Gatton is a rural town and

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localities (Australia), in which a locality is a geographic subdivis ...

in the

Lockyer Valley Region The Lockyer Valley Region is a local government area in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, between the cities of Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Gatton and the Shire of Laidl ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. In the , the locality of Gatton had a population of 7,101 people. It is the administrative centre of the

Lockyer Valley The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultiv ...

situated in the

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a bio-geographical, metropolitan, political and administrative region of the state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of approximately 3.8 million people out of the state's population of 5.1 million. T ...

. Recently, the rural character of the Gatton area has started to be encroached on by the suburban sprawl of metropolitan

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

in the east and

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 C ...

in the west. The

Warrego Highway The Warrego Highway is located in southern Queensland, Australia. It connects coastal centres to the south western areas of the state, and is approximately 715 km in length. It takes its name from the Warrego River, which is the endpoint ...

, which runs east–west through the Shire, has also experienced increasing strip development, with fuel outlets and commercial properties gradually spreading along the highway.

History

Prior to European settlement, the area was occupied by members of the Yuggera Aboriginal language group. Jagara is one of the Aboriginal languages of South-East Queensland. There is some uncertainty over the status of Jagara as a language, dialect, or a group or clan within the local government boundaries of

Ipswich City Council The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, located within the southwest of the Brisbane metropolitan area, including the urban area surrounding the city of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Geography The Ci ...

, Lockyer Regional Council and the

Somerset Regional Council The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, about northwest of Brisbane and centred on the town of Esk. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Esk and ...

The Gatton area was explored by Major

Edmund Lockyer Edmund Lockyer, (21 January 1784 – 10 June 1860) was a British soldier and explorer of Australia. Born in Plymouth, Devon, Lockyer was the son of Thomas Lockyer, a sailmaker, and his wife Ann. Lockyer began his army career as an ensign in ...

in 1825. A settlement known as Gatton was gazetted in 1855. The name ''Gatton'' is taken from the village of Gatton in

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

, England. The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

opened 1 January 1866, with Frederick Lloyd, a dairyman, as the first postmaster. The small village did not experience significant growth until the mid-1870s, after the railway to Grandchester attracted people to the area. Catholic priest Father Brun established St Mary's School in 1868. However, in 1892, the only teacher at the school Miss Mary O'Keeffe married James McKeen of Mount Sylvia, and the school closed. The Gatton Congregational Church opened on 26 November 1874. On 14 October 1901 the laying of the foundation blocks of present church was performed by William Drayton Armstrong, the Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

for Lockyer, together with

Alexander Brown Wilson Alexander Brown Wilson (5 June 1857, in Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland – 5 May 1938, in Kangaroo Point, Queensland, Australia) was an architect in Queensland, Australia. A number of his works are listed on the Queensland Heritage Register. L ...

, the architect from Brisbane representing the Queensland Congregational Union. In 1965 the front of the church was covered with bricks. In June 1977 many Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian churches amalgamated to form the

Uniting Church in Australia The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Uni ...

with the church in Gatton now known as Lockyer Uniting Church. In January 1875, Gatton residents convened a meeting to establish a school. In June 1875 tenders were called for the construction of a school building and a teacher's residence. Gatton State School opened on 31 January 1876. In October 1885, local Anglicans proposed to build a church. In April 1886, the tender of Mr J. Olsen to construct the church for £260 was accepted. St Mary's Catholic Church was built in 1889 under Father Daniel Walsh, replacing an earlier church. On 29 September 1889, the church was officially opened and dedicated by the

Archbishop of Brisbane In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

Robert Dunne Robert Dunne (5 September 1830 – 13 January 1917) was the second Roman Catholic bishop of Brisbane and later he became its first archbishop. Dunne was born in Ardfinnan, County Tipperary, Ireland and was educated at Lismore Grammar School ...

. The current church building was officially opened and blessed by Archbishop

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest-s ...

on Sunday 25 August 1963. The

Queensland Agricultural College University of Queensland Gatton Campus is a heritage-listed university campus of the University of Queensland at Warrego Highway, Lawes, Gatton, Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1897 to 1960s. It is also known a ...

opened and established an experimental farm in 1897 at Gatton. In December 1898, three local young people from nearby Blackfellow's Creek were murdered; this incident became known as the

Gatton murders The Gatton Murders, also known as the Gatton Tragedy, the Gatton Mystery and the Murphy Murders, is the name given to an unsolved triple homicide that occurred from the town of Gatton, Queensland Colony, in present-day Australia. Michael Mur ...

