Adelaide Park Lands

They were laid out by Colonel William Light in his design for the city, and originally consisted of 2,300 acres "exclusive of 32 acres for a public cemetery". One copy of Light's plan shows areas for a cemetery and a Post and Telegraph Store on West Tce, a small Government Domain and Barracks on the central part of North Tce, a hospital on East Tce, a Botanical Garden on the River Torrens west of North Adelaide, and a school and a storehouse southwest of North Adelaide. Over the years there has been constant encroachment on the park lands by the state government and others. Soon after their declaration in 1837, 370 acres "were lost to 'Government Reserves'". In 1902, The Herald noted that a total area of 489 acres had been taken from park lands. In 2018, the loss is about 230 hectares.

History

Adelaide is a planned city, and the Adelaide Park Lands are an integral part of Colonel William Light's 1837 plan. Light chose a site spanning the River Torrens (known as Yatala by the local people), and planned the city to fit the topography of the landscape, "on rising ground".

The Emigration Regulations appearing in the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register published in London on 18 June 1836 instructed that the site of the first town be divided into 1,000 sections of an acre each.

In early 1837, William Light proposed to the Resident Commissioner James Hurtle Fisher that the figure-eight of open space, which Light later referred to as "Adelaide Park", be reserved as "Park grounds".[11] Light drew up a plan that included 700 acres (2.8 km2) south of the River Torrens and 342 acres (1.38 km2) north of the river.[3] In addition, he included 38 acres (0.15 km2) of city squares: Hindmarsh, Hurtle, Light, Whitmore and Wellington Squares (each comprising six acres), Victoria Square (eight acres), four one-acre Public Reserves (with frontages to Victoria Square), and 2,300 acres (9.3 km2) for the Park Lands.

Adelaide's characteristic geometrical grid pattern is not unique: apart from earlier precedents going back to ancient Greece, it follows part of a series of rules created by Spanish planners for their colonial cities, known as the "Law of the Indies". They included the grid pattern with a main thoroughfare, centred around a main square. There are many historical precedents for five squares, including Philadelphia in America, designed in 1682 by surveyor Thomas Holme. There are however no records showing that Light deliberately copied any cities or rules for planning.

In 1838 the Colonization Commissioners for South Australia authorised South Australia's Resident Commissioner to purchase the Adelaide Park Lands, and these instructions were carried out in South Australia in 1839.

By 1839 the Park Lands were threatened by extensive timber cutting, rubbish dumping, brick-making, quarrying, squatting, and grazing. To check this, a body of special constables was instituted on 9 October 1839 by George Gawler and Superintendent Henry Inman. Inman appointed Nick Boys Bull (c.1800-1846), formerly a police sub-inspector, as Keeper of the Park Lands. Bull led an initial team of six park rangers, most being convalescent migrants thrown on government support.[21] This dropped to two by 1840, then back to four by June 1841. Pay and rations were provided by the police department.

Since 1852, the areas of the Park Lands placed in the custodianship of the municipal corporation have been managed and maintained by the Adelaide City Council. Public use of the Park Lands was controlled by a ranger who patrolled the parks, regulating sporting and recreational activities in the parks and supervising the depasturing of stock grazing there.

A variety of now absent wildlife was still present in the park lands in the late 1800s, with the Greater Bilby reported as still being numerous in 1890.[23] The former prevalence of the species - which went by the local name of pinky[24] or pingku[25] - is recognised as the likely origin of the place name Pinky Flat.[26] The once abundant species was presumed completely extinct in the wild in South Australia by 1930.

The Park Lands saw development during the 19th Century, for example the Adelaide Botanic Garden, hospital, South Australian Institute, Adelaide Oval, Victoria Park Racecourse.[citation needed] Extensive felling of trees, quarrying and dumping of rubbish continued, which combined to give the Park Lands an unsightly appearance. In the late 19th century John Ednie Brown, the government's Conservator of Forests, was commissioned by the City Council to prepare a blueprint for the beautification of the Park Lands. Brown presented his Report in 1880, but it was not acted upon until the turn of the 20th century when A.W. Pelzer became the City Gardener. Major progress was made in planting and landscaping the Park Lands during his tenure (1899–1932) and further improvements such as creation of new gardens and boating lakes were carried under the authority of W.C.D. Veale, the Town Clerk (1947–1965).

In July 2007 the city centre and parklands were granted National Heritage Listing status. The first remarks on the assessor's report were: "The Adelaide Park Lands and City Layout is a significant example of early colonial planning which has retained key elements of its historical layout for over one hundred and seventy years. The 1837 Adelaide Plan attributed to Colonel William Light and the establishment of Adelaide marks a significant turning point in the settlement of Australia."

Address: 5006, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia
Hours: Open 24 hours
Phone: +61 8 8203 7203
Start date: 1878