Anstey Hill Recreation Park

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Anstey Hill Recreation Park
IUCN Category III (Natural Monument)
Quarry in the northwest of Anstey Hill Recreation Park
Nearest town/city:	Adelaide
Coordinates:	34°49′50.38″S, 138°44′15.45″E
Area:	3.62 km²
Managing authorities:	Department for Environment and Heritage
Official site:	Anstey Hill Recreation Park

Anstey Hill Recreation Park is a 362-hectare (895-acre) public park approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) northeast of Adelaide, South Australia. It is managed by the City of Tea Tree Gully, the Department for Environment and Heritage and a volunteer group—The Friends of Anstey Hill. The park is designed for recreational walking and there are no visitor facilities. It is part of "Yurrebilla", the Greater Mount Lofty Parklands, and is seen as a significant reserve of bushland in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The park is home to significant native plants and animals, as well as problematic invasive foreign species.

Based on an 1962 report, land was gradually acquired by the government beginning in 1966. From 1981 onwards, there were plans published that aimed to develop the area for commercial purposes, but public pressure led to the park being declared in 1989. The last land added was a small area in 2003. Anstey Hill, standing 371-metre (1,220 ft) high, and surrounding park are named after a road built by agricultural pioneer George Alexander Anstey. The park is frequently burned by bushfires—mostly deliberately lit—and is seen as an "arson hotspot" by fire authorities. There is no permanent water except for springs in Water Gully, adjacent to ruins of a nursery, though there are many seasonal creeks. Much of the land is steep, rising 200 m (660 ft) across the park's breadth, with gradients often steeper than one in three. Erosion and land movements due to a significant geologic fault zone created this land form. The Gun Emplacement, a listed Geologic Monument and remnant of an ancient land surface, lies in the southwestern corner.

The Adelaide-Mannum pipeline crosses the park and the Anstey Hill water filtration plant lies on its southern boundary; together, they supply 20% of Adelaide's water usage. Significant historical uses of the area are preserved as ruins and highlighted with interpretive signs. Newman's Nursery ruins are the remains of what was the largest plant nursery in the Southern Hemisphere. Ellis Cottage is one of the earliest homes in the area and the Rumps Bakery building housed the first bakery in Tea Tree Gully. Various quarries supplied stone for significant Victorian buildings in Adelaide and aggregate for extensive road building. Klopper's quarries in the southwest hosted plays for the Festival of the Arts in 1980 and 1988.

Contents 1 Today's park 1.1 Geology 1.2 Flora and fauna 1.3 Naming 2 Foundation 3 Land use 3.1 Newman's Nursery 3.2 Mining and quarrying 3.3 Klopper's quarries 3.4 Ellis Cottage and Rumps Bakery 3.5 Water filtration plant 3.6 Roads 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Today's park

Anstey Hill Recreation Park is a reserved area of public land comprising short seasonal creeks, low hills and steep-sided gullies. Lower North East, North East, Perseverance and Range Roads largely form its boundaries, with a small section lying south of Lower North East Road. It lies at the edge of the Mount Lofty Ranges' foothills, forming part of the "hill's face" that is visible from Adelaide's metropolitan area. The park covers 362 hectares (895 acres)^[1] of the City of Tea Tree Gully, approximately 19 km (12 mi) northeast of Adelaide's central business district, with parts in the suburbs of Tea Tree Gully, Vista, Highbury and Houghton. There are no visitor facilities or amenities, except for walking trails. Most walking trails follow fire access tracks; a single constructed pedestrian trail leads to Klopper’s Quarry. The Adelaide–Mannum water supply pipeline crosses the park's south, and an associated filtration plant is sited on its southern boundary. Adjacent to the water filtration plant is Anstey Hill, reaching 371.1 m (1,218 ft) above mean sea level. The hill is not the highest in the park, being 50 m (160 ft) shorter than a nearby unnamed peak.^[2] The park’s southern boundary abuts the Anstey Hill Quarry, a producer of white clay,^[3] and two large disused quarries.^[4]

