Sandleton. Picturesque stone farm house ruin probably built when these areas were opened for farming in the mid 1870s. On the edge of Goyders Line.
Sandleton.
This area of the Murray Flats beyond Truro and the Mt Lofty Ranges was taken up by pastoral leases in the 1850s with John Murray taking out his lease for Sandalwood station. He named his sheep run after a common native tree which grows in association with Mallee trees. The Hundred of Anna was declared in 1860 but out here on the fringe of Goyder’s Line the land was not surveyed until 1875 when Murray had his lease resumed by the government. The name of this district was changed at this time for some unknown reason to Sandleton. The average rainfall here is about 260 mm of year on the very margin of agricultural land. A few kms north at Steinfeld (Stonefield after 1917) the rainfall was higher although that location is also on the edge of Goyder’s Line. In Steinfeld they have on average 280 mms of rain. Sandleton has tall and dense Mallee indicating good soils which must be why the government considered this area suitable for cropping. The district also had a government well or whim from the early days when flocks of sheep were transported across the Murray Flats up to the Mt Lofty Ranges. Farmers of German background from the Barossa first moved into the Sandleton district around 1880. St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran church was built here in 1881 with an attached cemetery but the congregation was formed at Bethany in 1880. The Lutheran church was used as a school room from 1882 to 1896. Services ceased in this church in 1955 and it is now just a pile of rubble in a paddock but the church was still standing, albeit in a dilapidated state in 2010. St Paul’s Lutheran cemetery was the final resting place for many members of the Sperling and Semmler families amongst others. The Sperling headstone were written in English even in the 1880s but other headstones were written in German in this cemetery until after World War One. But another Lutheran church and congregation also formed in Sandleton and we can see their structures on the main road today.
The first Pilgrim Lutheran Church was built in 1895 and used as a Lutheran school room and manse. It is the southernmost building at the Pilgrim Sandleton site today. Pilgrim Lutheran Church was built in 1914 and was used as a church until 1960. Adjacent to it a school room was built and it operated as a government school from 1909 until its closure in 1941. The Pilgrim congregation could not afford to maintain its small Lutheran school and that closed before the 1909 state school opened. Sandleton in its heyday also had a Post Office run by Daniel Lemke the famous Lutheran school teacher and organ builder of the Barossa Valley. This was probably his retirement job. The Post Office closed in 1975 although Lemke had died much earlier in 1897. The l cemetery behind Pilgrim Lutheran Church with very difficult public access mainly has the graves of the Saegenschnitter, Jurecky, Schwertfeger and Kuhn families. Sandleton Pilgrim Lutheran Church was a vandalised ruin in the mid-1970s with all doors and windows gone etc but it has been restored and is a family home. The district is known for its wombats and John Womersley had his Kookaburra Animal Sanctuary here for several decades. Wombat Rise animal sanctuary was also located at Sandleton in Pilgrim Church but it is now gone. Rainfall was a main determinant of success or failure at Sandleton. In 1910 for example the district had a small population of 21 people but 10 kms north at Steinfeld with slightly higher rainfall that district had a population of 42 people. But although Sandleton is on the fringe of the Goyder’s Line local farmers still sow crops in good season such as in 2016.
Sandleton. Picturesque stone farm house ruin probably built when these areas were opened for farming in the mid 1870s. On the edge of Goyders Line.
Sandleton.
This area of the Murray Flats beyond Truro and the Mt Lofty Ranges was taken up by pastoral leases in the 1850s with John Murray taking out his lease for Sandalwood station. He named his sheep run after a common native tree which grows in association with Mallee trees. The Hundred of Anna was declared in 1860 but out here on the fringe of Goyder’s Line the land was not surveyed until 1875 when Murray had his lease resumed by the government. The name of this district was changed at this time for some unknown reason to Sandleton. The average rainfall here is about 260 mm of year on the very margin of agricultural land. A few kms north at Steinfeld (Stonefield after 1917) the rainfall was higher although that location is also on the edge of Goyder’s Line. In Steinfeld they have on average 280 mms of rain. Sandleton has tall and dense Mallee indicating good soils which must be why the government considered this area suitable for cropping. The district also had a government well or whim from the early days when flocks of sheep were transported across the Murray Flats up to the Mt Lofty Ranges. Farmers of German background from the Barossa first moved into the Sandleton district around 1880. St Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran church was built here in 1881 with an attached cemetery but the congregation was formed at Bethany in 1880. The Lutheran church was used as a school room from 1882 to 1896. Services ceased in this church in 1955 and it is now just a pile of rubble in a paddock but the church was still standing, albeit in a dilapidated state in 2010. St Paul’s Lutheran cemetery was the final resting place for many members of the Sperling and Semmler families amongst others. The Sperling headstone were written in English even in the 1880s but other headstones were written in German in this cemetery until after World War One. But another Lutheran church and congregation also formed in Sandleton and we can see their structures on the main road today.
The first Pilgrim Lutheran Church was built in 1895 and used as a Lutheran school room and manse. It is the southernmost building at the Pilgrim Sandleton site today. Pilgrim Lutheran Church was built in 1914 and was used as a church until 1960. Adjacent to it a school room was built and it operated as a government school from 1909 until its closure in 1941. The Pilgrim congregation could not afford to maintain its small Lutheran school and that closed before the 1909 state school opened. Sandleton in its heyday also had a Post Office run by Daniel Lemke the famous Lutheran school teacher and organ builder of the Barossa Valley. This was probably his retirement job. The Post Office closed in 1975 although Lemke had died much earlier in 1897. The l cemetery behind Pilgrim Lutheran Church with very difficult public access mainly has the graves of the Saegenschnitter, Jurecky, Schwertfeger and Kuhn families. Sandleton Pilgrim Lutheran Church was a vandalised ruin in the mid-1970s with all doors and windows gone etc but it has been restored and is a family home. The district is known for its wombats and John Womersley had his Kookaburra Animal Sanctuary here for several decades. Wombat Rise animal sanctuary was also located at Sandleton in Pilgrim Church but it is now gone. Rainfall was a main determinant of success or failure at Sandleton. In 1910 for example the district had a small population of 21 people but 10 kms north at Steinfeld with slightly higher rainfall that district had a population of 42 people. But although Sandleton is on the fringe of the Goyder’s Line local farmers still sow crops in good season such as in 2016.