Mintaro, South Australia

Mintaro is located in the eastern Clare Valley, about 126 km north of Adelaide, South Australia east of the Horrocks Highway.[3] The town lies at the south-eastern corner of the Hundred of Clare, in the undulating hills of South Australia's Mid North, within the Clare Valley wine region.[4] The region contains a series of valleys with altitudes ranging from 300m to over 500m above sea level, with an annual average of 9.3 sunlight hours per day.[5] The town is situated in a valley below Mount Horrocks at the crossroads of Jolly Way, Copper Ore Road, Min Man Road and Mintaro/Leasingham Roads. The main road in Mintaro is Burra Street.

Mintaro's climate is Mediterranean, with typically warm to hot summers and cool to cold moist winters.[6] Daily average temperatures range from 8.0 °C in winter to 21.4 °C in summer with an annual average rainfall of 632mm. Rainfall mostly occurs in winter and spring months (June - September).[6] There is occasional hail and although rare, snowfall has been recorded in the area.[6]

A panoramic view of the town of Mintaro in 1880

The original inhabitants of the Clare Valley were the Indigenous Ngadjuri people, who spent thousands of years in the area before European settlement.[10][11] It is believed that they had major camping sites at Clare and Auburn, including the region now known as Mintaro.[12]

The Mintaro district was explored by Europeans in mid-1839, first by John Hill, and then by Edward John Eyre.[13] The area north of Gawler was officially opened by a series of special surveys in the early 1840s. Land in the Barossa and Clare Valleys was quickly taken up. The first settler in Mintaro was pastoralist James Stein who from 1841 held occupation licences for extensive sheep runs stretching from Mount Horrocks through Farrell Flat to the Burra district.[14] Stein subsequently established his homestead on a tributary of the Wakefield River, in a valley beneath Mount Horrocks, about three kilometres west of present Mintaro.[15]

The Mintaro (now Magpie & Stump) Hotel in 1938 looking south

With the discovery of copper at Kapunda in 1844, and then Burra in 1845, the area became attractive to both settlers and investors. In 1848 the Patent Copper Company established the 'Gulf Road' between the Burra Mine and Port Wakefield, along which bullock teams carried copper ore for shipment to Adelaide.[16] Between 1848 and 1851 several villages were established along the Gulf Road to take advantage of the trade generated by the bullock traffic. The towns were established about 9.0 miles (14.5 km) apart because that was the distance a bullock team could travel in a day.[3] Among the first of these towns was Mintaro.[17]

Mintaro is situated on land which was bought originally by Joseph and Henry Gilbert. They divided sections of the surrounding land into 80 allotments in 1849.[18] The village of Mintaro was originally intended as a stopping and resting place for the bullock teams (muleteers) carting the copper ore from the mine to the port, and returning with coal and supplies.[19] The first allotments surveyed and sold in Mintaro faced the Gulf Road (now Burra Street). As a result, Mintaro's early layout reflects the copper route, with streets aligned at 45 degrees to the north-south grid of the surveyed sections and government roads.[17]

The railway station servicing Mintaro in 1901

The abandoned railway station in 2021 (100 years later)

The Magpie and Stump Hotel, at the entrance to the village, was first licensed (as the Mintaro Hotel) in December 1850, though it may have been operating earlier. The period from 1850-1860 was a prosperous one. A large proportion of the town's buildings date from this time and are located on the original subdivision.[19] Significant slate deposits were discovered in the early 1850s by a local farmer and the Mintaro Slate Quarry opened in 1854. By the early 1860s Mintaro slate was famous. By the early 1880s there were about 50 men employed at the quarries.[16]

The town's development was set back when the railway from Adelaide to Gawler was opened in 1857, and the copper teams were re-routed through Saddleworth and Riverton.[19] However, the slate quarries were being expanded at this time, and a flour mill was built in 1858. Mintaro developed as a service centre for the surrounding farming districts, which provided supplies for the mining townships at Kapunda and Burra. Over the next decade the population grew, and in 1866 the village expanded to an adjacent section.[20]

Leadlight window at the historic Magpie & Stump Hotel

During the 1860s and 1870s public buildings appeared in the town, including a school, and a substantial number of Irish Catholics settled in and around Mintaro. In 1876 the population was recorded as 400.[20] The Burra mine closed in 1877, but Mintaro continued to develop as a rural service centre during the 1870s and early 1880s, when pastoral and agricultural activities boomed in the state's mid north.[16]

Mintaro railway station (renamed Merildin in 1918) was built in 1870 when the northern railway line was extended from Roseworthy to Burra.[16] It is situated about 7 kilometres east of the township. Mintaro was well placed to continue as an agricultural service centre despite the closure of the Burra mines. The surrounding farming districts of the fertile Gilbert Valley were able to reap the rewards of excellent wheat and wool prices during South Australia's rural boom of the 1870s and early 1880s.[19] This wealth was reflected in two large pastoral properties near Mintaro. Both Martindale Hall, built in 1879-80, and Kadlunga homestead, purchased in 1881 by Sir Samuel Way, reflected a way of life similar to that of English nobility. Mintaro, like rural village counterparts in England, provided these properties with a ready source of local labour.[16]

