Lenswood is a semi-rural village situated in the

Adelaide Hills The Adelaide Hills region is located in the southern Mount Lofty Ranges east of the city of Adelaide in the state of South Australia. The largest town in the area, Mount Barker, South Australia, Mount Barker, is one of Australia's fastest-growi ...

east 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 ...

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 ...

. The major industries are apples, pears, cherries and wine grapes.

History

Lenswood is the youngest township in the Adelaide Hills. Prior to its establishment, it was part of

Forest Range A forest range is a term used to define administrative regions containing one or more (usually) demarcated and (usually) protected or resource-managed forests. The term was in use in British India, and hence India, Pakistan and Bangladesh use thi ...

. In 1917, towards the end of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, a new township was proclaimed between Forest Range and

Lobethal Lobethal is a town in the Adelaide Hills area of South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area, and is nestled on the banks of a creek between the hills and up the sides of the valley. It was once the centre ...

. It was given the name Lenswood, after a recent battle near the town of

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

in northwestern France. Originally, the main industry was cutting

stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...

trees for timber. As these were cleared, the land was planted with orchards, which remains the major industry of the area to the present day. The district predominantly supplies apples, pears and cherries to local, interstate and overseas markets. More recently, several vineyards have been established. Lenswood's central position in the Adelaide Hills orchard districts led to a large cold storage facility being built there in 1933. Called the Lenswood Coldstore Cooperative, the facility has storage for 400,000

bushels A bushel (abbreviation: bsh. or bu.) is an imperial and US customary unit of volume, based upon an earlier measure of dry capacity. The old bushel was used mostly for agricultural products, such as wheat: in modern usage, the volume is nom ...

of fruit, processing mostly

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in late summer into mid-autumn. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosaceae, bearing the Pome, po ...

s and

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The name ...

Geography

The township settlement is spread through a narrow river valley in one of the tributaries to the Onkaparinga River. Consequently, the town centre is far from centralised. Businesses including the cold store operations are to be found on the main roads and set back from the Adelaide – Lobethal Road. The narrow nature of the valleys have allowed an elongated and incomplete ribbon development along this main road. The location has its own oval (Lenswood Memorial Park) on Swamp Road with another oval at the school and a Recreation Park on Lobethal Road. Lenswood relies on larger services being provided from other townships including Lobethal, Woodside, Balhannah and Summertown.

Climate

Lenswood features a warm-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csb'') with mild to warm, somewhat dry summers and chilly, very wet winters.

Facilities

Lenswood is home to several facilities. These include: * The Lenswood Primary School * The Lenswood Uniting Church * The Lenswood Church of Christ * The Lenswood General Store & Post Office * Lenswood/Forest Range CFS * Lenswood Ranges Cricket Club * HILLS ARCHERS (target archery Club)

References

External links