Grange
Grange is one of Adelaide's older seafront suburbs, with a jetty flanked by old terrace houses and a large car park. The Grange Surf Life Saving Club is located just north of the jetty adjacent to terrace houses. Grange Beach is a southern continuation of Tennyson Beach, which is itself a continuation of semaphore Beach. Originally called The Grange, the suburb is named after Captain Charles Sturt's cottage, which originally stood on 500 acres (200 ha) of farmland. Sturt's farm was subdivided in 1878 by a private company intending to establish a beach resort. The cottage still stands and is now a museum.
Grange Jetty, built in 1879, lies midway along Grange Beach. In addition to Grange Beach, the suburb has several parks and reserves. Grange Recreation Reserve is located in the northwest of the suburb and offers a playing field and playground. Playgrounds are also located in Lines Reserve, on Lines Street, and Kirkcaldy Park, on Kirkcaldy Avenue.
Swimming on the beaches on this section of coast is relatively safe inshore and on the attached portions of the inner bar. Care must be taken in the trough particularly if occupied by currents, and on the outer bar. Children sometimes get caught on the bars by the rising tide. The surf here depends on the winds, with strong westerlies required to produce a sloppy beach break. Occasionally high outside ocean swell reaches the beaches as a low swell.
Many fishers use the Patawalonga and Torrens boat ramps to launch their boats for outside fishing, while the two jetties and the Patawalonga Creek mouth are the most popular shore locations. Along the beaches the migrating bars and higher wave produce a range of holes and gutters along the beach, which change over time.
The surf here depends on the winds, with strong westerlies required to produce a sloppy beach break. Occasionally high outside ocean swell reaches the beaches as a low swell.
Location: 11 kilometres from the Adelaide city centre.
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The Grange was the home built by Charles Sturt (1795-1869) in 1840 and where he lived with his wife Charlotte and 3 children before returning to England in 1853. Known as the Father of Exploration , he was responsible for defining the major river system of southern Australia as well as pioneering an overland route to Adelaide from NSW and opening up the country s interior. Charles was living at The Grange when he left for his major expedition to Central Australia in August 1844. It was also where his youngest and only daughter Charlotte Eyre Sturt was born in 1843.
The main display items consist of Sturt's furniture and accessories donated by the Sturt family in England. Some of the most significant items include the flags carried on the Murray River and Central expeditions, Sturt s telescope and the Desert Peas gathered on the Central expedition, later named after Sturt and the floral emblem of South Australia.
Originally the house was set in almost 400 acres but this was subdivided in the late 19th century becoming the village of Grange and now a western suburb of Adelaide while the local council is called the City of Charles Sturt. The museum was first opened to the public in 1967 under the auspices of the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum Trust and later fully restored. In 2003 the Nursery wing was opened as an exhibition gallery with the launch of the Trust s first major exhibition 'The Dream and the Reality: An insight into Captain Charles Sturt 1795-1869'. A complementary exhibition titled Across the Continent was mounted in 2005.
Location: Jetty Street, Grange, SA. Open 2 pm - 5 pm on first and third Sundays (except Public Holidays). Mid week group tours by appointment. A small entry fee applies. Contact: 08 8356 8185.
Tennyson Beach, to the north of Grange Beach, is the southern continuation of Semaphore Beach. Tennyson Beach is a more newly developed stretch of shore backed by beachfront houses, and as a result it still retains much of its natural dunes, unlike the seawalls fronting the older suburbs. Tennyson Dunes are the largest surviving natural dune system remaining in metropolitan Adelaide, and are cherished as the remnants of an important dune system that once stretched 30kms along the coast. The dunes have largely survived as a natural environment that sustains a rich ecosystem of plants, birds and animals from before European settlement. There is a coastal path traversing the dunes parallel to the beach from Tennyson Heights. A number of entry points along Military Road provide access to this track, one with a large observation deck and interpretive signs. No point in Tennyson is further than 400 metres from the beach.
The suburb of Tennyson was named by Governor Le Hunte on 5 thJanuary 1905, after Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson, former Governor of South Australia (1899-1902) and Governor-General of Australia (1903-1904). Modern day Tennyson comprises former settlements Northcote and Ramsgate which were located to the north of original Tennyson. Woodville Council introduced charges for camping along the foreshore between the Northcote Home, Tennyson, and Fort Glanville in December 1938. Five shillings was charged along with a £1 deposit as a guarantee that campers would leave the grounds in a clean condition.
Sitting atop of the Tennyson Dunes, Estcourt House; was built between 1881 and 1883 as athe private residence of Frederick and Rosa Bucknall. Frederick was founder of The South Australian Rowing Club and together with Arthur Harvey, set up the Grange Company to develop a seaside resort. It was responsible for the construction of the Grange railway, Grange jetty, and roads in the area. In the late 1860s Bucknall ran The South Australian Boating Company from Port Adelaide in an old Malthouse in Grey street. He converted the shed into the Australian Club House Hotel in 1869, known locally as The Kerosine Tin because of its galvanised iron walls.
Three years after building Estcourt House, the Bucknall family were facing financial difficulties and were forced to sell the house. The new owner was the Australian Mutual Provident Society, better known to us today as AMP. Eventually the house was sold and in 1892 was purchased by the James Brown Memorial Trust,a trust fund set up by the widow, Mrs Jessie Brown, in her late husbands honour. The house was to help people in need. It officially opened in 1894, and by December of that year had eight children aged between four and twelve, and twenty-three visually impaired or blind people elderly people in its care.
From 1931 it became a convalescent home for children only. It was taken over by the Adelaide Children's Hospital in 1955. It was expanded with the addition of an Annex, which was reported in 1962 as having a capacity of 100 beds. In 1978 Estcourt House became part of the government-run Strathmont Centre and accommodated adults with intellectual disabilities. From 1981 it became a home for children with intellectual disabilities from Ru Rua Nursing Home. After its closure in 1989 the house stood empty for many years, attracting ghost hunters and thrill seekers until it was sold to a private buyer who had the hospital wings removed. The heritage building is today a private residence and is not open for inspection. Location: Military Road, Tennyson, SA.
