1874

1879

2015

This historic building situated in Market Street, and listed in the National Heritage Register, began life as a much more modest building, serving as the Mechanics'' and Miners' Institute, which was opened in 1857. Over the nearly 20 years as the Institute, there were varied accounts as to the level of services offered and patronage from among those it was designed to assist in broadening the mind. Concerned to have a civic centre more worthy of the town, a committee was formed, funds were raised, government assistance secured and with great fanfare and many distinguished guests, the Burra Institute, built on the site of the original Institute, was opened in 1874 with aim of making it:

"... the first in general usefulness by having a well stocked library, an instructive museum, educational classes, popular lectures, and agencies in every direction, whereby the mind might be cultivated and the feelings refined."

Indeed the Burra Institute, or Town Hall as it is now called, was the focal point of Burra's community life for the next century. The Civic Room (formerly known as the Chamber Room) was the home of the Corporation of the Town of Burra from the proclamation in 1876 until its amalgamation with the District Council of Burra Burra in 1969.

If you are interested in seeing photos of past and present selected town locations, then visit the Photograph display at the hall.

The Town Hall is open for viewing between 11.00am and 3.00pm daily (unless booked for functions).

The building now serves as a Regional Art Gallery with works featuring Burra by colonial artist S.T. Gill on permanent display.

A new Telegraph Station and Post Office was erected in 1861.

From here explorer John McDuall Stuart sent a telegram in 1862 to the Governor informing him that he had made the first overland crossing of Australia.

The southern wing was added in 1890

The northern wing of the Burra Post Office was erected in 1911 to house the telephone exchange

This museum allows access to the restored Morphett’s Pumping Enginehouse, the ruins of Graves’ Enginehouse (1877), Mine Offices (1850), Morphett’s Pool (1858), Morphett’s Winding House(1861) and Captain Roach’s headstone.

This engine house was built in 1858 by the stonemasons Paynter and Harris for an 80 inch diameter Cornish atmospheric beam engine. It commenced pumping in 1860 and ceased in 1877. The engine was removed for scrap in 1916.

The enginehouse and shaft timbers were destroyed by fire in 1925 when youths were smoking out rabbits from the disused building.

In 1986, as a Jubilee 150 project, the enginehouse was reconstructed and the shaft retimbered. It is now a museum housing an interpretive display on Cornish beam engines. Morphett’s Winding House, erected in 1861, can be seen close by.

The Mine in 1845

Burra mine, the ‘Monster Mine,’ as this mine became known, was world famous for the richness of its copper ores and for the first ten years of its life, up until 1860, was the largest metal producing mine in Australia. Wealth from the mine made fortunes for many of its original shareholders and its discovery marked the beginning of a period of unprecedented growth and prosperity for the struggling colony of South Australia, producing about 50,000 tonnes of copper metal between 1845 and 1877. At first, all mining took place underground. Open cut operation began in 1870 in an attempt to extract lower grade ore profitably; however low copper prices forced the Burra mine to close in 1877 when the South Australian Mining Association’s operations ceased.

The mine remained abandoned for nearly a century until open cut mining started again in 1971 and continued until exhaustion of ore in 1981.

From 1845 until 1867 the Burra Mine was an underground mine worked to a maximum depth of 90 fathoms (165 metres).

From 1870 until its closure in 1877 it was worked as an open-cut mine. However exploratory work continued in Morphett’s Shaft reaching a depth of 183 metres in 1877.

Between 1845 and 1877 it produced 50,000 tonnes of copper metal.

From this lookout you get a panoramic view of the mine showing the extent of the ore body and the level of the groundwater encountered by miners.

Between 1971 and 1981 the modern open-cut operation worked to a depth of 100 metres with concentrate producing about 24,000 tonnes of copper metal.

The low grade ore was converted to copper oxide that was used in timber preservatives and chemical fertilizers.

The groundwater has returned to its natural level of 50 metres deep in the mine pit.

The greenish colour of the water, which changes in intensity throughout the year, is not due to copper content but to a light scattering effect, caused by temperature changes in the water.

This chimney standing at the entrance to the Burra Mine site, is a reconstruction of the original chimney for Peacock’s Winding Enginehouse built in 1857.

Named after William Peacock, a director of the South Australian Mining Association, SAMA, the winding engine hauled from several shafts in the mine and was the longest serving engine at the mine. In 1971 when the engine house was removed to make way for the modern open-cut mining operation, this flue was dismantled and rebuilt on this site by the National Trust.

The figure at the top of the chimney is Johnny Green, the mascot of the Burra miners. Originally made of wood it stood atop Roach’s Pumphouse until 1855. It was replaced with one of sheet-iron at the top of the shears above Morphett’s shaft in 1858.

When fire destroyed the timbers of Morphett’s Enginehouse and shaft, in 1925 ‘Johnny’ was found amongst the ashes and placed on a pole at the mine entrance, until 1967 when vandals cut him down. A third ‘Johnny Green’ was made and placed here in 1972.

This building is now a private residence. It was erected in 1847 at the entrance to the Burra Mine and is one of the oldest remaining mine buildings in Australia.

It comprised offices, stores and storeman’s residence adjoining a spacious yard surrounded by a high wall. It was a depot for building timber, iron and mining machinery.

The passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) is needed for entry

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 is constructed well away from the mine workings, with an arched stone roof for added strength in case of an explosion. It was restored by the National Trust in 1976.

Adchem from Linkson Street

A large part of Adchem's site is included in Burra's National Heritage Area.

The mine's second operation was from 1970-1981.

Cupric Oxide production commenced in 1970 and Copper Carbonate production commenced in 2001.

The processing of copper ore from other sources has continued under Adchem which is the largest producer of copper oxide in the world.

From a production level in 1995 of less than 5,000 tonnes, Adchem have grown the business substantially to now produce in excess of 12,000 tonnes per annum.

From the town lookout this is a general view of the township of Burra.

The white roof in the centre is St Joseph’s Catholic Church.

A passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) will be required for entry

Built in 1856 Redruth Gaol was the first gaol built outside of metropolitan Adelaide at a time when Burra was the largest country town in South Australia.

The original building was constructed by Watson and Morris at a cost of about £3200. Changes were made to the building in 1863 and 1877. The gaol provided accommodation for the gaolkeeper, turnkey and 30 prisoners, male and female.

Following the closure of the gaol in 1894, the Woollacott family lived there until 1897. Later in the same year the building became the Redruth Girls' Reformatory and served as such until 1922.

The Todd family made it their home from 1943-57

In 1979, the building was used in the filming of Breaker Morant.

The site has been in the care of the National Trust of South Australia since 1977, and a considerable amount of conservation work has been undertaken since that time.

When the gaol closed in 1897, the prisoners were transferred to Gladstone Gaol.

The gaol was renovated and opened as a Girls’ Reformatory in 1897 and closed in 1922.

A passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) will be required for entry

With a rapid influx of miners to the mine in the mid 1840s there was an acute shortage of housing in the newly laid out company township of Kooringa. The miners provided their own housing by digging into the soft clay banks of the 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 of these dugouts. In 1851, three floods devastated ‘Creek Street’ driving the inhabitants from their homes. By 1860 the dugouts were virtually deserted.

Two dugouts have been restored by the National Trust as a tourist attraction.

The Colonial Architect E.A. Hamilton designed this courthouse which was erected in the government township of Redruth in 1857 outside of the South Australian Mining Association’s mining property.

The first courthouse had been in a rented cottage in Kooringa.

The courthouse was closed in 1986 when the court transferred to Clare and the building is now in the hands of the National Trust.

The first police station was erected here in 1847.

In 1851 the police force consisted of three constables and three mounted policemen for a community of about 5,000 people.

This building was erected in 1878 after the demolition of the original police station. In the 1960s a new station was erected in Chapel Street, near Market Square, where there had always been a police station.

It is now a National Trust site.

A passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) will be required for entry

Erected at the rear of the police station, the cells were used as a temporary gaol until the Redruth Gaol was completed in 1856.

The National Trust opened them to the public in 1976.

These stables were built from blocks of slag from the adjoining smelter to house up to 100 horses.

Besides the stables there was a blacksmith’s shop and storerooms.

It was the site of Burra’s first agricultural show in 1877 and continued hosting it until 1885.

The stables are now privately owned

Erected in 1849 as the smelter began its operation. The stores, offices and manager’s residence although converted to private residences today still retain much of their external appearance.

Thomas Williams, the first manager from 1849 to 1854 was replaced by Captain Isaac Killicoat.

S.T. Gill (1818 - 1880) Burra Burra Mine from the rear of the P.C.C Smelting Works (detail)

Map of the Smelting Works

Ruins of Smelter Chimney

A passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) will be required for entry

This 1.2 kilometre walking trail takes about 45 minutes to complete.

The Patent Copper Co. and later the English and Australian Copper Co. carried out smelting operations at this site from 1849 to 1868.

The first smelting house contained 16 furnaces and a second house with nine furnaces was added in 1854.

Copper metal was produced from the ore using ironstone as a flux, followed by refining in other furnaces. Four tons of coal were required for each ton of ore processed.

In 1851 more than 1,000 men were employed here. Up until 1857 the copper was carted along the Gulf Road to Port Wakefield by bullock drays and when the railway reached Kapunda, teams of mules.

After 1861 most of the smelting was carried out at Port Adelaide. Unfortunately most of the buildings have been removed from the site, leaving some building foundations, rubble and some slag.

The site is now owned by the Regional Council of Goyder.

