Sheringa is a coastal locality on the western side of

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named aft ...

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 ...

on the

Great Australian Bight The Great Australian Bight is a large oceanic bight, or open bay, off the central and western portions of the southern coastline of mainland Australia. Extent Two definitions of the extent are in use – one used by the International Hydrog ...

. The Flinders Highway runs through Sheringa. Sheringa is located on the highway, containing a hall, Church, CFS and Roadhouse.

Surf Life Saving Australia Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA) is an Australian not-for-profit community organisation that promotes water safety and provides surf rescue services. SLSA strives to create a safe environment on Australia's beaches and coastline through patro ...

describes Sheringa Beach as "a relatively popular spot for sightseers, while the local surfers and fishers use the beach".

History

In August 1843, Joseph Cummings aged 16 born in England, and Samuel Harris aged 14 born in the United States, became only the second westerners to trek through the

, following in explorer

Edward John Eyre Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and Governor of Jamaica. Early life Eyre was born in Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, shortly before his family moved to ...

's footsteps, and using a coastal map prepared by

Matthew Flinders Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British navigator and cartographer who led the first inshore circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then called New Holland. He is also credited as being the first person to u ...

from his circumnavigation of Australia in 1802. They had left the Fowlers Bay whaling station to walk to civilisation, because of the torrid conditions in which they found themselves. They walked to

Point Drummond Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

where a ship was seen, and took them to

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

. A local

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...

heard their story, and freed them on the condition that they guided a survey party to the region of good farming land they described, at what became Sheringa. He also granted them parcels of land there, that they farmed.Solo trekker Steve Woore follows runaway teen whalers' 500km pioneering trek across Eyre Peninsula
Jodie Hamilton and Emma Pedler,

ABC News Online ABC News, or ABC News and Current Affairs, is a public news service produced by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting within Australia and the rest of the world, the service covers both local and world affairs. The division of ...

, 2019-09-25 The town of Sheringa was surveyed in October 1882. It was initially proclaimed as Holsworthy on 19 April 1883, then revoked and proclaimed as Sheringa on 23 August 1883. Its name is derived from Tjeiringa, a local

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

name for a yam-like root that grew in the area. The former Sheringa Post Office opened on 1 September 1891 and closed on 28 September 1984. The Wesleyan Methodist church granted permission to construct a church building at Sheringa at its district meeting in 1886. In 1898, the town consisted "...of a temperance hotel, a general store, and blacksmith's shop under one roof, and a public building, which is used as a Church, a school, and a dancing-room." St. John's Anglican Church opened in 1910. The historic Round Lake Washing Pool, a former sheep wash located near Sheringa, is listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia. It extends legal protection regarding demolition and development under the ''Heritage Places Act 1993'' ...

. Washing pools were used before 1870 to wash sheep prior to shearing. This wash pond was built in the 1840s and used by several adjacent sheep runs to clean the sheep before shearing. After about 1870, fleece did not need to be cleaned by the farmers before sale, as manufacturers could produce lanolin as a by-product of cleaning the fleece themselves. The one road sign in Sheringa "Nowhere Else road", has attracted attention for its unusual name.

History

References

Further reading