Mount Burr, South Australia

Town in South Australia

Mount Burr
South Australia

Mount Burr

Coordinates| 37°32′29″S 140°27′26″E﻿ / ﻿37.541383°S 140.457329°E﻿ / -37.541383; 140.457329[1]
Population| 324 (UCL 2021)[2]
Established| 1844
Postcode(s)| 5279
Elevation| 67 m (220 ft)[3]
Time zone| ACST (UTC+9:30)
• Summer (DST)| ACST (UTC+10:30)
Location| 55 km (34 mi) NE of Mount Gambier
LGA(s)| Wattle Range Council
State electorate(s)| MacKillop
Federal division(s)| Barker
| Localities around Mount Burr:

Furner | Wattle Range | Wattle Range
Mount McIntyre
Furner
Sebastopol
Rocky Camp | Mount Burr | Mount McIntyre
Rocky Camp
Tantanoola | Tantanoola | Mount McIntyre
Tantanoola
Footnotes| Adjoining localities[1]

Mount Burr is a small town in the south-east of South Australia, about 10 km (6.2 mi) east of Millicent and about 55 km (34 mi) north-west of Mount Gambier, in the Limestone Coast region. It derives its name from a nearby mountain, Mount Burr.

## History

[edit]

The nearby mountain was named Mount Burr by Governor George Grey after George Dominicus Burr, a surveyor and Professor of Mathematics at Sandhurst Military College. His son, Thomas Burr, a surveyor, accompanied Governor Grey on the expedition to Mount Gambier in 1844:[4]

> 7 May 1844: At about 2pm we made the top of a range, the principal summit of which his Excellency has done me the honour to call after my father. The Mount Burr range is about 1600 feet above the level of the sea...

> — Mr Thos. Burr, Dep Surv.-Gen.

Also in the surveying party was artist George French Angas.[5]

In 1873, an Act of Parliament was passed which encouraged the planting of forests, and the South Australian Department of Woods and Forests was quite likely the first government forestry department created in the British Commonwealth. The first trees planted included not only the native eucalypts, but also hardwoods from Europe and conifers from Europe and North America. The radiata pine, native to California, proved especially successful, and huge numbers were planted.[5]

The town of Mount Burr was established in 1931, home to a large timber mill which was the first of its kind in the area. The town and all of its facilities were built by the Government of South Australia in the middle of a forest, mostly using locally sawn timber.[3]

A cricket and football club were established in 1932 and 1940 respectively.[5]

In October 1965, when the first regional South Australian commercial television station, SES-8, located at Mount Gambier, was readying for transmission in the South-east, a tensioning cable on a 500 ft (150 m) transmitter mast broke, and the steel tower crashed to the ground. Fortunately nobody was seriously injured and the launch went ahead in March 1966. SES-8 was sold to WIN Television in 1999, and regional broadcasting from Mt Gambier ceased in 2013.[6]

In late 2000 the timber mill closed.[3]

## Geography

[edit]

The town is named after a local mountain called Mount Burr, which it measures 240 metres (790 feet) tall and is an dormant volcano. Mount Burr lies within the Limestone Coast region.[3]

The mountain of Mount Burr is home to the SES-8 television transmitter, which is responsible for transmitting WIN Television, Seven SA, Ten SA, SBS and ABC television to households across the south-east of SA and western Victoria.[citation needed]

## Facilities, industries and attractions

[edit]

The main industries in the town are forestry, transport and agriculture.[3] Paper manufacturer Kimberly-Clark is a major source of employment.[7]

Mt Burr Primary School caters for children from pre-school age through to Year 7.[7]

Mt Burr Forest is a forest reserve, named after Thomas Burr, deputy surveyor of the town. Within the forest live endangered species such as the southern brown bandicoot, as well as the red-necked wallaby, emus and more than 60 other species of birds.[8]

## Historic buildings

[edit]

The historic Mount Graham Homestead is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register,[9] as is the Noolook Bark Mill, which is within Mt Burr Forest.[8][10]

## Mount Burr Swamp

[edit]

Mount Burr Swamp is a large, former deep freshwater marsh, managed by Nature Glenelg Trust with the aim of restoring the 300 ha (740-acre) wetlands which lie adjacent to The Marshes Wetland Complex. Mount Burr Swamp is an area of great biodiversity, providing habitat for little galaxias (fish), growling grass frog, Australasian bitterns, southern brown bandicoots, red-tailed black cockatoos, brolgas and southern bent-wing bats.[11]

In mid-2021, students from the University of South Australia's 18-month Aboriginal Pathways Program accompanied local Aboriginal elders on a land management course at the swamp. Traditional methods of conservation are taught, and the students are experience connection to country and caring for country.[12]

## See also

[edit]

* Burr (disambiguation)