Smelts Stables

Brewery in 1905

Unicorn Brewery, Kooringa

A passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) will be required for entry

The brewery was built by Frederick Thomas Jones in 1873 and designed by architect James Cumming. The cellars date from 1874. W.H. Banks became a partner in 1875 and expanded the business until his death in 1878. George Catchlove & Co. acquired it in 1879 and operated it till 1898. E.C. Lockyer & Co. ran it till 1902 when new regulations saw it amalgamated with the Walkerville Brewery.

The plant and equipment was sold in 1905 and in 1913 the fine stone tower was dismantled and three cottages built with the dressed stone.

The cellars survived to be opened as a tourist attraction in November 1989.

Inside the cellar at Unicorn Brewery, Kooringa

Built in 1880, this building was originally the shop and residence of the tailor Andrew Wade.

The building was acquired by the Burra Branch of the National Trust of South Australia and opened as a museum in 1966.

On display in the museum are a large number of artifacts and furnishings from the period 1880 to 1920 donated by members of the district.

The shop at the front of the building is now a sweets shop.

This museum, which is owned by the National Trust, was restored in 1986. It was originally the site of the Bon Accord Mine purchased by Scottish speculators in 1846 who also laid out the early township of Aberdeen.

The initial mining operations were abandoned in 1849 and recommenced in 1858.

In 1859 mine offices, a blacksmith’s forge, carpenter’s shop and manager’s residence were erected. An enginehouse with a 50 inch Cornish pumping engine was also erected to dewater the mine. It was demolished in 1887.

Although some ore was discovered it was not of saleable quality and mining ceased in 1862. However, the water from the mine was important. The Bon Accord Mine supplied water to part of Aberdeen from 1878 and to Kooringa from Dickson’s shaft from 1884.

In 1908 the pumps were shifted to the Engine Shaft and continued pumping from there until 1966 when River Murray water became available.

It is now a National Trust site.

A passport key (from the Burra Visitors Information Centre) will be required for entry

This township was founded by Thomas Powell in 1857 and named after the home town of his wife in England. It was modelled on an English village and was home to 30 miners’ cottages and a Bible Christian Chapel.

Hampton was the site of stone quarries that supplied stone for many of Burra’s buildings. It was virtually abandoned in the 1920s with its last inhabitant leaving in the 1960s.

The site is now owned by the Regional Council of Goyder.

Paxton Cottages 1933

Malowen Lowath Cottage

These three rows of cottages were built for William Paxton, a Director of the South Australian Mining Association, in 1849-52 and comprise 33 cottages of two, three and four rooms. The architect was George Strickland Kingston. Floors were originally compacted earth. The shingle roofs were covered with corrugated iron in 1873.

Hon. John Lewis bought the rows in 1913 as housing for the deserving (and sober) poor.

The addition of verandahs was approved in December 1939.

Gazetted an Historic Reserve January 1969, the cottages were vested in the Burra Burra District Council in 1980 and opened as tourist accommodation 1983.

Visit Malowen Lowarth Cottage in Paxton Square and get an insight into Burra’s early history. A key is needed for entry.

In 1861 a timber bridge with stone abutments was erected here. By 1877 it was unsafe and this steel arch bridge replaced it.

James Martin & Co. of Gawler made the steel girders, which were assembled at Mr Hooker’s yard in Adelaide and erected in Burra by Mr Duncan Grant.

Captain Isaac Killicoat declared it open in December 1879 by breaking a bottle of wine over it and naming it the Redruth Bridge. It served until bypassed by a new road in the mid 1980s.

The bridge remains open to pedestrian traffic

The Central Road Board contracted Messrs J. Tiver and W. Woollacott to erect this bridge in 1868 to a design by their Superintending Surveyor Mr A. Macauley. The stone was drawn from Hampton quarries with the coping from Mintaro. The arch has a span of about 4.5 m.

Plans to widen and straighten the road were drawn up in the late 1930s and this resulted in the removal of the western parapet.

The swing bridge late 1920s with the Town Hall in the background.

The present bridge.

The present footbridge opposite the Town Hall dates from 1960 and is the replacement for a nearby swing bridge that entertained generations of children between 1916 and 1956. It, in turn, replaced an earlier small footbridge that was washed away by a flood in 1915.

This series of bridges served people accessing the Town Hall, the school and the stock yards, which used to be where the school oval is now. The headmaster of the school argued that having school children cross the creek by the footbridge at the Burra Hotel took them through an undesirable environment.

The foundation stone of St Paul’s was laid 27 March 1851, but construction was abandoned with the walls a little over a metre high when many members went to the Victorian gold rush.

Work began again in 1859 and the building was dedicated by Pastor A. Fiedler on 8 September 1861.

There was never a resident pastor and the building was widely used over the years by the community for public and political meetings, private schools, various clubs, temperance groups, and for concerts.

Aberdeen Oddfellows Lodge met there for many years and the Redruth Methodist (Wesleyan) Sunday School for 23 years prior to 1902.

Lutheran services continued intermittently until the building was destroyed by a fire of unknown origin in July 1910.

Kingston Street bridge in the 1890s .

The bridge showing the reinforcement of 2004.

This was opened in 1879 to replace the Bridge Street structure, which had been washed away in the great flood of 1877. The contractor for the ironwork was C. M. Davies. Land had to be acquired to link Kingston Street with Market Square. There had previously been a ford immediately south of this site.

Concrete decking replaced rotting timber in 1933 and massive steel strengthening beams were placed under it in 2004, in order to keep it in service while maintaining its historic form.

The bridge showing the surviving western abutment in 2010.

A timber bridge with massive stone abutments was erected here in 1850. The SA Mining Association and W. Paxton, a director, found two thirds of the cost and public subscription the rest.

In 1877 a flood swept the bridge, still attached to its eastern abutment, 1.5 km downstream.

It was replaced by the steel bridge in Kingston Street for road traffic and at this site by a succession of foot bridges, somewhat incongruously attached to the surviving old stone abutment.

The present bridge was fabricated by Thamms of Burra North in 1969 and placed in position by the District Council.

A stone bridge was erected across Commercial Street in 1863. It was declared open by Mr Nicholls representing the Central Road Board and eight year old Louisa Drew broke a bottle of wine over the bridge.

In 1879 it was replaced by a steel beam bridge in an attempt to allow more water to pass during flash floods.

It was re-decked in 1901 and rebuilt in a similar design in 1944.

Flooding down Commercial Street is still liable to occur when waters from flash floods are unable to escape under the bridge.

As recently as the severe hail storm of 5 November 2015 Commercial Street was flooded when the bridge was unable to cope with flood waters.

Flood waters and hailstones rushing down Commercial Street on 5 November, 2015.

The bridge provides too little space for flash floods resulting in water overflowing the banks and flooding Commercial Street as in this January 1995 photograph.

The bridge can be seen in the centre of this 1872 photograph.

The bridge had been replaced by the 1880s by the structure shown in this photograph.

The bridge today.

Hampton Town Ruins

A Bible Christian Chapel was built in Hampton, which was subdivided in 1857. Ruins are all that now remain of the town, but the exposed stonework is magnificent.

There were plans to build St Saviours in Redruth, but the church never came to fruition. Here is an extract from Ian Auhl's, "The Story of the 'Monster Mine'", p.301 which provides more details:-

Plans for an elaborate church, complete with spire, had been drawn up by Ibbetson* himself and his sketch and design forwarded to lithographers in London. The foundation stone along from the walls had disappeared, leaving only the foundations. The foundation stone of a new church, to be named St. Saviour's Church was laid by Bishop Short in September of 1859 and a sum of £400 or so raised.

Except for some pointed questions which appeared in the press in December of 1868 concerning the fate of the £400, little more was heard of St. Saviour's. By that time, the stone from the walls had disappeared, leaving only the foundations. The foundation stone along with its bottle of Burra ore and an S.A.M.A. money order had vanished too. Ibbetson had left Burra in 1863 and his successor, the Rev. Lionel W. Stanton could only advise enquirers to ask the Rev. Ibbetson now rector of St. John's Church, Adelaide, for an explanation."

* A copy of the drawings is kept in the Historic Room of St. Mary's Church, Burra.

The first chapel was erected in 1851 and was subsequently closed and dismantled in 1854.

The chapel was restored in 1857, using material from Kooringa Chapel.

The building that stands today was opened in 1874 and replaced a series of Wesleyan Churches that had been built on this site since 1851.

The Nave was built in 1874 and what is now the Transept was added the following year for the Sunday School. As the need for more space was required for the growing congregation The Sunday School was relocated to Jubilee Hall in Tregony Street and the wall between the Nave and the Sunday School was removed to form the Transept. The Vestry was added in 1883 and the building has remained relatively unchanged since then.

The Redruth Methodist Church was closed in 1970 when it was decided to amalgamate the Redruth and the Kooringa congregations to The Kooringa Methodist Church. Prior to it being sold by the Uniting Church of Australia in the early 2000’s it was part of the Youth Camp and Conference Centre that encompassed the Church, the Sunday School next door and the Courthouse Hotel across the road (now privately used as accommodation).

This building was originally erected in suburban Adelaide as Mansfield Park Holy Cross Church in 1956. After the amalgamation of the two Lutheran Churches in Australia it was closed and became available as a new church for Burra. It was transported to this site in August 1976 and dedicated at a service conducted by Rev. G. O. Minge President of the Lutheran Church of Australia, South Australian District on 5 November 1976.

It provided the Burra Lutheran congregation with its first church since the destruction by fire of St. Paul’s in 1910, which was located in Sancreed Street nearly opposite the Court House.

The Sunday School at the rear of the church was opened in 1976.

