Plympton is an inner south-western 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 ...

. The name is believed to have been given by Henry Mooringe Boswarva to a private subdivision in the area, naming after his home town in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England. It was accepted as an official name for the suburb in 1944. Of irregular shape, the suburb straddles parts of

Marion Road Marion Road is a north–south arterial road through the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, named after its traversal through the suburb of Marion and the local government area of City of Marion. It is designated part of route A14. ...

, Cross Road and Anzac Highway. To the east of Marion Road it is bounded by the former

Holdfast Bay railway line The Holdfast Bay railway line was a railway in western Adelaide. The line started in the city from the Adelaide railway station, and then headed west. From approximately where Henley Beach Road currently is, the railway then followed an almost ...

(northwest), Gray and Beckman Streets (east), and the

Glenelg tram line The Glenelg tram line is a tram/ light rail line in Adelaide. Apart from a short street-running section in Glenelg, the line has its own reservation, with minimal interference from road traffic. The service is free in the city centre and a ...

(south). To the west of Marion Road it is bounded Mooringe Avenue (north), Streeters Road and Whelan Avenue (west), and the Glenelg tram line (south). The remnants of the

can be found in Plympton's West Side cycleway. Plympton is in the

City of West Torrens The City of West Torrens is a local government area in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. Since the 1970s the area was mainly home to many open spaces and parks, however after the mid-1990s (1993-1995) the LGA became more resident ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

; the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

districts of Badcoe and Morphett; and the

Australian House of Representatives The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. The term of members of the ...

divisions of Hindmarsh and

History

Plympton Post Office opened on 7 October 1856. In 1896 a " plumpton" track was established in the area by the Plympton Coursing Company. The Adelaide Plumpton Coursing Club was formed in 1908, with

John Creswell John Andrew Jackson Creswell (November 18, 1828December 23, 1891) was an American politician and abolitionist from Maryland, who served as United States Representative, United States Senator, and as Postmaster General of the United States app ...

as president, to control dog racing at Plympton. The track and adjacent polo grounds later came to be called "Birkalla", after the nearby railway station, though the name "Plympton Plumpton" lingered on. Prior to WWII Birkalla was the home of the

Adelaide Hunt Club The Adelaide Hunt Club is an Australian fox hunting club founded in the 1840s. History Originally called The Adelaide Hounds, the club was founded in Adelaide in the early 1840s.Adelaide Hunt Club. As early as 3 July 1841, the Governor of South ...

's kennels.

In popular culture

Plympton is referred to in the song "Plympton High" from the 1993 album True Believers by

John Schumann John Lewis Schumann (born 18 May 1953) is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist from Adelaide. He is best known as the lead singer for the folk group Redgum, with their chart-topping hit " I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)", a so ...

Redgum Redgum were an Australian folk and political music group formed in Adelaide in 1975 by singer-songwriter John Schumann, Michael Atkinson on guitars/vocals, Verity Truman on flute/vocals; they were later joined by Hugh McDonald on fiddle and Ch ...

References

Suburbs of Adelaide {{Adelaide-geo-stub