Martindale Hall, a property including a mansion and its interiors, coach house, stables, and associated structures, is closely associated with the pastoral and economic development of South Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The main house was constructed for Edmund Bowman Jr., in 1879-1880 to a design prepared by London architect E Gregg, while the coach house was probably designed by Adelaide architect EJ Woods. The construction of the mansion and other structures was supervised by Woods and main builder Robert Huckson.
Martindale Hall is an outstanding example of the grand country mansions constructed by wealthy pastoralists and represents the ‘baronial’ lifestyle achieved by them. The property including the mansion, its interiors and furnishings, and coach house retain a high degree of integrity and illustrate a way of life that no longer exists in South Australia. The classical styling, proportions and detailing of the external elevations of the mansion and coach house are of a very high quality, and the elaborate detailing of interior features such as timberwork, parquetry floor and plaster work to cornices, ceilings and gallery are finely executed. Martindale Hall remains as a testament to the successful establishment and ongoing management of the intergenerational pastoral empires created by the Bowman and Mortlock families.[2]
The property was bequeathed by the Mortlock family to the University of Adelaide in 1972 and in 1980 ‘Martindale Hall was entered on the Register of State Heritage Items and continues to be protected under the Heritage Places Act 1993 as a State Heritage Place.’[3]
‘In 1986, the University proposed that the Hall and a parcel of approximately 19 hectares of land be gifted to South Australia as part of the Jubilee 150 celebrations. The State government accepted this offer and in 1991 the land was proclaimed as the Martindale Hall Conservation Park under the NPW Act.’[4]
National and international interest in Martindale Hall was sparked with the release of Peter Weir’s 1975 film ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ when the Hall featured as the setting for Appleyard College.
In 2024 the South Australian Department for Environment and Water released the Martindale Hall Conservation Park Draft Management Plan, to ‘set the direction for the long term management of the park, including the iconic Martindale Hall.’[5]