Lock, South Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Lock
state = South Australia

---

caption = Location of Lock in South Australia
lga = District Council of Elliston
postcode = 5633
est = 1918
pop = 290 Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC44011|name=Lock (L) (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-08-25]
elevation= 123
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov = Flinders
fedgov = Grey
dist1 = 606
dir1 = West
location1= Adelaide

Lock is a small wheatbelt town located in the centre of the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia. It is central Eyre Peninsula's main grain storage hub, as it is surrounded by a predominantly farming community, with emphasis on cereal crop production. The town has a hotel, caravan park, motel, supermarket, post office, police station, sporting complex, golf and bowling clubs and area school. The town has a population of 290.

History

Although many nearby coastal towns were settled much earlier, Lock was not colonised until the 1860s due to the low rainfall and marginal conditions. Early settlers grazed sheep on vast tracts of natural vegetation for very low costs. Land settlement occurred in 1861, with settlements continuing further north over the next decades.

A major change occurred in the area with the arrival of the Port Lincoln railway line in 1913. The area was serviced by a siding known simply as "Terre Siding" after one of the local properties. This was altered when the town was gazetted in February 1918, and named Lock after Corporal Albert Lock, a member of the South Australian Survey Department who had been killed in Belgium during World War I, in 1917. [Citation
last = Manning Index of SA | title = Lock | url = http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/manning/pn/l/l4.htm#lock
access-date = 2007-05-26 ]

The potential for wheat cropping was realised with the establishment of the railway, but the low rainfall kept any developments from happening until the pipeline from the Tod Reservoir was connected. Two years later, a huge underground water reservoir was discovered under the town, capable of supplying all of the town's water needs. [Citation
last = Sydney Morning Herald Travel | title = Lock | url = http://www.smh.com.au/news/South-Australia/Lock/2005/02/17/1108500204371.html
access-date = 2007-05-26 ]

The Lock Heritage Museum displays a number of old wartime, farming and household items used in the area many years ago. [Citation
last = Tourism EP | title = Lock | url = http://www.tep.com.au/region/lock.htm
access-date = 2007-05-26 ]

Geography

The town is located in the geographic centre of the Eyre Peninsula, surrounded by mostly flat farming land, with patches of remnant vegetation.

It is also located close to the Hambridge Conservation Park to the north and the Hinck’s Conservation Park to the south, where the areas original ecosystem is somewhat preserved.

Community

In the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing, the population of the Lock town census area was 290. Some 95.2% of the population was born in Australia, with immigrants coming from New Zealand, United States of America and England.

Economy

Agriculture, predominantly cereal cropping and to a lesser extent sheep grazing, is still the area's main economic input, with a minor input from tourism during school holidays.

Mining potential in the area is promising, with iron ore having been discovered in banded iron formations, only 20 km away from Lock to the southeast at Wilgerup, by Centrex Metals Limited. [Citation
last = Centrex Metals | title = Wilgerup | url = http://www.centrexmetals.com.au/projects/proj_wilgerup.html
access-date = 2007-05-26 ]

References

External links

* [http://www.tep.com.au/region/lock.htm Tourism Eyre Peninsula - Lock]
* [http://www.smh.com.au/news/South-Australia/Lock/2005/02/17/1108500204371.html "Sydney Morning Herald" Travel page]