Callington
Callington was laid out as a town in 1849. John Kiernan driving a dray over an outcrop, noticed copper where the stone was crushed by the dray wheel. By 1857 the Bremer mine has been sold to the Worthing Mining Company based in England. Water in the mines led to the installation of a Cornish steam pumping engine in 1861 which pumped 468,000 gallons a day out of the mines. The main shaft of the Bremer mine reached 600 feet with side tunnels every 60 feet. Some remains of the mining era include the Explosives Hut, Settling Tanks, Engine House and Chimney Stack. There are some fascinating structures in Callington including the hotel, churches, old police station and the Erskine Bridge.
places of interest
See the remains of the mining era including the Explosives Hut, Settling Tanks, Engine House & Chimney Stack and also fascinating structures including the hotel, old police station and the Erskine Bridge.
recreation areas
Callington Memorial Oval and Recreation Grounds
Callington Road, Callington
- 2 ovals,
- tennis court
- playground
- toilets
- Community Centre
Callington Recreational Vehicle (RV) Park
36 Callington Road, Callington
Mount Barker District Council in association with the Callington Recreation Park Inc. has established a recreational vehicle park in Callington. Located at 36 Callington Road, Callington just to the north of the Callington Recreation Grounds, the RV Park is open to the public all year (except for the week leading up to the annual Callington Show).
No booking is required and payment of $10 per night (max 48 hour stay) is paid directly to the Callington Recreation Community Centre which opens 5pm daily. The park can accommodate up to 20 vehicles subject to space.
Stay, relax and enjoy the Funky Horse Paddock!
- Up to 48 hour parking.
- Self-contained motorhomes/caravans only. No camping.
- Park closed on extreme and catastrophic fire condition days.
- Park closed during the week of the annual Callington Show, end of October.
- Subject to space, this park can accommodate up to 20 RVs and motorhomes. Please be considerate of fellow users.
- $10 per night. Permit must be displayed at all times.
- Payments to be made to the Callington Recreation Community Centre, opens 5pm daily.
- No booking facility available.
- Dogs on leads at all times.
- No fire permitted.
- Please take all rubbish with you.
Mount Barker District Council and the Rural City of Murray Bridge have endorsed a Township Plan for Callington. The plan was developed in association with the community to provide a long term vision for the town, identifying key objectives and priorities across a number of themes to ensure that the town continues to develop as a highly liveable place.
Implementation Progress
To see the progress on the implementation of the Callington Township Plan, please view the document below:
Project Contact
For further information, please contact Nathan Franklin, Strategic Planner via email on nfranklin@mountbarker.sa.gov.au or via phone on (08) 8391 7208.
The pedestrian crossing of the Bremer River has been identified as a high priority for residents of Callington. It is included as an action in the endorsed Callington Township Plan.
The crossing is a joint responsibility of the Rural City of Murray Bridge and Mount Barker District Council as the Bremer River forms the boundary between the two council areas.
Options for pedestrian access across the Bremer River at Callington were reviewed by Council Members at an Informal Gathering on 29 November 2021.
An update on the options was provided to the 7 March 2022 Council meeting with Council resolving to:
- endorse community engagement on the traffic light solution, to be located on the existing Erskine Bridge, as the preferred option to provide safe and convenient pedestrian passage across the Bremer River, subject to the Rural City of Murray Bridge endorsing the same; and
- note that a further report will be provided to Council on completion of community engagement with a view to seeking final endorsement of the preferred option.
A traffic light solution was a preferred option for community engagement as it provided the following advantages:
- Provides a controlled dual use of the existing bridge for vehicles access as well as pedestrian access, increasing use of the existing asset.
- Estimated cost is within the original anticipated budget and represented best value for money..
- Lights only activated when vehicle/pedestrian is present.
- There are no detrimental impacts on the river environment and vegetation as no works are required in these areas to install the lights.
- The traffic light solution included minimal infrastructure and thus represented a minimal carbon footprint and no impacts to the river environment. Can be solar/battery powered which can be explored further during detail design.
Community engagement was undertaken from March to July 2022.
In summary, the crossing options were discussed in detail and there was limited interest in the traffic light solution resulting in unanimous support for a separate pedestrian bridge.
The concept design work for a stand-alone bridge is largely complete and previous cost estimates to construct a bridge of this nature is circa $1 million (excl. GST).
Pending endorsement from both Rural City of Murray Bridge and Mount Barker District Council, officers from both Councils will formalise a joint project team to further investigate and plan for a stand-alone bridge for pedestrian access across the Bremer River at Callington in readiness for future budget consideration by both Councils and grant funding opportunities.