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Mount Crawford (South Australia)
Encyclopedia
Birdwood, South Australia
Birdwood is a town near Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the Adelaide Hills Council local government area.- Origin of the name :Formerly known as Blumberg, the German town name was anglicized during World War I, along with many others in the region in 1917...
, in the Mount Lofty Ranges
Mount Lofty Ranges
The Mount Lofty Ranges are the range of mountains just to the east of Adelaide in South Australia.-Location and description:The Mount Lofty Ranges stretch from the southernmost point of the Fleurieu Peninsula at Cape Jervis northwards for over before petering out north of Peterborough...
. It also refers to the Mount Crawford Forest which is a grouping of several government forest
Forestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
lands in the area, the largest encompassing the area around Mount Crawford - others are to the west at Mount Gawler and south around Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Creek Dam. The Barossa Valley
Barossa Valley
The Barossa Valley is a major wine-producing region and tourist destination of South Australia, located 60 km northeast of Adelaide. It is the valley formed by the North Para River, and the Barossa Valley Way is the main road through the valley, connecting the main towns on the valley floor of...
is directly to the north.
The forest headquarters and an information centre are located near Mount Crawford. Most of the timber grown are pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees, though there are some native eucalypt
Eucalypt
Eucalypts are woody plants belonging to three closely related genera:Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora.In 1995 new evidence, largely genetic, indicated that some prominent Eucalyptus species were actually more closely related to Angophora than to the other eucalypts; they were split off into the...
plantations. The Heysen Trail
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 1200 km in length....
passes through the forests. An alluvial goldrush occurred in the area in the late nineteenth century, and fossicking still goes on in the area today. The forests are also popularly used for recreational purposes, with school fairs and camps being held there, along with a rally car race.
History
The Indigenous name for Mount Crawford is unknown. The mount was named in 1839 by Charles SturtCharles Sturt
Captain Charles Napier Sturt was an English explorer of Australia, and part of the European Exploration of Australia. He led several expeditions into the interior of the continent, starting from both Sydney and later from Adelaide. His expeditions traced several of the westward-flowing rivers,...
after James Coutts Crawford (1817–1889). Crawford, known as 'Coutts', had a naval background. He and his drovers arrived overland from NSW in April 1839 with 700 cattle, setting up a hut and cattle run at the base of the mount. Crawford soon moved on to be a pioneer of Wellington, New Zealand.
In February 1840 Crawford's hutkeeper, an old soldier, was bailed up by bushrangers Curran, Hughes, and Fox, who robbed his arms and rations. Curran and Hughes were executed by hanging at Adelaide on 16 March 1840 for an armed robbery committed earlier near Gawler.
One of Mt.Crawfords Brave Early Pioneer Families to settle the area,was that of Thomas Polden.
The subsequent history was one of mining and pastoralism, until being largely replaced by forestry and recreation activities.