Clare

History

The first European to explore the district was John Hill, who in April 1839 discovered and named the Wakefield River and Hutt River. In early 1840 the first European settlers arrived in the district, led by John Horrocks. The town itself was established in 1842 by Edward Burton Gleeson, and named after his ancestral home of County Clare in Ireland, although the town was first named Inchiquin after Gleeson's property. Lake Inchiquin is now the name of a reservoir located to the north of the town, near the golf club. The layout of the town's road system was apparently designed by a draughtsman in Adelaide, without any knowledge of the local geography. There are several roads in Clare that end abruptly at a cliff face, only to continue again at the top of the cliff, e.g. Wright Street to the top of Billy Goat Hill, and continued as Wright Lane below, running by Woolworths. The District Council of Clare was established in 1853 and was joined in 1868 by a corporate municipality, the Corporation of Clare. The corporate town seceded from the district council to provide dedicated local government to the township but re-amalgamated with the district council in 1969. A railway line was built from Riverton to Clare in 1918 and on to Spalding in 1922. It closed in 1984 and the tracks were removed in the following years after damage caused by the Ash Wednesday fires of 1983. The alignment now carries the Riesling Trail walking and cycling trail from Auburn to Barinia.

Geography

Clare is situated on the eponymous Clare Valley along the path of the Hutt River, about west of the Camels Hump Range and west of Stony Range. The Skilly Hills rise to the south-west and the Bungaree Hills rise to the north-west. Clare has a hot-summer mediterranean climate (Köppen: Csa), with moderately hot, dry summers and cool, wetter winters. Temperatures vary throughout the year, with average maxima ranging from in January to in July, and average minima fluctuating between in January and in August. Annual precipitation is moderately low, averaging between 117.7 precipitation days. There are 102.7 clear days and 111.8 cloudy days annually. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on 24 January 2019 to on 15 June 2006. In the climate box below, temperature extremes were combined from the old Post Office (1957-1994) and current High School (1994-2024) weather stations.

Most-observed species

• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  573
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  516
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  500
• White-plumed Honeyeater

  Ptilotula penicillata (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  457
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  452
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  377
• Red-rumped Parrot

  Psephotus haematonotus (Gould, 1838) · Aves
  283
• Striated Pardalote

  Pardalotus striatus (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  270

Most recent

• M 4.3 — 2024-04-17
  8 km ENE of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4.4 — 2020-05-14
  15 km WSW of Burra, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2018-07-09
  9 km NNW of Jamestown, Australia
• M 4.1 — 2011-09-04
  16 km SW of Peterborough, Australia
• M 3.1 — 2008-12-04
  17 km ESE of Crystal Brook, Australia
• M 2.7 — 2007-08-03
  23 km SSE of Burra, Australia