## Notes and references

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Search results for "Nangwarry. LOCB' with the following datasets selected – 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Counties", "Government Towns", "Local Government Areas", "SA Government Regions", "Railways", 'Hundreds', 'Roads' and 'Gazetteer'". Location SA Map Viewer. South Australian Government. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
2. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Mount Burr (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.
3. ^ a b c d e "Mount Burr". Wattle Range Council. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
4. ^ Burr, Thomas; Stanley, Lord (1845). "Account of Governor G. Grey's Exploratory Journey along the South-Eastern Sea-board of South Australia". The Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London. 15 (1845). John Murray, Albemarle Street, London: 160–184. doi:10.2307/1797905. JSTOR 1797905. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
5. ^ a b c "The origins of the Mount Burr Football Club – Mt Burr". GameDay. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
6. ^ Hill, Kate (1 April 2016). "Tonight's the night: Television channel SES-8 beams out to the south east". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
7. ^ a b "Department for Education". Mount Burr Primary School. 30 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
8. ^ a b "Mount Burr Forest Reserve". Mount Gambier Point. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
9. ^ "Mount Graham Homestead". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
10. ^ "Noolook Bark Mill". SA Heritage Places Database Search. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
11. ^ "Mount Burr Swamp (SA)". Nature Glenelg Trust. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
12. ^ Green, Selina (11 July 2021). "Aboriginal students help restore 300-hectare swamp site to former glory". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

* v
* t
* e

Towns and localities of the Wattle Range Council

* Beachport
* Bool Lagoon
* Bray (part)
* Burrungule
* Canunda
* Clay Wells (part)
* Comaum
* Coonawarra
* Furner
* German Flat
* Glencoe
* Glenroy
* Hatherleigh
* Kalangadoo
* Kangaroo Inn (part)
* Koorine
* Krongart
* Maaoupe
* Magarey
* Millicent
* Moerlong
* Mount Burr
* Mount McIntyre
* Monbulla
* Nora Creina (part)
* Nangwarry
* Penola
* Rendelsham
* Rocky Camp
* Sebastopol
* Short
* Southend
* Tantanoola (part)
* Thornlea
* Wattle Range
* Wattle Range East
* Wepar

Former localities|

* Trihi

* v
* t
* e

Limestone Coast, South Australia

Cities|

* Mount Gambier

Towns and localities|

* Allendale East
* Beachport
* Bordertown
* Cape Jaffa
* Carpenter Rocks
* Coonawarra
* Donovans
* Furner
* Glencoe
* Greenways
* Kalangadoo
* Kingston SE
* Keith
* Kongorong
* Lucindale
* Millicent
* Moorak
* Mount Benson
* Mount Burr
* Mundulla
* Nangwarry
* Naracoorte
* OB Flat
* Padthaway
* Penola
* Port MacDonnell
* Rendelsham
* Robe
* Southend
* Tantanoola
* Tarpeena
* Wandilo
* Wolseley
* Wrattonbully
* Yahl

Governance|

| Federal division|

* Division of Barker

|

State electoral districts|

* Electoral district of MacKillop
* Electoral district of Mount Gambier

Local Government|

* City of Mount Gambier
* District Council of Grant
* District Council of Robe
* Kingston District Council
* Naracoorte Lucindale Council
* Tatiara District Council
* Wattle Range Council

Hills, mountains and volcanoes|

* Mount Benson
* Mount Gambier
* Mount Schank

Caves, sinkholes and freshwater lakes|

* Blanche Cave
* Blue Lake
* Cave Gardens
* Engelbrecht
* Ewens Ponds
* Fossil Cave
* Lake Bonney SE
* Little Blue Lake
* Piccaninnie Ponds
* Valley Lake

Islands|

* Baudin Rocks
* Penguin

Coastal features|

* Cape Banks
* Cape Jaffa
* Cape Northumberland
* Discovery Bay (part only)
* Guichen Bay
* Lacepede Bay
* Margaret Brock Reef
* Rivoli Bay

Protected areas|

| National parks|

* Canunda
* Coorong (southern end only)
* Naracoorte Caves

|

Conservation parks|

* Aberdour
* Baudin Rocks
* Bangham
* Beachport
* Belt Hill
* Big Heath
* Butchers Gap
* Calectasia
* Carpenter Rocks
* Christmas Rocks
* Custon
* Desert Camp
* Dingley Dell
* Douglas Point
* Ewens Ponds
* Fairview
* Furner
* Geegeela
* Glen Roy
* Gower
* Grass Tree
* Guichen Bay
* Gum Lagoon
* Hacks Lagoon
* Hanson Scrub
* Jip Jip
* Kungari
* Lake Frome
* Lake Hawdon South
* Lake St Clair
* Little Dip
* Lower Glenelg River
* Mary Seymour
* Mount Monster
* Mount Scott
* Mullinger Swamp
* Nene Valley
* Ngarkat
* Padthaway
* Paranki Lagoon
* Penambol
* Penguin Island
* Penola
* Piccaninnie Ponds
* Pine Hill Soak
* Reedy Creek
* Talapar
* Tantanoola Caves
* Telford Scrub
* Tilley Swamp
* Vivigani Ardune
* Woakwine
* Wolseley Common

Game reserves|

* Bool Lagoon
* Bucks Lake
* Lake Robe
* Poocher Swamp

Conservation reserves|

* Desert Camp
* Bernouilli
* Hardings Springs

Marine parks|

* Upper South East
* Lower South East

Related and uncategorised|

* Limestone Coast zone
* Coonawarra
* Mount Benson
* Mount Gambier
* Robe
* Padthaway
* Wrattonbully

*[UCL]: urban centre and locality
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template