Clare Valley

This article is about the geographical feature in South Australia. For the wine region designation, see Clare Valley wine region. For other uses, see Clare Valley (disambiguation).

Region in South Australia

Clare Valley South Australia
Clare Valley Clare Valley
Coordinates	33°50′1″S 138°36′36″E / 33.83361°S 138.61000°E / -33.83361; 138.61000Coordinates: 33°50′1″S 138°36′36″E / 33.83361°S 138.61000°E / -33.83361; 138.61000
LGA(s)	District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys
Region	Yorke and Mid North[1]
County	County of Stanley
State electorate(s)	Frome
Federal Division(s)	Wakefield

The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area.^[1] It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill River. The valley is traversed by the Horrocks Highway and the towns in the valley along that route from south to north are Auburn, Leasingham, Watervale, Penworthham, Sevenhill and Clare. The geographical feature has given rise to the Clare Valley wine region designation, a notable winegrowing region of Australia.^[2]

Contents

• 
  1 Geography
  


• 
  2 History
  
  • 
    2.1 Pre-European settlement
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 European settlement
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 Modern times
    
  
  


• 
  3 See also
  


• 
  4 References
  


• 
  5 External links
  

Geography

The valley is formed by the Skilly Hills and Bungaree Hills on the west with the Stony Range rising on the valley's east.

History

Pre-European settlement

The original inhabitants of the Clare Valley were the Ngadjuri people. It is believed that they had major camping sites at Clare and Auburn, as well as other areas outside the valley.^[3]

European settlement

The first European to reportedly explore the Clare Valley was John Hill, who did so in early April 1839, discovering and naming the Hutt River.^[4] Its nearby twin, the Hill River, was later discovered and named in his honour. On returning to Adelaide, he reported his findings of potentially good farmland to his friend and associate, Edward John Eyre. Eyre in turn informed John Horrocks, who had only arrived in South Australia during March 1839. Eyre later explored the Clare Valley on the return journey from his second 1839 expedition to the northern regions of South Australia. Horrocks set out with his servant, John Green and established himself in the area now known as Penwortham.^[5] This became the first permanent settlement in the valley. By 1840, Edward Burton Gleeson had set up the Inchiquin pastoral run to the north which was later developed into the town of Clare^[6] and in 1848, Jesuits were settling into the place which would become the town of Sevenhill. Settlers came from places including England, Ireland, Poland and Silesia during the 1840s, producing a rich heritage of architecture and villages, which remain largely intact.^{[citation needed]}Vineyards were planted alongside those first villages and winemaking has continued ever since.

Modern times

On 16 February 1983, the Clare Valley was affected by the Ash Wednesday bushfires. Although there were no fatalities in the area, over 6,100 hectares were burnt out, causing $5 million worth of damage.^[7] The railway line between the Clare Showgrounds and Penwortham was severely damaged, and resulted in its eventual demise. The old rail route has since been transformed into a bicycle and walking track known as the Riesling Trail. This 35 km sealed trail links the villages of the valley.

See also

• Riesling Trail

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab "Search result for 'Clare Valley, VAL'". Property Location Browser. Government of South Australia. SA0050610. Retrieved 30 June 2017..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
   


2. 
   ^ "Clare Valley Wine Region (map)" (PDF). Phylloxera and Grape Industry Board of SA. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 14 November 2014.
   


3. 
   ^ Noye, Robert J. (1980). CLARE – A District History. Hawthorndene, South Australia: Investigator Press. pp. 216–218.
   


4. 
   ^ Stratton, J., (ed) (1986). Biographical Index of South Australians 1836 – 1885 Volume II. Adelaide, South Australia: SA Genealogy and Heraldry Society. p. 741.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
   


5. 
   ^ Chittleborough, Jon, "Horrocks, John Ainsworth (1818–1846)", Australian Dictionary of Biography (ANU 2005)
   


6. 
   ^ Australian Heritage website
   


7. 
   ^ "26 years on, Clare remembers Ash Wednesday". ABC North and West SA. Retrieved 2009-06-19.
   

External links

• Clare Valley Tourism


• Clare Regional History Group


• Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council


• Clare Valley South Australia


• Clare Old Police Station Museum

v t e South Australia
Topics	History Government Flag Culture Transport Rail transport Education Geography Geology South Australian English Sport Country Fire Service
Regions	Adelaide Hills Barossa Valley Clare Valley Eyre Peninsula Far North Fleurieu Peninsula Flinders Ranges Limestone Coast Mid North Murraylands Nullarbor Plain Riverland Yorke Peninsula
Cities and towns	Adelaide Mount Gambier Murray Bridge Port Augusta Port Lincoln Port Pirie Victor Harbor Whyalla
South Australia portal

v t e Clare Valley wine region, South Australia
The Valley	Clare Valley
Towns	Armagh Auburn Clare Leasingham Mintaro Penwortham Polish Hill River Sevenhill Stanley Flat Undalya Watervale
Wineries	Annie's Lane Grosset Wines
Rivers	Hill River Hutt River Wakefield River
Protected areas	Martindale Hall Spring Gully Conservation Park
Other	Rattler Rail Trail Riesling Trail

This page is only for reference, If you need detailed information, please check here