54-814: Wilpena may refer to: Wilpena Pound , geological feature in South Australia Wilpena Station , a former pastoral lease in South Australia Wilpena Island - refer List of islands within the Murray River in South Australia See also [ edit ] All pages with titles beginning with Wilpena All pages with titles containing Wilpena Wilpena Pound Airport - refer List of airports by IATA code: H Topics referred to by
108-785: A "National Pleasure Resort" was proclaimed. A hotel called the Wilpena Chalet was opened on the southern side of the creek just outside the gorge and it has been run by various private companies ever since. Kevin Rasheed and later his son, Keith, ran the Chalet for over 50 years. Later, the Pound became part of the Flinders Ranges National Park . Wilpena is dubiously claimed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "place of bent fingers" and it has been suggested this may be
162-679: A group of eight walking inside the Pound and, despite search efforts, died. His remains were not located until 18 months later. A pass on the upper slopes of St Mary Peak is named after him. His brother, John Bannon , later became the Premier of South Australia. Flinders Ranges The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain ranges in South Australia , which starts about 200 km (125 mi) north of Adelaide . The ranges stretch for over 430 km (265 mi) from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna . The Adnyamathanha people are
216-511: A large number of bird species including parrots , galahs , emus , the wedge-tailed eagle and small numbers of water birds. Reptiles include goannas , snakes , dragon lizards , skinks and geckos . The streambank froglet is an endemic amphibian . The Ranges are part of the Tirari–Sturt stony desert ecoregion . A team acting on behalf of the Government of South Australia and
270-763: A manner similar to the state's capital city, Adelaide. Governor Jervois reputedly bestowed the name 'Quorn' because his private secretary at the time had come from the parish of Quorn, Leicestershire in England. In the 1920s Aroona became an outstation of Oraparinna Station , and spring water was used to irrigate large gardens there. The Flinders Ranges are the largest mountain range in South Australia. It starts about 200 km (125 mi) north of Adelaide city centre . The discontinuous ranges stretch for over 430 km (265 mi) from Port Pirie to Lake Callabonna . Its most characteristic landmark
324-768: A name for Dick's Nob, which overlooks Bridle Gap. The 1851 name for Dorothy's Peak was Mount Boord, after the pioneer of Oraparinna station but this name has not regained any usage. Wilpena Pound has a semi-arid climate. The record rainfall in a single day is 173 mm. Summers are hot. Between December and February, daytime temperatures average between 31.8(89.24 °F) and 33.8 °C(92.84 °F) with night minimums averaging between 16 °C(60.8 °F) and 18 °C(64.4 °F). Winters are cool to cold. Between June and August, daytime temperatures average between 15.9 °C(60.62 °F) and 17.7 °C(63.86 °F) with night minimums averaging between 3.7 °C(38.6 °F) and 4.6 °C(40.3 °F). Wilpena Pound
378-469: A newspaper report, after having applied for a lease and claiming to be the discoverer. Within a week of Bagot's discovery claim appearing, it was indignantly refuted by the Browne's claim in favour of Chace. In an attempt to sort out theses conflicting claims over the pastoral lease, Crown Commissioner of Lands, Charles Bonney and Surveyor-General Henry Freeling employed H.C. Rawnsley to go north and survey
432-424: A private survey in 1851 as Mount Ohlssen-Bagge after a business partner of the surveyor. In recent years the latter name has regained pre-eminence. The Adelaide Bushwalkers produced a detailed map of the Pound in 1959 in which they gave generic aboriginal names to many of the eastern peaks: Attunga Bluff ("high place"), Tanderra Saddle ("resting place"), Timburru Peak ("steep"), and Wangara Hill (a popular lookout to
486-545: A reference to either the mountains resembling the shape of a gently cupped hand or the freezing cold of the ranges in winter. However, the Adnyamathanha people have no such word in their language and their name for the Pound is Ikara which means "meeting place". The Adnyamathanha translate Pound to mean 'meeting' or 'initiation place' in their language. It's not clear who re-named Ngarri Mudlanha as St. Mary's Peak. A somewhat discredited turn-of-the-century account has
540-500: A sealed road between the towns of Hawker to the south and Blinman in the northern Flinders Ranges . It was used for grazing from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century and for cropping in the early twentieth century. Its tourism potential was recognised in 1949. The area is part of the Adelaide Geosyncline . Early amateur theories mistakenly suggested Wilpena Pound was an ancient volcano. The Pound
