![Morphetts Windinghouse]()
Morphetts Windinghouse
Being only a few weeks away from
Easter, we did not have anything planned for the March 2012
Adelaide Cup Long weekend and decided that it would be an easy 3 day brake, with only a family wedding to attend on the Sunday. Not having to work on the Saturday morning and with what could be describes as just perfect weather and a maximum of 25° degrees predicted, Fiona and I decided to take a very short drive over to one of
Clare’s neighboring towns, an easy 30 minute drive to the east of
Clare and visit
Burra and some of the many fine old building that now form part of the
Burra Heritage Trail. We have been to
Burra countless times over the years and it had been about 22 years since we had visited the old mining
ruins. Growing up at teenagers, we would take drives over to
Burra and see many of the then
old ruins for free, as back then, who and why would you want to pay and see old stone buildings that we grew up with.
Not known to us as teenagers, these were not just old mining
ruins, but part of South Australia’s
heritage and over coming years, this
heritage was to be rewarded in a way to benefit everyone that visited the town. As Tourist needs and attractions changed over the years, repairs to many of the old structures would take place and gone were the days where you could drive around at will and visit these fine old stone structures. On the 8th November 1984, the
Burra Mine Heritage site was added to the Register of State
Heritage, as the site was historically important because the Copper produced there restored the economy of the New Colony during critical times in the Mid 1840’s. Gates and locks were put in place and the now “
Burra Heritage Passport” was implemented in conjunction with the National Trust of South Australia and the Regional Council of Goyder.
Heading over to
Burra, the country was showing signs of green tinges from the rainfall that we had received a few weeks ago. Being a Saturday morning, the Main Street in
Burra was busy with locals as
well as Tourists. While I went into the
Burra Visitor Information Centre to get our “Passport Key”, Fiona did the lady thing of headed straight to the clothing shops. With Key in hand, it was time to revisit many of the old structures that played a very important part in the history of South Australia.
![Burra Visitor Information Centre in Market Square]()
Burra Visitor Information Centre in Market Square
![The Burra Heritage Trail is Clearly Signposted]()
The Burra Heritage Trail is Clearly Signposted
A brief outline on the Mining History of
Burra Burra.
During the first few years after the Colonization of the free Colony of South Australia, the economy of the state was suffering greatly and something was needed to help the new Colony survive. On the 9th June 1845, a
young shepherd, William Streair employed by James Stein had walked 90
miles from
Burra( today around 144 Kilometres ) and walked into the office of Henry Ayers, the then Secretary of the South Australian Mining Association in
Adelaide with
bore samples of rich Copper Ore, as did Thomas Pickett, also a
young shepherd from a neighboring property who also made further finds. Within 12 days of these
young men arriving in
Adelaide and reporting their finds, news was reported of major Copper deposits in the Mid North of the State and the countryside around the then unnamed rural area of the State would for ever change the history of South Australia.
A special survey of 20,000 acres ( 8 X 4
Miles or 13 X 6.4 Kilometres) was undertaken straight away and the survey was named “The
Burra Creek Special Survey” and the land divided between the South Australian Mining Association and the Princess Royal Mining Association with mining activities commencing on the 29th September 1845 by the South Australian Mining Association, with the name of the
mine Burra Burra, named after the nearby creek where the first deposits were found. Small towns were now springing up, with small towns of Redruth, Kooringa, Llychwr,
Aberdeen, Copperhouse,
Hampton,
Nelson, Princesstown, Lostwithiel,
Westbury, Roachtown, Yarwood, Millertown, Warrapoota and Clonmel. The majority of new townspeople were Cornish, but families from Scotland, Wales, Germany, China and other nations, as
well as Australians were now calling
Burra their
Home. Things were not all plain sailing with mining conditions and wages and in 1848, “The Miners” strike was the first ever strike in South Australia and the first Industrial strike of significance in Australia.
Up until 1860,
Burra was the largest metals
mine in Australia and by 1851 the
population had grown to over 5000 people and was the 7th largest town in Australia and Australia’s largest inland settlement. Between its peak years of production between 1845 and 1877, the
Burra Burra Mine, or as it was known, “The Monster
Mine” supplied 89% of South Australia’s and 5% of the worlds Copper, producing over 50,000 tonne of copper metal and 700,000 tonne of ore.
With the world prices for copper declining, so did the town and agriculture was now taking over to keep the area alive. From the early 1850‘s, the collection of townships were known locally as “The
Burra” and on the 19th September 1940, all the towns amalgamated and the new official name was Gazetted by the South Australian Government as “
Burra”.
If you are traveling the Barrier Highway and would like to see some of South Australia’s important history, then a visit to
Burra will reward you with some of Australia's Mining past.
![The resited Peacock's Chimney]()
The resited Peacock's Chimney
![Follow the signs]()
Follow the signs
![Morphetts Enginehouse (left) and Morphetts Windinghouse (right)]()
Morphetts Enginehouse (left) and Morphetts Windinghouse (right)
![Fiona had the role of "Official Gate Opener"]()
Fiona had the role of "Official Gate Opener"
![Ore Dressing Floor]()
Ore Dressing Floor
![Old Ore Bins and the Ore Dressing Tower]()
Old Ore Bins and the Ore Dressing Tower
![Ore Dressing Tower]()
Ore Dressing Tower
![Ruins of the old Ore Dressing Tower Enginehouse]()
Ruins of the old Ore Dressing Tower Enginehouse
![Next stop - Morphetts Enginehouse Museum]()
Next stop - Morphetts Enginehouse Museum
![Morphetts Windinghouse ruins]()
Morphetts Windinghouse ruins
![The restored Morphetts Enginehouse]()
The restored Morphetts Enginehouse
![Looking out over the "Monster Mine" site]()
Looking out over the "Monster Mine" site
![Cornish boiler at Morphetts Enginehouse]()
Cornish boiler at Morphetts Enginehouse
![Captain Henry Roach Headstone]()
Captain Henry Roach Headstone
![Headstone of Captain Henry Roach]()
Headstone of Captain Henry Roach
![Graves Enginehouse built in 1868]()
Graves Enginehouse built in 1868
![Burra Mine site Powder Magazine]()
Burra Mine site Powder Magazine
![Burra township lookout from the Mine site]()
Burra township lookout from the Mine site
![Square Chimneys were Scottish Built]()
Square Chimneys were Scottish Built
![Round Chimneys were Cornish built]()
Round Chimneys were Cornish built
![Cornish built Chimney]()
Cornish built Chimney
![Scottish built Chimney]()
Scottish built Chimney
![The Bon Accord Mine site Complex]()
The Bon Accord Mine site Complex
![Bon Accord Mine site Complex]()
Bon Accord Mine site Complex
![Old Burra Railway Station]()
Old Burra Railway Station
![Old Burra Courthouse]()
Old Burra Courthouse
![Old Burra Police Lock-up and Stables]()
Old Burra Police Lock-up and Stables
![Old Burra Lock-up and Stables]()
Old Burra Lock-up and Stables
![Redruth Goal]()
Redruth Goal
![We had the "Get out of Goal" key]()
We had the "Get out of Goal" key
![Inside the Redruth Goal]()
Inside the Redruth Goal
![Old Out House in the old town of Hampton]()
Old Out House in the old town of Hampton
![Old Hampton Township ruins]()
Old Hampton Township ruins
![Remains of the old Smelter Chimney]()
Remains of the old Smelter Chimney
![Remains of the old Smelting Yards]()
Remains of the old Smelting Yards
![Unicorn Brewery]()
Unicorn Brewery
![Miners Dugouts]()
Miners Dugouts
![Miners Dugout]()
Miners Dugout