The Big Hand in Gawler is part of the War Memorial in Pioneer Park. The hand sculpture was designed and developed by artist Robert Hannaford AM, a renowned artist in South Australia.
The RSL wanted something different for the War Memorial, commissioned Robert Hannaford in 2017. Robert Hannaford 
has produced several sculptures, in addition to paintings, drawings, and portraits.
The big hand sculpture is on the opposite side of Pioneer Park from the Gawler Visitor Information Centre. Parking at the visitor centre and walking across the park is easier than parking near the sculpture itself.
Pioneer Park was originally Gawler’s first cemetery, part of the town’s original plan by Colonel William Light. The first recorded burial was two-year old Ellen Fielding on 10 January, 1847.
The cemetery records were kept by the Minister of St George’s Anglican Church for the first 10 years. The land was used for burials until 1870 when it was officially closed. St George Anglican Cemetery 
was established nine years earlier in 1861, the oldest surviving cemetery in Gawler. The cemetery in Pioneer Park was dedicated as parkland in the 1930s and redeveloped afterwards.