Carpenter Rocks is a town and locality located south-west of

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

in the south-east of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The area faces the

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and is renowned for its rugged coastline which provides exceptional fishing and diving locations. In the , Carpenter Rocks had population of 82 people. Carpenter Rocks is in the

District Council of Grant The District Council of Grant is a local government area located in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is the southernmost council in the state. The council was formed on 1 July 1996 after the amalgamation of the District Cou ...

local government area, the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the South Australian Legislative Council, Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House, Adelaide, Parliament House in the st ...

electoral district of Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It covers the far south-east corner of the state containing the City of Mount Gambier and District Council of Grant local government areas. It is ce ...

and the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members o ...

Division of Barker The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member div ...

History and settlement

The earliest people in the Carpenter Rocks area were the aboriginal communities from the

Booandik The Bungandidj people are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mount Gambier region in south-eastern South Australia, and also in western Victoria. Their language is the Bungandidj language. Bungandidj was historically frequently rendered a ...

tribe. They were scattered in small groups along the coast where they had access to an abundance of food and water. Due to disease and land dispossession the last full-blooded Booandik died in 1904. Lieutenant James Grant, when on board , was the first known

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

person to view land known today as south eastern

. On 3 December 1800, he sighted what at first he thought was four unconnected islands, but on a closer look realized they were two mountains and two capes. One of these he named Cape Banks, just west of today's township, after English Botanist - Joseph Banks. On 4 April 1802, the French explorer Nicholas Baudin aboard the ship ''Geographe'' noticed the area and made the observation: According to Geoffrey Manning and

Rodney Cockburn Rodney Cockburn (21 October 1877 – 28 September 1932) was a South Australian journalist, author of a popular reference book on South Australian place names. History Cockburn was born in Kent Town, South Australia, a son of George (c. 1835 � ...

in "Place Names of South Australia", "The Rocks" were named "Les Carpentiers" ("The Carpenters") by Nicholas Baudin because their indented and serrated nature reminded him of a carpenter's saw. The Cape Banks Lighthouse has been listed as a state heritage place on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. ...

. On 31 October 1996, boundaries were created for the locality which was given the "long established name."

Areas of interest

The town is a gateway to the Canunda National Park and Lake Bonney SE. Carpenter Rocks supports a significant southern

rock lobster "Rock Lobster" is a song written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson, two members of the B-52's. It was twice recorded and released as a single, first by DB Records as their debut release in April 1978, and again the following year for the b ...

industry and Bucks Bay provides a safe haven for the many fishing boats moored there. Cape Banks lighthouse is located from the township and it is near here on 5 August 1859 was wrecked on a

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral or similar relatively stable material, lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic processes— deposition of sand, wave erosion planing down rock o ...

with the loss of 89 lives.

References

External links

District Council of Grant - Carpenters Rocks page

Limestone Coast Tourism

''SS Admella'' 150th Anniversary 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carpenters Rocks Coastal towns in South Australia Limestone Coast Fishing communities in Australia

History and settlement

Areas of interest

See also

References

External links