Stirling

Stirling is a town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia, approximately 15 km from the Adelaide city centre. It is administered by the Adelaide Hills Council. Neighbouring townships are Crafers and Aldgate. Other nearby towns are Heathfield and Bridgewater. Of those five, Stirling has by far the largest commercial strip, with the greatest number and widest variety of shops, and the only banks. Stirling East, a similar sized area towards Aldgate, is home to several schools.

Stirling is named after Edward Stirling. He was the illegitimate son of Archibald Stirling, a planter in the British West Indies, and a Creole woman.^[3] He was able to travel to South Australia because of a financial gift from his father who had been freshly compensated for his slaves on the emancipation of the British West Indies.^[4]

Founded in 1854, Stirling grew rapidly as a result of the expansion of apple growing and market gardening to satisfy the demand of the expanding city of Adelaide, whose centre is only 15 kilometres from Stirling. It also developed as a residential address for English migrants who could afford it, to escape Adelaide’s hot summers, often 10 degrees cooler than Adelaide. As a result, many historic, grand mansions can be found in the area. Today, farming has declined as more of the region has been urbanised, with many Stirling residents commuting to Adelaide daily.