Mount Torrens is a small town in the eastern

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 ...

region 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 ...

, east-north-east of the state capital,

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 ...

and east of Lobethal. It is on Onkaparinga Valley Road (B34) between the towns of Charleston and Birdwood. It is the eastern end of the

Amy Gillett Bikeway The Amy Gillett Bikeway or Amy Gillett Rail Trail or Amy Gillett Pathway is a shared path in the Adelaide Hills on part of the alignment of the former Mount Pleasant railway line. It is a sealed path suitable for recreational cycling, walking an ...

, which follows the former railway alignment from Oakbank. Mount Torrens is within the jurisdiction of the

Adelaide Hills Council Adelaide Hills Council is a local government area in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia. It is in the hills east of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Aust ...

and the

Mid Murray Council The Mid Murray Council is a local government area in South Australia in the Murray and Mallee region of South Australia. The council spans the area from the Riverland through the Murraylands to the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges. It in ...

Etymology

The

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

name for the mount is unknown. The first Europeans to ascend it, on 25 January 1838, were the exploration party of Dr George Imlay and John Hill, but they did not name it. The mount and nearby town were named later after Robert Torrens, one of South Australia's founding fathers as chairman of the

South Australian Colonisation Commission British colonisation of South Australia describes the planning and establishment of the colony of South Australia by the British government, covering the period from 1829, when the idea was raised by the then-imprisoned Edward Gibbon Wakefield, ...

History

The town was developed by the Dunn family in the early 1840s. Then known as Barton Springs, it incorporated a farmhouse, smithy, stables and the Cornish Arms inn. The town proper was laid out in 1853 to serve the

River Murray The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the n ...

trade at

Mannum Mannum is a historic town on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, east of Adelaide. Mannum is the seat of the Mid Murray Council, and is situated in the state electoral district of Hammond and the federal Division of Barker. ...

and a nearby copper mine. A small gold deposit was discovered in 1870, but by

World War I 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 ...

the town's importance had diminished, and the town that stands today is virtually unchanged since that time.

Facilities

Mount Torrens has a sporting ground, hotel, farm supply store and general store. There are two schools – the state government Mount Torrens Primary School and the co-educational, interdenominational Mount Torrens Christian school – and Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting churches. In 2019, Mount Torrens became part of the Adelaide Hills Sculpture Trail. The former site of the fire station was made into a small park which houses the sculpture. Several historic buildings are in the town. Mount Torrens and the surrounding areas were damaged during the 2019 Cudlee Creek bushfire.

Transport

Mount Torrens is on the

LinkSA LinkSA is a regional bus operator in South Australia. It is a subsidiary of Keolis Downer, and is a separate business to its sister company SouthLink, which operates Adelaide Metro buses in metropolitan Adelaide. History LinkSA was founded in 200 ...

coach route that runs from Mount Pleasant to Tea Tree Plaza. Between 1918 and 1963 the town had a station on the

Mount Pleasant railway line The Mount Pleasant railway line was a railway line on the South Australian Railways network. It was opened between Balhannah and Mount Pleasant, South Australia, Mount Pleasant in September 1918 and ran until March 1963 as a freight and passeng ...

; subsequently the line was dismantled.

References

{{authority control Towns in South Australia