Oakden is a suburb 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 ...

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 ...

, located to the northeast of the

Central Business District A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

. It was established as a housing estate named ''Regent Gardens'' in 1992 and is located on former Department of Agriculture land.

Geography

The area, which includes land formerly known as

Gilles Plains Gilles Plains is a suburb of the greater Adelaide, South Australia area, approximately 10km north-east of the Adelaide central business district. History It is named after the first Colonial Treasurer Osmond Gilles who owned a sheep station adj ...

and a small portion of SA Housing Trust properties and land from Hillcrest, was renamed 'Oakden' in 1993 after the maiden name of the wife of

Osmond Gilles __NOTOC__ Osmond Gilles (24 August 1788 – 25 September 1866) was a settler, pastoralist, mine owner and the Colony of South Australia’s first colonial treasurer. Born in London of Huguenot descent, in 1816 he went into partnership with Phil ...

, who was South Australia's first Colonial Treasurer. Gilles got married in 1825 to Patience Oakden in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, but she died in England in 1833. Her brother, a former business partner of Gilles, was the banker and pastoralist Philip Oakden. Her nephew was the South Australian explorer and pastoralist John Oakden. Suburbs Northgate and

Northfield Northfield may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Northfield, Aberdeen, Scotland * Northfield, Edinburgh, Scotland * Northfield, Birmingham, England * Northfield (Kettering BC Ward), Northamptonshire, England United States * Northfield, Connec ...

are also right next to Oakden. Its boundary is Lord Howe Avenue, Oxford Street, and Bristol Terrace to the south, Sudholz Road to the east, Grand Junction Road to the north, and Fosters Road to the west.

History

Oakden scandal

Mark and McLeay Nursing Home, a part of the state government's Aged Mental Health Care Service in Oakden, became the subject of ill notoriety in 2016 and 2017 when it was sanctioned by the federal government following allegations (later proved) of mistreatment of residents. Due to enormous public pressure, the facility was effectively closed in April 2017. The following political fallout was known in the media as the 'Oakden scandal'.

Main sights

Its notable buildings include 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 ...

Corps and Community Centre; the

Christadelphian The Christadelphians () or Christadelphianism are a restorationist and millenarian Christian group who hold a view of biblical unitarianism. There are approximately 50,000 Christadelphians in around 120 countries. The movement developed in the U ...

Church run

Heritage College Adelaide Heritage College Adelaide is an R-12 school founded in 1996 by the Christadelphians who wanted to create a learning environment where the Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptur ...

; James Nash House, a secure mental health facility; various former Hillcrest Hospital buildings, most of which have been converted for use by other tenants including for student accommodation, small business and nursing home; The Oakden Central, a tavern run by the

Adelaide City FC Adelaide City Football Club is a soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia. The club was known historically as Juventus — the original name given to the club by its founders in Adelaide's Italian community. Adelaide City is one of Aust ...

with associated training venue; the Oakden Fire Station; and the remainder of the Strathmont Centre (1971–2017), a

Government of South Australia The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

institution for those with a severe intellectual disability. Makk and McLeay Nursing Home and Clements House, formerly known as Hillcrest Hospital, which closed in 2017 was also in Oakden at 200 Fosters Road. The facility was a part of the state government's Aged Mental Health Care Service. Oakden has two retail establishments, housed in the same building on Sir Ross Smith Boulevard, consisting of a cafe and hairdresser. It is home to Roy Amer Reserve, a regional park including wetlands that serves as a

storm water Stormwater, also spelled storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed land ...

capture and

aquifer recharge Groundwater recharge or deep drainage or deep percolation is a Hydrology, hydrologic process, where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater. Recharge is the primary method through which water enters an aquifer. This process usually ...

system as well as a native fish sanctuary, which was constructed by the

City of Port Adelaide Enfield The City of Port Adelaide Enfield, located across inner north and north-western suburbs of Adelaide, is one of the largest metropolitan councils within South Australia. It was established on 26 March 1996 by the amalgamation of the City of Por ...

in the early 1990s and won state and national engineering awards.

References

External links