Port Neill, South Australia
Encyclopedia
Port Neill is a small coastal town on the eastern side of the Eyre Peninsula
, in South Australia
about 3km off the Lincoln Highway
between the major towns of Whyalla
and Port Lincoln
. It is 576 km by road from Adelaide.
The town offers protected beaches for swimming, as well as providing a venue for fishing, boating, sailing, skiing or skin-diving.
passed by and reported on 7 March 1802 of 'low front land, somewhat sandy, with raised land inland and of a barren appearance, its elevation diminishing to the northward.' The explorer Edward John Eyre
passed through the area in 1840. The first settlers arrived in 1873 when John Tennant and his son Andrew took up land around the bay, then known as Mottled Cove.
The town was first called Carrow and was gazetted in 1903 and laid out in January 1909 by surveyor
William Greig Evans. The name 'Carrow' came from an Aboriginal
word relating to a soakage rock hole. Some confusion was caused by the similarity of the name to the locality of Warrow (near Coulta on south-western Eyre Peninsula) and the town was renamed Port Neill on 19 September 1940. The name of the town honours a Warden of the Marine Board, Andrew Sinclair Neill.
The first jetty
was built in 1912 to ship wheat and wool from the district. It was noted in the Observer in June 1910 that settlers in the Hundred of Butler and the district adjoining Mottled Cove were 'anxiously awaiting some movement towards the long promised jetty at that port'. The settlers were suffering greater disadvantages of shipping facilities than most other parts of the west coast at this time. Once the jetty was built, shipments continued until 1970, when shipments by road to Port Lincoln's larger harbour facilities and grain silos commenced. It was noted at the time of construction that the jetty was the largest on the Eyre Peninsula.
The Lady Kinnaird Anchor and a World War II cannon are situated on the foreshore lawns which provide an ideal family picnic spot. The Lady Kinnaird was an iron barque carrying a load of wheat from Port Pirie
to the United Kingdom
which struck rocks off Cape Burr on January 20, 1880 and foundered and broke up. All aboard were rescued. The timbers from the vessel were salvaged and used to support a large galvanised roof to collect rain water into tanks for the use of wayfarers and travelling stock. These tanks became known as the Lady Kinnaird tanks and were situated a few miles north of Port Neill.
in Mottled Cove (Dutton Bay), approximately an hour's drive north-east of Port Lincoln, and 20 minutes from Tumby Bay. The surrounding region of Port Neill mostly consists of agricultural land, and the coast contains a mixture of white, sandy beaches, vegetated dunes and rocky points.
In 1909, surveyor William Grieg Evans noted that the area was covered with "low mallee teatree
and bushes... light sandy loam red clay over limestone
". He described it as "slightly undulating country", which meant the land had a wavelike appearance and form.
gneisses
, amphibolites
, and rocks known as pegmatite
.
is derived from the surrounding agricultural districts, with cereal crops and sheep prominently farmed.
Like many coastal towns of the Eyre Peninsula
, Port Neill is a well established tourist destination, with town numbers swelling during summer holidays. As well as its history, Port Neill offers a laid back country atmosphere and a number of recreational activities.
Fishing
is popular from the town jetty, the surrounding beaches and from boats, with boat launching facilities available. A number of other watersports including swimming and snorkelling are on offer in the clean sandy bay
.
The town has a number of accommodation
options, including the Port Neill Hotel, caravan park and various holiday flats and apartments.
, Port Neill's population
in the town proper was 152, with another 209 in the surrounding district. The vast majority were Australian born and of those that immigrated, all came from the United Kingdom
. The most common responses for religious affiliation in the town was Uniting Church 20.4%, Anglican 16.4%, No Religion 15.8%, Catholic
13.2% and Christian
, nfd 6.6%.
clubs and recreational facilities, including an oval
, tennis
and basketball
courts, bowling green
and golf course
, skatepark and a playground on the foreshore.
In its past the early established town boasted three general stores, butcher's, saddler's, blacksmith's and baker's shops. Today the town currently provides a general store
and post office
, hotel and pub, and several tourism
-based shops. Various walking trails, parks and lookouts are also dotted throughout the area.
A small primary school services the town, which caters from Reception to Year 7.
Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...
, in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
about 3km off the Lincoln Highway
Lincoln Highway (Australia)
Lincoln Highway links Port Augusta and Port Lincoln, both located in South Australia, a distance of 327 kilometres. It was formerly designated as National Route Alternate 1 and is currently B100....
between the major towns of Whyalla
Whyalla, South Australia
-Demographics:According to the 2006 Census the population of the Whyalla census area was 21,122 people, making it the second largest urban area in the state outside of Adelaide...
and Port Lincoln
Port Lincoln, South Australia
- Transport :Port Lincoln is the port for the isolated narrow gauge Eyre Peninsular Railway.There is also a subsidiary port at Proper Bay which may be restored to use for iron ore traffic. The export of iron ore through Port Lincoln has been approved by the South Australian Government. Port...
. It is 576 km by road from Adelaide.
The town offers protected beaches for swimming, as well as providing a venue for fishing, boating, sailing, skiing or skin-diving.
History
Matthew FlindersMatthew Flinders
Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...
passed by and reported on 7 March 1802 of 'low front land, somewhat sandy, with raised land inland and of a barren appearance, its elevation diminishing to the northward.' The explorer Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre
Edward John Eyre was an English land explorer of the Australian continent, colonial administrator, and a controversial Governor of Jamaica....
passed through the area in 1840. The first settlers arrived in 1873 when John Tennant and his son Andrew took up land around the bay, then known as Mottled Cove.
The town was first called Carrow and was gazetted in 1903 and laid out in January 1909 by surveyor
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...