The building of this new church was not without its dramas, but it was finally completed in 1874. According to the "Harp and Southern Cross Summary" (Vol. VI No. 285, Dec. 4, 1874 p 3 & 4):

St Joseph's Catholic Church

Market Street, Burra 1874

"The church is 60 feet long in the clear and 32 feet wide. The sanctuary ... is carpeted with more than the customary magnificence, is 21 feet in width and 17 in length. The ornamentation of the altar is striking, and the various appurtenances seem to have been well chosen to consort with it.

The walls are 22 feet high, and the roof 21, making 43 from the floor to the highest part of the ceiling. The top of the cross on the bell tower is 86 feet from the ground, and when the elevation of the foundations above the level of the road is considered, it may be said to stand at an altitude of about 100 feet.

The style of the building is early gothic, and the structure has been constructed to accommodate about 700 persons - 600 on the ground floor and 100 above the entrance in a gallery, which also serves as an organ loft."

Other accounts advise the the seating figures were exaggerated and a total of 300 would be more accurate. It would also appear that over the years, the altar is no longer as ornate as it once was, simple ornamentation seemingly being preferred.

The official opening took place on Sunday, November 8, 1874 and the Right Rev. Dr Reynolds, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Adelaide, performed the ceremony.

In the early 1870s the Sisters of St Joseph conducted a school in Commercial Street. A new school was erected on this site in 1881-2 together with accommodation for the nuns. The convent comprised four rooms and the large school hall.

In 1906 a verandah was added and in 1927 an additional two rooms and a bathroom were built to give the nuns better facilities.

The school and the convent closed in 1970 and the property has since been a private residence.

The Salvation Army commenced in Burra in February 1884, less than seven years after its formal launch under that name in London.

After initial opposition, its numbers grew to a point where, in May 1885, members were able to build the Citadel in Kingston Street, Kooringa. It is now a private residence.

The congregation erected this small chapel in 1850 as the first Bible Christian Chapel in Australia.

It was enlarged in c. 1856. In 1860 the chapel was replaced by a larger building at the corner of Bridge Terrace & Bridge Street.

The original chapel was subsequently used as the Bible Christian Sunday School and later as a greengrocer’s shop by Luke Day, as a garage, and as a store room by A.G. & M. Baulderstone.

After Paxton Square became tourist accommodation in 1983 it was developed as the reception and office area for Paxton Cottages.

Rare 1872 photograph of the town showing the Grammar School site from 1863-1873 Probably built as the Congregational Chapel. A large copy of the photo can be seen on the main site.

Plot 301, Kooringa Map 1849.

The following is extracted from Ian Auhl's, "The Story of the 'Monster Mine', p.302:-

"Early in 1850 the Baptists and Congregationalists (or Independents) were granted leases of land in Kooringa on which to erect chapels. A Congregational chapel, sited across the road from the Bible Christian Chapel was completed in September. Designated the "Union Chapel" it is likely that the chapel, "a good and substantial building of stone, capable of accommodating 200 bearers" was also used by other denominations.

The new chapel was opened in great style on 29 September 1850...by that great champion of ecumenical principles, Rev. Thomas Quentin Stow of Adelaide. Costing £300, the chapel was opened almost free of debt.

The South Australian

7 October 1850

On Sunday week the new congregational chapel at Kooringa was opened for public worship, the Rev. T.G. Stow preaching in the morning and evening, and the Rev. W. Lowe, Wesleyan minister of the township, in the afternoon. A tea party and public meeting were held the next evening at which Mr Giles the South Australian company's manager, presided. The new building, which is called Union Chapel, is a neat stone edifice, capable of accommodating 200 persons; the cost was £300 which has all been paid by subscription, including the opening collections of £40, except about £30 which will no doubt shortly be paid off.

The first Congregational service in Burra had been conducted in the residence of the mine storekeeper, Thomas Burgess by the Rev. Henry Cheetham in March of 1850. Cheetham was to be Burra's first and last Congregational minister.

Following the news of the discovery of gold in Victoria, miners abandoned the chapels and consequently, the Congregational chapel closed and neither the Congregationalists nor Baptists held services in Burra again.

The Welsh congregation took over the Congregational Chapel in 1851

Welsh Chapel became the United Presbyterian Church in 1855

Burra Grammar School opened in the building in 1863

Burra Grammar School closed in 1873

In 1884 the Burra Grammar School was demolished and the Kooringa Hotel built by E.C. Lockyer who was Managing Director of Burra’s Unicorn Brewery.

The Kooringa Hotel, in Kingston Street, was built in 1884 and is the most recently built hotel in Burra, seen above about 1916, and below in 2015

The Observer

19 November 1859 page 1

The new Bible Christian Chapel, which has been begun to be built to accommodate the large number who crowd the old chapel, is progressing rapidly under the superintendence of Mr. Burgoyne, the contractor. The gallery, which in the Wesleyan Chapel has also been rendered necessary by the same cause, will soon be completed by Mr. James Pearce, the contractor, and it promises to be handsome as well as a useful addition to the chapel, as Mr. Pearce is determined that it shall be equal to anything in Adelaide.

This second chapel was built at the corner of Quarry Street and Bridge Terrace, with labour supplied by cornish miners.

Eventually, the decision was made to dynamite and demolish the church as there were structural issues with the building, namely the weight of the slate roof which had caused one wall to bulge. The church was dynamited in 1909 however this did not prove to be very successful and remained in ruins till the 1930s.

This church was built in 1850, but quickly abandoned when almost all the men went to the Victorian gold rush. Upon their return it was re-opened in 1856 by the evangelist J.G. Wright. The building was doubled in size before he left in 1858.

In 1880 it was remodelled and the present front erected. The rear was extended by 5.5 m in 1883. Methodist Union in 1900 saw the final services held here on 25 February 1900, after which they were transferred to the former Wesleyan church in Chapel Street.

The building was sold and became the Masonic Lodge from 1900.

The extension on the south side was added by the lodge in 1935 as a supper room.

It was sold to become a private dwelling in 2003.

Baptist Church

Information about the Baptist Church, in Thames St, Kooringa is extremely rare. One fact that is known, is that the old church was used as a council depot for many years.

The following is an extract from the original diary of Thomas Hair. The extract relates to his time in Burra and the establishment of the Baptist Church.

1849

"In England we all belonged to the Baptist Church but there was none of that persuasion up there, so we mostly attended the Primitive Methodist Church. Buxton being a good public speaker he was anxious to start a cause at the Burra.

He was told that the Overseer of Works, that is all buildings and carpentry work, was a Baptist, Mr. Philip Santo, so one Sunday afternoon we resolved to introduce ourselves to him. We were very cordially received by himself and his good wife. It turned out that Mr. Santo belonged to the Grote St. Church of Christ. Not being much difference between us, and Mr. Santo being a good speaker the two argued the points of difference between them, but Mr. Santo very soon convinced us thus Christians [Primitive Methodists in this context] walked nearer the truth than the Baptists, so it was suggested that we meet at the Santo's house on Sunday mornings to break bread according to the ancient custom of the Apostles of old, and both of them being good speakers they soon began to preach the Gospel on Sunday evenings and they would get a house full of hearers, first one and then another were convinced, the Hoskins and Pearces families were baptised and 18 received into the Church. Adam Taylor a shipmate of mine also joined the Church and several others.

And Mr. Santo's house got too straight for all who wished to hear the Word so it was resolved that a Chapel be built with a Baptistry under the platform. It was not talked about for months before starting the work, but after the resolution was passed it was taken in hand at once. Hoskin and Pearce were masons, Buxton at this time had left the mine and started as Builder in the town on his own account, Adam Taylor was a quarry man, he found the stone, Brooker, the father of Brooker of the firm of Brooker and Crooks was a Painters so the building was put up cheap. I think it was opened free of debt or nearly so."

Howley's cottage in Paxton Square where Mass was first celebrated in Burra

Knevett's house, Chapel Street, Burra, where Mass was later celebrated

According to a history of the parish, written by Fr. Kevin Matthews, the Catholic parish of Burra has its origins in a revolution that was spreading through Europe, starting in Paris in 1848. The 1848 "Anti-Jesuit Law" in Austria gave the Jesuits a choice of ceasing to be Jesuits or going into exile from their homeland. The law was repealed by 1852 but the effects were felt in many parts of Europe.

As per the experience of German Lutherans, German Catholics also objected to interference in religious matters by the Prussian Government. It was Frank Welkert a prosperous farmer from Silesia, Germany who planned to lead a group of German Catholics to South Australia.

Two Jesuits, Fr. Maximillian Klinkowstroem and Fr. Aloysius Kranewitter were chosen to open the mission that would eventually lead to the establishment of the parish of Sevenhill and eventually of Burra.

The first Catholic services were held in Burra in 1849 and from 1853, Burra was visited regularly once a month. Mass was celebrated at Howley's Cottage in Paxton Square or at Knevett's home in Chapel Street.

Original St Joseph's Chapel and School in Commercial St, Kooringa, with old convent at rear

This site was the home of Ellen Taylor nee Doig from the early 1870s until her death in 1924 aged 92, having survived her husband by many years. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland 10 June 1832. Mrs Taylor came to Queensland in 1855 and to Burra fourteen years later where the last two of her five children were born.

The original timber house was replaced with a two roomed stone cottage by 1881. This was subsequently enlarged. On Ellen’s death the cottage remained with her descendants until 1961.

Downstream side of Deadman’s Bridge.

Upstream side of Deadman’s Bridge.

Public subscription financed the erection of this bridge in 1868 by the contractors Tiver & Woollacott, supervised by D. Wells Curator of the Burra Cemetery. The bridge made it easier for funerals to negotiate this difficult creek crossing.

The rather awkward positioning of the bridge was dictated by cost. It was bypassed in 1920 when land was acquired from C. Grow, the road was straightened and a new bridge erected. The parapet walls were then removed.