The park is part of Yurrebilla, the Greater Mount Lofty Parklands, and is managed as part of the Department for Environment and Heritage's long term biodiversity goals for the hill's face zone. The Department manages the park in association with local council and a volunteer group—The Friends of Anstey Hill. This group makes significant contributions to revegetation, weed control, ruin stabilisation and creation of walking trails.^[5] The park is mostly designated as a "conservation zone", with no bicycles, horses or motor vehicles allowed. This zone is designated for passive recreation only, including walking dogs on leads, and only the main tracks are maintained. There are significant issues with illegal mountain bike riding, particularly due to highly erodable quartzite-based soils.^[6] Some of the park, on its western side and around Anstey hill, is designated a "managed recreation zone". Though it is possible that recreational facilities will be constructed in this zone, there were none planned as of 2006.^[7]

Anstey Hill Park lies between isohyets denoting average annual rainfall from 580 millimetres (23 in) to 820 mm (32 in). It has hot dry summers, as does all of Adelaide, with December to February's maximum daily temperatures averaging 28 °C (82 °F) to 29 °C (84 °F). Temperatures drop significantly in the wetter winters; July's average maximum temperature is 14.6 °C (58.3 °F).^[8] Apart from springs in Water Gully, the site of Newman's Nursery ruins, all of the numerous creeks in the park are seasonal and dry for much of the year. The park rises from approximately 220 m (720 ft) above mean sea level on its western side to 420 m (1,380 ft) at the highest point in the park's southeast corner. Most of the park is sloping terrain with a gradient steeper than one in four; much of it is steeper than one in three. Except for the base of Water Gully, topsoil throughout the park is shallow and low in plant nutrients.^[9]

Serious bushfires occur frequently in the park. Much of the reserve was burned in 1980, eastern parts burned in 1981, and most of the park burned again in the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires; Newman's Nursery's remains were devastated during the 1983 bushfire.^[10] As recently as 2004, a major fire burned over 100 ha (247 acres) of bushland next to Anstey Hill.^[11] Most fires in the park are deliberately lit and the park is regarded as a "hotspot" for arson.^[12] Arson in the park is not a recent phenomenon; an early record comes from an 1869 coronial inquiry.^[13] The park has more than one arson attack, on average, each year. In the hill's face, encompassing Anstey Hill, approximately 60% of all fires (1999–2004) are deliberately lit and less than 5% are classed as naturally occurring.^[14] Most deliberately lit fires begin at the park's boundaries and are contained within it.^[15]

[edit] Geology

See also: Mount Lofty Ranges#Geomorphology

See also: Adelaide Geosyncline

Elevation rise across the park results from land uplift along the Burnside-Eden fault zone. This zone is a major land fault separating the Adelaide Plains from the Mount Lofty Ranges and runs north-north-east across the park from its southwest corner.^[3] The park is underlain by neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks of the Burra Group overlying a Precambrian crystalline basement.^[16] Sediments were formed approximately 700 million years ago (mya) from sand washed into a shallow sea. Sand layers were then folded and slightly metamorphosed during the delamerian orogeny, a period of mountain building caused by tectonic plate movements and resulting east-west compression of Australia. This pushed up a mountain range, on the site of the present Mount Lofty Ranges, approximately 450 mya. The range was eroded to a level plain over the following 350 million years. Approximately 40 mya, the location of today's ranges and plains were flat, with a hard sedimentary capping. About 2 mya, block faulting raised the Mount Lofty Ranges, and much of the former land surface west of the ranges eroded away. The Gun Emplacement is a small remnant of this pre-erosion surface. It is a raised semi-circular flat area and has views over much of Adelaide from the southwestern corner of the park. The Emplacement is seen as an important regolith deposit, particularly for its role in understanding Adelaide's landscape's evolution.^[3] The emplacement was declared a Geological Monument in 1978 for this geologic importance as well as its aesthetic and recreational value.^[17]

