Roseworthy, South Australia


Roseworthy is a small town in South Australia, about 10 km north of Gawler on the Horrocks Highway. At the 2016 census, Roseworthy had a population of 994.
Roseworthy has a large grain storage facility consisting of both storage silos and bunkers for grain grown in the surrounding areas, and grain is now taken by road transport to Port Adelaide for export where it was once taken by rail.
The Roseworthy campus of the University of Adelaide is the location of Australia's newest Vet School. The School of Animal & Veterinary Sciences provides education and training of animal and veterinary scientists in a research environment. The School offers three academic programs: Animal Science, Veterinary Bioscience and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.
Roseworthy is a popular stop for many truck drivers with the Roseworthy Roadhouse often bustling with resting travellers and transport drivers as they traverse along the Horrocks Highway.
Roseworthy is in the Light Regional Council, the state electoral district of Schubert and the federal divisions of Barker and Grey.

History

The Surveyor General of South Australia visited the site which would become Roseworthy on 13 December 1837. In 1855 land in the Hundred of Mudla Wirra was purchased by William and Grace Gartrell. In 1863 when William died Grace sub-divided the land and named it Roseworthy.

Climate

Roseworthy has a semi-arid influenced hot-summer mediterranean climate with warm to hot, dry summers and mild, slightly wet winters. On average, the town experiences 105.0 clear days and 122.3 cloudy days per annum. The wettest recorded day was 25 January 1941 with of rainfall. Extreme temperatures ranged from on 24 January 2019 to on 5 August 2020.
The original weather station recorded temperature, precipitation, solar exposure, 9 am & 3 pm conditions. It was closed in 1997.
A newer weather station was opened in 1997. It records temperature, precipitation & 3 pm conditions.

Railway

The Kapunda railway line opened through Roseworthy on 13 August 1860 as an extension of the Gawler railway line. The line was later extended to the shipping port at Morgan. Another line was opened from Roseworthy towards Terowie on 14 December 1880 with the line being extended to Peterborough on 11 May 1881. All these lines were built 1,600 mm broad gauge with the exception of the Terowie to Peterborough section being 1067 mm narrow gauge. That line was converted to broad gauge on 12 January 1970. Regular Australian National passenger services ended in December 1986 but some special train tours ran through Roseworthy up until 2004. Grain trains last used the silos at Roseworthy on 2 February 2007, and the remaining stored hoppers were collected on 11 October 2007 marking the last use of the line.