Sedan. Old pug and pine cottage which is now 140 years old and still standing.
Sedan.
Ample evidence still exists in Sedan and the district of the early building techniques used. The stone buildings show the work of the masons, while the country buildings show the use of mallee root walls, dry stone fences, thatched barns and even the occasional pine and pug hut. The native pine used was Callistris species which are resistant to termites. We will see one such cottage near Sedan. The last remaining mallee root fence in the district has now gone. The dry stone walls are a feature of the eastern side of the Mt Lofty Ranges as the area was scattered with granite boulders and other rocks. Most of these walls were constructed before the 1870s to divide the great pastoral runs. Generally the walls are one metre high, and almost one metre wide at the base tapering to 40 cms at the top. Some walls were built as recently as the Great Depression of the 1930s, especially along road edges of the Sedan Hill road. The mallee root fences were erected as a cheaper version of fencing wire. Sadly all the mallee root fences are now gone.
Sedan lies in the Hundred of Bagot on the Murray Plains and was so-named by a farmer of Tanunda, Johann Pfeiffer when he purchased 306 acres of land in the vicinity in 1870. It is presumed he named his property sedan to commemorate the German victory over France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. At that time he was not able to foresee that other localities in the district would also end up being named after battles. There had been earlier lessees of the land in the area but the leases were forfeited back to the government in August 1860 when the Hundred of Bagot was proclaimed. The land was subsequently surveyed for closer settlement. The rivers of the district were named by the famed SA geologist Menge who called them the North and South Rhine Rivers after the rivers of his homeland in Germany.
The first white men to traverse the district were overlanders with flocks of sheep or cattle from NSW. One of their routes was to cross the Murray near Blanchtown and drive their flocks up the Marne River valley and into the Adelaide Hills. The first lessee of the district was George Melrose who took out a leasehold in 1845. He established his homestead at Rosebank, east of Mt Pleasant. The run was inherited by his third son George Melrose (1860-1938) who was born at Rosebank in 1860. He managed other family properties near Cowell and Hallett. He was an important pastoralist as he introduced to Australia the first Dorset sheep, the first French Percheron horses (the police greys) and Wensleydale sheep. He purchased Booborowie station where he lived from 1897. Sir John Stanley Murray (1884-1971) was born on 27 March 1884 at Rosebank and acquired the property from one of his uncles Sir George Murray, a benefactor of the University of Adelaide. He lived on the property and his managers were responsible for its development as a leading Aberdeen Angus stud. Through marriage the property went from the Murrays to the McLachlans. The three families have prominent headstones in the Mt Pleasant cemetery.
Land sales started in July 1869 and gentlemen speculators as well as genuine farmers bought the land. The latter group mainly came from the North Rhine district around Keyneton and Eden Valley, but also from other areas of the Barossa Valley. Most were of German descent wanting new agricultural lands for their second and third sons. The town itself was surveyed in 1875 and again in 1883 by C. von Bertouch and very soon the town had a flour miller, a baker, blacksmiths and wheelwrights, a builder –stone mason, hotel keeper, butcher, store keeper, saddler and banker. Today Sedan has few of those services. The map for the self guided walk around Sedan uses the 1883 town survey map. A local Truro contractor Mr. Teasdale-Smith constructed the Cambrai-Sedan railway in 1919. The arrival of the first train was cause for great celebration. The line closed in 1964. One of the more unusual local industries was the production of lime. Between 1890 and 1930 lime kilns out of the town burnt crushed limestone and heated it until it flaked into lime powder. Wool Bay on York Peninsula also had lime kilns like those at Sedan. Electricity reached Sedan in 1956; and reticulated water came in 1968.
As noted above many of the early settlers were of German descent and during World War I all German names were changed by law. Rhine Villa became Cambrai, and the North and South Rhine rivers became the Somme and the Marne. All of these names were from WWI battles. During The Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, the British suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead. It was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army yet despite terrible casualties it was a strategic success in the short term for the Allies against the Germans, as it halted the German advance. The Battle of the Marne, 1914, was a clearer victory for the Allies against the Germans. The Battle of Cambrai in 1917 allowed the British to open up the German lines but not for long. The battle was a stalemate like so many World War One battles. A second Battle of Cambrai in 1918 was a victory for the allies.
