Saddleworth is situated on the Gilbert River and, along with neighbouring towns of Riverton, Rhynie and Tarlee, occupy an area is known as the Gilbert Valley. The town is bisected by the Barrier Highway.
Saddleworth was originally established as one of many settlements on the road to Burra, and was named after Saddleworth Lodge pastoral station, a local landholding which itself was named after the property of pioneer farmer John Masters, after his former home town on the edge of the Pennines in Yorkshire, England. The Burra railway line passed through the town from 1870 until the early 2000s.
The remains of the railway line through Saddleworth
An old store on the Barrier Highway has been converted into a museum which focuses on the history of Saddleworth and the nearby towns of Waterloo, Marrabel, and Manoora. The building is one of many featured on a 3 km long Heritage Walking Trail through the town centre that provides an insight into the history of the area.
Just 1.5 kms south of Saddleworth on the Barrier Highway, you will find the delightful Winkler Park and Cottage. The park is maintained and developed by a small group of volunteers, with support from the Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council.
Take a break from your travels and make use of the facilities - you might enjoy a picnic lunch or tea stop in the shelter shed beside an avenue of huge River Red Gums along the Gilbert River.
Riverton
A service town on the copper route from Burra to the coast, Riverton is a charming town that is home to a friendly, active community. Steeped in agricultural history, Riverton still has many original buildings and cottages with examples of early architecture. These include the impressive old railway station ans the cottage and outbuildings of wheelwright and blacksmith August Scholz which are located in Scholz Park. The town is also home to world renowned artist Robert Hannaford’s Riverton Light Gallery, Post Office (1876), Riverton Hotel (1854), an 1850s horse-mounting stone, the Rattler Trail and a sculture, 'Aboriginal Woman and Child'.
Photo: State Library of South Australia
The Riverton History & Information Centre at 21 Torrens Road was built in 1879 as the English, Scottish and Australian Bank and residence the building was purchased by members of the Riverton R.S.L. Branch in 1959 as club rooms. It is now owned by the Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council. The History & Information Centre marks the start of the town's Heritage Walk.
Rhynie
Rhynie is a small town, halfway between Tarlee and Auburn, along the Horrocks Highway. It is named after a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Rhynie was surveyed and founded in 1859, prior to which the village was known as Baker’s Springs. Like Riverton, was on the Spalding railway line, which has now been closed and replaced by the Rattler Rail Trail cycling and walking path.
The town has many heritage buildings, including the Rhynie Hotel, established in 1860, less than a year after the town was surveyed and founded. It features open fireplaces, beautiful stone walls and quality red gum fittings through the Tavern, dining room and pool table area.
Tarlee
Located about an hour and a half’s drive north of Adelaide, Tarlee is a small town with a small population that hasn't seen much action since the mid 1980s when the town's railway station and the railway line it serviced were closed. The railway came to the town in 1870 and passenger services ran until December of 1986. Tarlee Railway Station was once on a busy station but now sits laying dormant like so many stations scattered throught the rural areas of South Australia.
Tarlee station is located on the Adelaide to Peterborough line between Roseworthy junction and Burra. For a short period, Forrester's near Tarlee was the terminus as construction was authorised in two stages in the late 1860s. The line past Burra was removed in the early 1990s. Freight to Burra ran until 1999 and the line saw freight trains to Saddleworth until they ceased in 2006. The line hasn’t been officially closed, but hasn’t seen a train for many years and the track isn’t in the best condition.
Once a part of homelands of the Kaurna Aboriginal people, white settlement began in Tarlee in 1860s as a stopover point for the early traffic moving to and from the Kapunda and Burra mines and the port at Adelaide. In 1868 a number of blocks of land in the town were sold with a prime block next to the new railway station fetching £30. During the late 19th century the local stone quarries provided the foundations for the Adelaide Museum, the Adelaide GPO, the Legislative Council Building and Adelaide Railway Station.
Located across the road from the town's War Memorial, a Pinus halopensis (Lone Pine) hs been planted a memorial to the soldiers who died at Gallipoli during World War I. The extensive description explains the origins and importance of the Lone Pine as a symbol of that war. Lone Pine or Plateau 400 was the scene of a major diversionary offensive launched by the Australian 1st Division on 6th August 1915.
John Masters leased land in the area in the 1840s and laid out the town in 1853 after the declaration of the Hundred in 1851. He named it after his home in Lancashire, England. The settlement was originally called Stone Hut with a public house operating there by 1846 to service the needs of the bullock dray drivers to Burra. Growth was slow during the 1860s but progressed with the arrival of the railway in 1869. Saddleworth became the coaching terminus for services to Clare, Auburn and elsewhere. Perhaps the finest nineteenth century building in the town is the Anglican Church of St Aidan. The Catholic Church is sited on a hill to the north of the town. St Stephen’s was built in 1867, which makes it an old church for South Australia.
Locatio: 1568 Barrier Hwy, Saddleworth.