594-628: Is Wilpena Pound / Ikara , a large, sickle -shaped, natural amphitheatre that covers 80 km (31 sq mi), and contains the range's highest peak, St Mary Peak (1,171 m (3,842 ft), ) which adjoins the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park . The southern ranges are notable for the Pichi Richi heritage steam and diesel railway and Mount Remarkable National Park . The Heysen Trail and Mawson Trail run for several hundred kilometres along
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#1732780782853648-564: Is a synclinal basin with the fold axis running NNW-SSE through Edeowie Gorge at the northern end and Rawnsley's Bluff at the southern. A corresponding anticline is located in the adjacent Moralana Gorge with the Elder Range on the downturned western limb. The area has given its name to the Wilpena Group of sedimentary rocks which make up the younger sediments of the geosyncline and names of further subdivisions also originate from
702-580: Is a long open valley that lies around 25 km (16 mi) north of Wilpena Pound, between the Heysen Range and ABC Ranges. The lease was taken up first by the Brownes, and then by Johnson Frederick Hayward in the 1850s. Hayward had arrived in 1847 from Somerset , and was initially overseer of Pekina Station . Hayward Bluff, False Mount Hayward, South Mount Hayward, and Mount Hayward, in the Heysen Range, are all named after him. The Aroona head station
756-692: Is an area of great geological and palaeontological significance, and includes the oldest fossil evidence of animal life was discovered. The Ediacaran Period and Ediacaran biota take their name from the Ediacara Hills within the ranges. In August 2022, a nomination for the Flinders Ranges to be named a World Heritage Site was lodged. The first humans to inhabit the Flinders Ranges were the Adnyamathanha people (meaning " hill people " or "rock people") whose descendants still reside in
810-408: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Wilpena Pound Wilpena Pound ("Ikara" in the Adnyamathanha language ) is a major natural amphitheatre of mountains located 429 kilometres (267 mi) north of Adelaide , South Australia , Australia in the heart of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park . Its fringe is accessible by
864-523: Is one of the most visited sites in the Flinders Ranges . Wilpena Pound Resort is just outside Wilpena Pound and Rawnsley Park Station is on the western side. Scenic flights are available from unsealed airstrips at Wilpena Pound resort and Rawnsley Park 30 kilometres (19 mi) north east of Hawker . Rock climbing is an attraction, with the Moonarie, a quartzite cliff of about 120m located on
918-527: The Aboriginal group who have inhabited the range for tens of thousands of years. Its most well-known landmark is Wilpena Pound / Ikara , a formation that creates a natural amphitheatre covering 80 km (31 sq mi) and containing the range's highest peak, St Mary Peak (1,171 m (3,842 ft)). The ranges include several national parks , the largest being the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park , as well as other protected areas . It
972-454: The Flinders Ranges , is St Mary Peak (1171m), on the north-eastern side. To the south of the Gap, on the eastern side, the highest peak is Point Bonney (1133m). On the north-western side of the Pound, the highest point is Pompey's Pillar (1165m). Rawnsley's Bluff (950m) at the southern end is the other major summit. The wall of mountains almost completely encircles the gently-sloping interior of
1026-686: The Mount Brown Conservation Park south of Quorn. The Flinders Ranges are composed largely of folded and faulted sediments of the Adelaide Geosyncline . This very thick sequence was deposited in a large basin during the Neoproterozoic on the passive margin of the ancient continent of Rodinia . During the Cambrian (about 540 million years ago) the area underwent the Delamerian orogeny , when this sequence of rocks
1080-554: The traditional owners , the Adnyamathanha people , which includes internationally renowned American palaeontologist Mary L. Droser , lodged a nomination for a tentative listing as a World Heritage Site , which was accepted by UNESCO in April 2021. The application was made on the basis of its unique geological and palaeontological values. It is a lengthy process, and the site needs to fulfil very specific criteria as well as showing strong evidence that its values are absolutely unique in
1134-474: The 1880s. The structure was built with local pine slabs and a roof made from grass. After Price died in 1889, the immediate 8,000-hectare area of the Pound was separated from the main run and leased separately. When the Hill family obtained this lease in 1901, they decided to try farming, something never before attempted so far north. Goyder's Line had proven rather accurate with regard to agricultural expansion in
