Burra played an important part in the history of South Australia, not least because it saved South Australia from bankruptcy. In 1845, a shepherd stumbled on greenish rocks that would become the ‘Monster Mine’, so rich in copper that it would, in its heyday, supply 5% of the world’s copper. Much of the town’s mining history is beautifully preserved, including miners’ stone cottages, the cellars of the Unicorn Brewery and mine buildings such as the restored Morphett Engine House museum. Burra’s history is as rich as the copper deposit that made it famous, and best experienced using a Burra Heritage Passport (available from the Visitor Information Centre).
 

FAST FACTS!

• Examples of petroglyphs used by Ngadjuri people to express their culture and beliefs have been discovered at Firewood Creek, just a little to the northeast of Burra

• The earliest miners excavated their homes from the banks of the Burra Creek; there’s a great example in ‘Creek Street’

• In 2017, Burra was placed on the National Heritage List for having outstanding heritage value to the nation. It is the only town on the list

• Three kilometres north of Burra is the cottage at Cobb & Co Corner, famous for gracing the cover of rock band Midnight Oil’s Diesel & Dust album

• Visit nearby Red Banks Conservation Park to see where a Diprotodon fossil was found. The large marsupial fossil can be found at the Burra Railway Station