Abandoned Places – Page 23 of 32

July 18, 2014

Urban Exploring: Gawler Chambers

Gawler Chambers was built as the head office for the South Australia Company in 1913.

The South Australia Company was originally formed in London in 1835 by wealthy British merchants to develop a new settlement in South Australia; its purpose was to build a new colony: us!

During the early period of South Australia’s development, the company displayed great energy and enterprise in building the new settlement. Roads and bridges were built. Mills, wharfs and warehouses were erected. Local whaling, fishing and shipbuilding industries were established and mineral exploration was promoted.

The company purchased 102 lots of land of 135 acres. This included prime town and country sections totalling 13,770 acres. This was sufficient to enable emigration to begin!

The South Australian Company was not officially connected to the government but its interventions saved the colony!

Gawler Chambers now sits vacant, disused and off-limits to the general public; so lets take you inside:

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July 13, 2014

Urban Exploring: Woolworths

This morning was so nice here in Adelaide we just had to get out and do a shoot!

We got into this abandoned building a month back but the weather hadn’t been on our side to do a photo-shoot.

Those who follow our instagram feed will have already seen a few raw pre-post shots.

Upon entering via a sleepy backstreet door you’re confronted with what initially seems like dust, but after viewing the surroundings you realize you’re actually breathing in fine particles of pigeon-poo. A blessing in disguise really, from a security point of view!

With a full set of MS-DOS 4.01 disks (in original packaging) just lying on the floor I wondered if the archaic operating system was now worth a penny?!? It brought back horrifying memories of painful RSI – from repeatedly changing diskettes to install the darn thing. Anyone remember that???.. Kids these days have it so easy!

The ground level seemed safe enough – partitioned offices with a front desk; nothing too scary. The stench of mold made us gasp for air of a cleaner kind though!

Onward and upward over mounds of pigeon-poo we climbed the stairs. Burnt timbers on the top floor indicated a fire had once consumed this space. The roof had caved in from the blaze, allowing numerous bird life to now call this place home.

The history of this building is unclear. We wondered if we were inside one of the original Adelaide Woolworths stores. Without being heritage listed I doubt we’d ever find out. For now though, let us take you inside “Woolworths”…

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July 6, 2014

Urban Exploring: Scotts Mill

Built in the mid 1800s Scotts Mill was the town’s first flour mill. The mill did a roaring trade in supplying flour in the 1850’s. The town was a busy agricultural district; in fact one of the busiest in the colony!

However by the early 1870s crop yields had fallen alarmingly. No fertilisers were in use and the land had become exhausted of nutrients. Many farmers left the district and the mill sat idle for a number of years.

When fertilisers became available in the 1890s yeilds increased dramatically and the mill was busy again. With reliable rainfall, good crop yields have been maintained ever since, and the mill never looked back.

Scotts Mill was originally steam-powered, initially fueled by wood but later from charcoal. In the mid 1900s the mill was connected to the new electricity supply from the Adelaide Electric Supply Co.

After 112 years of operation, the old mill was closed in the 1960s. It has remained vacant since, still containing much of the old milling machinery used in her glory days…