William Greig Evans. The name 'Carrow' came from an Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
word relating to a soakage rock hole. Some confusion was caused by the similarity of the name to the locality of Warrow (near Coulta on south-western Eyre Peninsula) and the town was renamed Port Neill on 19 September 1940. The name of the town honours a Warden of the Marine Board, Andrew Sinclair Neill.
The first jetty
Jetty
A jetty is any of a variety of structures used in river, dock, and maritime works that are generally carried out in pairs from river banks, or in continuation of river channels at their outlets into deep water; or out into docks, and outside their entrances; or for forming basins along the...
was built in 1912 to ship wheat and wool from the district. It was noted in the Observer in June 1910 that settlers in the Hundred of Butler and the district adjoining Mottled Cove were 'anxiously awaiting some movement towards the long promised jetty at that port'. The settlers were suffering greater disadvantages of shipping facilities than most other parts of the west coast at this time. Once the jetty was built, shipments continued until 1970, when shipments by road to Port Lincoln's larger harbour facilities and grain silos commenced. It was noted at the time of construction that the jetty was the largest on the Eyre Peninsula.
The Lady Kinnaird Anchor and a World War II cannon are situated on the foreshore lawns which provide an ideal family picnic spot. The Lady Kinnaird was an iron barque carrying a load of wheat from Port Pirie
Port Pirie, South Australia
-Transport:Port Pirie is located off National Highway One. It is serviced by an airport five minutes out of the city.- Railways :The first railways in Port Pirie were of the narrow [3' 6"] gauge....
to the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
which struck rocks off Cape Burr on January 20, 1880 and foundered and broke up. All aboard were rescued. The timbers from the vessel were salvaged and used to support a large galvanised roof to collect rain water into tanks for the use of wayfarers and travelling stock. These tanks became known as the Lady Kinnaird tanks and were situated a few miles north of Port Neill.
Geography
Port Neill is situated nearly half-way along the western side of Spencer GulfSpencer Gulf
The Spencer Gulf is the westernmost of two large inlets on the southern coast of Australia, in the state of South Australia, facing the Great Australian Bight. The Gulf is 322 km long and 129 km wide at its mouth. The western shore of the Gulf is the Eyre Peninsula, while the eastern side is the...
in Mottled Cove (Dutton Bay), approximately an hour's drive north-east of Port Lincoln, and 20 minutes from Tumby Bay. The surrounding region of Port Neill mostly consists of agricultural land, and the coast contains a mixture of white, sandy beaches, vegetated dunes and rocky points.
In 1909, surveyor William Grieg Evans noted that the area was covered with "low mallee teatree
Melaleuca uncinata
Melaleuca uncinata, commonly known as Broombush or Broom Honeymyrtle, is a plant in the Paperbark family native to southern Australia...
and bushes... light sandy loam red clay over limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
". He described it as "slightly undulating country", which meant the land had a wavelike appearance and form.
Geology
The rocks in Port Neill are of great interest to geologists, as they give prime examples of the Kalinjala Mylonite Zone, and an idea of the processes that occurred 20km below the surface. Some of the oldest rocks date back to 1850 million years ago, and comprise graniteGranite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
gneisses
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
, amphibolites
Amphibole
Amphibole is the name of an important group of generally dark-colored rock-forming inosilicate minerals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures.-Mineralogy:...
, and rocks known as pegmatite
Pegmatite
A pegmatite is a very crystalline, intrusive igneous rock composed of interlocking crystals usually larger than 2.5 cm in size; such rocks are referred to as pegmatitic....
.
Economy
The Port Neill jetty and goods shed indicate the town's past as a once busy seaport. Today, much of Port Neill's economyEconomy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
is derived from the surrounding agricultural districts, with cereal crops and sheep prominently farmed.
Like many coastal towns of the Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula
Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded on the east by Spencer Gulf, the west by the Great Australian Bight, and the north by the Gawler Ranges. It is named after explorer Edward John Eyre who explored some of it in 1839-1841. The coastline was first explored by...
, Port Neill is a well established tourist destination, with town numbers swelling during summer holidays. As well as its history, Port Neill offers a laid back country atmosphere and a number of recreational activities.
Fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
is popular from the town jetty, the surrounding beaches and from boats, with boat launching facilities available. A number of other watersports including swimming and snorkelling are on offer in the clean sandy bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
.
The town has a number of accommodation
Lodging
Lodging is a type of residential accommodation. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, safety, shelter from cold temperatures or rain, storage of luggage and access to common household functions.Lodgings may be self catering in which case no...
options, including the Port Neill Hotel, caravan park and various holiday flats and apartments.
Demographics
At the time of the 2006 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Port Neill's population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
in the town proper was 152, with another 209 in the surrounding district. The vast majority were Australian born and of those that immigrated, all came from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The most common responses for religious affiliation in the town was Uniting Church 20.4%, Anglican 16.4%, No Religion 15.8%, Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
13.2% and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, nfd 6.6%.
Facilities
Port Neill has several sportingSporting
Sporting may refer to:*Sport, recreational games and play.It may also refer to a sporting club:*Sporting Clube de Portugal, a sports club from Lisbon, Portugal.*Sporting Al Riyadi Beirut, a sports club from Beirut, Lebanon.*A.O...
clubs and recreational facilities, including an oval
Oval
An oval is any curve resembling an egg or an ellipse, such as a Cassini oval. The term does not have a precise mathematical definition except in one area oval , but it may also refer to:* A sporting arena of oval shape** a cricket field...
, tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
courts, bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
and golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
, skatepark and a playground on the foreshore.
In its past the early established town boasted three general stores, butcher's, saddler's, blacksmith's and baker's shops. Today the town currently provides a general store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, hotel and pub, and several tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
-based shops. Various walking trails, parks and lookouts are also dotted throughout the area.
A small primary school services the town, which caters from Reception to Year 7.