Spalding is a small town with a population of just over 200, and is located north of the Clare Valley. Spalding is located 117 km north of Adelaide and 43 km from the historic copper mining town of Burra. It is mainly a farming community and also is home to a slate quarry. Spalding was named by its founder, William Edward Lunn, after his birth place, the market town of Spalding, Lincolnshire in the UK.
Prior to 1869, there were five sheep runs in the Spalding area: Bundaleer, Booborowie, Canowie, Hill River and Bungaree. From this date, the Spalding area was made available to farmers and a farming-centred community grew. On 30 July 1885, the District Council of Spalding was proclaimed; it remained until 1997, when it merged into the Northern Areas Council. In 1925 a post office was built in Spalding.
Located 15 km south of Spalding, Geralka Farm is an activity-based destination which is also a working farm with over 2,000 merino sheep and a considerable number of hectares under wheat cropping.
Riverton to Spalding Railway
The Spalding railway line on the South Australian Railways network branched from the Adelaide-Peterborough line at Riverton and passed through the Clare Valley to Spalding. The line opened from Riverton to Clare on 5 July 1918, being extended to Spalding on 9 January 1922. The cessation of railway services was a consequence of the Ash Wednesday bushfires in February 1983, which caused major damage to infrastructure between Sevenhill and Penwortham. The line was formally closed on 17 April 1984. The section of the line between Riverton and Barinia has been converted into a Rail Trail, known as The Riesling Trail. The section from Riverton through Rhynie to Auburn was subsequently redeveloped as the Rattler Rail Trail and opened in 2010.
