Hamley Bridge is a beautifully situated small town, nestled in a picturesque valley between the rivers Gilbert and Light and literally a town of bridges. Named by the government of the day, after the Acting Governor Colonel Francis Hamley, whose his wife laid the foundation stone of the River Light Railway Bridge on July 25th, 1868.
Other settlements in the area had commenced in the early 1860s, and it was not until 1868 that the junction of the two rivers came under notice as a possible site for a township. The northern railway was extended from Roseworthy to Tarlee during 1868 and a bridge, said to be the highest in the state, was built over the River Light.
A railway station was established a few hundred metres north of it in 1880 and was at first known as Alma Railway Station. The stone building, occupied as a private residence today, represents the fine architecture of the era and is heritage listed along with the signal box and water tanks, and two of the bridges over the River Light.
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