Freeling, South Australia
Freeling | |||||||||||||
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The hotel in Freeling, used as a set in McLeod's Daughters | |||||||||||||
Freeling | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 34°27′0″S 138°48′0″E / 34.45000°S 138.80000°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | South Australia | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Established | 1860 | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Elevation | 197 m (646 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 2,214 (2016 census)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 5372 | ||||||||||||
| Mean max temp | 48.6 °C (119.5 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Mean min temp | −3.4 °C (25.9 °F) | ||||||||||||
| Annual rainfall | 449 mm (17.7 in) | ||||||||||||
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Freeling is a small town in South Australia, about 60 km north of Adelaide. It neighbours the Barossa Valley wine region. At the 2021 census, Freeling had a population of 2,688.[3]
Description
Freeling is in the Light Regional Council, the state electoral district of Schubert and the federal Division of Barker.
History
The township of Freeling was surveyed in March 1860 by Robert Stephenson. It was named after Major-General Sir Arthur Henry Freeling, Surveyor-General of South Australia from 1849 to 1861.[4] Freeling was a stopping place on the Gawler to Kapunda railway, which opened in 1860 but is no longer used. The Freeling Hotel was founded in 1863, the Railway Hotel in 1867 and the St Petri Lutheran Church (now a private home) in 1871. By 1866, Freeling's population numbered approximately 60.
Local economy
The main source of income for the town is its extensive farming land, where mainly cereal crops are grown. It is regarded as some of the best farming land in Australia, with the University of Adelaide's Roseworthy Campus, (Roseworthy, South Australia) situated nearby. The long-term rainfall average for Freeling is 475mm/Yr, this enables wheat crops of up to 5-6T/Ha to be grown as well as large tonnages of cereal hay, with thousands of acres of hay being harvested each year. A factory making farming implement blades and parts, has also been situated at Freeling for many years.[5]
A major tourist attraction for the town and surrounding area is a popular Australian Drama television series, McLeod's Daughters. The town had many sets used on the show, including the Gungellan Hotel (previously the Railway Hotel), truckstop and showgrounds.
Gallery
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Institute
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Post office
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Public library
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Uniting Church
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War Memorial
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Freeling (urban centre and locality)". Australian Census 2021.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Freeling". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
- ^ "2021 5372, SA, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
- ^ Buxton, Gordon (1972). "Sir Arthur Henry Freeling (1820–1885)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 4. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
- ^ "About Us: AgPoint". AgPoint Australia. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
External links
- Light Regional Council page on Freeling Archived 14 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Kuhlmann, Thelma & Bockmann, Owen. Horses, Harrows and Haystacks: Freeling Through the Years 1860-1980. Adelaide: Freeling Women's Agricultural Bureau, 1981. ISBN 0-9595629-4-X