Plympton/North Plympton Places

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PLYMPTON / NORTH PLYMPTON

(+ former suburbs of Beryl, Bideville, Hayhurst, Kurralta Park Extension, Mornington, Mornington North, Moseleyville, Speirsville, Plympton Park & Grosvenor Park, Sandringham)

The current suburbs of PLYMPTON and NORTH PLYMPTON are located primarily on Sections 87, 88, 104, 107 and 108. On 20 October 1838 the Southern Australian noted that the proprietors of Section 108, chief among whom was Henry Mooringe Boswarva, wished to form a village similar to Hindmarsh Town on the south side of the River Torrens and 'in a direct line to Holdfast Bay'. The initial village of Plympton was laid out on Section 108 (in the location of Gardiner Street and Mooringe Avenue) as early as 1838.

By the 1860s Plympton was described as 'a small postal agricultural village ... in the midst of an agricultural district taken up by small farmers engaged in the culture of wheat and hay'. The earliest notable residence in Plympton was that built by William Parkin in 1859. Parkin constructed his house in Lewis Crescent (now in North Plympton) to the north of Boswarva's village subdivision. 

The Holdfast Bay Railway Line ran through Plympton and proved an important link to the City for residents of the area, and they resisted any efforts on the part of the Railway Commissioners to close the line, particularly during the late 1880s and 1890s. The existence of this public transport link with the City led to new major subdivisions in Plympton around the established village area and the railway line. 

A small part of what is now Plympton, Hayhurst was subdivided from 1876 to 1880. Apart from this increased settlement along the main roads and railway the district remained essentially agricultural, although it became a favoured area for the construction of large mansions on or near Marion Road. These included The Pines constructed by John Martin, the retailer, in 1880; Nesfield designed and constructed in 1880 by architect Edward Davies; Bucklands

constructed in 1882 for A.E.Tolley and purchased by Captain William Morish; and also Kandahar'built for Morish who gave it to his daughter in 1906, she was the wife of Arthur Hill, and designed by Edward Davies.

The Wesleyans were the first to provide a place of religious worship for their members in Plympton and their chapel was constructed in 1847, but then replaced by a new church in 1856 on Marion Road (now North Plympton). In 1902 a hall was built in Long Street to serve as a place of worship for several denominations. This hall was also used as an Institute and RSL Hall. With the introduction of the Education Act in 1875 the private schools which had been run in Plympton were closed and a new Departmental School was opened in that same year with a new building being constructed in 1880 in Long Street.

Plympton also includes a long stretch of the Bay Road or Anzac Highway. One important recreational area within Plympton is the Weigall Oval, the land for which was purchased in 1920 by Council and named after the Governor of the day. The population of Plympton increased after the First World War and this led to the establishment of the Anglican Church of the Good Shepherd in 1926 in Clayton Avenue south of Anzac Highway. In 1947 a large group of 62 units for sale was completed at Plympton by the Housing Trust. 

Plympton High School, which was begun in 1960 on part of the subdivision of the Birkalla Polo Grounds, home of the Adelaide Polo Club for sixty years. The name of the Club is commemorated in Birkalla Terrace, Plympton. Also during the 1960s Plympton was in the news as the location of 'the first high flats to be built in the Adelaide suburbs ... at Anzac Highway, Plympton ... a five storey Mediterranean style building' opened in July 1969. [From 1998 Heritage Review]