, and remains unsolved.Whiticker, Alan J. (2005). ''Twelve Crimes That Shocked the Nation''. On 20 December 1902, auctioneer Elias Harding offered 36 town lots ranging in size between in the Gaul Estate, being based around Gaul Street () and bounded by Old College Road to the north, Allan Street to the east, Hickey Street to the south and Park Lane to the west. Only 3 lots were sold. In 1913, following local agitation, Gatton State School was expanded to offer secondary schooling, which was known by a number of names over the years: Gatton Secondary Department, Lockyer State High School, Gatton Intermediate School, and Gatton State School Secondary Department. On 23 January 1961 it was replaced by a completely separate school, Lockyer District State High School. Our Lady of Good Counsel School was opened on 14 January 1917 by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

, following a fund raising campaign by

Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

. The Gatton Baptist Church was officially formed in October 1935, an offshoot of the Tenthill Baptist Church. The congregation met in the Fallen Soldiers Memorial Hall, until Saturday 13 November 1937 when their first church was dedicated by Reverend John Henry Latimer, President of the Queensland Baptist Union. The building was the top of the hill on Railway Terrace (now 75-77 Cochrane Street, ). It was a timber building, and cost £300 with most of timber and labour being donated. On 12 March 2005 the congregation relocated to their new church at 12 William Street. The Gatton Corps of the Salvation Army was established in March 1938. The Gatton Circle Corps officially opened their church on the 23 February 1974 with Colonel R. Holz officiating; it was the former Methodist Church on the corner of Old College Road and Ford Street which was sold in January 1974 for $23,500. St Paul's Lutheran Church opened on the corner of Spencer Street and East Street on 2 February 1948. It was replaced by the Peace Lutheran Church which opened on 16 April 1978. St Mark's Lutheran Evangelican Church was dedicated by Pastor Carl Adolf Gerhard Dohler on Sunday 29 October 1950 with over 500 people in attendance. The building was at the top of Railway Street , where it had "a fine view of the town". It was constructed of cypress pine

chamferboard Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of these terms, is wooden siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping. ''Clapboard'' in modern Americ ...

and was . In 1967 the church was relocated to 5 Hunter Street, Brassall, where it was rededicated on 19 November 1967. The

Gatton Star The ''Gatton, Lockyer and Brisbane Valley Star'' is a free weekly online newspaper in Gatton, Queensland, Australia. History The newspaper was first published on 28 September 1956 under the title ''Gatton Star''. Along with many other regi ...

is a free, local, community newspaper which began publishing in 1956. The final print edition of The Gatton Star was published on 24 June 2020, when it transitioned to a subscription-based online only model. Edna Linning and her husband started Gatton Bus Services in 1957 when they heard a high school was being built in town. Originally, the business only had one bus traveling to the college and back; since the mid-1980s, the business has 14 buses, eight of which are used for school children. The buses traveled to Flagstone Creek, Buaraba, Esk, and Forest Hill to pick-up students. The company also organised tours of Gatton for schoolchildren who lived in the city, so they could understand farm life and see how produce is grown and harvested. In its early days the business also ran tours to Brisbane. Peace Lutheran Primary School opened on 27 January 1982. At the

2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

, Gatton had a population of 6,869. In 2009, Gatton Library relocated from the Civic Centre in Railway Street to the new Cultural Centre. In the the locality of Gatton had a population of 7,101 people.

Heritage listings

Gatton has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many ...

sites, including: * Crescent Street: Boer War Memorial * Hickey Street: Weeping Mother Memorial * Warrego Highway:

University of Queensland Gatton Campus University of Queensland Gatton Campus is a heritage-listed university campus of the University of Queensland at Warrego Highway, Lawes, Gatton, Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1897 to 1960s. It is also known a ...

Population

According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 7,101 people in Gatton. * Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.3% of the population. * 68.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Taiwan 4.4%, India 2.2% and South Korea 1.8%. * 72.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 5.3%, Arabic 2.0% and Korean 1.7%. * The most common responses for religion were No Religion 22.6%, Catholic 20.7% and Anglican 11.7%.

Industry

As part of the "Salad Bowl" of the Lockyer Valley, the area is primarily

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

, with vegetables making up the majority of crops. Fruit was grown extensively in the area until the 1990s, when economic conditions changed and many of the orchards were removed. There is also significant beef and dairy cattle farming, (Stanbroke Beef operates its abattoir at nearby

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

) along with a growing equine industry, and the town is also a noted producer of fodder crops, particularly prime lucerne hay.