Across the park, various ages of exposed rocks are seen. Stoneyfell quartzite, composed mostly of quartzite with sandstone and some siltstone, is the youngest. Woolshed flat shale is older and is composed of siltstone, dolomite and some sandstone. The oldest regular exposure is Montacute dolomite, which is a blue-grey dolomite with magnasite, siltstone and sandstone.^[16] Quarries in the south of the park have been mined for Stoneyfell Quartzite.^[3] This type of quartzite is a clean, white, feldsparthic quartzite with interbedded thin siltstone layers up to 30 cm (12 in) thick occurring at gaps of 1-2 m (3-6 ft). Ripple marks in this rock clearly indicate its shallow water origin. Next to Newman's Nursery is a quarry with grey to blue silicaceous dolomite used for road material. It contains traces of pyrite and is overlain by phyllite. Tea Tree Gully freestone, as found in the largest quarry in the park, is a feldsparthic sandstone bedded with quartzite. Decay of the feldspar has enabled it to be cut and dressed as a quality building stone. The Tea Tree Gully iron (or silver) mine lies in an iron-rich fault zone. The ore body is ironstone, 150 m long, 50 m wide and 30 m thick (500 ft by 160 ft by 100 ft). It is primarily limonite, detrital quartz and silica. It is though to have been chemically deposited during the Tertiary period, 2 mya to 65 mya.^[18]

[edit] Flora and fauna

In the 1983 concept plan, 413 plant species were identified, including 124 that were not native to the park. The park was noted as one of the few remaining significant areas of bushland in the foothills.^[19] By 2006, the flora list contained 411 species, with 107 of these non-native. Five of the native species were then noted as rare or vulnerable, including Prasophyllum pallidum (Pale Leek-orchid).^[20] The park has significant stands of Pink Gums (Eucalyptus fasciculosa) and Long-leafed Box (Eucalyptus goniocalyx). Button Daisy, Pussy Tail (Ptilotus macrocephalus), Needlebush (Hakea sericea), Silky Guinea Flower (Hibbertia sericea) and Black Fapier Sedge (Lepidosperma calihoides) are common. Black-boys (Xanthorrhoea), Hop Bush (Dodonaea viscosa ssp. spatulata) and Tea-tree form the understory in parts of the park. The area around the ruins of Newman's Nursery is noted for its spring orchid display.^[21] Quarry floors have large plants typical of much of the Mount Lofty Ranges. Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) and Drooping Sheoak (Allocasuarina verticillata), as well as Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), Native Pine (Callitris preissii) and Blue Gum (Eucalyptus leucoxylon) are common.^[22]

Invasive weeds are prevalent in, and damaging to, the park. Species common in other formerly occupied parts of the foothills are also common in the park. Of significant concern, largely for their impact on native flora, are Bridal Creeper (Asparagus asparagoides), Boneseed Chrysanthemoides monilifera, Artichoke Thistle (Cynara cardunculus), varieties of broom, Spanish Heath (Erica lusitanica), Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) , Olives, blackberries, Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus) and Dog Rose (Rosa canina).^[23] In July 2001, Phytophthora cinnamomi, a significant cause of plant disease in the Adelaide Hills, was found in the park. Mechanical countermeasures, in the form of boot scrubbing stations, have been introduced to control its spread.^[20]

As of 1983, 145 species of birds were either known or expected to be found in the park. There have been 98 bird species sighted in the park's area by 2006, though not all specifically within the park's boundaries.^[23] Of the park's insects, seven species were found to be largely confined by its boundaries, with little presence is the rest of Adelaide. Their presence was unusual, as they were regarded as arid zone species.^[19] Approximately 35 reptile and amphibian species have been recorded within Anstey Hill park.^[21] Fauna in the park includes Western Grey Kangaroo, Common Ringtail Possum, Common Brushtail Possum, Short-beaked Echidna, Gould's Wattled Bat, Chocolate Wattled Bat, Little Forest Bat, White striped freetail bat (Tadarida australis) and the Lesser Long-eared Bat. Koalas are present, though they are not native to the area, having been deliberately introduced to the Adelaide hills.^[23]