Sedan. Old pug and pine cottage which is now 140 years old and still standing.
Sedan.
Ample evidence still exists in Sedan and the district of the early building techniques used. The stone buildings show the work of the masons, while the country buildings show the use of mallee root walls, dry stone fences, thatched barns and even the occasional pine and pug hut. The native pine used was Callistris species which are resistant to termites. We will see one such cottage near Sedan. The last remaining mallee root fence in the district has now gone. The dry stone walls are a feature of the eastern side of the Mt Lofty Ranges as the area was scattered with granite boulders and other rocks. Most of these walls were constructed before the 1870s to divide the great pastoral runs. Generally the walls are one metre high, and almost one metre wide at the base tapering to 40 cms at the top. Some walls were built as recently as the Great Depression of the 1930s, especially along road edges of the Sedan Hill road. The mallee root fences were erected as a cheaper version of fencing wire. Sadly all the mallee root fences are now gone.
Sedan lies in the Hundred of Bagot on the Murray Plains and was so-named by a farmer of Tanunda, Johann Pfeiffer when he purchased 306 acres of land in the vicinity in 1870. It is presumed he named his property sedan to commemorate the German victory over France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870. At that time he was not able to foresee that other localities in the district would also end up being named after battles. There had been earlier lessees of the land in the area but the leases were forfeited back to the government in August 1860 when the Hundred of Bagot was proclaimed. The land was subsequently surveyed for closer settlement. The rivers of the district were named by the famed SA geologist Menge who called them the North and South Rhine Rivers after the rivers of his homeland in Germany.
The first white men to traverse the district were overlanders with flocks of sheep or cattle from NSW. One of their routes was to cross the Murray near Blanchtown and drive their flocks up the Marne River valley and into the Adelaide Hills. The first lessee of the district was George Melrose who took out a leasehold in 1845. He established his homestead at Rosebank, east of Mt Pleasant. The run was inherited by his third son George Melrose (1860-1938) who was born at Rosebank in 1860. He managed other family properties near Cowell and Hallett. He was an important pastoralist as he introduced to Australia the first Dorset sheep, the first French Percheron horses (the police greys) and Wensleydale sheep. He purchased Booborowie station where he lived from 1897. Sir John Stanley Murray (1884-1971) was born on 27 March 1884 at Rosebank and acquired the property from one of his uncles Sir George Murray, a benefactor of the University of Adelaide. He lived on the property and his managers were responsible for its development as a leading Aberdeen Angus stud. Through marriage the property went from the Murrays to the McLachlans. The three families have prominent headstones in the Mt Pleasant cemetery.
Land sales started in July 1869 and gentlemen speculators as well as genuine farmers bought the land. The latter group mainly came from the North Rhine district around Keyneton and Eden Valley, but also from other areas of the Barossa Valley. Most were of German descent wanting new agricultural lands for their second and third sons. The town itself was surveyed in 1875 and again in 1883 by C. von Bertouch and very soon the town had a flour miller, a baker, blacksmiths and wheelwrights, a builder –stone mason, hotel keeper, butcher, store keeper, saddler and banker. Today Sedan has few of those services. The map for the self guided walk around Sedan uses the 1883 town survey map. A local Truro contractor Mr. Teasdale-Smith constructed the Cambrai-Sedan railway in 1919. The arrival of the first train was cause for great celebration. The line closed in 1964. One of the more unusual local industries was the production of lime. Between 1890 and 1930 lime kilns out of the town burnt crushed limestone and heated it until it flaked into lime powder. Wool Bay on York Peninsula also had lime kilns like those at Sedan. Electricity reached Sedan in 1956; and reticulated water came in 1968.
As noted above many of the early settlers were of German descent and during World War I all German names were changed by law. Rhine Villa became Cambrai, and the North and South Rhine rivers became the Somme and the Marne. All of these names were from WWI battles. During The Battle of the Somme, 1 July 1916, the British suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead. It was the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army yet despite terrible casualties it was a strategic success in the short term for the Allies against the Germans, as it halted the German advance. The Battle of the Marne, 1914, was a clearer victory for the Allies against the Germans. The Battle of Cambrai in 1917 allowed the British to open up the German lines but not for long. The battle was a stalemate like so many World War One battles. A second Battle of Cambrai in 1918 was a victory for the allies.