Dam the Torrens! We want a lake.
How the Torrens Lake was created and became the centrepiece of Adelaide
The River Torrens runs 85 kilometres from the Adelaide Hills, through the Adelaide Plains to the sea. Before the first European settlers, the Torrens waterway was known by the land’s original inhabitants as Karrawirra Parri, ‘the river of the red gum forest’ and Adelaide as Tandanya ‘place of the red kangaroo’.
South Australia was founded in 1836. Adelaide grew, and grew. Animal waste, rubbish and sewage was dumped into the river that ran through the city. Its banks eroded as gravel was taken for roads and trees cut down for building. Waterholes filled with earth and rubbish.
The river became stagnant in summer and a raging torrent in winter. In 1867 a wooden dam was constructed by prisoners from the Adelaide Gaol to dam the flow and create an artificial lake. This early dam was not well-built and soon washed away.
In late 1880 work began on a concrete weir. One of the driving forces behind the construction was parliamentarian, businessman, brewer, philanthropist, and three-times Mayor of Adelaide, Edwin Smith. Another was the weir's designer, James HC Langdon, City Surveyor. The closing of the weir gates dammed the river to create a 30-acre (12-hectare) ornamental lake, surrounded by landscaped gardens to create the impression of a park. Landscaping incorporated new fashions, including exotic palm trees.
The opening of the new Torrens Lake on 21 July 1881 attracted forty thousand people, almost all of Adelaide’s citizens. Landscaping had changed the banks to resemble an English parkland. Scenic postcards showed idyllic scenes of recreation along the lake.
Peaceful walks, black swans, crowds gathering for concerts, carnivals, and of course, boats, featured heavily in these postcards. The first rowing club on the lake had been formed soon after the building of the earlier wooden dam in 1867.
SLSA: B 72697 Colourised postcard of black swans on Torrens Lake, c 1910
SLSA: B 34976 Boats on Torrens Lake, c 1915
SLSA: B 16393/47 Colourised postcard, c 1904
SLSA: B 4074 Two men in a rowboat on Torrens Lake, Adelaide in distance, c 1880
Swimming and diving were also popular pastimes. The ‘Swim through Adelaide’ began in February 1911. The race distance was close to two kilometres, initially from the Albert Bridge on Frome Road to the weir. In later years the swim reversed direction and ended at the University footbridge. Around 150 swimmers joined in the event while large crowds cheered them on. The races continued in the Torrens until the late 1960s. Due to water pollution, all swimming in the Torrens Lake was banned in 1970.
The fabulous floating Palais de Dance (Floating Palais) was moored near the Elder Park Rotunda. It was built in 1924 in the Neo-Moorish architectural style. The five-domed pleasure barge had a dance floor on the lower deck and a promenade on the upper deck. The Floating Palais operated as a nightclub during the autumn and summer months.
In November 1928 the popular dance venue sank following an explosion. No-one was injured. There was speculation that the sinking was deliberate, but this was never proven.
Despite the construction of the weir, or as some believed, because of it, the River Torrens continued to flood with winter rains. The build-up of fast-flowing water and debris behind the weir threatened the landscaped banks, boatsheds and bridges.
James HC Langdon, the weir's designer, was badly injured when he was swept over the weir while trying to clear flood debris. In 1929 a rebuilt concrete weir was completed. This enabled the sluice gates to to be fully raised when needed.
Over decades the Torrens Lake has continued to be the focal point of Adelaide community activity. Walking, running and biking for fun and fitness remain familiar pastimes.
Since the late 19th century recreation on (and sometimes in) the water has included everything from paddleboats to Popeye. Regattas, fund-raising carnivals, dragon boat racing, even aquaplaning have drawn crowds.
Concerts, carols, theatre and after-dark light displays continue to draw tens of thousands to both banks of the lake.
Parades political rallies and memorial services have filled Elder Park, on the southern bank of the Torrens, since the early 20th century, and continue to do so.
In the twenty-first century, the banks of Torrens Lake have been transformed. Seen from the north bank, one of Adelaide’s favourite places reflects the sun on a late summer’s day. On the south side sits the Festival Centre behind the new pedestrian bridge that links the Adelaide Oval to the railway station.
The Convention Centre and adjoining glass-fronted structure look out over the Torrens and a group of rowing club sheds. These white boatsheds and the palm trees are probably the only reminders of the early to mid-twentieth century landscape. Except of course, for the water.