Climate

The area has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

, with hot, humid summers and mild, sunny winters, albeit with cool nights. Heavy summer rain and warm conditions have provided ideal conditions for the areas agricultural productivity, although droughts and heatwaves can be problematic at times. Temperatures in Gatton are among the warmest in south-east Queensland in summer due to its position away from the coast but at low elevation in the

Brisbane Valley The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, about northwest of Brisbane and centred on the town of Esk. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Esk and t ...

Education

Gatton State School is a government primary (Early Childhood-6) school for boys and girls at 26 William Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 506 students with 44 teachers (40 full-time equivalent) and 34 non-teaching staff (21 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. Lockyer District State High School is a government secondary (7-12) school for boys and girls at 100 William Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 1048 students with 95 teachers (91 full-time equivalent) and 51 non-teaching staff (37 full-time equivalent). It includes a special education program. Our Lady of Good Counsel School is a Catholic primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 20 Maitland Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 316 students with 23 teachers (20 full-time equivalent) and 16 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent). Peace Lutheran Primary School is a private primary (Prep-6) school for boys and girls at 36 East Street (). In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 262 students with 22 teachers (20 full-time equivalent) and 15 non-teaching staff (10 full-time equivalent). The

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

has a campus on the former

site at Lawes, just to the east of the town of Gatton. This Gatton campus is now the base for much of the university's rural-focused research and teaching.

Amenities

The

Lockyer Valley Regional Council The Lockyer Valley Region is a local government area in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, between the cities of Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Gatton and the Shire of Lai ...

operate a public library in the Lockyer Valley Cultural Centre at 34 Lake Apex Drive (). Peace Lutheran Church is at 85 Spencer Street (). It is adjacent to the Peace Lutheran Primary School. Gatton Church of Christ is at 39 Hickey Street (). Gatton Baptist Church is at 12 William Street (). St Alban's Anglican Church is at 104 Spencer Street (corner of Railway Avenue, ). St Mary's Catholic Church is at 15 Maitland Street (corner of Spencer Street, ). Lockyer Uniting Church is at 25 Maitland Street (corner of Spencer Street, ). The Lockyer Valley Corps of the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

is at 64 Old College Road (corner of Ford Street, ).

Memorials

The town has a number of

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

s: * The Boer War Memorial was dedicated on 3 August 1908. * The Weeping Mother Memorial is an unusual depiction of the role of women in war. The foundation stone was laid on 22 April 1922 by the Australian Attorney-General,

Littleton Groom Sir Littleton Ernest Groom KCMG KC (22 April 18676 November 1936) was an Australian politician. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers between 1905 and 1925, and subsequently served as Speaker of the House of Representatives fr ...

and was unveiled on 14 November 1922 by

Queensland Governor The governor of Queensland is the representative in the state of Queensland of the monarch of Australia. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governor performs constitutional and ceremonial funct ...

Matthew Nathan Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Matthew Nathan (3 January 1862 – 18 April 1939) was a British soldier and colonial administrator, who variously served as the Governor of Sierra Leone, Gold Coast (British colony), Gold Coast, Hong Kong, Natal and Quee ...

. * The Gatton Shire War Memorial Pool was dedicated on 1 December 1959 to commemorate those who served in war. * The National Servicemen's Memorial was erected in November 1996 and commemorates those that served during the national service period of 1951 to 1972. * The Gatton Agricultural College War Memorial was dedicated on 25 April 1997 to commemorate the staff and students who died in war during the college's first century. * The Lone Pine Memorial is a tree planted from seeds whose lineage can be traced back to the Lone Pine at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. It was dedicated on 19 May 2005. Another Lone Pine Memorial at Gatton Campus also traces its lineage back to Gallipoli. The Lights on the Hill Truck and Coach Drivers' Memorial is located at Lake Apex Park on the outskirts of Gatton.

Attractions

Gatton Historical Village is on Freemans Road (). It is operated by the Gatton & District Historical Society. Queensland Transport Museum is within the Lockyer Valley Cultural Centre at 34 Apex Park Drive (). It has vintage vehicles and models on display.

References

External links

*
Town map, 1986

Lights on the Hill Truck & Coach Drivers' Memorial official website
{{Authority control Towns in Queensland Lockyer Valley Region Populated places established in 1855 1855 establishments in Australia Pre-Separation Queensland Localities in Queensland