Brompton, South Australia

History

Brompton was established in June 1849 and quickly grew. By October of that year, two thirds of the formerly "bare common ground [was] covered with substantial and genteel cottages, thriving shops and wells of excellent water."

Ovingham Post Office opened on 1 November 1879, was renamed Bowden in 1970 and Brompton in 1991.

Geography

The suburb lies between Torrens Road and the Grange/Outer Harbor railway line.

Demographics

The 2006 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 2,487 persons in Brompton on census night. Of these, 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female.

The majority of residents (62.2%) are of Australian birth, with other common census responses being Greece (6.0%), England (5.2%) and Vietnam (2.9%).

The age distribution of Brompton residents is skewed towards an older population compared to the greater Australian population. 76.3% of residents were over 25 years in 2006, compared to the Australian average of 66.5%; and 23.7% were younger than 25 years, compared to the Australian average of 33.5%.

Local government

Brompton is part of Hindmarsh Ward in the City of Charles Sturt local government area, being represented in that council by Paul Alexandrides and Craig Auricht.

State and federal

Brompton lies in the state electoral district of Croydon and the federal electoral division of Adelaide. The suburb is represented in the South Australian House of Assembly by Michael Atkinson and federally by Kate Ellis.

Community

The local newspaper is the Weekly Times Messenger. Other regional and national newspapers such as The Advertiser and The Australian are also available.

Community groups

The Bowden Brompton Community Centre is based at 19 Green Street, Brompton.

Schools

Bowden Brompton Community School is located on Torrens Road and Immaculate Heart of Mary School is located on East Street.

Shopping and dining

The Hawker Street shopping and dining precinct, and the Brompton Hotel and the Excelsior Hotel are in the suburb.

Parks

There are several parks in Brompton, the largest of which is Josiah Mitton Reserve, between Wood Avenue and Burley Griffin Boulevard. The reserve includes the Hindmarsh Incinerator, designed by Walter Burley Griffin in 1935. Completed in 1936, it is one of his two buildings in SA listed as among the 120 nationally significant 20th-century buildings in South Australia, the other being the Thebarton Incinerator at Thebarton.

Motorsport

From 1949 until 1979, Brompton was the home to the world famous Rowley Park Speedway located on the corner of Torrens Road and Coglin Street. Rowley Park was a 358 metres (392 yards) dirt track speedway built in the old Brompton Brick Pits and operated 23 meetings per season (usually October to April) on Friday nights and was capable of holding over 10,000 spectators. The speedway hosted numerous Australian and South Australian speedway championships through its history. From 1954 until 1973, the speedway was promoted by leading Adelaide identity Kym Bonython who made Rowley Park 'the' place to be in Adelaide on a Friday night during summer. Rowley Park closed on 4 April 1979 and is now the site of the Kym Bonython housing estate.

In 1965, Rowley Park was the site of Australia's first Demolition derby.

Roads

Brompton is primarily serviced by Torrens Road, which connects the suburb to Adelaide city centre. Hawker Street cuts through the centre of the suburb.

Many of the local streets were established in the 19th century. Consequently, roadways tend to be narrow and, with a small volume of traffic, quiet.

Public transport

Brompton is serviced by public transport run by the Adelaide Metro.

Trains

There is no train stop in Ridleyton but the Grange and Outer Harbor railway lines pass nearby. The closest station is Bowden. On the Gawler railway line the closest station is Ovingham.

Buses

The suburb is serviced by the following bus routes: