Day 9 Burra SA – The Key to the City. 10 Sept 2018

Today we continued our exploration of Burra. With our Passport Key in hand we headed out to discover the hidden treasures of Burra.

Burra and copper mining cannot be separated, it was the discovery of copper in 1845, that saw the settlement of Burra. At its time, the Burra Burra Mine was one of the most valuable mines in the world. Burra had the 2nd largest population of a town after Adelaide. The early workers and their families had to walk from Port Adelaide to Burra, a 2+ hr drive today, but back then the 165km walk took many days, carrying all your personal possessions. The mines preferred married workers as they were more reliable and stable.

The mining lease in Burra was too big for one investor, so the lease was divided in half and two syndicates drew straws for which half they got. One lost and the other won big time.

As we were preparing to leave this morning, I opened the van door and three geese thought they were invited in, they were queued up single file in front of the door. Sorry, but no!

On the way to our first bit of sightseeing for the day we took a very small detour to the vineyard of some friends, and had a walk amongst the vines. It’s a small tidy vineyard and the vines are just on the edge of bursting into leaf. It was great see it as we have heard so much about it. The vines must be very hardy, it’s tough life up here for vines.

Our day exploring started with a visit to the old Bon Accord mine complex. Bon Accord was the other mine in Burra, financed by Scottish money in 1846, the mine proved spectacularly unprofitable and it was shut by 1849. It was restarted in 1858 and then shut again in 1862. Much of the original buildings were torn down, but a few buildings were retained. When the mine shut it flooded with water, and in 1908 pumps were brought in and the water in the mine became Burra’s water supply, and continued to do so until 1966. The old Bon Accord is a must see attraction in Burra.

From there we went to the old Burra Railway Station. The trains stopped running to and through Burra in 1995 when the last freight train went through, passenger trains had stopped running in 1985. The station is captured in time, and has many interesting displays in and around it. It also has a nice looking Bed and Breakfast in it.

With the key to the city you get a great guidebook highlighting many of the significant old buildings around the town. They cover everything from old graceful churches, old homes, miners housing (including creekside dugouts that looked more like hobbit homes), shops, hotels, etc. The trail used these as highlights/interest points between the areas that could only be accessed by “The Key”. So we saw so much more than I am describing here.

Our next stop was the Burra Historic Mine site.  It spans the northern half of the surveyed area divided in two in the early days. The mine started life as an under ground mine worked by Cornish miners. As the mine got older the ore body started to get poorer, and the mine management decided to try a new mining method to reduce costs and extend the life of the mine. They shut the mine down for 3 years from 1867 to 1870, when it was converted into an open cut mine. This extended the life of the mine for another 7 years. The mine lay dormant until 1971 when it was reopened using modern techniques for copper extraction and ran until 1982. Most of the old buildings have been demolished, but a federal grant was obtained and the old Morphett Enginehouse was restored. The old Powder Magazine has also been restored, it stands all alone away from everything in case an accident happened with the blasting powder. There are magnificent views down over Burra township and its surrounds from on top of the hills around the mine. 

The old open cut pit is now full of water and at the turn of the century, 1900’s, it was used as a swimming hole for the locals. These days the locals are banned from swimming in it, but it is used as a training centre for diving in deep dark cold water.

We had lunch in town and spent the afternoon finishing off the exploration trail starting at St Mary’s church. It’s a large old stone church with amazing stained glass windows. We did our usual thing, and lit a candle each wishing the best for all our friends and family who may be struggling.

 The next few key use stops were old houses where rooms had been made up using materials and items of the 1800’s. It’s always interesting to see how people lived in the past and how easy we have it today. 

A different, interesting stop was at the 1850’s miners dugouts. Housing was so short at the time that the miners resorted to burrowing into the banks of local creeks to make homes for themselves. A flood in 1951 devastated the dugouts and many were killed. By 1860 almost all the dugouts were deserted. The dugouts were like manmade caves and you had to stoop to get into them and while you were inside. Comfortable if your a hobbit.

From there we saw some row houses, much more comfortable by comparison, they even had there own backyards, kitchens, bedroom and lounge room.

A drive up the hill and we came to The Hamptons, a small private township. Now in ruins, much to Deb’s disappointment. I think she had visions of an old English countryside village. The ruins were interesting and showed how the more wealthy of the time may have lived. The cottages were all freestanding, with cellars and many rooms, and outside “Thunderbox” dunnies.

A short drive down the hill and we were at Redruth Gaol. Built in 1856, it was the first gaol in SA built outside Adelaide. It had a capacity for 30 prisoners, male and female. The gaol closed in 1894 and then reopened as a Girls Reformatory which remained open until 1922. The building was used as a set in the film “Breaker Morant”.

Down the road we saw an old Police Lockup and stables. Things were done so tough/hard back in those days. If you got on the wrong side of the law you certainly paid a price.

We got the key back to the Tourist Information Centre at about 4:40pm, it had been a great day exploring Burra and worth every cent. If you’re ever in Burra you should make the effort and do the key trail.

Tomorrow we head to Clare.

If you’re reading our blog, you might like to see some pictures of our adventures. You can find these on Facebook at @Greganddebstravelblog