Mount Hill (Alternative name:Korti Purre, also previously known as Bluff Mount) is a prominent peak in the Australian state of
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 ...
on the eastern side of southern
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.
Earlier called Eyre's Peninsula, it was named after e ...
. It is located within the locality of
Butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...
.
[
]
Geography
Mount Hill is the southern peak of a low range of hills lying along the eastern coast of Eyre Peninsula and is about west of Spencer Gulf
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost and larger of two large inlets (the other being Gulf St Vincent) on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. It spans from the Cape Catastrophe an ...
. At an elevation of about above sea level, the isolated peak is a prominent landmark from the gulf. The surrounding country, originally very scrubby, has been mostly cleared for cropping. The nearest town is Port Neill
Port Neill (formerly Carrow) is a small coastal town on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula, in South Australia about 3 km off the Lincoln Highway between the major towns of Whyalla and Port Lincoln. It is 576 km by road from Adelaid ...
.
A railway siding located on the Eyre Peninsula Railway
The Eyre Peninsula Railway is a track gauge, gauge railway on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. Radiating out from the ports at Port Lincoln and Thevenard, South Australia, Thevenard, it is isolated from the rest of the Rail transport in ...
to the north-west of the hill has the name 'Mount Hill.'
History
The first European to sight this peak was Matthew Flinders
Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...
, who sailed past on 7 March 1802 and noted it in his log as 'a bluff inland mountain' and on his chart as a 'bluff mount', alluding to the bluffness of its northern face.George Gawler
Colonel George Gawler (21 July 1795 – 7 May 1869) was the second Governor of South Australia, at the same time serving as Resident Commissioner, from 17 October 1838 until 15 May 1841.
Biography Early life
Gawler, born on 21 July 1795, was t ...
when he was exploring this coast northwards on horseback from Port Lincoln
Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...
accompanied by explorer and landholder John Hill and Deputy Surveyor General 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 ...
. Their expedition was supported at sea by the brig ''Porter'' and the government cutter . For the purpose of gaining a better view of the unexplored interior of Eyre Peninsula, Gawler and party ascended the peak, at which time it was named after John Hill.
The party then proceeded northward past Mount Olinthus (which they also ascended and named) toward the Middleback Range
The Middleback Range is a mountain range on the eastern side of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. The Middleback Range has been a source of iron ore for over a century, particularly to feed the Whyalla Steelworks. Mines in the region were first ...
s, before returning to Franklin Harbour which Gawler also named and is at present, the site for the town of Cowell.
''Water Witch'' and ''Porter'' parted there, with ''Porter'' returning to Port Lincoln with Gawler and ''Water Witch'' to Adelaide via Point Riley, near Wallaroo
Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies, that are native to Australia and Papua New Guinea. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'' wi ...
. On 28 April 1840 near Point Riley Hill and Burr disembarked, the pair returning overland on horseback to Adelaide, thereby being the first Europeans to traverse northern Yorke Peninsula
The Yorke Peninsula, known as Guuranda by the original inhabitants, the Narungga people, is a peninsula located northwest and west of Adelaide in South Australia, between Spencer Gulf on the west and Gulf St Vincent on the east. The peninsula ...
.
The second recorded European exploration party to ascend Mount Hill was that of explorer Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre (5 August 181530 November 1901) was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, Lieutenant-Governor of New Zealand's New Munster province, and Governor of Jamaica.
Early life
Eyre was born in ...
, on 30 September 1840.
A book titled ''In the Shadow of the Bluff'' gives a detailed account of the history of Mount Hill and the Hundred of Butler.[In the Shadow of the Bluff. Published by the Butler Centenary Committee. ]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount Hill South Australia
Hill
A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...
Eyre Peninsula