Colonel William Light’s Tree
Located out the front of Kies Family Wines, is a historically significant tree.
~ The tree is 7m in diameter, with some speculating that it is 700 years old
~ It is the naming place of the Barossa, first sketched by Colonel William Light in 1837
~ It is currently not protected by heritage listing.
~ It was just awarded the 2025 Trees South Australian Tree of the Year – huge thank you to all who voted!
A huge thank you to all who voted…
Winner: 2025 Trees South Australian Tree of the Year
We are thrilled to announce that the tree was just awarded the 2025 Trees South Australian Tree of the Year, thanks to a massive amount of support from the local community.
The Naming Place of the Barossa
On 13 December 1837, Colonel William Light camped in the shade of this magnificent gumtree for two days while he surveyed the area.
It reminded him of when he fought in the battle of Barrosa in 1811 and named the valley in its honour. Today this world famous valley is known as the Barossa.
The History of the Tree
The tree has been widely documented as the birthplace of the Barossa, but was unfortunately a heritage listing application was rejected in 2012, leaving the tree unprotected into the future.
We want to acknowledge the hundreds of hours of hard work put in by the Lyndoch Historical Society (in particular Ann Hausler and Reuben Batten) and Kim Michelmore in raising awareness for this ancient tree.
By a stroke of luck Reuben Batten has joined our team at Kies Family Wines, and when we compared Colonel William Light’s Sketch to the hill line in a picture of our cellar door before renovation in 1984, it is undeniably the exact spot.
Now that we have extra evidence we plan to reapply for heritage listing.
The Award
Over the past months, Reuben had mentioned that he had nominated the tree for the South Australia Tree of the Year award and when it began losing we started an online compaign to raise awareness.
My thinking was that by winning this award, we would be able to raise awareness about the tree, which would help in our efforts to heritage list the tree later on. The response was overwhelming:
~ 400 people liked or commented on the post and over 50 people shared it.
~ The campaign reached over 22,000 people.
~ Nearly 600 votes were counted for our tree.
We need your help!
The tree is currently not heritage listed, meaning that should the road need to be widened, the tree could be removed without any protection.
With the new and large development in Concordia, we envisage traffic to the area will increase into the future.
Our goal is to heritage list this tree and preserve it forever – so we would be so grateful if you would sign the petition for the preservation of this significant tree.
MEDIA: Article in The Leader
“Is this where Barossa began?”, recently featured in the Barossa Leader on July 16, 2025, shines a light on a remarkable piece of local history: a mighty River Red Gum located near the road at the front of Kies Family Wines in Lyndoch.
Locals believe this very tree shaded surveyor general Colonel William Light during his four day camping sketch trip in December 1837, the moment he named and effectively birthed the Barossa Valley
MEDIA: Reuben Batten on 5AA Nights with Matthew Pantelis
Colonel Light’s Tree: A Living Landmark Worth Protecting
In a powerful 15-minute feature on 5AA Nights with Matthew Pantelis, Reuben Batten brought national attention to one of the Barossa’s most historically significant natural landmarks: Colonel Light’s Tree, which is located next to the road, out the front of Kies Family Wines, in Lyndoch.
I petition the South Australian Heritage Council to register this significant tree…
By signing this petition I support this historically significant tree being added to the South Australian Heritage Register, thus protecting it into the future.
