Coward Springs
{{More citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Use Australian English|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = other
| name = Coward Springs
| state = sa
| city = Stuarts Creek
| image = Coward Springs(GN05680).jpg
| image_upright =
| caption = Coward Springs, ca. 1935
| image_alt =
| relief =
| coordinates = {{coord|29.401087|S|136.811805|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
| pop =
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| established = 1858
| established_footnotes =
| postcode =
| elevation = 18
| area =
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| timezone = ACST
| utc = +9:30
| timezone-dst = ACDT
| utc-dst = +10:30
| dist1 = 236
| dir1 = east
| location1 = Coober Pedy
| dist2 =
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| stategov = Stuart{{cite web|title=District of Stuart Background Profile|url= http://www.ecsa.sa.gov.au/component/edocman/?task=document.download&id=527&Itemid=0 |publisher=Electoral Commission SA|accessdate=20 August 2015}}
| fedgov = Grey{{cite web|title=Federal electoral division of Grey, boundary gazetted 16 December 2011|url= http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/sa/files/2011/2011-aec-a4-map-sa-grey.pdf |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission|accessdate=20 August 2015}}
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Coward Springs is a former railway station of the Central Australia Railway and associated settlement in the Far North region of South Australia, west of Lake Eyre South.
The name refers to a nearby mound spring, situated on the Oodnadatta Track adjacent to the Wabma Kadarbu Mound Springs Conservation Park. The site is within the locality of Stuarts Creek, 236 km (147 mi) from Coober Pedy and 216 km (134 mi) from Coober Pedy.{{cite web |url=http://www.cowardsprings.com.au/getthere.php |title=How to get there |publisher=Coward Springs Campground |accessdate=2008-06-24}} A camping ground is at the site, where the attractions include two heritage-listed buildings, the original bore, date palms and tamarisk trees.
Nomenclature and official status
The South Australian Commissioner of Police, Peter Warburton, named Coward Springs in 1858 after Corporal Thomas Coward. In 2019, Coward Springs's placename status was changed from "locality" to "mound spring".{{cite web|title=Search results for 'Coward Springs (Spring)' with the following datasets being selected - 'Suburbs and Localities', 'Local Government Areas', 'SA Government Regions' and 'Gazetteer' |url=http://location.sa.gov.au/viewer/?map=roads&x=136.80821&y=-29.42128&z=12&uids=19,11,20,105&pinx=136.792530&piny=-29.400720&pinTitle=Location&pinText=Coward+Springs,+Sprg |website=Location SA Map Viewer|publisher=Government of South Australia|accessdate=22 March 2019}}
History
The South Australian government completed a {{convert|400|ft|adj=on}} borehole in 1886,{{cite web |title=Coward Springs |url=http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/cowardsprings.htm |publisher=Flinders Ranges Research |accessdate=2008-06-24 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629034352/http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/cowardsprings.htm |url-status=dead }} from which water from the Great Artesian Basin rose {{convert|15|ft}} above ground.{{cite web |url=http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/manning/pn/c/c14.htm#cowardS |title=Place Names of South Australia - C |publisher=State Library of South Australia |work=Manning Index of South Australian History |accessdate=2008-06-24}} The salty water corroded the bore head and casing, flowing uncontrolled to form a large pool and, by the 1920s, a wetland, in the dry gibber plain. It was reputed to be a popular place for local residents and – at a time when the railway's outback timetables had room for delays – train crews and passengers to cool off.
In 1993, the South Australian government redrilled and relined the bore, reducing the flow rate. The camping ground operators subsequently built a "natural spa" imitating the old pool, from which water was directed into the wetland.
The wetland created its own dynamics as an oasis providing water and food, shelter and breeding areas for a wide range of wildlife. {{As of|2008}}, the site was recorded as hosting 99 plant species, 126 bird species and numerous small native mammals, reptiles, aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates.
A school was opened in 1888, but it was closed in 1890. The Coward Springs Hotel, however, was licensed from 1887 to 1953. As trains pulled into the station, passengers were given directions to the "pub" and the "bath" for their choice of refreshment.
Camping ground and heritage-listed place
File:Coward Springs engine drivers cabin.jpg
{{As of|2020}}, Coward Springs was privately operated as a campground and heritage area. At the behest of the operators, the "Coward Springs railway site" was listed in the South Australian Heritage Register in 1998.{{cite web|url=http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=28 |title=Coward Springs Railway Site |publisher=Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources |work=South Australian Heritage Register |accessdate=12 February 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160215212949/http://apps.planning.sa.gov.au/HeritageSearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=28 |archivedate=15 February 2016 }} The register cites the assets as:
a good example of an outback railway site in South Australia, being an important stopover for passengers travelling to Oodnadatta, as well as a stock and supply terminus. The date palms are a reminder of commercial ventures in the interior, and the tamarisk trees are examples of introduced species suitable for arid conditions.{{refn|group=note|Tamarisk trees were declared a weed of national significance as a consequence of their spread, most dramatically and noticeably in central Australia, after floods of 1974 along the Finke River in the Northern Territory. Before then, the species had been present for many decades without much spread.Griffin, G.F.; Smith, D.M.S.; Morton, S.R.; Allan, G.E.; Masters, K.A.; Preece, N. (1989) 'Status and implications of the invasion of tamarisk (Tamarix aphylla ) on the Finke River, Northern Territory, Australia.' Journal of Environmental Management, 1989, vol. 29, no.4, 297–315{{cite web|url=http://www.weeds.org.au/WoNS/athelpine/|title=Weeds Australia - weeds of national significance - athel pine|publisher=weeds.org.au|accessdate=2009-09-29|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912074317/http://www.weeds.org.au/WoNS/athelpine/|archivedate=2009-09-12}}}}There are two restored stone railway buildings (a stationmaster's house, in private use, and train crew quarters),The register refers to an "engine driver's cabin". However, such quarters, usually termed "barracks" by the South Australian Railways regardless of their size, were routinely used by three people – driver, fireman and guard – and occasionally a fitter or other employee, to rest at the end of their work shift. two in-ground rainwater tanks, the original bore, date palms and tamarisk trees, also known as athel pines.{{cite web |url= http://maps.sa.gov.au/heritagesearch/HeritageItem.aspx?p_heritageno=28 |title= Heritage place details [Coward Springs Railway Site]|author= |date= 2020 |website= SA Heritage Places Database Search |publisher= Government of South Australia |access-date= 31 October 2020 }}
Although the date palms reputedly were planted by pioneering "Afghan" cameleers, they are in fact remnants of two acres of date palms (variety Deglet Noor) planted in 1898 as part of a South Australian government experimental plantation. Surviving date palms from this plantation still produce fruit.
File:Coward Springs wetlands.jpg|The wetlands
File:Coward Springs camping area.jpg|The camping area
File:Coward Springs station masters house.jpg|The restored former station master's house is also heritage-listed
Notes
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References
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External links
- [http://www.cowardsprings.com.au./ Coward Springs camping ground]
Category:Ghost towns in South Australia