Its location on the road to the cemetery seems the likely explanation for its unofficial name as Deadman’s Bridge.

Map showing alignment of new and old bridges

Rare 1872 photograph of the town

The first Anglican services ever to be held in Burra were conducted in a stone building situated in Kangaroo Street. First services were held in 1849.

The first Church of St. Mary was erected, after a short period, on a site donated by the Burra Copper Mining Company and stood not far distant from the stone building in which the first services were held.

A proposal to build another church at Redruth was made to meet the needs of the people there and at Aberdeen. These two localities now form what is known as Burra North. The work was actually begun and the foundations of the new Church of St. Luke standing in a triangular block of land are still to be seen on the way to the old reformatory. However, a general desire to have a larger and more central place of worship resulted in the erection of the present building in 1879.

The original Church of St Mary on the hill was demolished and a few treasured possessions were transferred to the new building, namely, the Altar Table, two stained glass windows and the iron cross which surmounted the west end of the old church. The construction of St Luke's Church was abandoned.

The present St Mary’s Anglican Church was completed in 1879 (two years after the mine’s closure) at a cost of £4,000. It was built by the local firm of Sara & Dunstan to the design by G.F. McLagan, who came to live in Kooringa from Melbourne. The Gothic-style church now contains many memorials to Burra’s long-established families and many stained glass memorial windows, two of which are from the original St Mary’s Church.

Opening Day of the Kooringa Methodist Church 25th March, 1914

Burra Uniting Church

(former Kooringa Methodist Church

which replaced the original Kooringa Wesleyan Church)

The White Hart Hotel, in Young Street, was built in 1852 and burnt down in 1916.

Northern Mail 3 November 1876

Mr E. Orchard of Aberdeen has built a small boat and has been racing in it between the Mill and the White Hart Hotel.

Burra Record 8 November 1887

Advertisement.

Temperance Hotel Aberdeen, late White Hart Hotel

Board and Lodging 15/- a week

Burra Record 22 March 1916

Fire at the Old White Hart Hotel.

On Tuesday night last week [14 March] the old White Hart Hotel was nearly all destroyed by fire. It was used as the home of Mrs A. Sara and partly by the Boy Scouts for their gatherings. The house belonged to Mr James Reed. It was one of the oldest buildings in the town, being built 65 years ago. [1851] It comprised 22 rooms and was not insured.

Captain Truscott was raised by the bell rung by Mr Crewes. He got the hose and hydrant, but then had trouble getting to Aberdeen. Several cars sped past without stopping and eventually Mr Lord got his car out and took Mr Truscott to the fire. They arrived within 20 minutes of the fire being discovered, but lack of practice still delayed them from plying the fire with water. The front part of the house was then saved. Mrs Sara’s furniture had already been largely saved except for the kitchen and her own bedroom. The Scouts’ Rooms and equipment were saved.

The Royal Exchange Hotel opened in 1881, replacing the Aberdeen Hotel which burnt down in 1880. The photograph was taken in the early 1900's, shortly after the verandah was added. This building is located on the corner of Best Place and Morehead Street.

Burra Record 14 January 1891

Burra Town Council Annual Inspection of the Town. At the Royal Exchange Hotel several pigs were kept on the premises, but the arrangements were judged to be OK. The rubbish needed better containment on account of the fowls hawking it around.

Burra Record 26 August 1896

Earthquake. Last Saturday at about 12.17 a severe earth shock occurred in Burra. It was the worst ever felt here.

Two after-shocks were felt in the afternoon.

Every second-floor ceiling at the Royal Exchange Hotel was cracked.

Burra Record 18 December 1912

Advertisement E. Slattery has taken over the Royal Exchange Hotel and it is being thoroughly renovated and refurnished. It will be fitted throughout with electric light and fans and a large hall erected for the convenience of customers and visitors.

Burra Record 19 January 1921

A Bolt. Lance Tiver was driving Edgar Pearce’s dray at Aberdeen on Friday when Wirth’s [circus] elephants caused the horse to bolt. In negotiating the Royal Exchange Corner the dray crashed and Mr Tiver was thrown right through the bar door. The dray’s shafts were smashed off and the horse with harness attached galloped through the town to Mr Pearce’s stables. The harness was badly damaged and the horse cut and bruised. Mr Tiver surprisingly escaped with a shaking and a few abrasions.

The Southampton Arms

The Southampton Arms (1851-54) was just north of the Smelters’ Home, which became Opie’s Hotel.

Opie’s Hotel was established in 1849 as the Smelters’ Home Hotel.

Nicholas Opie bought it in 1861 after which it was known as Opie’s Hotel.

It closed in 1917 when the licence was transferred to the Booborowie Hotel.

After its closure as a hotel, it became the home and business premises of L. R. Fuss who lived there until his death in 1968.

In later years it comprised four flats. It has subsequently become a private home.

This crowd outside the Burra Hotel in Market Square was gathered to celebrate the Coronation of King George V in 1911.

Burra Hotel as it appeared in 2005.

The Miners’ Arms Hotel was first licensed on this site in 1847 as the town’s second hotel.

Improvements were made in 1859 and extensive additions were erected in 1876.

Until 1904 the hotel provided sales at adjacent stock yards and until at least the 1880s traditional Cornish games including wresting were held here at Christmas.

The original building was substantially destroyed by fire in December 1878. Trading continued and by September 1879 a new building was completed incorporating some of the surviving structure.

In 1880 the name was changed to the Burra Hotel and a verandah was added.

In 1904/5 further improvements were made including gas lighting and sky lights. The second storey was added in 1912.

The Commercial Hotel, in Commercial Street, in 1925, with Halls’ horse cab in front. Below: the same building in 2008.

The Commercial Hotel in Commercial Street opened in 1876, which, with the closure of the Burra Mine in the following year, was probably not the best choice of dates.

Of the Burra hotels it is distinguished by having long periods under the management of the same person. W.H. (Harry) Vivian was a very popular proprietor for 26 years from 1885. Mrs Emilie Clark ran it from 1914-25 and Richard Lynch took over in 1925. His wife continued till 1938, following his death in 1936. It was Rasheed’s hotel from 1954 to 1976.

Despite the date 1873 on the parapet the Bon Accord Hotel was built and first licensed in 1874 in West Street. At the time this was at the end of the railway line. The verandah was added in 1926. The balcony has since been removed.

Burra Record 17 July 1918

Burra Licensing Court sat 10 July concerning renewal of licences for Mesdames Gregg, Seal, Richards, Boorman, and Clark.

Mrs F.A. Gregg (Bon Accord Hotel). The Inspector reported it to be fairly well furnished and clean. It had neither sample rooms nor billiards, but stabling for six horses. It was hard to say if it was necessary. It was used mainly by railwaymen and wheat lumpers. The toilets were pits, but septic tanks were being installed. Constable McCarthy said it was well conducted and necessary for the class of people who used it. Mrs Gregg had it for six months after her husband’s death: he had held the licence for seven years. She was very busy on sale days and when there were functions at the Showgrounds. It was largely used by Booborowie people.

The National Australia Bank opened in 1859, and the building was completed in 1861.

The National Australia Bank closed in 2019 and gave the building to the National Trust.

Showgrounds 1942

An aerial view of the Burra Show in 2008 note the old railway cutting at right.

At a special general meeting in November 1923, the President outlined a case for the society acquiring its own ground, where its ownership of assets would be clear and there would be no need to move jumps or other materials to make way for other users. He and Mr C. Bartholomaeus were prepared to give the society about 12 hectares adjacent to the railway on the northern edge of the town. Mr John Melrose (later Sir John) offered to bear the cost of relocating their buildings and fixtures. Mr Warnes also offered a further £300 if the other members would contribute or raise a like amount. The offer was accepted and the Society moved to the new site, with the first show being held there in 1924, though the first event there was the Sheep Dog Trials in April.

The showgrounds acquired a railway siding and special trains and later railcars ran to the grounds from Adelaide for many years. Shows have been held there annually ever since, except for the six years, 1940-45 inclusive, during WWII. In this period the Society formed a War Committee and raised money for the war effort. Mr I.J. Warnes was President from 1914 till his death in 1944. Shows were resumed in 1946 and continue to be an annual feature on the town’s calendar.

Thomas Grant was the first owner of this allotment in 1851, when Redruth was offered for sale.

Circumstantial evidence suggests that James Tiver and Aaron Cole erected a house on the site c. 1859. The first council assessment in 1873 confirms the presence of a stone house of five rooms.

Later assessments indicate that the house was owned by a series of landlords who let the property until the 1950s.

William Hunt, who was the owner-occupier from 1951-68, was well known as a saddler and shoe repairer here. Later owners included M. Irlam, A. Sutton and A & H. Waghorn.

This flour mill was built for Butterworth Brothers in 1874.

In 1878 part of the property was acquired by the South Australian Railways for the extension of the line to the north. This made access to the mill more difficult for farmers delivering grain.

In 1886 Ely Butterworth died and the business was carried on by his brother John. An old boiler at the mill exploded in January 1891 and the business was wound up in 1892.

Rival miller Henry Roach bought the premises in 1897 and sold it to the British Imperial Oil Company (later the Shell Company) in 1926. The mill was gutted, the two top floors removed and it was turned into a garage. Large petrol tanks were installed and the premises operated as the district Shell Depot for about fifty years. From 1982 to 1999 it was owned by transport operators.

It was then bought by D. Wiltshire and converted to a private residence with the restoration of the upper floors. Since 2005 it has had various owners, and currently provides bed and breakfast accommodation.

