The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, approximately 130 km north of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. The town was founded by members of the

Jesuit order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

in 1850. The name, bestowed by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n Jesuit priest Aloysius Kranewitter, is in homage to the

seven hills of Rome The seven hills of Rome (, ) east of the river Tiber form the geographical heart of Rome, within the walls of the city. Hills The seven hills are: * Aventine Hill (Latin: ''Collis Aventinus''; Italian: ''Aventino'') * Caelian Hill (''Coll ...

History

The first

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s in the locality were based in

Clare Clare may refer to: Places Antarctica * Clare Range, a mountain range in Victoria Land Australia * Clare, South Australia, a town in the Clare Valley * Clare Valley, South Australia Canada * Clare (electoral district), an electoral district * Cl ...

from 1848. They were being urged by Catholic

Prussians Prussia () was a German state that formed the German Empire in 1871. Prussia or Prussian may also refer to: *Prussia (region), a historical region on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea that lent its name to the later German state Count ...

at Tanunda, who felt uncomfortable among the more numerous

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Prussians, to establish a Catholic settlement in the Clare district and so began a search for a suitable locality. Section 91 in the

Hundred of Clare The Hundred of Clare is a cadastral unit of hundred in the northern Mount Lofty Ranges centred on the town of Clare. It is one of the 16 hundreds of the County of Stanley. History The hundred was proclaimed in 1850 by Governor Henry Young and ...

had been purchased in 1850 as a speculation by

Thomas Burr Thomas Burr (1813–1866), surveyor and mine manager, was a British explorer and Deputy Surveyor General of South Australia 1839–46. Early life in England Born 1813 in England, probably at Kent, Thomas Burr's father was George Dominicus Burr ...

, former Deputy Surveyor General of South Australia. Jesuit priest Aloysius Kranewitter was delighted with the prospects of the hilly and fertile location and, through his influence, Burr surveyed this land into allotments for leasing, which became the township of Sevenhill. In December 1850, in consultation with Burr, the allotment layout and limits of the new settlement were settled by Kranewitte

By January 1851 Kranewitter was calling the future site ''Sevenhill Township''. The first lots became available from April 1851, all for 31 years' lease with easy right of purchase terms, and soon many Catholics, particularly Irish, Polish, and German, were moving there from Kapunda, Tanunda, Burra and other districts. Over time, particularly during the 1930s and 1940s, it became unclear whether the correct name of the township was Sevenhill, or Sevenhills, arousing debate. Clare philatelist

Albert Fryar Albert Edmund Fryar (2 December 1875 – 23 July 1944) was a noted South Australian philatelist and sportsman.

provided conclusive evidence (cuttings from envelopes and postal cancellations) that the original title was indeed Sevenhill.

Saint Aloysius Church, seminary and college

In 1851, at about the same time that Burr and Kranewitter established the township, the Jesuits established the current Saint Aloysius Church and Sevenhill Winery about one kilometre east, nearer the Hill River. Local settler Francis Weikert, who donated land for the establishment, is buried in the Sevenhill cemetery. In September 1851, Brother Schreiner brought some vine rootlings from Bungaree Station, beginning the Sevenhill vineyard, leading to a flourishing wine industry. In 1856, Saint Aloysius' College was established. By 1866 the college was housed in fine buildings in extensive grounds, including playing fields. Renowned throughout Australia, it was at that time the only Roman Catholic educational establishment in South Australia, having pupils from nearly all the other colonies of Australia. The college operated until 1886, by which time Catholic education was more widely available. Beside

secular education Secular education is a system of public education in countries with a secular government or separation of church and state, separation between religion and Sovereign state, state. History Secular educational systems were a modern development inte ...

for all creeds, the establishment included a seminary which trained young men for priesthood in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, which continued well after closure of the college. Fr.

Julian Tenison-Woods Julian Edmund Tenison-WoodsThough common in modern references, his surname was not hyphenated in contemporary newspaper reports, his signature, or his headstone. (15 November 18327 October 1889), commonly referred to as Father Woods, was an Eng ...

, its first and perhaps most famous extern, prepared for ordination there under Fr. Joseph Tappeiner May–November 1856. Other secular priests who studied there were C. A. Reynolds (first Archbishop of Adelaide), Frederick Byrne (Vicar General), Frs. Plormel and Brecas the younger, of the Rockhampton Diocese, Peter Jorgensen, and Thomas Guilfoyle, all of whom were there for two years; and George Williams (11), Edmund O'Brien (8), and Michael O'Sullivan (5).

Railway

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

was built from Riverton to Clare in 1919 and on to Spalding in 1922. The

Ash Wednesday bushfires The Ash Wednesday bushfires, known in South Australia as Ash Wednesday II, were a Bushfires in Australia, series of bushfires that occurred in south-eastern Australia in 1983 on 16 February. Within twelve hours, more than 180 bushfires, fires f ...

severed the track between Sevenhill and Penwortham causing the demise of the railway. It closed in April 1984 and the tracks were removed in 1989, but the alignment now carries the

Riesling Trail The Riesling Trail is a long walking and cycling track located in the Clare Valley, South Australia. Established for recreational purposes, it runs between Auburn and Clare, passing through several towns and villages along the way, including L ...

cycling and walking path.

Present

The nearby town of Clare serves many of the commercial needs of the Sevenhill district, and is a centre of government administration. Sevenhill supports a hotel, a regional cellar door showcasing wines from more than a dozen boutique producers, a gourmet bakery (the only bakery in the region), a homewares shop, several bed and breakfast cottages, a

Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting, rescues and Hazar ...

station and an antique shop. The community hall is also used as a weekend market stall and Friday night bingo is a tradition. Several of the region's famous wineries and cellar doors are located east and west of Sevenhill. Pikes Winery adjoins the former St Aloysius' college. The town's oval is found east of the main cross road and has toilet facilities. It supports a cricket team during the summer months and tennis facilities are also located here. Sevenhill is at the "heart" of the Clare Valley and a hub for the locals and tourists visiting the region. It is a suitable place for access to the Riesling Trail walking and cycling route just east of the town, with off-road parking facilities available.

Geography and climate

Sevenhill is sited in hilly country at the head of the Hutt River. The township itself lays in a small level plain, but surrounding Sevenhill, particularly to the east and west, are rugged ranges, some scrub covered, which run generally north–south. The district is mainly agricultural, with a mixture of grazing, cropping and vineyards. The township, which has a small population, is on a section of the

Main North Road Main North Road is the major north–south arterial route through the suburbs north of the Adelaide City Centre in the city of Adelaide, South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, ...

known as the Horrocks Highway.

Governance

Sevenhill is governed at the local level by the

District Council of Clare and Gilbert Valleys The Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council was founded on 1 July 1997 with the amalgamation of the District Council of ...

. Sevenhill lies in the state electoral district of

Frome Frome ( ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, on uneven high ground at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills and on the River Frome, south of Bath. The population of the parish was 28,559 in 2021. Frome was one of the largest tow ...

and the federal electoral division of

Grey Grey (more frequent in British English) or gray (more frequent in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning that it has no chroma. It is the color of a cloud-covered s ...

References

External links

Clare Regional History GroupSevenhill Cellars
{{authority control Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia)