most of the smelting was carried out in Port Adelaide. All of the buildings have been removed from the site leaving only stone foundations and rubble. Then we were down by the creek again and unlocking a gate gave us access to the Miners' Dugouts. With a rapid influx of miners to the mine in the mid 1840's there was an acute shortage of housing in the newly laid out company township. The miners provided their own housing by digging into the soft clay banks of Burra Creek. The first of these creek dwellings being dug in 1846. They were favoured by the miners, being rent free and close to water. In 1851 about 1,800 people in a total population of 4,400 lived in nearly 600 dugouts. In 1851, three floods devastated 'Creek Street' driving the inhabitants from their homes. By 1860 the dugouts were virtually deserted. When we were here over 30 years ago there was no fence keeping these dugouts free from vandalism and there were quite a few dugouts that could be accessed along the creek bed. Today there are only two dugouts left in the creek bank and even these have been restored to some extent.

Wok outside one of the dugouts in Burra Creek

It is amazing to think that whole families lived in these cramped (mainly two roomed) caves.

As you can see the dugouts were not made to stand upright in

It is even more mind boggling to try and envisage 600 of these dwellings burrowed into the creek bank. Our last stop on the Heritage Trail is at the Redruth Gaol where our key gives us entry into the interior.

Redruth Gaol

Erected in 1856 it was the first gaol in South Australia outside of Adelaide. It provided for thirty prisoners, male and female. When it closed in 1897, the prisoners were transferred and the gaol was renovated and opened as a Girls' Reformatory.

Gaol cells were also used by the reformatory girls as bedrooms

The reformatory was closed in 1922 and the two residences either side of the front entry which once housed the Gaolkeeper and his family and the Overseer and his family were used as homes by various families for some years. The gaol has been used in various commercials and movies. The one movie most recognised being Breaker Morant. We wonder as we leave the gaol, how many people have walked through this small courtyard and out the large wooden doors.

The only entry and exit for inmates at Redruth Gaol

Our time in Burra is over but we have enjoyed our tour along the Heritage Trail. We return our key to the Information Centre and make our way back to camp. We will be on our way again in the morning so it is early to bed ready for a quick getaway … not likely!