Pioneers of Gawler & DistrictPrint Page

The monument commemorates the pioneers of Gawler and District who are buried in the park and the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Gawler.

Originally Pioneer Park was the local cemetery which was planned by Colonel William Light. The first burial was recorded in 1847 and the cemetery was used up to 1864 when there were health issues brought up due to the proximity of the growing town. The St George's Anglican cemetery (42 Cheek Avenue) was opened in 1861 and that was used for interments. Gawler's Town Council cemetery was opened in 1866 in Dawkins Avenue, Willaston. As the Pioneer Park cemetery was no longer in use after 1870 it was being neglected and had become overgrown. In 1933 with most of the headstones removed, the park was dedicated as parklands. A dedicatory service was held in October 1936, and the old cemetery was renamed Pioneer Place. The Pioneer Park headstones were taken to the Willaston cemetery and a display of headstones was created at the entrance.

European settlement dates from 1839, with Gawler being the first country town in South Australia. Gawler was established through a 4,000 acre ‘special survey’, with the town plan devised by Colonel William Light, at a site he recommended at the junction of the North and South Para Rivers. The town grew from the mid 1800s into the late 1800s, particularly during the 1870s and 1880s.

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