Live hare coursing was conducted from 1884 to 1986 (102 years) by the Mintaro Greyhound Coursing Club. Following passage of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 106 of 1985, live hare coursing stopped, but drag lure coursing continued until 1997, when it permanently ceased.[3]

The early 20th century, until the 1929 Depression, was a relatively prosperous period for the rural lower and mid north regions. After 1930, there was a general decline in rural populations. The continuing function of the slate quarry helped Mintaro survive, but little development took place within the town for several decades.[17]

Because of its rich natural and cultural heritage, Mintaro was designated as a State Heritage Area on 20 September 1984. The designation of a State Heritage Area is intended to ensure that changes to and development within the Mintaro area are managed in a way that the area's cultural significance is maintained. During the latter part of the 20th century some adaptation of historic buildings occurred to serve a growing demand in tourism and, in recent times, there has been increased residential development.[17]

Mintaro slate is produced from what is believed to be the oldest continuing operating quarry in Australia.[29][30] The slate was discovered in the early 1850s by a local farmer. In 1856 an English stonemason, Thompson Priest, leased the slate bearing area adjacent to the site of the original discovery and mining began in 1856.[31] Cornish Methodist miners were brought from England for this purpose.[19][31] The open-cut quarry is located about 1.5 km west of the township.

Workers mining Mintaro slate at the quarry, c. 1880

By 1860 Mintaro was South Australia's leading producer of high quality slate.[29] Mintaro slate was exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibitions where it received the highest awards for large slab size and excellent flatness.[32] In 1910, the slate was described as some of the finest stone to be got in any part of the world.[33] Among its many uses and qualities, the perfectly flat slate surface makes it ideal for billiard and pool tables.[34] Walter Lindrum, the Australian billiard player who was the world champion from 1932 to 1950, praised the quality of Mintaro slate claiming it was equal to anything he had played on.[35] He later practiced at his Melbourne home on a table made from a single slab of slate from Mintaro.[3] Australian tennis player, Lleyton Hewitt, installed single slab three-quarter-sized tables also made from Mintaro Slate in his Adelaide house and Melbourne apartment.[36]

The slate was used initially as a local building material as well as in the construction of fermenting tanks at Clare Valley wineries, acid leaching tanks at the Kapunda copper mines, cricket pitches, water troughs, tombstones, fencing, switchboards and school blackboards.[32] Most of the heritage listed homes and ruins in Mintaro are built predominantly from locally mined slate.[37]

When Thompson Priest died in 1888, his quarry was acquired by a Melbourne firm. During the economic depression of the 1890s, the quarry languished for several years and wound down its production. In 1911 a local syndicate, the Mintaro Slate and Flagstone Company Limited, was formed and in 1912 an area of 60-80 acres adjacent to the quarry was purchased from Sir Samuel Way, together with the Melbourne agency which had been the distributor for Victoria.[31] With effective new management increased slate production began.[17] In 1981 the quarrying operations were again sold and reformed as the Mintaro Slate Quarries Pty Ltd, wholly owned in South Australia.[31]

The slate and flagstone deposits are part of the Mintaro Shale Formation within the Belair Subgroup. They were deposited on the sea floor during low energy conditions in the Adelaide Rift Complex about 800 million years ago.[38] They are grey, evenly bedded, finely laminated metasiltstones or slate with minor dolomitic siltstone. At Mintaro, the natural jointing and fracturing are widely spaced and facilitates the mining of large slabs.[36] Many prominent buildings in Adelaide feature Mintaro slate, including Parliament House, St Francis Xavier Cathedral, South Australian Museum, Supreme Court, Adelaide Town Hall, St Peters Cathedral and Mortlock Library.[29][36] Mintaro slate has been used in every Australian city and also in many regional areas.[32]

In recent time use of the slate has established a niche market that includes paving, kitchen and table tops, fireplaces, flooring, verandah edging and heritage surfaces. The slate remains well known internationally for its use in billiard tables.[39]

The heritage listed Martindale Hall is a Neoclassical and Georgian styled mansion, modelled on the Dalemain estate in England's Lake District.[40] The Hall is situated within 19 hectares (47 acres) of pastoral property and located about 2.5 km south of Mintaro. It was built for Edmund Bowman after he inherited the Martindale Estate from his father.[41] Completed in 1880, the mansion was built of freestone from the neighboring Manoora quarries.[42] Almost all the skilled tradesmen who worked on Martindale came from England who returned when the construction was completed.[43] The house and surrounding property was named after Martindale in Cumbria, which was close to the family's home town. The 32-room mansion cost £30,000 (about A$5.62 million today) to build.[44] Bowman, who was a well-known pastoralist in South Australia, used the property for sheep farming.[45]

Martindale Hall in 1932

In 1890, after several years of droughts and low wool prices, growing debt forced Bowman to put the Martindale homestead up for sale. It was bought by William Tennant Mortlock in 1892. Mortlock continued with sheep farming, developed the gardens and orchards and pursued his horse racing interests.[46] He was a supporter of racing, and bred Yudnappinna, which won the A.R.C. Grand National in 1911.[47] Mortlock sat in the State Parliament for several years representing the electoral district of Flinders.[48] Mortlock and his wife, Rosina Tennant, had six children although only two survived to adulthood.

