Turretfield and its Gawler connections
| Place type: | Locality |
|---|---|
| Town or Locality: | Gawler |
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The Turretfield Research Centre, established in 1908, has a rich history rooted in South Australian agriculture. Originally the "Turretfield" Estate, purchased by Richard Holland in 1853, it became a state farm and research center after being acquired by the Department of Agriculture. The center is located in Rosedale, near the North Para River, about 35 miles northeast of Adelaide.
Early History and Ownership:
- The area now known as Turretfield was initially used for grazing sheep by explorer John Ainsworth Horrocks in the 1830s.
- In 1853, Richard Holland purchased the "Turretfield" Estate and built Holland House, a Tudor-Gothic style residence, in 1854.
- Holland and his stepsons were involved in pastoral enterprises and later sold the property to the Evans family.
- The South Australian government purchased the property in 1900, establishing it as a state farm.
Research and Development:
- Initially, the Department of Agriculture focused on collecting and disseminating information related to agriculture.
- The establishment of experimental farms, including Turretfield, was part of this effort.
- In 1985, Turretfield assumed state-wide responsibility for sheep and wool research and maintained a role in cereal-livestock zone cropping and pasture agronomy research.
- Additional land at Kingsford was purchased in 1989, expanding research capabilities.
- The center has been involved in various research programs, including sheep and wool research, cereal-livestock zone cropping, and pasture agronomy.
- A high-quality SA-strain Merino flock was established for research purposes.
- Turretfield also evaluates new varieties of crops and produces and markets pure basic seed supplies.
- The center has gained international recognition for its research in livestock reproduction, particularly in sheep, and has developed solutions for improving reproductive performance, welfare, and genetic gain in livestock.
- The center also conducts research on plant health and biosecurity, including the development of disease-resistant plant varieties.
Recent Developments:
- In 1995, laboratory and office facilities were leased to a private pharmaceutical company, BRG Australia, as part of a broader restructuring of the Department of Agriculture's resources.
- The purchase of the Kingsford property allows for the expansion of research programs.
- Turretfield continues to play a vital role in agricultural research and development in South Australia and beyond.
Richard Holland, the son of a convict sent to New South Wales, left a major legacy to South Australian agriculture but with one last wish unfulfilled at his mansion near Rosedale (charged from its German name Rosenthal) north of Adelaide.
Holland commissioned Adelaide architect James MacGeorge (the French mansard-roofed residence on Kingston Terrace, North Adelaide, in 1862, and original Maugham Methodist Church in 1866, among his other notable works) to design him a Tudor gothic sandstone mansion with stables on a rise overlooking the North Para River and Barossa Valley. Holland wanted to outdo Kingsford House, the gothic sandstone mansion that Stephen King had built further along the North Para in 1856.
Sandstone used for the Holland house turrets tops was brought from England as ballast but the rest was Barossa Valley sandstone. The house, from 1862, had 14 main rooms with an extensive cellar or basement cut into the hillside.
The lookout tower had a mausoleum built under its stairs. When Holland died on November 25, 1881, aged 66, his last request was to be buried – apparently upright – in the mausoleum with Church of England rites. A service was conducted by Lyndoch rector Alfred Sells in the main hall of Holland House and the body placed in the vault. But the two coffins – one cedar, one lead – weren’t airtight and Holland was reburied a few weeks later in St George’s Anglican cemetery, Gawler, beside his wife Margaret.
Holland, around 1849, had married Margaret (nee Harper), widow of captain Robert Robertson and took her three sons John, William and Robbie under his wing.
Holland House was built on Turretfield estate, land gained by Henry Dundas Murray as a participant in the Gawler special survey of 1839. Holland took over of Turretfield land, comprising 936 acres, from 1853. Another 35 acres on the North Para River that belonged to Johann Andreas Kablitz were transferred to Holland that year.
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