Sara & Dunstan Building Yards

Sara & Dunstan Office, now a Private Residence

Oddfellows Lodge Hall 1911

Burra Record 30 August 1911

At Aberdeen on Wednesday Bro. August Bartholomaeus opened the new hall for the Loyal Aberdeen Lodge MUIOOF. PG Bro. C. Fuss was in the chair. Bro. Bartholomaeus was the oldest member in Burra and could look back 53 years to the opening of the Lodge in Burra.

The Lodge first met at the old Burra Hotel, now the Hospital. The Aberdeen Lodge was opened in 1858 and it met at the old Aberdeen Hotel and had upwards of 90 members in its first year, but after a while they moved to the old (German) schoolroom near the Court House in Redruth and met there for 38 years until it was destroyed by fire in 1910.

Some 487 members had passed through the lodge and over £6,700 had been distributed in sick-pay plus doctors' money and funeral fees etc. They had at present 137 members. Various speeches followed.

The hall cost upward of £200.

Burra Record 5 Feb. 1902, page 3

Redruth Methodist Church has an enlarged group of trustees and they have agreed to take over the late Primitive Methodist Church which has been declared unsafe. The Jubilee of Methodism in Redruth will be celebrated early in June and a sketch of the history of Methodism in the place is to be prepared. A scheme for enlarging the Primitive Methodist building will be worked with the celebrations and the said building will then be called the Methodist Jubilee Hall. Harvest thanksgiving will be held at the church on 9 February.

9 Apr. 1902, page 3

Redruth Methodist Circuit quarterly meeting. Report that the income had met expenditure and the deficiency and also that £95 had been raised towards renovating the manse, fencing the circuit paddock and paying arrears of interest on the Primitive Methodist Church. The meeting sanctioned the enlargement of the Primitive Methodist Church which will in future be known as Jubilee Hall. Gratitude was expressed for the improved health of the pastor, Rev. W.F. James on his return from his change and rest.

Methodist Jubilee Hall Redruth.

The old Primitive Methodist Church is unsafe and too small, so the trustees of the Redruth Methodist Church have agreed to take it over, repair it, and extend it by ten feet. Tenders were called last week and on Monday the tender of Launder, Griffiths & Pearce was accepted.

Redruth Sunday School 1925 above, 2015 below

Plaque

Burra Record Tuesday 7 February 1950, page 1

Redruth Methodist Sunday School

On 7th and 8th February, 1925, or a quarter of a century ago, the Redruth Memorial Sunday School was officially opened.......

Building of such a School was a big undertaking. The objective was 'To raise a fitting Memorial in honor of all past officers and teachers of the Redruth Sunday School.' Further to that it was resolved that 'This Memorial to be opened free of debt.'

Money came in slowly at first, until Mr James Reed gave a donation of £1,000. Then, as the opening drew nearer, local efforts and donations from Sunday School, Church and the interested people of Burra and District contributed much more, and on the final day, just before contribution lists closed, Mr James Reed promised to make up any final deficiency. So the amount of the cost of the building, approximately £4,400 was raised and the School was opened, as resolved, free of debt, and this was due to the energetic work and organisation of a comparatively small group of people, coupled with the great generosity of the late Mr James Reed, who was also a one-time Superintendent.

Looking back, we follow the service of this building as a Sunday School and a public Memorial Hall. Has it fulfilled the expectations of its builders? The building itself is well built and appointed (it was built by Messrs T. H. Woollacott and F. M. Pearce, under the direction of Architect, Mr J. H. Laity) and is probably the finest, of its style outside of the City......

In the 1860s the land north, west and south of Burra gradually passed from pastoral use to agricultural production. By 1869 there were calls for the town to have a flour mill.

In 1874 two mills were constructed. One in New Aberdeen near the railway station and one for John Roach, formerly a miller at Penwortham, on Market Street, a little south of St Just Street.

The architect was Rowland Rees and construction was by Sara Bros. The first load of wheat milled was from the Eastern Plains on 7 December 1874.

A large corrugated iron wheat store was built on the southern end of the mill in 1875.

After John Roach’s death the mill was operated by Henry Roach & Sons until 1918, when it was sold to W. Thomas & Co. of Adelaide. They spent a considerable sum modernising the equipment, but did not keep it operating for long and milling ceased about 1923.

The mill continued to be a wheat buying and storage centre until the 1940s.

In 1943 P.A. Roach wrote to the local paper to say that when wheat growing to the east of Burra declined farmers coming in from the west found they could save much time by unloading at the station rather than continuing on to the Burra Mill.

This factor, the high cost of wood or coal for the boiler and disproportionate labour costs for a small mill meant it was not viable by 1918.

See a longer article here.

Burra Hospital c.1930

The Burra Hotel (1846) was converted to a hospital in 1877. Over the years it was rebuilt.

A new isolation block was opened in 1898 and a maternity wing in 1925.

The old hotel building with inconvenient breaks of level was gradually replaced. It finally disappeared in a three-phase reconstruction from 1964-68.

The two storey cream-brick nurses’ home was erected in 1954 and became boarding accommodation (Goyder House) for students at Burra Community School in 1993. The stone wall surrounding much of the hospital was erected in 1879

Burra Record 22 Aug. 1939

A ceremony to mark recent plant extensions at the Power Station took place on 14 August. E.F. Marston as Chairman of the Board of Directors started the new diesel unit. W.H. Sandland Senior Director closed the main switch to bring the new generator on line. A dinner followed at the Royal Exchange Hotel.

Mr F.D. Taylor on behalf of Messrs Petters Ltd proposed the Burra Electric Supply Co. Ltd. He said the first engines installed in 1924 were Vickers Petter Engines of 30 & 60 BHP respectively coupled to alternators of the Harland Engineering Co. Ltd. In 1934 it became necessary to expand the plant and they installed another Petter Engine, this time a 112 BHP. Again more power was needed and Petters Ltd through their agents the SAFU were given the order for a Petters Superscavenge Diesel Engine of 187.5 BHP. The latest extensions brought the plant into line with the most up-to-date in the state and the reserve power allowed for further expansion as required and should see the company through for some years to come......

There is more information about Burra's electricity supply here.

Burra Show 1877 - 1885

The Burra Show Society was formed on 21 June 1877 and was burdened with the rather cumbersome name of the Burra and North-Eastern Agricultural, Horticultural and Floricultural Society. It rapidly organised its first event, a ploughing match on 16 August, in which Mr S.J. Myles won the rather substantial sum of £5 and George Bailey won £3 in the class for boys aged under 16.

The Burra Record for 14 September 1877, reported the first Burra Show held on Wednesday, 12 September, in the yards of the English & Australian Copper Co:

The weather was poor, with a bitterly cold wind and showers, but at least 1000 people turned out. There was a display of horses, sheep and implements in one yard and in the building there were vegetables, dairy produce, dogs, poultry, and a display of photographs by Messrs. Dobson of the Temple of Light, Adelaide. Mr C. Oppermann had a display of stuffed birds. A second yard held cattle. There were also Cheap Jack stalls and other games, including twos-and-threes. There were refreshments with tea, coffee and ‘stronger liquors.’

The shows continued to be held there until 1885, but in May 1886, the annual meeting failed due to lack of interest and no shows were held from 1886 to 1893 inclusive. In March 1894, the society was resuscitated and the town oval was selected for the next show in September that year.

In 1887a public subscription was raised in Burra for a special train to take 455 children and 175 adults to an exhibition in Adelaide to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. The train was reported to be the first passenger train to pass through the tunnel under King William Street on the new spur line to the exhibition grounds, in what is now the University of Adelaide campus.

After the event the committee had an excess of £31-12-0 and decided to spend half on this drinking fountain which carried the inscription “Children’s Celebration Jubilee 1887”.

An upper decorative part on which cups hung was removed in 1909. Although intended to provide refreshment for those walking between Burra and Burra North, in fact the fountain only ever worked for brief periods due to repeated acts of vandalism.

Thomas William Powell (1806-1891) made a subdivision of part of sections 480 and 2071 Hundred of Kooringa in 1857.

In 1833 he married Rebecca A. Wixen who was born in Hampton in Middlesex in 1810. No doubt the town is named after her birthplace. The Old English ham-tun means ‘home town’.

At one time the town had at least 30 houses, but it was on the outskirts of Burra and beyond the reticulated water supply. It gradually dwindled into a ghost town from the 1960s.

It is now a National Trust heritage area and a significant archaeological site.

Allotments are numbered to 55, but despite there being several maps lots 41 & 42 have not been located; there being a large central area where lot boundaries are not known.

The southeast corner is the location for one of Burra’s more important quarries for road and building stone.

The 1873 assessment indicates 20 houses.

The 1875 petition for a Town Council claimed there were then 24. [There is evidence that houses were sometimes divided, so there may not have been more buildings.]

Ruins of Hampton in 2004

Miss Mabel's Cottage

William Prosser bought this site from the Smelting Company in 1850 and in July 1854 sold it to John Edwards, who had arrived in South Australia with his family in 1849 to work as a smelter.

John Edwards erected this house and died in it on 7 September 1856. He had shared the house with his father-in-law Anthony Evans who migrated aged 86, worked for the Smelting Company until 98 and died aged 104 in this house in 1867.

The property passed to John’s wife Mary who sold it to her son-in-law Samuel Baker in 1883. His wife Ann (daughter of John and Mary Edwards) became the registered proprietor in 1896. Samuel and Ann Baker raised a family of 13 children in this house.

When Samuel died in 1938 aged 98 he was said to be the oldest person born in South Australia. His daughter Mabel owned the house from 1923 to 1980, sharing the property with her brother Thomas 1923-51 and sister Lillian 1951-73. Unusually for Burra the property had remained in the same family from 1854 to 1980.

Since 1980 it has changed hands many times.

