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Penola, SA



National Australia Bank


Cobb & Co. Booking Office


Gammon Cottage


Woods-MacKillop Schoolhouse


Sharam's Cottage


Wynns Coonawarra winery

Penola is the oldest town in the south-east region of South Australia and cherishes its historical buildings such as the remains of a grand old railway station and several slab and hewn cottages from the early 1850s. The first settlers were Scottish born Alexander Cameron and his wife Margaret, nee MacKillop, in January 1844 after obtaining an occupation licence. In April 1850 Cameron obtained eighty acres of freehold land, his station was on a pastoral lease, and established the private town of Panoola, later known as Penola. He set aside several blocks for the use of the community, including a market square and blocks for churches to be built on at a later stage.

Paving the way for future generations, Cameron built the first timber dwelling and was known by his contemporaries as the "King of Penola". Although a long way from Adelaide, Penola soon had most of the facilities available in any big town at that time. Its first residents were Christopher Sharam, a bootmaker and his wife Ellen. They were to have fifteen children. One of the first shopkeepers was Andrew McAlpine who opened his 'South Australian Store' in the early 1850s. A post office was constructed in 1857.
By the 1860s Rounsevell coaches left Penola twice a week for Naracoorte, Mount Gambier and Adelaide and Cobb and Co coaches three times a week for Melbourne. It had a population of over 600 people who were served by a local court, police station, two churches, an Institute, telegraph, school and several resident magistrates among them, JM Carter, E. Kirby, G. Riddoch, GB Scott, JA Wells and H.E. Wells. Penola also boasted the second largest library outside Adelaide as early as 1863. The Government town of Penola North was surveyed in 1867 but renamed Penola on 20th February 1941.
To provide for her needy family, Cameron's niece, Mary MacKillop, who had started work at the age of fourteen as a clerk in Melbourne and later as a teacher in Portland, took up a job as governess in 1860 at her aunt and uncle's place at Penola. She was to look after their children and teach them. Already set on helping the poor whenever possible, she included the other farm children on the Cameron estate as well. This brought her into contact with Father Julian Edmund Tenison Woods, who had been the parish priest in the South East since his ordination to the priesthood, after having completed his studies at Sevenhill, in 1857.
Woods had been very concerned about the lack of education and particularly Catholic education in South Australia. When he started his school he was soon appointed Director of Education and became the founder, with Mary, of the Sisters of St Joseph who would teach in his schools. Mary stayed for two years with the Camerons of Penola before accepting a job teaching the Cameron children of Portland, Victoria. Later she taught at the Portland school and after opening her own boarding school, Bayview House, was joined by the rest of her family. While teaching at Portland, Father Woods invited Mary and her sisters Annie and Lexie to come to Penola and open a Catholic school there.
In 1866 a school was opened in a stable and after renovations by their brother, the MacKillops started teaching more than fifty children. In 1867 Mary became the first Sister, and Mother Superior, of the newly formed Order of the Sisters of St Joseph. In 1867 the Woods MacKillop Schoolhouse was built for the children of the district, Mary MacKillop taught in this historic building. She later moved to the new convent in Grote Street, Adelaide. The Mary MacKillop Interpretive Centre was opened there in 1998.
The first twenty years of Penola's history were very much connected with Alexander Cameron whereas the next forty years seem to be those of Scottish born John Riddoch. Settling in the area in 1961, he had a profound impact on the district. His crowning achievement was the establishment of the Penola Fruit Colony in 1890, renamed Coonawarra in 1897. This sowed the seed of Coonawarra's internationally renowned quality wine. The two-storey mansion Yallum Park was completed for John Riddoch in 1880 and many of the early buildings in the district were opened or had their foundation stones laid by this man of vision. He was a local Member of Parliament for many years and the Riddoch highway is named to acknowledge his contribution.
Famous colonial poets, Adam Lindsay Gordon, William Ogilvie, and Penola born John Shaw Neilson, left behind a legacy of poetry inspired by their experiences of rural life in the district.
Petticoat Lane, the oldest residential part of Penola, allows you to wander through historic timber and stone cottages which retain much of the charm and character of yesteryear. Red gum kerbing as well as rose and lavender plantings enhance the lane's character as an example of days gone by. Petticoat Lane is a State Heritage Area.

Buildings of historical interest

  • Old Mechanics Institute (1869), Arthur Street. Houses the Penola/Coonawarra Visitor Centre and Hydro Carbon Centre.
  • Bond Store, Bowden Street. Built to store liquor from interstate for customs duties.
  • Ulva cottage (1850s), Bowden Street. Home of Alexander Cameron, founder of Penola.
  • Mary McKillop Park, Bowden Street. The site of the stable where Mary McKillop began teaching in 1866.
  • St Mary's Church (1873), Arthur Street.
  • Toffee & treats shop (1870), Church Street. Premises of bootmaker, Christopher Sharam.
  • Never Too Old Antiques (1892), Church Street. Balnaves Building.
  • Royal Oak Hotel (1873), Church Street.
  • Stone house (1880s), Cnr Church & Riddoch Street. Built as the Bank of South Australia.
  • National Australia Bank (1868), Church Street.
  • Old Post Office (1850s, extended 1876), Cnr Church and Riddoch Streets.
  • Cobb & Co. Booking Office (1857), Riddoch Street.
  • Woods-McKillop Schoolhouse (1867), Cnr Portland Street and Petticoat Lane. In the same grounds is the Mary McKillop Interpretive Centre (1998).
  • Gammon Cottage (1860s), Petticoat Lane.
  • Wilson's Cottage (1860s), Petticoat Lane.
  • Sharam's Cottage (1850), Penola's first house, a fine example of a slab cottage. It was the home of bootmaker, Christopher Sharam.
  • Former Church of England Rectory (1860s), Petticoat Lane.
  • Presbyterian Church (1870), Cnr Arthur and Portland Streets.
  • McAdam Slab Hut (1850s), Cameron Street.
  • Bushman's Inn (1860), John Street. Originally part built as a boarding house.
  • Old Railway Station, Clarke Street. Now a private residence.
  • Yallum Park (1878-80), Millicent Road, 8 km west of Penola. Victorian mansion built for John Riddoch. Said to be the best preserved Victorian house in Australia.
  • Old Hospital (1850s), Cnr Riddoch and Portland Streets. Built as a residence. Later the town hospital. Now a private residence again.


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Penola, Heart of the Coonawarra
Penola history

Where Is It?: South Australia: South East