Spalding is a town located north of the

Clare Valley The Clare Valley is a valley located in South Australia about north of Adelaide in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys council area. It is the river valley formed by the Hutt River but is also strongly associated with the roughly parallel Hill Riv ...

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 ...

, Australia. At the , Spalding had a population of 215. It is mainly a farming community and also is home to a slate

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envir ...

. Services in the town include a supermarket, hotel,

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes comp ...

, gun supplies store, roadhouse,

Country Fire Service The South Australian Country Fire Service (SACFS, commonly abbreviated as CFS) is a volunteer based fire service in the Australian state of South Australia. The CFS has responsibility as the Control Agency for firefighting and Hazardous Waste ...

station,

South Australian State Emergency Service The South Australian State Emergency Service (SASES, commonly known as the SES) is the South Australian branch of the State Emergency Service, partner of the Australian Council of State Emergency Services. The service, founded in 1962, is volun ...

(SES) unit, dedicated post office and police station. Spalding is presumed to be named after the market town of

Spalding, Lincolnshire Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 31,588 at the 2011 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is ...

in the UK.

History

Prior to 1869, there were five sheep runs in the Spalding area: Bundaleer, Booborowie, Canowie, Hill River and Bungaree. From this date, the Spalding area was made available to farmers and a farming-centred community grew. On 30 July 1885, the District Council of Spalding was proclaimed; it remained until 1997, when it merged into the

Northern Areas Council Northern Areas Council is a local government area in the Yorke and Mid North region of South Australia. The council seat and main council offices are at Jamestown, while the council also maintains district offices at Gladstone and Spalding. ...

. In 1925 a post office was built in Spalding. Spalding was serviced by a broad gauge railway line through the Clare Valley from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

from its construction in 1922 until the last train in 1978. The historic Spalding Railway Bridge over the Broughton River and Bundaleer Reservoir site are both listed on the

South Australian Heritage Register The South Australian Heritage Register, also known as the SA Heritage Register, is a statutory register of historic places in South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. ...

Features of interest

*The

Heysen Trail The Heysen Trail is a long distance walking trail in South Australia. It runs from Parachilna Gorge, in the Flinders Ranges via the Adelaide Hills to Cape Jervis on the Fleurieu Peninsula and is approximately in length. Route summary From n ...

runs past Spalding, which is approximately the midpoint of the 1200 km walking route.

References

Towns in South Australia Mid North (South Australia) {{SouthAustralia-geo-stub