Foreign animals are also found, in common with much of Adelaide. While Red Foxes, cats, European Rabbits, Black Rats, House Mice and European Hares are seen, there has been no systemic recording of alien fauna species. Exotic birds, including Rock Pigeons, European goldfinch, house sparrow, starlings and blackbirds are common. Introduced bees and European wasps are present, with the aggressive wasps an issue for the park's visitors.^[24]

[edit] Naming

George Alexander Anstey was a pastoral and horticultural pioneer in South Australia. He established Highercombe Estate on two land sections east of the park, purchased in 1840.^[2] He built a private road to his estate which ran along the base of a gully and then up a steep hillside. The road was first known as "Anstey Hill Road"; this name was later used for the hill itself and subsequent land reserve.^[21][25]

Major William Hubert Edmunds was a Lieutenant cartographer in the Boer War, later joining the Commonwealth of Australia forces. After leaving military service, he carried out "reconnaissance surveys" on the fringes of the Adelaide metropolitan area. As part of this effort, he took particular note of an unusual plateau at the edge of what is now Tea Tree Gully. When his work was published in 1926, he had named the plateau "The Gun Emplacement", presumably for its suitability for emplacement of a field gun battery. The naming was made official in 1997 after a period of unofficial use.^[26]

[edit] Foundation

In 1962, the South Australian Planning Authority's town planning committee released a report on the development of metropolitan Adelaide. The report, in part, recommended that a regional park be established north of Anstey Hill and southeast of Tea Tree Gully. The stated intention was preservation of the character of the face of the foothills, as visible from Adelaide’s suburbs. From 1966 to 1977, land was purchased under the auspices of the State Planning Authority, for what was then "reserve 13".^[27]

One notable purchase was of 73 hectares (180 acres) in 1969, of which 16 hectares (40 acres) was an active quarry operated by Quarry Industries.^[28] This quarry was known as the Tea Tree Gully freestone quarry and today lies in the park's northwest. It had a permit to operate until December 1970, which was later extended to December 1980. Additional land affected by the quarrying was purchased in 1971. By the end of the lease, rehabilitation work completed did not meet the standard required by the Planning Authority. Quarry Industries vacated the site in April 1982, other firms then contracted to continue rehabilitation work.^[28] Land beneath the Gun Emplacement was subdivided for housing in 1966. A developer unsuccessfully attempted to have the plateau subdivided in 1975. The site was purchased by the government in 1978 and added to the then Anstey Hill Reserve.^[26] During the 1970s, part of the park's area was earmarked to be subdivided and developed for housing. Significant opposition to this use, due to the land's historical and scientific significance, came from the South Australian division of the Geological Society of Australia, the National Trust and the state's Field Naturalists Society.^[3]

The Planning Authority established the Anstey Hill Joint Steering Committee in 1981, initially to prepare a concept plan for development of the reserve.^[28] The draft report was published in late 1981 with a proposal to spend up to $3.5 million establishing the park. Various proposed uses were explored including: a rock climbing area, motocross circuit, kiosk, cycle track, horse riding area, caravan and camping grounds and a restaurant.^[29] In 1983, the state Department of Environment and Planning published the final concept plan for the "Anstey Hill Regional Park". The plan indicated that a caravan park, or possibly a velodrome, might be an appropriate development.^[30] There was significant interest by developers in using parts of the park commercially. Increasing public opposition to this concept led to the declaration of the entire reserve as a public recreation park. The Friends of Anstey Hill Recreation Park volunteer group was formed in 1990.^[21] Most of the then 306.5 ha (757-acre) park was proclaimed on August 31, 1989 with a smaller 55.5-hectare (137-acre) addition in October 2001.^[31] It was officially opened by Environment and Planning Minister Susan Lenehan in a ceremony on September 17, 1989.^[32] In 2003, the Department for Environment and Heritage added one last section to the park. A wedge of land 15 m (49 ft) by 260 m (853 ft) remained from a purchase by George Dickerson in 1857. This land formed part of a cliff and had long been incorporated in park management. No known current owner was found and the Department compulsorily acquired the land and added it to the Recreation Park.^[33]

[edit] Land use

Although it lies within the traditional lands of the Aboriginal Kaurna people, no occupations sites have been found.^[21] Much of the park has been used for agriculture since European settlement. Significant European uses of the park's land have been Newman's Nursery, a main road, mines, quarries and a water filtration plant.

