The Barossa Colonel Light Monument is located on the 1837 Barossa Estate in Lyndoch, South Australia

The statue is a life sized bronze statue of William Light on horseback and is a landmark for the region. The arm of William Light is pointing towards the Barossa Range and commemorates the moment when William Light bestowed on the entire range the name of Barrosa in Spain. The unveiling of the Barossa William Light Monument has taken place by the Lyndoch & District Historical Society in 2016 more than 100 years after the unveiling of the Light’s Vision commemoration monument on Montefiore Hill in Adelaide.

Colonel Light and his retinue traversed the ground of the monument in the late afternoon of December 13th 1837. He bestowed on this beautiful area the name of his friend Lord Lynedoch, famous Lieutenant-General and glorious victor of the Battle of Barrosa in the Peninsula Wars (Wellington vs Napoleon) of 1811 in Spain in which Light participated as a young officer.

William Light recorded in his diary on December 13th 1837 “at length, about 5 p.m., we came to a beautiful valley which I named after my much esteemed friend, Lord Lynedoch”. On this same journey Light consequently bestowed on the entire range the name of the victorious grounds of the battle of Barrosa in Spain. The town of Lyndoch was established three years later in 1840 and is only minutes away from this monument.

The weight of the Barossa monument bronze is more than one ton and exceeds the size of the William Light Monument on Montefiore Hill in Adelaide. The weight of the marble pedestal is 7 tons. The Barossa William Light Monument in Lyndoch is the largest bronze in South Australia commemorating the outstanding achievements of William Light.

At the occasion of the unveiling Ivan Randall, President of The Lyndoch & District Historical Society, said “This is a significant event for our community, for Lyndoch and the entire Barossa. The Barossa Colonel William Light Monument will be a new Landmark in the area.“ Anne Hausler, Secretary of the Lyndoch & District Historical Society added: “The statue is a tribute to the work of the Lyndoch & District Historical Society for the past decades. We are very proud that our work has been recognized with the erection of this Monument.”