Williamstown is a small South Australian village on the southern fringe of the Barossa Valley wine-growing region. It is 51 km north east of Adelaide and 16 km south-east of Gawler. Williamstown was originally known as Victoria Creek. The village was laid out in 1858 by Lewis Johnston, or Johnstone, on land he purchased in 1857, and named for his son. The village has an elevation of 310 m and an average rainfall of 680 mm. It has a summer average temperature of 31 °C with temperatures often reaching the mid 40s, and a winter average temperature of 15 °C, with nights dropping below freezing, which makes the region excellent for the cultivation of fruits, especially grapes in the lower riverine alluvial deposits.
History
Williamstown was essentially a farming area with sheep and cattle in the early days with fruit orchards, mixed farms and vines. The village also sustained a forestry and lumber industry from the earliest days with three sawmills. Today only a small family-owned timber sawmill and Cooperage remains with the closure of the two larger mills by 1990. Many local residents work in the wine / viticulture industry throughout the Barossa Valley. In the Australian Federation Year a local hay barn found along Yettie Road inhabited only by ducks and pigeons was discovered to be the remains of the alleged oldest slab and stone homestead in South Australia which has been carefully restored to its former glory. Springfield Homestead, along Springton Road, was originally the home of local land baron pastoralist, BJ MacLachlan, who was a contemporary of the more famous Australian pastoral entrepreneurs and cattle barons such as Kidman. His great-great grandchildren still live at the historic Homestead. They operate one of the largest stations in Australia at Commonwealth Hill. The nearby Barossa, Para Wirra and South Para Reservoirs were built in the early 1950s to help supply Adelaide with its demanding domestic water supplies. The Whispering Wallpublic attraction at the Barossa Reservoir is the colloquial name given to the curved dam retaining wall structure where nearby evidence of former small operation gold mining exists from the 1840s as evidenced by the local name of Kalamazoo. A handful of 'boutique' tourist gold mining operation were started around 1985 near Sandy Creek and West of the reservoir aptly named the Barossa Goldfields. In recent decades numerous tourist accommodation and gastronomical ventures have been established to service the growing Barossa Valley wine tour industry, such as boutique businesses Linfield Road Wines, Te-Aro Estate Wines and the famous Jacob's Creek. Williamstown is considered to be a 'Southern gateway' town into the Barossa Valley itself and in recent years land releases and new family homes have brought a new lease of life to the sleepy little town which boasts one of the oldest public house hotels in South Australia dating from 1841and several original farm homesteads built by the first homesteaders from rough-cut slab timber. One excellent example of which can be found along Warren Road towards Kersbrook. In the late summer of 1956 Williamstown was struck by a large 3.6 magnitude earthquake that lasted for almost eight minutes and caused structural damaged to many of the stone structures and brick buildings in the area which can be seen to this day. Domestic wells and sweetwater springs in the area dried up for several weeks thereafter due to the many landslips and seismic movements below the surrounding Gawler Ranges. In 1970 Williamstown had the happy pleasure of hosting one of the very last performances of the Barnum & Baily, Ringling Brothers Circus in the original Big Top at the Oval where their famous performing Elephants were enjoyed along with 'the world's smallest horse' at just over five hands high.
Description
In the springtime, Williamstown is seen at its best, with a carpet of green grass and wildflowers along the many creeks and thick woodlands covering the low-rolling hills around the town, dotted with large dairy pastures and vineyards. To the East and South, Williamstown is skirted with Forestry Commission plantations open for public access, in certain areas, large swathes of National Park and the Hale Conservation Park for walkers and hikers. The Williamstown Oval is set in the welcome summer-shade of a large wooded hill in a small valley fed by crystal clear cold-water springs that feed the Victoria Creek stream that passes through the town centre. At the Oval there is a picnic area and small caravan park, serving visitors and transient workers, overlooking the local Football Clubhouse and 191950s-era public swimming pool. Williamstown is in the Barossa Councillocal government area, the stateelectoral district of Schubert and the federalDivision of Mayo.
