Hall, Australian Capital Territory
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Hall is a township situated in the District of Hall, in the north of the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...
, Australia. At the , the village had a population of 271 people. It is surrounded by open country and has a rural appearance. Hall has retained a village character. The township features historic buildings that existed before the establishment of Canberra.


History

The area that is now known as Hall lies on the traditional lands of the
Ngunnawal The Ngunnawal people, also spelt Ngunawal, are an Aboriginal people of southern New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. Language Ngunnawal and Gundungurra are Australian Aboriginal languages from the Pama-Nyungan ...
people. In 1826, George Palmer established his ''Palmerville'' estate in Ginninginderry, with a homestead located on the banks of Ginninderra Creek, adjacent to the present-day suburb of
Giralang Giralang () is a suburb of the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb is named after the word in the language of the Wiradhuri Aboriginal tribe of the Central West, New South Wales ...
. The estate encompassed much of what is now
Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconn ...
and southern
Gungahlin The District of Gungahlin () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The Gungahlin Region is one of fastest growing regions within Australia. The district is subdivided into div ...
. It adjoined the Charnwood estate to the west and Yarralumla estate to the east. The combined area of the Ginninderra and Charnwood properties was nearly . By 1861, a store, post office, cottages and homestead had been set up on a property owned by William Davis at Ginninderra, about 3 km south of Hall. This settlement was known by residents as Ginninderra village. In 1881, the
New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...
Government surveyed the area for an official village and chose a site on Halls Creek. The new village, called Ginninderra, was officially proclaimed in 1882, but following protests from local residents, was renamed Hall, in honour of Henry Hall, the first landholder in the area. The village was planned on a rectangular grid, and the first sale of land occurred in 1886. In 1911, the Australian Capital Territory was gazetted and Hall lay within the boundary of the land allocated, near the new border with New South Wales. Hall had been one of the sites considered for a capital city, within the 'Yass-Canberra' district. However, following a survey of the various sites, by
Charles Scrivener Charles Robert Scrivener (2 November 1855 – 26 September 1923) was an Australian surveyor, and the person who surveyed numerous sites in New South Wales for the selection of a site for the Australian Capital Territory and Australia's capital ...
, in 1909, Canberra was selected as the site for the new national capital city. Hall did not grow because, compared with the growing city of Canberra, it had few amenities. For example, it was not provided with town water until 1967. In 1954, the main street of Hall (which had been part of the state highway system since 1935) was named the
Barton Highway Barton Highway is a highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. It connects Canberra to Hume Highway at Yass, and it is part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra. It is named in honour of Sir Edmund Barton, the first Pri ...
. In 1980, the highway alignment was shifted to the west as part of a dual-carriage upgrade, bypassing Hall completely, and the former section of the Barton Highway through Hall was renamed Victoria Street.


Churches and Schools

St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Church is located on 220 Victoria Street, Hall. It is one of the oldest churches in the Canberra region and was built in 1910 with the help of the Catholic Community of Hall. There is also an Anglican Church, St Michael and All Angels. Hall had a
school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...
, from 1911 to 2006; part of it is now a school museum, opened in 2005, and part is used as a pre-school.


Features and Attractions

Some features of note within Hall village are: * Hall Pavilion and Showground. The showground area plays host to the Hall Markets, a popular monthly charity market showcasing hand-produced goods. * Equestrian park and
polocrosse Polocrosse is a team sport that is a combination of polo and lacrosse. It is played outside, on a field (the pitch), on horseback. Each rider uses a cane or fibreglass stick to which is attached a racquet head with a loose, thread net, in whi ...
grounds * The National Sheep Dog Trial Championship, held each year at the showground * The Hall Bushrangers Rugby Football Club, est. 1991 * Hall Premier Store and Post Office * Hall ACT Rural Fire Service brigade * Numerous historic buildings and cottages, including ''Cooee'' (1900), ''Glenowa'' (1900), ''Winarlia'' (1901) and ''Ottocliffe'' (1907). * St. Francis Xavier's Catholic Church *St. Michael & All Angels' Anglican Church * Memorial Avenue of trees * Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre, located in the former
Hall Primary School Hall Primary School was a rural primary school on the northern outskirts of Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It was Canberra's oldest continually operating school, having opened in 1911, until its closure was announced on 13 Decem ...
* The Rotary Club of Hall, a rural-focused Rotary Club that runs the Capital Region Farmers Market as a community service project, with the aim of helping to increase agri-business opportunities in the region.


Geology

In the Hall area, the rocks volcanic, and date from the Silurian age. Green-grey and purple quartz
andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predo ...
and
dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite ...
from the Hawkins Volcanics lie under the village and extend up the Halls Creek valley. Green-grey dacite and quartz andesite from the Hawkins Volcanics cover the surrounding areas, up to the New South Wales border, north to One Tree Hill, south-east to the Harcourt Hill and south to the north edge of Belconnen. Dark grey to green grey dacitic
tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...
is found over the New South Wales border, and also within the Australian Capital Territory near Gooromon Ponds Creek.


References


External links


Hall village website

Capital Region Farmers Market

Rotary Club of Hall

National Sheep Dog Trial website
{{authority control Proposed sites for national capital of Australia Towns in the Australian Capital Territory