Martindale Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Martindale Hall |
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Town or city | Near Mintaro, South Australia |
| Country | Australia |
| Coordinates | 33°56′16″S 138°43′46″E / 33.9378°S 138.7294°E |
| Construction started | 1877 |
| Completed | 1880 |
| Cost | £30,000 |
| Client | Edmond Bowman |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Ebenezer Gregg |
| Engineer | Edward John Woods |
Martindale Hall is a Georgian style mansion near Mintaro, South Australia which appeared in the film Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Contents
Construction
Martindale Hall was built for a wealthy bachelor pastoralist, Edmund Bowman Jr (1855–1921). The architect was Ebenezer Gregg of London, the chief supervisor was Adelaide architect Edward John Woods and the builder was R. Huckson, who completed the work in 1880. Due to the specialist nature of the work involved, 50 of the 60 tradesmen were brought from England, and they returned when it was completed. The hall has some 32 rooms and also a large seven-room cellar, and its environs at the time also included a polo ground, a racecourse, a boating lake and a cricket pitch.
History
A decade after its construction, debt and drought forced the Bowmans to sell all their holdings. William Tennant Mortlock (son of William Ranson Mortlock) bought Martindale Hall in 1891. His son, John Andrew Tennant Mortlock, developed Martindale Station and built up an impressive collection of artwork which was displayed at the Hall. Dying childless, his wife became the heir to the Mortlock fortune, and she bequeathed Martindale Hall and the estate to the University of Adelaide in 1979 upon her death.
On 21 March 1978, it was listed on the now-defunct Register of the National Estate On 24 July 1980, it was listed as a state heritage place on the South Australian Heritage Register.
Martindale Hall along with 19 hectares (47 acres) of grounds were later handed to the South Australian Government by the University in 1986. On 5 December 1991, the land on which the building is located was proclaimed as the Martindale Hall Conservation Park under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 for "the purpose of conserving the historic features of the land". From 1991 to late 2014, the property was managed under lease as a tourism enterprise, offering heritage accommodation, weddings and other functions, and access to the grounds and Hall to day visitors. The property is currently managed by the Department for Environment and Water, which in August 2015 received an unsolicited bid for the purchase or long-term lease of Martindale Hall. by the National Trust of South Australia.
Usage
The Hall and grounds are currently open to the public, seven days a week, as a day visitor site and museum.
Gallery
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Edmund Bowman Jr in 1914.
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William Tennant Mortlock in 1901.
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John Mortlock in 1936.
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Martindale Hall in 1932.
