The remnants of the homestead of Adelaide's original planner, Colonel William Light, have been unearthed during an archaeological dig on a mothballed brewery site near the city centre.
The dig at the West End site is nearing its final stages, with brewing company Lion confirming the discovery of some items of interest.
"We always knew there was the possibility of historically significant discoveries in relation to Colonel Light at the site, which is why we engaged specialist archaeologists to undertake this important work," a company spokesperson said on Wednesday.
Lion has now also engaged International Conservation Services to provide advice on how best to preserve the finds.
It has also confirmed plans to sell the site in the coming months.
"We're continuing the sale process whilst working with our expert team of conservators, archaeologists, and Heritage SA to document the discoveries and determine the best way for the site's heritage to be recognised," the spokesperson said.
"We expect a further period of excavation will be required before final documentation relating to the discoveries will be produced by our team of archaeologists and conservators."
Col Light was appointed SA's first surveyor-general in 1836 but resigned two years later, largely due to ill health.
He chose the site for the new colony's capital and designed the layout of its streets, six city squares, gardens and the figure-eight Adelaide parklands, in a plan sometimes referred to as Light's vision.
His home was demolished in 1926 to make way for a warehouse and was later taken over by the South Australian Brewing Company.
In 2020 Lion announced plans to close the existing West End Brewery, with the final kegs coming off the production line in June last year.
At the time the company said the original West End Brewery tower building, which was heritage-listed, would be preserved.
A significant number of artefacts at the site were also catalogued and sorted for donation to the SA Library and other local historical and cultural institutions.
