Lochiel is a small town in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

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 ...

125 km (78 mi) north of

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 ...

. The town lies beside on the western edge of

Lake Bumbunga Lake Bumbunga is a salt lake located in the Mid North of the state of South Australia, between the town of Lochiel and the farming locality of Bumbunga, approximately 1.5 hours' drive from Adelaide. It is a pink lake, with its colour due to c ...

and at the eastern foot of the

Hummocks Range The Hummocks or Hummock Range is a range of hills in the northern Mount Lofty Ranges extending north from the eastern edge of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. It is traversed by the Copper Coast Highway immediately west of where it passes arou ...

. The

Augusta Highway Augusta Highway is the part of Australia's ring route ( Highway 1) located in South Australia between Port Wakefield and Port Augusta. Route Augusta Highway starts at the intersection with Eyre and Stuart Highways in Port Augusta West, then ...

, a section of Highway 1, runs on a strip between the township and the lake, which dwarfs the former.

Name

In 1869 the South Australian Governor

Sir James Fergusson James Fergusson may refer to: Politics *Sir James Fergusson, 6th Baronet (1832–1907), Governor of South Australia, New Zealand and Bombay *Sir James Fergusson, 8th Baronet (1904–1973), Lord Lieutenant of Ayrshire *Sir James Fergusson, Lord Ki ...

gave the Scottish name ''Lochiel'' to the site of this planned Government Town. It is the name given to the senior line of

Chiefs of Clan Cameron The following is a list of the Chiefs of Clan Cameron of Lochiel, the senior line of the ancient Cameron family who claim descent from Banquo. The chief is seated at Achnacarry Castle Achnacarry ( gd, Achadh na Cairidh) is a hamlet, private ...

– the town being situated in the

Hundred of Cameron The Hundred of Cameron is a cadastral unit of hundred located in the Mid North of South Australia centred on Lake Bumbunga. The northern Hummock Range occupies much of the western half of the area and the Adelaide-Port Augusta railway line runs ...

, named after pioneer Hugh Cameron.Related names in Clan Cameron lands in the Scottish Highlands are those of

Loch Eil Loch Eil (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Iall'') is a sea loch in Lochaber, Scotland that opens into Loch Linnhe near the town of Fort William. ".. the name of the Chief of Clan Cameron is spelt LOCHIEL, while the name of the loch is spelt LOCH EIL,.. ...

ic a branch of the sea loch of Loch Linnhe; and the Frìth Loch Iall (or Locheil Forest).

History

The Government Town of Lochiel was surveyed in 1869, closely following the proclamation of the cadastral Hundred of Cameron. The ''

District Councils Act 1887 The District Councils Act 1887 was an act of the Parliament of South Australia. It received assent on 9 December 1887, and its provisions came into effect when proclaimed by Governor William C. F. Robinson on 5 January 1888. The legislation intro ...

'' declared the township and the rest of the Hundred of Cameron a part of the

District Council of Port Wakefield The District Council of Port Wakefield was a local government area seated at Port Wakefield in South Australia from 1878 to 1983. History The District Council of Port Wakefield was officially proclaimed along with its new neighbouring councils ...

. The following year, lobbying by residents resulted in the Hundred of Cameron being moved from the control of Wakefield council into the jurisdiction of the

District Council of Snowtown The District Council of Snowtown was a local government area in South Australia from 1888 to 1987. History The District Council of Snowtown was officially proclaimed on 5 January 1888 by the ''District Councils Act 1887'' as constituting the Hu ...

, cementing a close relationship between Lochiel and Snowtown rather than the more distant

Port Wakefield Port Wakefield may refer to. Australia *Port Wakefield, South Australia, a town and locality * Port Wakefield railway line, part of the now-closed Balaklava-Moonta railway line in South Australia * Port Wakefield Circuit, a former motor racing cir ...

. In 1976, a resident of a farm at Bumbunga, just east of Lochiel, declared a secessionist

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...

, the

Province of Bumbunga The Province of Bumbunga () was an Australian secessionist micronation located on a farm at Bumbunga near Snowtown and Lochiel, South Australia, from 1976 until approximately 2000. Its founder and only ruler was a British monkey trainer, uran ...

. By 1999 it no longer existed. In the 2011 Australian census, the population of Lochiel and adjacent farming communities was 362. Lochiel Hall, Lochiel

Governance

The local government agency serving the town is

Wakefield Regional Council Wakefield Regional Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat is at Balaklava, South Australia, Balaklava. Geography The Wakefield Regional Council ...

following a transfer in 1997 from the

District Council of Blyth-Snowtown The District Council of Blyth-Snowtown (established as the District Council of Blyth and Snowtown) was a local government area in South Australia from 1987 until 1997. On 9 December 1987 the council was established by the amalgamation of the D ...

. The town boundaries were formalised in 2000. An adjustment was made in 2007 to annex an eastern strip of Ninnes that had been within

, the same local council as Lochiel, instead of the council governing the rest of Ninnes (

District Council of Barunga West The Barunga West Council is a local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat is at Port Broughton, with a sub-office at Bute. Description The council takes its name from the Barunga Range in the ...

). The town lies in the state electoral district of Nurangga and in the federal electoral division of

Grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

Economy

In 1868, the potential of Lake Bumbunga's shallow waters for natural

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...

mining was recognised. Salt has been harvested from the lake bed in summer months since 1881, providing employment and other economic benefits for many years. After 1913, when the Australian Salt Company was incorporated, the company and its successors, latterly trading as Cheetham Salt, have held the lake leases continuously. Profitability was improved after a 9 km branch line was built from the nearby broad-gauge railway line, enabling transport directly to Port Adelaide. Lochiel itself is said to have "developed slowly with the industry, its survival in the 20th century being almost totally dependent on the salt harvesting". In 2011, about 270 million tonnes of lignite (brown coal) were estimated to be in a deposit north of Lochiel in seven seams from 70 to 110 metres underground. The seams' thickness varied from 0.3 to 3.0 metres, for a total of 9.4 metres. The site was considered to be favourable because it lies only 6 km (4 mi) from the railway line to Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. The deposit was not subsequently developed. Lake Bumbunga near Lochiel, South Australia, with its quirky 'Loch Eel' sculpture

Lake Bumbunga near Lochiel, South Australia, with its quirky 'Loch Eel' sculpture

Attraction

In 1972 a local man, Gary Taylor, and his friends created a sculpture of rubber tyres and plastic in the shallows of Lake Bumbunga 2.4 km north of the town (), to be visible from the main highway. They named it "Loch Eel" – a

tongue-in-cheek The idiom tongue-in-cheek refers to a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner. History The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walter Scott ...

allusion to the supposed appearance of the

Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster ( gd, Uilebheist Loch Nis), affectionately known as Nessie, is a creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or mor ...

. There is speculation that by early-mid 2022 Lochiel will have another tourist drawcard added to the list of things to appreciate, and to help break up long drives on highway one.

Notes

References

External links

Wakefield Regional Council
{{authority control Towns in South Australia