Randell ParkRandell Park

Origin Of NameRandell Park was named after former landbroker;and mayor of Mitcham Peter Lake Randell. He was born in 1922 and died in 1984 and his term of office as mayor lasted from 1968 to 1971. Randell was also a Councillor from 1955 to 1967 and an Alderman from 1967 to 1968. He was a representative of the Mitcham Council on the Mitcham Youth Centre, the Hills EFS and the Coromandel Valley Cemetery Trust. Aside from Randell Park, Randell Court in Belair was also named after him.

Former OwnersRandell Park was not always one piece of land. Inside the boundaries of what is now one big reserve was Saunders Quarry, which was part of a partnership between Samuel Saunders and Charles Anderson, both prominent landowners around the 1850s and 1860s. Saunders built a house within the park boundaries and called it Rockness Hill. Other owners of this part of Section 1140 included John Grainger and Glen Osmond Quarries Ltd.

There was also Anderson's Gully, also owned by Charles Anderson and later sold to Robert Torrens (1866).There were also a number of quarries known as the Sugar Loaf Hill quarries. These were owned by contractors Thomas Frost and Edward Watson in the late 1850s, and then by Torrens when they came into operation. Later owners included Sir Waiter Watson Hughes and Robert Barr Smith. W.W. Hughes (1803 -1887), a seaman, sheep farmer, mine founder (Wallaroo) and philanthropist, owned Torrens Park Estate from 1866 to 1874 The quarries were brought under one single lease after World War One and operated under the name XL Quarry by stock agents Joel and George Badman.

The present-day land of Randell Park was bought by the Corporation of the City of Mitcham in 1973.

Special FeaturesThere are a number of features to be seen in Randell Park. Its geological features are ripple rock and ochre, as well as the cliff faces of quarries no longer in use. Other geological highlights include interbedded feldspathic quartzite, siltstone, shale, slate, as well as freestone, at Sugar Loaf Hill.There is also some notable indigenous vegetation, particularly in what was once Anderson's Gully. Grey Box, Drooping Sheoak and Golden Wattle can still be seen and in Saunder's Quarry, almond trees remain.Near the entrance to Anderson's Gully was a reservoir, long since filled in. This reservoir, built in 1875, provided water for Torrens Park Estate and Scotch College. While the reservoir itself was not inside the Randell Park boundary, water from Anderson's Gully stream was used to fill it.

Above Left: Randall Park from the top of Kays Road.Above right: Almond blossoms.

Left: Tramline and retaining wall – the remnants of Mitcham's quarrying industry.

Activity On The ParkQuarrying was a major early industry in Mitcham and the quarries in Randell Park were operated extensively between the 1860s and 195Os. The Local Government Quarry near Old Belair Road opened in 1926 and supplied stone for local road repairs. Quartzite from other quarries was used for road metal and concrete, siltstone for walling in houses and buildings, and other stone for street gutters, curbing and paving.

The area of Randell Park not used in the quarrying industry had other uses. The western part of the park was cleared and used for grazing and horticulture for 100 years. Local farmers grazed their dairy herds and fruit and almond trees were planted.

More recently, the Mitcham State Emergency Service used Anderson's Gully as a cliff rescue practice site.

Current DescriptionRandell Park is in west Mitcham, near Torrens Park. It stretches from Parkers Road and Anderson's Avenue in the west to Brownhill Creek Reserve in the east and from Old Belair Road and James Road in the south to Weemala Drive and Mitcham Cemetery in the north.The park is an excellent place for walking. There are a number of trails around the park that take one to the old quarry faces. There are also areas from which the Adelaide plains can be seen.

Resources:

City of Mitcham Quarries, 1999 City of Mitcham, 1999.

The Torrens Park Estate A Social and architectural History, Priess, Ken & Oborn, Pamela. 1991.

City Of Mitcham Open Space Survey, City of Mitcham, 1982.

South Australia: The Civic Record, Wakefield press, Adelaide, 1986.

City of Mitcham Local History Collection: General Correspondence, Box 3.TOR 1 BU00010MIT 1 QAOOOO1TOR 1 PKOOOO2

Samuel Saunder's house-Rockness Hill (1858)

Randell Park Location Map

Prepared by Mitcham Local History Service and Heritage Research Centre 103b Princes Rd, Mitcham, SA 5062Ph: 8372 8261 August 2004

Sugar Loaf Quarry