Sevenhill

The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide.

The Australian monastic town of Sevenhill is in the Clare Valley of South Australia, approximately 130 km north of Adelaide. The town was founded by members of the Jesuit order in 1850. The name, bestowed by Austrian Jesuit priest Aloysius Kranewitter, is in homage to the seven hills of Rome.

The first Jesuits in the locality were based in Clare from 1848. They were being urged by Catholic Prussians at Tanunda, who felt uncomfortable among the more numerous Lutheran Prussians, to establish a Catholic settlement in the Clare district and so began a search for a suitable locality.Section 91 in the Hundred of Clare had been purchased in 1850 as a speculation by Thomas Burr, former Deputy Surveyor General of South Australia. Jesuit priest Aloysius Kranewitter was delighted with the prospects of the hilly and fertile location and, through his influence, Burr surveyed this land into allotments for leasing, which became the township of Sevenhill.In December 1850, in consultation with Burr, the allotment layout and limits of the new settlement were settled by Kranewitter.[1] By January 1851 Kranewitter was calling the future site Sevenhill Township. The first lots became available from April 1851, all for 31 years' lease with easy right of purchase terms, and soon many Catholics, particularly Irish, Polish, and German, were moving there from Kapunda, Tanunda, Burra and other districts.Over time, particularly during the 1930s and 1940s, it became unclear whether the correct name of the township was Sevenhill, or Sevenhills, arousing debate. Clare philatelist Albert Fryar provided conclusive evidence (cuttings from envelopes and postal cancellations) that the original title was indeed Sevenhill.