historic phot of Martindale hall

The Landscapes and Gardens of Martindale Hall

Authors: Heather Burke and Ania Kotarba

The landscape of Martindale Hall represents an integral aspect of its historical and cultural identity. Although lacking the large, formal ornamental gardens of mansions like Wairoa in the Adelaide Hills, it is the absence of such things at Martindale that makes it distinctive. One of the first and most lasting impressions when approaching the house is the dramatic presence of the neo-Georgian façade in the middle of a largely open field. The contrast between the ornateness of the architecture and the seeming emptiness of the landscape once prompted Peter Weir, the director of Picnic at Hanging Rock, to describe it as ‘like an ocean liner beached … seemingly dropped out of the sky into the middle of the outback’.

This doesn’t mean that the surrounds of the Hall were not laid out with an eye to scenery. The long snaking avenue that ends in a circular return in front of the sandstone stairs at the entrance and the raised terrace on which the house sits are designed to draw attention to the Hall. The plantings around the house emphasise a naturalistic approach, with expansive lawns, small copses of trees, a functional kitchen orchard and native plantings. An avenue of Aleppo pines once lined the approach from the main gate but were removed by the University of Adelaide sometime before 1981.

black and white photo of Martindale Hall
Martindale Hall, Mintaro. The Georgian style mansion was built by wealthy bachelor pastoralist Edmund Bowman Junior, c.1880. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
Sepia image of Martindale Hall from a distance
Martindale Hall estate, Mintaro, viewed from the hill behind the house and showing the glass houses and orchard as well as the house, c. 1882. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

One of the first visitors to the Hall upon its completion in 1880 noted the vast stretch of land on which it stood: ‘The mansion, which is situated upon a slight eminence facing the east, is surrounded by a park-like expanse of undulating country … as far as the eye can reach.’1 According to another, ‘The surroundings of Martindale are very picturesque, and the grounds, though newly laid out in the form of terraces and grass plots, will ere long add to the imposing effect, as they are thoroughly irrigated from the reservoir … or the River Wakefield’.2

The minimalism of the gardens was a result of the lack of water as supplies had to be pumped from the River Wakefield up to a reservoir on a hill behind the house, down to a freshwater tank, and then up to the roof of the house to supply the bathrooms and kitchens.3 There was little extra available for frivolous gardens. Early photographs just after the Hall was built show it without fencing or any plantings around the house, apart from the rear orchard extending west of the house. The orchard is still in existence and the trees still bear fruit.

“The surroundings of Martindale are very picturesque, and the grounds, though newly laid out in the form of terraces and grass plots, will ere long add to the imposing effect, as they are thoroughly irrigated from the reservoir … or the River Wakefield.”

black and white landscape photograph
Martindale Hall and the surrounding land, when it was owned by Edmund Bowman, c. 1885. Photograph by Samuel White Sweet. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Black and white phot of a landscape
Martindale Hall stables when the property was owned by Edmund Bowman, c. 1885. Photograph by Samuel White Sweet. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
Mrs Bowman at Martindale Hall, c. 1887, SLSA.
Martindale Hall when it was owned by Edmund Bowman, with two women and a child in the garden, c. 1885 (Warburton c. 1887). Photograph by Samuel White Sweet. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Later photographs indicate the surrounds were subsequently divided into smaller spaces by timber and trellis fencing, and possibly a decorative garden at the rear, a short line of stubby fantail palms between the house and the circular drive, and, eventually, ivy climbing the front façade. A small garden immediately north of the house featured a symmetrical layout, accentuated by ornate botanical compositions and sandstone urns.

On her arrival at the Hall in the late 1930s, ‘Eleanor Barbour’ (in reality Dorothy Dolling, Country Women’s Association member, journalist and editor) remarked upon the beauty of its gardens: ‘Passing from the long drive through tall trees and lined on both sides with lilacs in full bloom … the visitor sees suddenly the lovely home behind the broad flight of steps beside smooth sloping lawns and flower beds.’4

Passing from the long drive through tall trees and lined on both sides with lilacs in full bloom … the visitor sees suddenly the lovely home behind the broad flight of steps beside smooth sloping lawns and flower beds.

The approach to the house was unusual, however, because guests had to pass the outbuildings before they reached the Hall. Eleanor thus felt that the house ‘was on the wrong side of the road, its gate was in the wrong place, and its stables were on the wrong side of the house.’5

The grounds of the Hall were far more extensive than the immediate lawns of the main building. Associated outbuildings included the coach house suitable for six carriages, stables, greenhouses, kennels and a pheasants house.6 Both Edmund Bowman and W. T. Mortlock imported pheasants to the estate for hunting, with Mortlock also introducing partridges.7

Black and white photo of stables horses and people
Stables at Martindale Hall, c. 1890. Photograph by Kelly & Co. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

Further afield is a pump house on the river, a race course three kilometres to the south, a dam that ‘looked like a miniature lake on the face of the country’,8 a cricket field across the road from the entrance gate, and a polo field in the paddock in front of the house. The drive originally continued past the end of the circular drive, through a decorative timber gate, and south to the racecourse.

black and white photo of Martindale Hall with women gathered at the front
View of Martindale Hall with a large group of women gathered in the front, c. 1949. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.
black and white photo of three women standing on the stairs of martindale hall.
Dorothy Mortlock and two other women standing on steps leading to Martindale Hall. Reproduced courtesy of State Library of South Australia, Adelaide.

From at least 1901 until 1951 the Mortlocks opened the lawns and gardens to host fetes and teas in aid of various charitable causes, and the grounds were used for occasional invited hunts by the Adelaide Hunt Club. Almost nothing is known of the gardeners who cared for this landscape, apart from Tom Jacka, who was a gardener there in 1947.9

The larger estate significantly contributed to the pastoral and economic landscape of South Australia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The gardens at the Hall not only enhance the aesthetic value of the estate but also provide insights into the horticultural practices and lifestyles of the era. The ongoing maintenance and preservation of these grounds is crucial for sustaining the historical and botanical heritage of Martindale Hall and offering a tangible connection to the past for contemporary and future visitors.

Footnotes

  1. Adelaide Observer, 25 December 1880, 32. ↩︎
  2. Frearson’s Monthly Illustrated Adelaide News, 1 November 1880, 3. ↩︎
  3. Hignett and Company, Martindale Hall Conservation Study, Stage 1 April 1983, unpublished draft report to Property Services, University of Adelaide, 1983, 19. ↩︎
  4. Chronicle, 2 November 1939, 49. ↩︎
  5. Chronicle, 2 November 1939, 49. ↩︎
  6. Chronicle, 14 October 1943, 31. ↩︎
  7. Advertiser, 27 October 1903, 7. ↩︎
  8. Chronicle ,1 October 1904, 50. ↩︎
  9. Northern Argus, 15 May 1947, 7. ↩︎