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#17327807828531188-465: The 40,000-hectare Wilpena Station for them. In 1861, Price purchased the Wilpena lease from the Brownes. By 1863 Wilpena consisted of well over 200,000 hectares but was nearly ruined by the drought of that decade. According to one account, the natural enclosure of the Pound was used for keeping horses. Wilpena Eating House was built in 1862 to service passing traders until the structure was abandoned in
1242-555: The Flinders, including the plateau of the Gammon Ranges and the Heysen Range. Cuesta forms are also very common. The Ranges are renowned for the Ediacara Hills , south-west of Leigh Creek , where in 1946 some of the oldest fossil evidence of animal life was discovered. Similar fossils have subsequently been found in the ranges, including at Nilpena , with an application being made for World Heritage listing to help protect
1296-478: The Pound, with the only breaks being the gorge at Wilpena Gap and a high saddle in the south-western range over which the Heysen Trail passes. This latter saddle is called Bridle Gap, supposedly because it is the only place other than the gorge where a skilled horseman might ride into the Pound. The interior of the Pound does not rise to a height at the northern edge, but instead simply drops off very steeply to
1350-674: The Quorn township). During the late 1870s the push to open agricultural land for wheat north of the Goyder's Line had met with unusual success, with good rainfall and crops in the Flinders Ranges. This, along with the copper mining lobby (copper was mined in the Hawker-Flinders Ranges area in the late 1850s and transported overland by bullock dray), induced the government to build a narrow gauge railway line north of Port Augusta through Pichi Richi Pass, Quorn , Hawker and along
1404-466: The Ranges are largely species adapted to a semi-arid environment, including sugar gum , cypress-pine , mallee and black oak . Moister areas near Wilpena Pound support grevilleas , Guinea flowers , Liliaceae and ferns . Reeds and sedges grow near permanent water sources such as springs and waterholes . Since the eradication of dingos and the establishment of permanent waterholes for stock,
1458-547: The area particularly the Pound Subgroup made up of Rawnsley Quartzite and Bonney Sandstone which were laid down during the Ediacaran Period. Ediacaran fossils, such as Ikaria wariootia , have been found in this subgroup. Although from the outside the Pound appears as a single range of mountains, it is actually two: one on the western edge and one on the eastern, joined by the long Rawnsley's Bluff at
1512-850: The area, and the Ngadjuri (Ndajurri) people, They inhabited the range for tens of thousands of years before being dispersed by European settlement after colonisation . Cave paintings , rock engravings and other cultural artefacts indicate that the Adnyamathana and Ndajurri lived in the Flinders Ranges for tens of thousands of years. Occupation of the Warratyi rock shelter dates back approximately 49,000 years. The first European explorers were an exploration party from Matthew Flinders ' seagoing visit to upper Spencer Gulf aboard HMS Investigator . They climbed Mount Brown in March 1802. In
1566-458: The area. Rawnsley only made it to the southern end of the Pound, which had been privately surveyed for the Brownes by Thomas Burr and Frederick Sinnett only a month or two earlier. On his arrival, Rawnsley found that the Bluff was already named after him by the locals. The Browne brothers eventually won the claim for Wilpena over Bagot. The Brownes employed Henry Strong Price to open up and run
1620-457: The best part of a day, can be made up to St Mary Peak . In recent years, some Adnyamathanha people have asked that people stop short of the peak and indicated it is sacred. The traverse of the peaks from Reggie's Nob to Mount Abrupt is a difficult walk requiring several days. The peaks are very rugged and thick scrub and timber inside the pound can make navigation difficult. In 1959, 12-year-old Nicholas George Bannon became separated and lost from
1674-437: The early 1860s Hayward returned to England, and purchased an estate near Bath , which he called Aroona. In 1852 Kanyaka Station was established by Hugh Proby. William Pinkerton is credited as being the first European to find a route through the Flinders Ranges via Pichi Richi Pass. In 1853 he drove 7,000 sheep along the eastern plains of the range, to where Quorn would be built 25 years later (Pinkerton Creek runs through
Wilpena - Misplaced Pages Continue
1728-500: The first three pastoral leases in the central Flinders Ranges were only marked out in 1851. These were Wilpena , Arkaba , and Aroona , which were developed as sheep stations . The leases were initially granted for 14 years by the government of the Colony of South Australia , over land dubbed "unoccupied waste lands". The name Aroona is derived from an Adnyamathanha word meaning "running water", or "place of frogs". Aroona Valley
