The historic town of Auburn is the southern gateway to the rich vineyards of the Clare Valley in South Australia's mid north.
Where is it?: South Australia: Central Agricultural. Auburn is 148 km north west of Adelaide; 24 km east of Maitland; 23 metres above sea level.
Auburn is home to and the starting point for numerous walking trails. The river walk meanders along the River Wakefield within the town. The Auburn Heritage Walk showcases the very special heritage buildings that are such a feature of Auburn.
Auburn has many heritage buildings, including Post Office (1861-74); Auburn Institute & Town Hall (1866); Court House & Police Station Museum (1859); Rising Sun Hotel (1851); Lutheran church (1869); former Corn Mart (1878); Catholic Church (built for the Methodists, 1866); Uniting Church (1861-6); St John's Anglican Church (1862). There is an excellent National Trust brochure titled 'Walk With History at Auburn' which provides a map and lists 24 places of historic interest in the town.
As the gateway to the Clare Valley wine region, Auburn has wineries, restaurants, galleries, tearooms and a variety of shops. The village was the birthplace of one of Australia's great authors - CJ Dennis, best known for the immensely popular 'The Songs of the Sentimental Bloke'.
Surrounding area:
The Rattler Rail Trail (19 km between Riverton and Auburn) and the Riesling Trail, for cyclists and walkers, start in Auburn. The old railway line between Auburn and Clare has been carefully covered over with easy-to-walk-on gravel and opened up as the Riesling Trail. The idea is that people can walk or cycle up the Clare Valley away from the main road. They can experience the quiet beauty of the area and, eventually, there will be numerous sideways off the main Trail which will encourage visitors to divert to wineries and craft shops.
Brief History:
Originally known as Tateham's Waterhole, a name which recalled a local settler, William 'Billy' Tateham. The named Auburn was coined by settler Thomas Henry Williams in 1856 when he subdivided his land to create the town. It is named after his birthplace, a locality in County Westmeath, Ireland.
Though the area had been occupied by pastoralists since the 1830s, Auburn developed as a town around 1850. It was originally known as Tateham's Waterhole after a local settler, William 'Billy' Tateham. The land upon which the town grew was granted to Thomas Henry Williams in 1849. By 1856 he had cut it into land lots and called it Auburn after a town in Ireland. The timing was perfect. Copper had been discovered at Burra and the bullock drays bringing the copper to the coast all passed through Auburn.
At its peak there were as many as 100 bullock drays a day passing through the town which meant it grew quickly although in 1857 the town's function as a stopover point ceased when the railway connected Burra to Gawler. Surprisingly this had little effect on the town which continued to grow through the 1860s and 1870s. It was around this time that Joseph Meller, a stonemason, moved into the area. His work characterises much of the historic charm of the town which today is regarded as a fine example of an historic town with well preserved stone buildings - both public and private.