A good yarding of sheep in the saleyards of Elder Smith & Co (c.1900)

The yards were erected in 1890 and the warehouse (mid photo) of S. Drew & Co in 1873. The Bon Accord Bridge (now demolished) crosses the Burra Creek.

Messrs. Elder Smith & Co were established in 1886, with Mr. Richard Bagot the first manager.

There was a monthly market, with the first market being held in the Bon Accord Hotel yards.

In 1890, they were the largest private stock saleyards in Australia. 1200 cattle and 40,000 sheep could be penned.

Sheep came from Queensland and NSW, with 222,380 sheep and 2,231 cattle being sold through the yards in 1890, 5,427 cattle in 1894, and 45,586 sheep and 409 cattle in 1895.

Image and text courtesy of Ian Auhl

Richard Cook had a fruiterer’s shop on this corner from 1896 to 1904.

The photographer William Bentley took out a ten year lease in 1904 and in 1914 his daughter Rosetta obtained a ten year lease as a confectioner, fruiterer and newsagent.

In 1917 sisters Maria and Alison Bentley bought the premises and appear to have traded in part of the premises until the 1960s.

After the building was enlarged in 1926 Harvey & Tiver and later Tiver alone operated as grocers in the corner shop until 1935. Jack Harvey had a greengrocer’s business here from 1937-46.

After several short term occupiers, Jack & Jean Bogisch traded here as grocers 1952-55.

The Misses Bentley had continued to operate a haberdashery and gift store but after Alison’s death the whole property was sold to the Aberdeen Football Club in 1965.

When the club was dissolved in 1989 the property was given to the District Council of Burra Burra and became the Burra Community Activities Centre.

Burra Station. Below, after restoration

The inadequate weatherboard station of 1870 was replaced by this impressive stone building including refreshments rooms in 1883. Sara & Dunstan won the contract.

It was a busy station on the main line to Broken Hill from 1888 and from 1917 to 1937 on the route to Perth.

The refreshment room closed in 1936.

An arched roof over two tracks and the platform provided shelter for passengers from 1870 until it was demolished in 1935.

Passenger services ceased in December 1986 and the last grain train ran in January 1999.

Following years of neglect, a major restoration was undertaken in2011

Bleak House School

Bleak House, in Market Street, formerly the Mine Hospital was used by Mrs McLagan and Miss Millar for Burra High School from 1887 to 1907.

Bleak House School formally known as Burra High School catered only for girls in its upper classes but, as shown in the photograph above, boys were admitted for the junior years.

This school was established in 1887 by Mrs Francis McLagan, the wife of the architect Mr A. McLagan who designed St. Mary’s Church. When she died in 1898 it was continued by her sister Miss Annie Millar until 1907. Miss Millar is shown at the left of the photo above, taken in about 1905. After Miss Millar left at the beginning of 1908 Miss Wilson conducted the school at the old Mine Store under the name Mine Bridge House High School, until it closed in 1912.

This is now a private home.

Bon Accord Museum Burra

A Fire Engine kept at the Bon Accord Museum

The Bon Accord mine site is on land originally purchased in 1846 by speculators from Aberdeen, Scotland. Mining operations were abandoned in 1849, but recommenced in 1858 when mine offices, blacksmith’s forge, carpenter’s shop and manager’s residence were erected.

An enginehouse containing a second-hand 50-inch Cornish pumping engine from the Burra Mine, was also erected but was demolished in 1887.

No economic orebody was discovered and mining ceased in 1862.

In 1908, pumping equipment was erected on the main shaft and supplied Burra’s water until 1966 when replaced by the Morgan-Whyalla pipeline.

At the front of the site is the Bon Accord Cottage. Built in 1859 as the mine manager’s residence, it is now used as bed and breakfast accommodation. A National Trust museum has been established in the main buildings.

For at least 30 years from 1876 this land was used by proprietors of the Commercial Hotel for sporting events and by travelling circuses.

In 1912 Mrs Emelie Clark, proprietor of the Commercial Hotel, had sample rooms erected on this site for commercial travellers to display their wares.

The Burra Air Force Association acquired the property in 1955 and renovated the building for use as club rooms.

On 13 November 1964 the building was opened as the Burra Kindergarten. The original building was greatly enlarged with additions to the rear in 1966.

In 1981 the Kindergarten moved to a site adjacent to Burra Community School. This site was then sold and converted for domestic use.

Dr Jane Parker had a veterinary clinic here from 1999 to 2004, after which it became a private home.

The cover of a Burra School workbook

The Burra Model School, usually referred to as the Primary School started with 248 enrolments in 1878 and peaked with 372 in 1886. Its lowest ebb was 148 in 1943. The Burra High School opened in 1913 with 30 on the roll and struggled for many years. It slumped to just 17 in 1920 and closure was threatened on several occasions.

There was a peak enrolment of 177 in 1969. In 1976 the Primary and High Schools were merged to form the Burra Community School and a remodelling of the old building was combined with the construction of a new building complex. The remodelled old building was also designed to house the Community Library to serve the needs of both the school and the community.

There is a lot more information about Burra's schools here.

This group of lady riders appear in the only photograph known from a show held at Victoria Park (1894-1908). Note that three were riding side saddle and two were astride. The Burra school can be seen in the background.

These gentlemen are believed to be the Show Committee for one of the years in the early 1900s during which the show was held at Victoria Park.

In March 1894, the Show Society was resuscitated and the town oval was selected for the next show in September that year. It was a great success, with an attendance of 2,300 and a profit of about £100.

Whereas the early shows had been followed by banquets in the evening, the re-formed society had concerts at the Burra Institute that contributed substantially to the Society’s income. These continued for many years, to be replaced, in turn, by special film screenings and later still, by dances.

Successful shows were held in 1895 and 1896, but the season was so bad in 1897 that a decision was taken in June to cancel the show being planned for September.

Regular successful shows were then held at the Town Oval, then known as Victoria Park, until 1908.

Burra businessman E. W. Crewes, who was Burra mayor 1900 and 1901, 1914-19 and 1921 and 1922, bought this allotment in 1921 and by 1925 had erected this fine gentleman’s residence to replace his former home at 13 Chapel Street. Following his death in 1929 the property remained with family members until 1965.

Early records suggest that in the 19th century there were several small buildings on this site.

Victoria Park 1906

This area was granted by the SA Mining Association in 1881 and a substantial stone wall was erected around it. Its sloping rocky nature meant it was only very gradually converted into a good oval.

After 1887 it was generally called Victoria Park in recognition of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Improvements were made the focus of the War Memorial Committee from 1947.

The oval was levelled and enlarged and the name changed to the War Memorial Oval.

The Burra Sports Complex building was opened here in 1982 and restored after being gutted by fire in 1991. The capping stones of Kapunda marble on the main gate were donated by James Shakes in 1884.

There was a general store on this site in the 1880s and 1890s, operated in turn by Kelly, Kitchen and Parkin.

William Lassock established his saddlery and book emporium here in 1899.

This burnt down in 1900 and the block was left vacant until 1914 when the builder John Pearce erected the present building, which was designed as four office suites and a hall for hire.

John Pearce gave rent free use of the hall to the Burra Cheer-Up Society (a WWI patriotic society) from 1915-20.

In January 1930 the building was gutted by fire, but was restored by May 1930.

Typical occupants of the building were solicitors, hairdressers, dentists and dressmakers and later the district council 1936-42. The hall’s many uses included, club meetings, dances, socials, dinners and fetes.

Ownership passed from the Pearce family in 1939 but similar usage continued until 1988, after which it became residential.

Although no good photographs of the sale yards exist, they can be glimpsed between the buildings in the background of this 1920s photograph of the Swing Bridge

Burra News & Northern Mail

25 January 1878

New Sheep Yards are being erected at the back of Bank's Unicorn Brewery

Burra Record

3 August 1904

The contractors for the erection of the sale yards, near the brewery, for Messrs. Bagot, Shakes & Lewis Ltd., are pushing on with the work. The cattle yards are being substantially built of heavy timber, while the accommodation of the public is being attended to by the erection of a large shelter shed, and when complete the convenience of the yards will be appreciated.

The pharmacist T. W. Wilkinson purchased this allotment from the SA Mining Association in 1882 and this house named Rockville was erected in the same year. It is one of a group of large houses erected in Burra once freehold title became available after 1869.

The house was owned by the Wilkinson family until 1947.

It was briefly owned by Mrs. W. B. Warnes and then by J. L. & V. E. Allen from 1954-72. In the 1970s it was owned by I. & C. Billington and H. B. Wheeler before being transferred to D. C. Pollard in 1983.

Text from a sign just inside the cemetery gate under the dot on the map. Another sign shows a plan of the cemetery (take your reading glasses)

In 1846 land was set aside by the South Australian Mining Association (SAMA) for a public cemetery just beyond the mining township of Kooringa. The first cemetery was located on the other side of the creek just west of the present site, but was moved to this site about 1850, with graves dating from 1851.

It was a public cemetery as SAMA refused cemetery use to be included in land grants to churches within the town because of the possibility that the land might later be needed for mining.

Foraging and scavenging animals were a problem and, in the January of 1853, Henry Ayers, Secretary of SAMA, wrote to Captain Roach on the matter, stating ...we have nothing to do with keeping this place (the cemetery) fenced... if the inhabitants of Koorings have no respect for their dead they can hardly expect us to have much.

In 1854, public meetings and a fund-raising effort within Kooringa and the other townships resulted in the building of the wall which surrounds the cemetery.

The land surrounding the cemetery became the property of the Corporation of Burra in 1914.

In the 1960s, the middle section of the cemetery was cleared and some of the headstones were placed along the western wall. Since 1991, the headstones have been reinstated to their correct plots. Where plots cannot be placed, the headstones are placed generally in the cleared section.