1782-507: The great drought of the 1880s and Wilpena is some 140 kilometres (87 mi) north of the line. However, being in the shadow of some of the highest mountains of the Flinders, rainfall in the Pound is a little higher with snow even being very rarely known on St Mary Peak. After immense labour to construct a road through the torturous Wilpena Gap, the Hills built a small homestead inside the Pound (which still stands today) and cleared open patches in
1836-468: The north during the summer. The area gets around 250 mm (9.8 in) of rain annually, with the highest at Wilpena Pound , at 350 mm (14 in). Frost is common on winter mornings and temperatures have dropped as low as −8 °C (18 °F). Snow has even been recorded in the Wilpena Pound and at Blinman . As of 2013, the last significant snowfall was in 1995. The flora of
1890-560: The north of Wilpena Gap) date from this map. The peaks on the western range were named as part of a detailed survey for the Hundred of Moralana in 1895. The surveyor William Greig Evans named them all after his family and associates: Dorothy's Peak, Beatrice Hill, Madge's Hill, Harold's Hill are after his children, Reggie's Nob his brother, Greig's Peak himself, and Dick's Nob, Walter's Hill and Fred's Nob are after members of his surveying party. Bimbornina Hill has recently gained some usage as
1944-401: The number of red kangaroos , western grey kangaroos and wallaroos in the Flinders Ranges has increased. The yellow-footed rock-wallaby , which neared extinction after the arrival of Europeans due to hunting and predation by foxes , has now stabilised. Other endemic marsupials include dunnarts and planigales . Insectivorous bats make up a significant proportion of the mammals. There are
1998-507: The plain below in a series of steep gullies. The Adnyamathanha people's language and culture (Yura Muda) passed down their tale of how the Wilpena peaks were formed by two dreaming serpents (Akurras) which ate a large number of people gathered for a celebration which caused the serpents to be unable to move from their eating grounds. The head of the male and female serpents formed St. Mary Peak and Beatrice Hill respectively. The Adnyamathanha people inhabited an area including Wilpena Pound at
2052-455: The ranges, discovering the Pound and its prospects for pastoralism, there was debate as to who was first. The likely discoverer, in 1850, was bushman William Chace, whose employers, the pastoralist brothers William Browne and John Browne , both medical doctors , had applied in 1850 for a pastoral lease there. The rival claimant was pastoralist C.N. Bagot, who described the country in June 1851 in
2106-666: The ranges, providing scenic long distance routes for walkers, cyclists and horse-riders. Several small areas in the ranges have the protected area status. These include the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park near Wilpena Pound/Ikara, the Mount Remarkable National Park in the south near Melrose , the Arkaroola Protection Area in the north, The Dutchmans Stern Conservation Park west of Quorn , and
2160-415: The route to Alice Springs . Hawker townsite was surveyed at a bend in the railway line where the train line left the main road to Blinman , and named in 1880 after South Australian politician and pastoralist George Charles Hawker . Quorn was surveyed by Godfrey Walsh and proclaimed a town on 16 May 1878. The township covered an area of 1.72 km (0.66 sq mi) and was laid out in squares in
2214-410: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Wilpena . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wilpena&oldid=876276882 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
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2268-502: The sites. In 2004 a new geological period, the Ediacaran Period, was created to mark the appearance of Ediacaran biota . The region has a semi-arid climate with hot dry summers and cool winters. Summer temperatures usually exceed 38 °C (100 °F), while winters have highs around 13–16 °C (55–61 °F), depending on the elevation. Although rainfall is erratic, most of the precipitation falls in winter. There are also some monsoonal showers and storms that move in from
2322-462: The south. A gorge called Wilpena Gap has been cut in the eastern range and most of the inside of the Pound drains into Wilpena Creek which exits through the Gap. A small part of the high northern slopes of the Pound drains into Edeowie Creek, which drains in time of flood over steep cliffs and waterfalls in Edeowie Gorge to the north. The highest peak in the Pound, which is also the highest of
