Ovingham is an inner northern

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

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 ...

. It is located in the cities of

Charles Sturt Charles Napier Sturt (28 April 1795 – 16 June 1869) was a British officer and explorer of Australia, and part of the European land exploration of Australia, European exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the ...

and

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

Geography

The suburb is located between Park Terrace and the

Gawler railway line The Gawler line, also known as the Gawler Central line, is a suburban commuter railway line in the city of Adelaide, South Australia. The Gawler Line is the most frequent and heavily patronised line in the Adelaide rail network. It is also the ...

. It is bisected by Torrens Road.

History

Ovingham was established in 1875 by William Whinham, by subdividing Block No. 2081, which had been originally purchased by

George Strickland Kingston Sir George Strickland Kingston (23 August 1807 – 26 November 1880) was the Deputy Surveyor to William Light, engaged to survey the new colony of South Australia. He arrived in South Australia on the in 1836. Kingston was also the first Spea ...

. Ovingham originally comprised only the part of the current suburb to the north of Torrens Road. The portion of modern Ovingham in the

City of Charles Sturt The City of Charles Sturt is a local government area in the western suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, stretching to the coast. The council was formed on 1 January 1997 as a result of the amalgamation of the City of Hindmarsh Woodville and ...

(the triangle bounded by the railway line, Torrens Road and Park Terrace) was previously considered to be part of

Bowden Bowden may refer to: Places Australia * Bowden Island, one of the Family Islands in Queensland * Bowden, South Australia, northwestern suburb of Adelaide * Bowden railway station Canada * Bowden, Alberta, town in central Alberta England * Bowd ...

, known as ''Bowden-on-the-Hill''. A proposal to rename it to Hillside in 1929 was favorably received locally, but rejected by the government. Ovingham Post Office opened on 1 November 1879 but was renamed

in 1970.

Demographics

The 2021 census counted 766 people in Ovingham. Slightly over half of them were male (50.1%).

Government

Local government

Part of Ovingham lies in Hindmarsh Ward in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, being represented in that council by Paul Alexandrides and Craig Auricht. The remainder of the suburb lies in the

City of Prospect City of Prospect is an inner urban local government area (LGA) in Adelaide, South Australia. The council seat is the unusually-large suburb of Prospect, which makes up almost two thirds of the tiny council area, which is less than . Established ...

State and federal

Ovingham lies in the state

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

and the federal

electoral division An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provid ...

Community

The Ovingham Hotel is located on Torrens Road. The Ovingham Football Club, the local team, was located on Churchill Road. It existed for over 100 years but folded in 2014.

Transportation

Roads

Ovingham is serviced by Torrens Road, connecting the suburb to

Adelaide city centre Adelaide city centre () 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 Adelaide and from the City of Adelaide l ...

, and Park Terrace, which forms its south-eastern boundary.

Churchill Road Churchill Road (and its northern section as Churchill Road North) is an arterial road in the inner northern suburbs of Adelaide, Australia. Route Churchill Road North commences at the intersection of Port Wakefield Road and Montague Roads in ...

heads north out of the suburb.

Public transport

Ovingham is serviced by public transport run by the

Adelaide Metro Adelaide Metro is the public transport system of the Adelaide area, around the capital city of South Australia. It is an intermodal passenger transport, intermodal system offering an integrated network of Buses in Adelaide, bus, Glenelg tram, ...

Trains

The Ovingham railway station sits on the boundary of the suburb of Ovingham itself and is serviced by the

. In 2023 the Torrens Road

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

was replaced by an overpass.

Buses

The suburb is serviced by buses run by the

References

External links

* * {{City of Prospect suburbs Suburbs of Adelaide Populated places established in 1875