Kersbrook (formerly Maidstone) is a town near

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

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 ...

. It is located in the

Adelaide Hills Council Adelaide Hills Council is a local government area in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. It is in the hills east of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, and extends from the South Para Reservoir in the north to the Mount Bold Reservoir ...

local government area. 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 ...

, Kersbrook had a population of 367.

History

The first settlers established farms in the Kersbrook area in the early 1831s due to its relatively gentle slopes. John Bowden, manager of the South Australian Company's dairy farm at Hackney, bought the section 6146,

Hundred of Para Wirra The Hundred of Para Wirra is a cadastral hundred of the County of Adelaide, South Australia, spanning a portion of the Adelaide Hills north of the Torrens Valley including Mount Crawford. Location The hundred spans a large number of Adelaide Hi ...

, and named it ''Kersbrook'' after the Cornish farm where he was born. By 1844, Bowden was recorded as having "800 sheep, 62 cattle, one horse, 13 pigs, of wheat, eight acres of barley, plots of oats, maize and potatoes, and a fruit garden". The settlement itself was created by William Carman, a blacksmith working at a copper mine near Williamstown, who took advantage of the area's location on the busy road to the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley ( Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major wine-producing region and tourist destinati ...

. In 1851 Carman built the Wheatsheaf Inn on a subdivision of section 5519 of the

. By 1858, some settlers had arrived and Carman gave some of his land to build a town called Maidstone after

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. In 1917 the town was officially renamed to Kersbrook as this was the name used by local residents and referred to the original 'Kersbrook' farm of John Bowden immediately south west of the town. It became a notable agricultural area, especially for fruit. In the 1990s, John Bunting and his friends murdered a number of people; one victim was murdered and dumped in Kersbrook. Kersbrook is a fairly quiet rural town, where most of the old buildings still stand. In January 2015, twelve houses in the town were destroyed as a result of the

2015 Sampson Flat bushfires The 2015 Sampson Flat fires were a series of bushfires in the Australian state of South Australia, the area affected was predominantly the northern Adelaide Hills and the outer Adelaide metropolitan area. The fire began on 2 January 2015 durin ...

Geography

Kersbrook is located between Chain of Ponds and Williamstown along the Little Para Road, and southeast of

One Tree Hill One Tree Hill may refer to: * "One Tree Hill" (song), a 1987 song by U2 referencing One Tree Hill, New Zealand volcanic peak * ''One Tree Hill'' (TV series), a 2003–2012 American drama series named for the U2 song ** ''One Tree Hill'' (soundtr ...

along a separate road. At the ABS 2001 census, Kersbrook had a population of 314 people living in 120 dwellings.

Facilities

The primary school opened in 1868; and there is a general store and other small stores in the town. Nearby Humbug Scrub and Mount Gawler are used for

orienteering Orienteering is a group of sports that require navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and usually unfamiliar terrain whilst moving at speed. Participants are given a topographical map, usually a s ...

and

mountain biking Mountain biking is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and pe ...

in quite steep terrain. About north of Kersbrook is the Warren Conservation Park, a rugged nature reserve with views over the Warren Gorge which was dedicated in 1966 and protects a range of rare fauna. There is also a pine plantation nearby, which is now part of the Mount Crawford Forest.Placenames SA
last accessed 16 June 2006 Kersbrook also have a very successful

Australian Rules Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

team, who wear double blue and are nicknamed the 'Brookers'. They have produced three AFL players of which brothers

Brett Brett derives from a Middle English surname meaning "Briton" or "Breton", referring to the Celtic people of Britain and Brittany, France. Brette can be a feminine name. People with the surname * Adrian Brett (born 1945) English flutist and writer ...

(

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

) and Roger James (

Port Adelaide Port Adelaide is a port-side region of Adelaide, approximately northwest of the Adelaide CBD. It is also the namesake of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield council, a suburb, a federal and state electoral division and is the main port for the ...

) have both won AFL premierships; and many SANFL league players.

References

External links

Kersbrook Football Club
{{authority control Towns in South Australia