[edit] Newman's Nursery

Charles Frederick Newman was born Carl Friederich Neumann in Hamburg, Germany, 1834. His family emigrated to South Australia, arriving aboard the American Liner George Washington in January 1846.^[34] Neumann anglicised his name to Newman during the 1850s, although he appears to have never officially changed it, marrying Mary Ann Maria Bales in 1857 under his birth name. After living on a rural family property near Houghton, he bought 68 acres (28 ha) of unfenced land in 1854.^[35] This land encompassed what became known as "Water Gully", a gully with a creek and permanent springs. The first house, a simple slab hut built into a hill bank, was built on the property by 1855.^[36] The Newmans added more land from 1866, with the property reaching 469 acres (190 ha) and a land tax valuation of GBP£7850 (AUD$ 1.64 million in 2005)^[37] by 1885. From 1854 onwards, the initially heavily wooded land was continuously cleared, planted and developed. Part of the property, just south of Anstey Hill, was known as "John Payne’s Gully" and used for an orange orchard.^[38]

The Newmans developed a nursery on the site between 1857 and 1871, over time assisted by their eventual 17 children.^[35] There were hothouses in operation by 1870, and produce from the site was shown in exhibits from 1871.^[39] At maximum extent in the late 19th century, it covered 469 acres (190 ha) with its own dairy and large numbers of glasshouses and hothouses, representing the then largest nursery in the southern hemisphere. Newman renamed it in 1875 to 'Newman's Model Nursery', probably for promotional purposes. In 1889 plant stocks included over 100,000 orange trees, the same number of mostly muscatel grape vines and 500,000 other fruit trees. It grew 300 varieties of orchids, 350 of chrysanthemums and 700 of roses. The nursery attracted many awards and prizes for its produce. At the Great Exhibition for the Queen’s Jubilee in 1887, the Newmans won two "First Orders of Merit", the exhibition's highest award, and all three "Exhibition Diplomas" on offer for their exhibition line.^[35] At a 1907 show, they received 120 prizes for fruit, vegetables, flowers and plants, including 97 first prizes. During the 1890s, with South Australia in recession, the Newman's eldest son, Charles, was sent to West Australia. He set up a branch shop in Barrack Street, Perth and established the "Victoria Park Nursery". Four more Newman sons and two daughters with their families followed.^[38] Charles Newman died in 1889 after falling from his horse, and control of the nursery passed to his sixth son, Frederick.^[35]

During a severe storm in February 1913, 2 inches (5 cm) of rain fell in an hour, setting the streams, creeks and roads awash and damaging the nursery.^[39] In October of the same year, another storm hit while the family was gathered to celebrate Mary Ann’s 75th birthday. A wall of water broke a retaining wall, ran through the kitchen, wrecked most of the glasshouses, washed the orchid houses entirely away and severely damaged the cultivated areas. The boiler of the hothouse heating system was wrecked. Approximately 4000–5000 potted plants, including the bulk of exhibition stock, were washed out of their houses. All of the young fruit trees in John Payne’s gully were destroyed.^[38] Due to the extent of the damage and the lack of funds for full repairs, the nursery never fully recovered. Frederick Newman left the nursery in 1925 to run a smaller one in Tea Tree Gully, next to North East Road; control of Newman’s Nursery passed to Harry Newman. Harry ran the nursery until his death in 1930, and his son continued until 1932.^[35] With the death of Mary Ann in 1932, the property was sold; the new owner used it for dairying and grazing under the name "Hillcrest".^[38] It was sold again in 1935 for sheep grazing. The new owner removed everything of value from the property; slate paving and benches were removed, buildings were stripped to walls and foundations, pine trees lining the entrance road were turned to box wood and some outbuildings were knocked down and materials used elsewhere.^[35]

