Springfield is a green and hilly inner-southern suburb of the

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 ...

n capital city of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. It is located in the

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topographi ...

of the

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

, around south-east of the

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre (Kaurna language, Kaurna: Tarndanya) is the inner city locality of Adelaide, Greater Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. It is known by locals simply as "the City" or "Town" to distinguish it from Greater Adelaid ...

. The suburb is part of the hills-face zone, with sweeping views over the Adelaide plains. Springfield is an affluent area containing many of South Australia's most valuable residential properties. Springfield is bounded to the North by the suburbs of Kingswood and Netherby, to the west by

Torrens Park Torrens Park is a mainly residential large inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, incorporating some of the foothills and adjacent to the original "Mitcham Village". It was named after Sir Robert Richard Torrens, the instigator of the Torrens title ...

and

Mitcham Mitcham is an area within the London Borough of Merton in South London, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross. Originally a village in the county of Surrey, today it is mainly a residential suburb, and includes Mitcham Common. I ...

, to the south by

and

Brown Hill Creek Brown Hill Creek, also known as ''Willawilla'' in the Kaurna language, is a watercourse flowing from the Adelaide Hills through in the inner south suburbs of the Adelaide metropolitan area, in the Australian state of South Australia. It is p ...

, and to the east by

Leawood Gardens Leawood Gardens is a small suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in both the City of Mitcham and the City of Burnside located in the foothills of the Adelaide Hills. It is crossed by both the South Eastern Freeway and Mount Barker Road Moun ...

and Urrbrae.

History

Situated on the east side of the Mitcham district, the land was first purchased from the crown in 1841 by Richard F. Newland, manager of the

Bank of Australasia The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951. Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by Royal Charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...

. By 1870, Charles B. Hardy was making extensive additions to a residence named "Springfield", laying out extensive gardens and adding to the acreage of the estate. Fifty years ago, the area was purchased from Mr. Frank Rymill by Springfield Limited which boasted a subdivisional design "entirely different from any previous scheme or organised suburban development in South Australia".

Demographics

In the 2006 Australian census; there were 541 people residing in Springfield, of which 255 were Male and 286 were Female. 59.8% of the population were either Professionals or Managers, working primarily in the Medical, Legal and Accounting sectors. Residents were also relatively religious; citing the Anglican, Catholic and Uniting Churches of Western Christianity as their preferred choice of religion. In addition, 16.1% of residents identified themselves as having no religious affiliation.

Attractions

Carrick Hill Carrick Hill is a publicly accessible historic property at the foot of the Adelaide Hills, in the suburb of Springfield, in South Australia. It was the Adelaide home of Sir Edward "Bill" Hayward and his wife Ursula (née Barr-Smith), and cont ...

is a property accessible to the public that was established in the 1930s by

Bill Hayward William Louis "Colonel Bill" Hayward (July 2, 1868 – December 14, 1947) was a track and field coach at the University of Oregon and a track coach for six United States Olympic teams, from 1908 through 1932. Athletic career Hayward was born in ...

and his wife, Lady Ursula.

Governance

Springfield lies in the

City of Mitcham The City of Mitcham is a local government area in the foothills of southern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest, and the notable, affluent suburb of Springfield which contains so ...

, the State Electoral division of Waite and the Federal Division of Boothby.

Education

Springfield is also home to Mercedes College Mercedes is a Catholic school. The rear portion of the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

's agriculturally dominated Waite Campus. Australian actor Peter O'Brien, who won the Silver Logie for "Most Popular Actor" in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airpor ...

for his role as

Shane Ramsay Shane Ramsay is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera '' Neighbours'', played by Peter O'Brien. He made his first appearance during the show's first episode, broadcast on 18 March 1985. Shane is the son of Max Ramsay ...

in the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'' Neighbours'', was a teacher at the school before turning to acting in the early 1980s.

References

{{City of Mitcham suburbs Suburbs of Adelaide