In 1887 as an unemployment relief scheme the Mayor Mr (later Sir) Frederick Holder instituted the planting of a double row of trees running in a fenced reserve on the eastern side of Market Street from Market Square to Burra North.

A line of white cedars bordered the road with the line of gums nearer the creek.

The Mayor donated almost 10% of the £183 cost.

Cr P.L. Killicoat proposed the name Jubilee Avenue to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Some 800 trees were planted, but only a handful of the cedars survive in 2012 following road widening and other changes over the years.

The white fence was removed in 1969.

The six cottages in Tiver’s Row are among the few remaining row cottages in Burra.

Being outside the Burra Mine boundary, they were privately built and owned. Family records say that James Tiver (1829-1909) built the middle house in 1856. Additions at either end were made later with the help of his second wife, Emma.

Mrs Ellen Ryan had a remarkable tenancy of sixty-three years in numbers 16 & 18 where she raised eight children.

The cottages continued as rental housing until renovated as bed and breakfast accommodation in the 1990s.

The houses were individually listed on the State Register of Heritage Items in July 1980.

The Burra Boy Scouts were reformed in 1929

The Scout Hall in 2016

This substantial shop was erected for James Tiver in 1870 and operated as a general store. The adjoining house also dates from the early 1870s.

In addition the shop housed the Aberdeen Post Office.

Upon James Tiver’s death in 1909 the business was taken over by his daughter and son-in-law, Emma and John G. Sara. The firm traded as Sara & Co. under the slogan ‘First with Latest’. The business continued in conjunction with John Sara’s son Frank until he died in 1947 and then with his grandson David until 1960.

It was Gill’s store until 1973.

Soon after that it ceased to be a grocery store and has since had a variety of uses, for much of the time offering antiques and collectibles.

The post office acquired a separate room from 1909, had a change of name to Burra North in 1939 and closed in 1973.

Evidence suggests this building dates from c. 1849 and originally housed the offices of the English & Australian Smelting Co. and the residence of its manager. Smelting ceased in 1869.

In 1881 the offices were converted to residential use. Until the Smelting Company finally sold their property in 1917 this and the adjoining house were leased as substantial private residences.

In 1917 the whole 19 acre smelting site was acquired by Miss E. M. McBride. This property was subdivided in 1920 and this end was acquired by Mr M. T. Fuller, being transferred to R. & M. Scholz in 1955.

N. & I. Lihou owned the property from 1959-77, after which there were a number of owners until it was acquired by J. & V. Wilson in 2013.

The three attached cottages were likely built around 1850, as two four roomed, and one two roomed cottage. The three appear, as a completed building and out buildings in the William Bentley painting of the town in 1857.

Council records of 1873 suggest the South Australian Mining Association as owners, with Mrs. Bodimar as occupier of the left cottage, and John Sampson Senior and family in the middle and right cottages, with chaff house and kiln.

By 1885 the family had purchased all three cottages. In 1886, on the death of John Junior’s parents, the cottages were advertised with lease, as having a cellar, stables, pig sty and a 'well of good water,' also a coach house at the rear, from which John Junior later advertised a cab business offering transfer between the hotels and the railway station.

The cottages stayed in the family until 1968.

They then passed through a number of owners, and after a period of neglect, were extensively renovated as one complete home.

There is a group of nine double cottages built in Thames Street for the SA Mining Association in 1846 to house its employees.

They were originally roofed with wooden shingles and floored with local slate. The distinctive central chimney served each of the four rooms. Galvanised iron roofs were first added in 1872. Later each pair of two roomed cottages was converted to a four roomed cottage. Lean-to additions were added at the rear and later verandahs were added.

Six of the nine cottages survive. There is one remaining a double cottage, though each dwelling has been enlarged by additions at either end.

They are among the earliest domestic buildings in SA still occupied.

The building now serves as a Regional Art Gallery with works featuring Burra

by colonial artist S.T. Gill on permanent display.

A new Telegraph Station and Post Ofiice was erected in 1861.

Image courtesy of the Ian Auhl Collection

From here explorer John McDuall Stuart sent a telegram in 1862 to the Governor informing him that he had made the first overland crossing of Australia.

The southern wing was added in 1890

Image courtesy of the Ian Auhl Collection

The northern wing erected in 1911 to house the telephone exchange

Image courtesy of the Ian Auhl Collection

From the late 1840s this site was occupied by an earlier building housing a general store run by Marks and Gollin and then W. H. Stanbury until the mid 1860s. From the 1880s to 1900 it was the site of two offices.

For much of this period the solicitor D. S. Packard shared the site with a succession of stock and station agencies.

In 1900 this building was erected and occupied by Ewins’ Drapery from more than 25 years.

By 1943 it was a butcher shop. J. & S. Pearce had a hardware shop in the 60s and 70s. Ford’s Gift shop preceded the Lucky Dip which traded from 1988-2013.

After remodeling it reopened in April 2013 as Chemmart Pharmacy

1881

1 MARKET STREET The National Bank of Australia established a branch elsewhere in Burra in April 1859. Tenders for this building were called in July 1861 and the building was completed the following year to the design of Edmund W. Wright, architect of Adelaide. It replaced several smaller buildings one of which had been a butcher’s shop. It comprised banking chambers and the manager’s residence with a private entrance in Mount Pleasant Road. At the time it was the most impressive building in the town. The National Bank was the first bank to be opened in the town and bought to an end a period when money orders were relied upon as a means of exchange. In 2017 it was the only bank building in Burra to be used for its original purpose. The first branch manager was Mr R. G. Prole and the last resident manager Mr S. Draper who left in 2001.

Messrs Samuel Drew & Co., of Kooringa tendered for the erection of a large wholesale grain store near the Burra Railway Station at Aberdeen in October 1873. The architect was William Beattie, of Port Adelaide and the contractors were Messrs. Baker & Humbley, of Adelaide. The building was 70 feet by 120. In September of 1875 the Company forwarded 11,000 bags of wheat by rail in one lot from their new store. By 1897 an oil-power chaff mill had been installed at the premises and advertising for it was painted on the side of the building.

In 1956 the building was sold by the Drew family (The firm became Drew & Crewes in 1890 and ceased trading in 1939) to Gerry O’Connor and in 1990 it became the property of the Burra Burra District Council. The property was sold to A.P. & K.L. McBride in about 2002.

This shop was erected in 1880 for Samuel Drew & Co., universal suppliers and was given a façade to match a new front placed on the adjoining building to the right, which the company had occupied from the early 1850s. The architect was D. Garlick and the builder J. Pearce of Burra.

The company became Drew & Crewes in 1890 and continued here until 1938.

Bence’s Ltd. drapers and clothiers moved here in 1939 and traded until 1977, after which there have been many occupiers.

Saltbush Clothing Co. traded here for many years.

The two small shops to the left had a number of occupiers in the 19th century before being absorbed into Drew & Crewes’ premises and after 1939 became part of Bence’s. Since 1977 they have seen many and varied tenants.

Before 1877 this site was a roadway to a ford across the creek.

There was a blacksmith on the southern part of this site from at least the late 1850s.

A Chinese named Charlie Fie erected a store here in the early 1890s.

Luke Day, also a Chinese, was a grocer and fruiter on this site from 1893 until 1928.

There was an iceworks facing Commercial street near the bridge from 1908 for a number of years.

In 1928 a garage was erected by F. Pearce for Wright Motors Ltd. Whitney & Tiver took over in 1931, followed by Central Motors.

In 1942 G. H. Dollman, trading as Burra Motor Co. bought the business, which was sold to N. & D. Webster in 1998.

In 2016 there were extensive renovations to the building including a new façade and driveway canopy.

1866-1873 William Jordan, watchmaker and jeweller

1879-1893 Thomas Nicholls, watchmaker and jeweller

1894-96 John E. H. Winnall, solicitor

1896-99 Ludwig Wicklein, watchmaker and jeweller

1901–18 Alfred J. Hunt, saddler

1914– 25 Reuben Hunt, saddler

1927-33 William Sullivan, men’s hairdresser

1934-35 Ken Wohling, men’s hairdresser

1938-66 Ken Murphy, men’s hairdresser and gift shop

1966-85 unoccupied

1985- Polly’s Tearooms

2 PENGLAWDD STREET William Prosser bought this site from the Smelting Company in 1850 and in July 1854 sold it to John Edwards, who had arrived in South Australia with his family in 1849 to work as a smelter. John Edwards erected this house and died in it on 7 September 1856. He had shared the house with his father-in-law Anthony Evans who migrated aged 86, worked for the Smelting Company until 98 and died aged 104 in this house in 1867. The property passed to John’s wife Mary who sold it to her son-in-law Samuel Baker in 1883. His wife Ann (daughter of John and Mary Edwards) became the registered proprietor in 1896. Samuel and Ann Baker raised a family of 13 children in this house. When Samuel died in 1938 aged 98 he was said to be the oldest person born in South Australia. His daughter Mabel owned the house from 1923 to 1980, sharing the property with her brother Thomas 1923-51 and sister Lillian 1951-73. Unusually for Burra the property had remained in the same family from 1854 to 1980. Since 1980 it has changed hands many times.

Burra businessman E. W. Crewes, who was Burra mayor 1900 and 1901, 1914-19 and 1921 and 1922, bought this allotment in 1921 and by 1925 had erected this fine gentleman’s residence to replace his former home at 13 Chapel Street. Following his death in 1929 the property remained with family members until 1965. Early records suggest that in the 19th century there were several small buildings on this site.