The main house was tenanted in the 1940s, but it remained without electricity, sewerage or modern amenities. By the 1960s, all remaining buildings were unroofed and only walls remained. In 1963, Camellias still grew in the remains of the shade house, and a magnolia and some fruit trees survived.^[38] Most remaining plants and fruit trees from the property's nursery days were destroyed by bushfires during Ash Wednesday in 1983.^[35] The ruins of Newman’s Nursery consist largely of foundations and walls and are listed on the State Heritage Register.^[40]

[edit] Mining and quarrying

Dolomite, sandstone and quartzite rock have been extensively mined in the park. Though traces of silver, copper and gold are present, there have been no economic finds. The park is scattered with many quarries; the largest within the park is an open-cut one in the northwest corner. It was in operation until 1982, supplying stone for buildings, including Adelaide's war memorial and St Peter's Cathedral.^[21] Tea Tree Gully freestone from the quarries has been used for the facades and ornamental dressing of many of Adelaide’s Victorian public buildings. Adelaide Town Hall, the General Post Office and Supreme Court Buildings in Adelaide were all built entirely of this stone. The quarries supplied dressing stock for ornamentation on buildings, including St Peter's Cathedral, St. Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Flinders Street Baptist Church and the University of Adelaide's Mitchell Building.^[41]

An ironstone mine was begun, working on an outcrop, in 1853. Mining was to supply flux for the Port Adelaide copper smelting works, but it apparently closed within a year. Reopened in 1861, it operated until 1862. The Tea Tree Gully silver mining company began work in the area in 1888, constructing a tramway, blacksmith shop and a new road. With no economic finds from the operations, the mining company closed in July 1889.^[42] The quarry adjacent to the nursery's ruins has been mined for blue dolomite, some of which was used in constructing the nursery buildings. Quarries elsewhere in Water Gully were opened in the 1880s and intermittently supplied quartzite road metal for the District Council of Tea Tree Gully. In 1912, a crushing plant was erected on the north side of the gully.^[43]

When the park was proclaimed, land zoning allowed existing mining prospecting rights to continue. These rights are restricted to previously mined areas and further restrictions of the National Parks and Wildlife Service Act (1972) make it unlikely that mining will occur in the future.^[44]

[edit] Klopper's quarries

Heinrich Kloepper—later anglicised to Henry Klopper—arrived in Adelaide in 1847 from Hamburg, Germany. He purchased 80 acres (32 ha) of land in Hope Valley, running a farm with crops, livestock, orchards, and vineyards. He also used the land to breed horses and bullock teams. Klopper expanded his landholding to 324 acres (131 ha) by 1864, including a section that lies below Anstey Hill in the southwest of the park.^[45] On the Anstey Hill section, he opened his first quarry in 1850, the same year he married. The Klopper quarries supplied aggregate for road building and Bluestone for home and kerb building. After his death in 1888, his family continued to operate the quarry.^[42]

Stone from the first quarry was used to build a family home on the southeast corner of Valley and Grand Junction roads. Additional quarries were opened and supplied metal for most of the roads constructed in Highercombe. Klopper died in 1888; his wife and three of their sons continuing to operate the quarries. In 1905, they opened a freestone quarry within the park that operated until the family sold it in 1927.^[45] This quarry was used to host plays as part of the Adelaide Festival of Arts, seating about 800 people with its 20 m (66 ft) face providing a backdrop to the performances. In 1980, three plays were performed over fifteen nights. A nine-hour production of the Mahābhārata, by the theatre company of Peter Brook, was performed in 1988.^[17]