2376-634: The surveyor B.H. Babbage naming it St Mary's Peak in 1856 but a more likely account is that the pastoralist George Marchant suggested the name while in the area in 1851. Point Bonney was named after the Crown Commissioner of Lands Charles Bonney . Rawnsley's Bluff is named after the surveyor H.C. Rawnsley. The peak directly to the south of Wilpena Gap was known informally through much of the later 20th century as Mount John, reportedly because bus drivers became so tired of tourists asking its name they dubbed it as such. However, it had been marked on
2430-408: The thick scrub of the interior. For several years, the Hill family had moderate success growing crops inside the Pound but, in 1914, there was a major flood and the road through the gorge was destroyed. They could not bear to start all over and sold their homestead to the government. The Pound then became a forest reserve leased for grazing. In 1945 the tourist potential of the area was recognised when
2484-453: The time of British colonisation. Edward Eyre was almost certainly the first European to sight the distant peaks of the Pound, while on his first 1839 expedition to the vicinity of Lake Torrens but he did not visit these ranges. Matthew Flinder's botanist Robert Brown had climbed one of the highest peaks of the southern Flinders in March 1802 but Wilpena would have been just over the horizon. Immediately after Europeans first explored
2538-441: The upper rim, being a hotspot for rock climbers. Arkaroo rock has aboriginal paintings depicting events in Flinders Ranges, such as the formation of Wilpena Pound. Harold Cazneaux took his famous picture of a lonely tree surviving in the harsh semi-arid climate of Wilpena Pound. The Pound is popular for bushwalking . Short relatively easy walks of a few hours can be made not far off the main road. More difficult walks, taking
2592-471: The west of the ranges to Marree , to service the agricultural and pastoral industries. However, rainfall returned to a normal pattern for the region, causing many agricultural farms to collapse. Remnants of abandoned homes can still be seen dotted around the arid landscape. Wilpena station, due to its unusual geography, along with areas around Quorn and Carrieton, are now the only places north of Goyder's Line to sustain any crops. Wilpena has now been left to
2646-474: The wild and is only a tourist location. As of 2009, kukri, unpopular with most Australian farmers as it yields 10–15% less grain than other varieties of wheat, is being grown for export to India. Mining exploration continued in the region, but coal mining at Leigh Creek and barytes at Oraparinna were the only long-term successes. Pastoral industries flourished, and the rail line became of major importance in opening up and servicing sheep and cattle stations along
2700-526: The winter of 1839 Edward John Eyre , with five men, two drays and ten horses, further explored the region, setting out from Adelaide on 1 May. The party set up a depot near Mount Arden, and then explored the surrounding region and upper Spencer Gulf, before heading east to the Murray River and returning to Adelaide . There are records of squatters in the Quorn district as early as 1845; however,
2754-490: The world. The involvement of the Adnyamathanha people, particularly their caring for country and sharing knowledge of their cultural heritage, is an important part of the future management of a World Heritage site. In November 2022, the state government announced an allocation of A$ 500,000 over four years towards enabling the Adnyamathanha people to identify priorities for cultural heritage protection. One example
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#17327807828532808-513: Was built next to a waterhole used by local Adnyamathanha people for its permanent supply of fresh water, but the Aboriginal people were not welcome on the station during Hayward's time there. He was implicated in a massacre of Aboriginal people near Brachina Gorge . At least 15 men, women, and children were killed in a dawn attack on 17 March 1852, in retaliation for the murder of stockman Robert Richardson on 14 March. Hayward said that he
2862-402: Was folded and faulted into a large mountain range. The area has undergone subsequent erosion resulting in the relatively low ranges today. Most of the high ground and ridgetops are sequences of quartzites that outcrop along strike . The high walls of Wilpena Pound are formed by the outcropping beds of the eponymous Pound Quartzite in a synclinal structure. Synclines form other high parts of
2916-491: Was obliged to defend his men, due to the absence of police, and that he was attempting to "capture the murderers", firing at them in "self-defence". Sergeant Major Rose, who was in the district at the time with the Protector of Aborigines , Matthew Moorhouse , arrested two Aboriginal men called Bill and Jemmy, but they were released after being held for some time owing to lack of evidence and problems finding an interpreter. In
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