Cox Creek, also Cox's Creek, previously Cock's Creek, is a small stream in the southern Adelaide Hills. Cox's Creek was also the name of the settlement which became Bridgewater, South Australia.
The creek arises near Uraidla and flows in a southerly direction through the Piccadilly Valley, and joins the Onkaparinga River south of Bridgewater[1] near the Mylor bridge.
It flows through the Raywood gardens,[2] [3] which, along with the large home, are heritage-listed on the SA Heritage Register.[4]
Robert Cock emigrated with his family to South Australia on, arriving in December 1836. He led a small exploration party from Adelaide to Lake Alexandrina in 1837, on Christmas Day camping at, and with some difficulty crossing, the creek which was named for him.[5]
A settlement was later formed on the creek, some few kilometres from where Cock and party made their crossing, first naming it "Cock's Creek", then "Cox's Creek",[6] finally "Bridgewater" named after James Addison's Bridgewater Hotel and John Dunn's Bridgewater Mill, which was powered by water from a dam on the creek.[7]