This area was granted by the SA Mining Association in 1881 and a substantial stone wall was erected around it. Its sloping rocky nature meant it was only very gradually converted into a good oval. After 1887 it was generally called Victoria Park in recognition of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. Improvements were made the focus of the War Memorial Committee from 1947. The oval was levelled and enlarged and the name changed to the War Memorial Oval. The Burra Sports Complex building was opened here in 1982 and restored after being gutted by fire in 1991. The capping stones of Kapunda marble on the main gate were donated by James Shakes in 1884.

3 MOREHEAD STREET John Pearce, a builder erected this house c 1873 and lived here for about ten years. A carpenter, builder and undertaker, Isaac Goss occupied the house from 1882-98 and ran his business from nearby Best Place from 1878-82. From 1923-54 it was owned by Thomas Henry Woollacott, builder and contractor and long serving Burra Mayor 1930-37 and 1939-46. The present verandah dates from the ownership of T H Woollacott.

An old diary suggests that Septimus Boord, one of the town’s earliest businessmen, had a butcher’s shop on this site from 1846.

In the 1850s and 60s John Edwards had a butcher’s shop on this corner, after which information is lacking until 1886 when John Watt opened a drapery store. This was destroyed by fire in 1892.

When rebuilt the store was occupied by C. Parks who had a tea shop and sold smallgoods and confectionery. By 1904 he was operating as a baker on this site. In 1929 he retired and leased the business to G. C. Kuchenmeister.

A fire in 1930 destroyed the front room. Several bakers operated the business until C. Parks’ estate was wound up in 1940. In 1941 the property passed to Burra dentist C.L. Phillips who had a practice in part of the building until moving next door. The bakery business was conducted by V. H. and G. H. Duldig in 1946 and by J. H. Waters from 1948.

In 1993 G. H.B. & R. E. Waters bought the building, having run the business since 1979. In 2014 their sons In 2014 their sons C.J. & S.J. Waters took over the management.

8 MOUNT PLEASANT ROAD The pharmacist T. W. Wilkinson purchased this allotment from the SA Mining Association in 1882 and this house named Rockville was erected in the same year. It is one of a group of large houses erected in Burra once freehold title became available after 1869. The house was owned by the Wilkinson family until 1947. It was briefly owned by Mrs. W. B. Warnes and then by J. L. & V. E. Allen from 1954-72. In the 1970s it was owned by I. & C. Billington and H. B. Wheeler before being transferred to D. C. Pollard in 1983.

In 1887 as an unemployment relief scheme the Mayor Mr (later Sir) Frederick Holder instituted the planting of a double row of trees running in a fenced reserve on the eastern side of Market Street from Market Square to Burra North. A line of white cedars bordered the road with the line of gums nearer the creek. The Mayor donated almost 10% of the £183 cost. Cr P.L. Killicoat proposed the name Jubilee Avenue to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Some 800 trees were planted, but only a handful of the cedars survive in 2012 following road widening and other changes over the years. The white fence was removed in 1969.

Throughout the 1880s Burra became the most important centre in SA for stock sales. In 1890 the stock and station firm Elder, Smith & Co. Ltd decided to erect this imposing building on Market Square to house its district offices. The local firm of Sara & Dunstan erected the building.

The site had previously been a garden with well-established fruit trees.

Following the merger of Elders with Goldsbrough, Mort in the 1960s the building became a coffee shop in the 1970s.

After being bought by the Burra Burra District Council in 1978, it became the Burra Visitor Centre from March 1979.

16 & 16A SMELTS ROAD Evidence suggests this building dates from c. 1849 and originally housed the offices of the English & Australian Smelting Co. and the residence of its manager. Smelting ceased in 1869. In 1881 the offices were converted to residential use. Until the Smelting Company finally sold their property in 1917 this and the adjoining house were leased as substantial private residences. In 1917 the whole 19 acre smelting site was acquired by Miss E. M. McBride. This property was subdivided in 1920 and this end was acquired by Mr M. T. Fuller, being transferred to R. & M. Scholz in 1955. N. & I. Lihou owned the property from 1959-77, after which there were a number of owners until it was acquired by J. & V. Wilson in 2013.

5 MOREHEAD STREET Henry Dawson a local saddler and mail contractor purchased this site in 1873 from the Yorke Peninsula Mining Co. Ltd. and shortly after erected this nine roomed house with cellar and stables. He was later a councillor and Justice of the Peace. There were several owners after Mr Dawson’s death in 1882 The property was acquired by the trustees of the Redruth Methodist Church in 1920 as a residence for the Minister and his family . Successive Ministers occupied the Manse until 1959. Since then it has been a private residence

In the 1840s and 1850s this was the site of a draper’s shop.

In 1858 W. H. Stanbury had a general store here until it was destroyed by fire in 1864. The new shop was leased by Thomas Bath, a successful general store keeper who purchased it in 1876. The present structure mostly dates from this time.

William Pearce became a partner in 1878, trading as Bath & Pearce. William’s sons took over in 1888 as Pearce Brothers until 1907 when W. Seabury operated a grocery until 1909. From 1920-33 J. Allen had refreshment rooms here. In 1933 O. Aberg established a butcher shop and from 1941-47 it housed W. D. Davies’ Bacon Factory. In 1947 C. Cummins and E. J. Franklin set up Burra Coldstores and Minespa Drinks.

From 1988 it was again a butcher shop operated by G. McPhee, becoming Cooper’s Butchers in 2009.

2 BRIDGE STREET EAST The three attached cottages were likely built around 1850, as two four roomed, and one two roomed cottage. The three appear, as a completed building and out buildings in the William Bentley painting of the town in 1857. Council records of 1873 suggest the South Australian Mining Association as owners, with Mrs. Bodimar as occupier of the left cottage, and John Sampson Senior and family in the middle and right cottages, with chaff house and kiln. By 1885 the family had purchased all three cottages. In 1886, on the death of John Junior’s parents, the cottages were advertised with lease, as having a cellar, stables, pig sty and a 'well of good water,' also a coach house at the rear, from which John Junior later advertised a cab business offering transfer between the hotels and the railway station. The cottages stayed in the family until 1968. It then passed through a number of owners, and after a period of neglect, was extensively renovated as one complete home.

This doctors' surgery has relocated to the Bank SA premises and this building is currently vacant.

There is also a doctors' surgery at the Hospital in Commercial Road.

Market Square South-East

Market Square South-East, before the fire and showing Lloyd Street

Market Square South-East showing the current IGA and the Billiard Hall which was replaced by the Post Office

The shop next to Lloyd Street (beyond the left of the photograph) appears to have had a number of short term tenants in the 19th century.

It was George Parks’ bakery in 1898 and W.T. Truscott and a series of others had refreshment rooms there 1909-14.

In the 1920s it housed F. Spencer, Jeweller and R.A. Lewis, cycle & phonograph dealer. From 1932 to 1961 it was a chemist shop run by A. Coverdale (1932-49), B. Nicholls (1949-51) and. R Wickes (1951-61).

The adjacent shop probably dates from 1883 when Joseph Ford erected a butcher shop. Between this date and 1904 the butchers included R. Hunt, J. Ford and A. Ward. The butchers after 1904 were W.T. Truscott (1904-18), G. Lawn (1918-25) and Jeffery & Byrne (1925-40).

In the 1960s it was united with the shop to the right under a single façade and occupied by Oates Ltd, Dalgety Bennetts Farmers and Looking Good Boutique. It has been a café before becoming the premises for the Mid North Broadcaster and in May 2014 a café and gallery - now a hairdesser and sweet shop.

A row of four attached cottages was built on the site of the current Post Office by the. S. A. Mining Association, probably in the late 1840s. They were burnt down in 1915. This was one of at least five fires believed at the time to have been deliberately lit. It spread rapidly through the original shingles under the corrugated iron roof, aided by the presence of calico ceilings.

A billiard saloon occupied the right hand section of the site from the early 1920s. The rest of it remained a vacant block until 1960.

In 1959 the billiard saloon was demolished and this post office building covers its site and the vacant block, replacing the inadequate premises next to St Joseph’s church in Market Street. It became a Licensed Post Office in 2002.

The first clear record of a business on this site is that of the solicitor Arthur Akhurst in the mid 1880s. Daniel Packard also had a solicitor’s office here between 1886-96. He was replaced by the solicitor John Winnall 1897-16. Part of the building was also occupied by Alice Wilson, dressmaker, from 1907-18. The office for Drew & Crewes’ general store was located in part of the building from 1916, taking over the entire premises from 1919. After Drew & Crewes ceased trading in 1938 it became part of Bence’s Ltd. draper and clothiers until 1977. Among other short term businesses, Price’s Bakery operated her from 1986-92.

Market Square 1925. Gaslight to the right. Information Centre to the left

Market Square 1905. Information Centre to the left of centre

Market Square 1890. National Australia Bank centre.

Market Square 1876. Gaslight on the left. Art Gallery on the right.

In the 1860s the South Australian Mining Association’s surgeon, Dr Maurau, lived and had his surgery on this site.

The Bank of Australasia operated from premises on the site in the 1870s.

In mid-1879 Dr Robert Brummitt moved into the premises on this site recently vacated by the Bank of Australasia, having purchased the freehold the previous year. In 1882 he had the house improved and enlarged. The section along Market Street dates from this period.

The house became known as the Doctor’s residence when Dr Brummitt sold it to Dr John Sangster Jnr in 1900 and successive Burra doctors lived there: Dr A.R. Caw (1910-12), Dr D.M. Steele (1912-46), Dr R.C. Heddle (1946-52), Dr R.B. Pitcher (1952-64) and Dr P.J.D. Kirk 1965-69.

From 1970 to 1977 it was owned by Samin Ltd and subsequently became a private residence.