[edit] Ellis Cottage and Rumps Bakery

The historic Ellis Cottage and Rumps Bakery buildings lie near the corner of Perseverance and North-East Roads. Ellis Cottage is a single room stone building. It was built in 1854 by John Stevens, founder of Steventon Estate that later become the suburb of Tea Tree Gully. It is named after the Ellis family, who owned and used the building for many years until World War II. Rumps Bakery was built in 1854 using local stone and rented to Charles Rumps from 1867 to 1893. In 1872, Rumps opened Tea Tree Gully's first bakery in the building.^[46] In 1884, the building was sold to Ernest Heitmann who continued to use it as a bakery. Until the mid 20th century, the Ellis family and the adjacent general store frequently used the building for storage.^[47] In 2000, the Friends of Anstey Hill stabilised both buildings, assisted by a government grant and supervised by the Department of Environment and Heritage.^[48]

[edit] Water filtration plant

In the 1970s, the Engineering and Water Supply Department chose an area at the top of the park, adjacent to lower North-East Road, to build a water treatment works. Based partly on seismic refraction traverses, a ridge underlain by dolomite and quartzite was found to be stable enough for construction.^[3] The site was also selected because it was the only one that suited the hydraulic requirements of the project; all other sites would have required construction of a major pumping station. The exact placement was made to ensure that it could not be seen from the metropolitan area. It had a design flow of 313 megalitres (ML) per day with a maximum capacity of 344 ML. The plant was commissioned in 1980 and uses filtering and sedimentation to clean water from the Mannum to Adelaide pipeline. It was the second to be built in Adelaide, after the Hope Valley plant that opened in 1977. Most of the water is piped directly from the River Murray, but some is sourced from Millbrook Reservoir.^[49]

The plant was intended to serve the outer northeastern suburbs of Adelaide, specifically those north of the River Torrens, with 70,000 homes relying on it. The total construction cost, including costs to change the existing pipeline, was $14.5M.^[49] As of 2005 the plant filters approximately 20% of Adelaide's water supply.^[50] In 2003, a small hydroelectric plant was switched on in adjacent Hope Valley, using the head of water as it flows down Anstey Hill. The plant is designed to supply 7000 megawatt hours per year.^[51]

[edit] Roads

Lower North-East Road runs round Anstey Hill and up the escarpment of the Burnside-Eden Fault Zone, connecting what were the villages of Hope Valley and Houghton. Various roads have been surveyed and used to connect the same areas. The first road was a private one built by George Anstey in 1841—though officially surveyed in 1844—as a mostly straight-line extension of Grand Junction Road that was designed to reach his estate. It followed the base of a gully, then rose steeply up Anstey Hill. From 1842 to 1846, Anstey constructed a replacement private road with a devil's elbow (double hairpin bend) that more closely followed the land's contours. As Chairman of Roads for the District of Yatala, Anstey spent most of the district's grant on his road; outcry over this led to him losing office in 1851. This road became known as Anstey Hill Road and remained in use for 20 years, though it was never gravelled. New Road, later renamed Houghton Road and subsequently Lower North-East Road, was constructed as a replacement in 1873. It was longer than the preceding roads but lacked a devil's elbow, had a more even gradient, and was paved in 1930. It now separates a small part of the park, containing Klopper's quarries and the Gun Emplacement, from the remainder.^[52] The remains of the two previous roads can be seen near Klopper's quarries.^[17]

Perseverance Road, and some housing, defines the western edge of much of the park. William Haines was the district clerk for Tea Tree Gully from 1867 to 1902 and Member of Parliament for Gumeracha from 1878 to 1884. Since 1862, he had lobbied for a road to be constructed linking Tea Tree Gully to Anstey’s Hill road. The 1–½ mile road was eventually approved and opened in 1880. Prior to completion, it had been known as Haines' Folly but, at its opening, was named Haines' Perseverance Road.^[53]

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• About the Friends of Anstey Hill group
• Newman's History, Newman's Nursery and Topiary Tea House

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