SAFarming
Aldinga
A wheat village on the plains, shipping its flour across the gulf.
1857Village of Aldinga laid out
WHAT STARTED IT
Aldinga sits on the open Aldinga Plains between the southern hills and the gulf, land that settlers fenced and cropped for wheat. The village grew where those farmers needed mills, stores and inns, with a jetty on the nearby coast to ship grain and flour.
WHAT SUSTAINED IT
A school opened in 1852 and farmer Lewis Fidge laid out the village about 1857; by 1861 it had two busy mills, five stores, six public houses and three chapels, sending flour to the other colonies. A new Aldinga jetty opened in 1868 to replace the exposed landing at Port Willunga.
TURNING POINTS
1857Farmer Lewis Fidge lays out the Village of Aldinga.
1861Two mills ship flour and wheat from the Aldinga jetty, better known as Port Willunga.
1868A new Aldinga jetty is formally opened by the Commissioner of Public Works in February.
WHAT IT DOES NOW
A small village of about 760 people in 2021, separate from the beach suburbs to its west. Its old churches and cemetery recall the farming township.