When William Mortlock died in 1913 the family estate was inherited by his son, John Andrew Tennant Mortlock, who returned to South Australia to take control of the estate, which included Martindale Hall. He resided at the Hall and became a successful pastoralist and stud Merino breeder.[49] A keen traveller, Mortlock decorated and furnished the Hall with mementos from Africa and Asia. Most are still on display today and include a genuine 16th Century ceremonial Samurai suit.[50] An active member of St Peter's Anglican Church in Mintaro, Mortlock was also a keen yachtsman, an amateur film-maker and an orchid exhibitor.[51] Shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer, Mortlock married Dorothy Beech in December 1948.[52] Dying childless in March 1950, his wife became the heir to the Mortlock fortune. Preferring to live in Adelaide, Dorothy left after her husband's death and the mansion remained uninhabited and derelict for almost 30 years.[40] Upon her death in 1979, she bequeathed Martindale Hall and the surrounding estate to the University of Adelaide.[53] On 24 July 1980, it was listed as a state heritage place on the South Australian Heritage Register.[54]

In 1986, Martindale Hall and the surrounding estate was handed to the South Australian Government by the University. 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."[55] From 1991 to late 2014, the property was managed under lease as a tourism enterprise, offering heritage bed and breakfast accommodation, weddings, other functions and access to the grounds and Hall to day visitors.[56][57] From 2015 the property was managed by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, which in August 2015 received an unsolicited bid for the purchase or long-term lease of Martindale Hall, wanting to turn it into a five-star luxury resort.[58] However, the National Trust bid to stop private developers taking control of the Hall because they wanted the estate to remain in public hands and be accessible to everyone.[59]

The iconic and award-winning Australian film, Picnic at Hanging Rock, was partially filmed at Martindale Hall in 1975.[40] The Hall remains open to the public and attracts about 100,000 visitors annually.[60]

The heritage listed, 2,367.73-hectare (5,850.8-acre) mixed-farming property of Kadlunga is located about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Mintaro.[15][61] Kadlunga has been described as one of the most historic properties in the Mid North area.[61] The property has three rivers which pass through it—Broughton, Wakefield and Hutt—and has an annual average rainfall of 600–650 millimetres (24–26 in). It has 36 dams, 15 bores and wells, and two water licenses.[62]

Kadlunga Homestead being renovated in 1919

The first European settler at Kadlunga was pastoralist James Stein who, from 1841, held occupation licences for extensive sheep runs stretching from Mount Horrocks through Farrell Flat to the Burra district. Stein established his homestead on a tributary to the Wakefield River, in a valley beneath Mount Horrocks, and named it Kadlunga, an Aboriginal word for 'sweet hills', after the abundant honeysuckle located there at the time.[63][64] However, the property was also known as Katalunga in its early period.[65] Stein built a two-storey homestead, completed in 1857, constructed of random coursed bluestone.[61]

Sir Samuel Way, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia purchased the property in 1881.[64] In following decades, Kadlunga Station became a famed sheep and horse stud. The first registered Percheron horses to arrive in Australia, in 1915, were sent to Kadlunga.[66] The property was successively owned by some prominent South Australians including John Chewings, Sir Samuel Way and Alexander Melrose.[61] The Gosse family (descendants of Melrose) owned the property for over 100 years before selling the estate in 2017.[15][67]

The original 1857 house was virtually rebuilt during the 1919-20 alterations for Alexander Melrose.[61] The existing bluestone was rendered during the extensions to match the colour of the new walls of locally quarried, roughly squared random-coursed sandstone, with brick quoins and surrounds to openings. The house now consists of fifteen rooms and all interior fittings date from the 1919-20 alterations. The verandah enclosed the two-storeyed section and the laundry and kitchen in the single-storey wing to the north, while the balcony almost encircles the first floor of the main body of the house.[68] Extensive farm dry stone walls were built by Italian prisoners of war during World War II.[69]

Due to intrinsic architectural significance and associated history with prominent South Australian Sir Samuel Way and other early pioneers, the historic stone buildings of the Kadlunga Estate were listed on the Register of the National Estate on 21 March 1978.[68]

Merildin is a historic locality easterly adjacent to Mintaro and now part of the bounded locality of Mintaro. Mintaro Railway station on the northern line to Burra was built about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of Mintaro in 1870. In 1918 it was renamed to Merildin station.[16] Merildin is considered to be the main catchment area of the upper Wakefield River. The name Merildin is derived from an Indigenous word meaning "stopping place".[70]

The Mintaro state heritage area is a rare South Australian example of a well-preserved, mid 19th century village.[29] Thirty-three specific sites within the Mintaro state heritage area are state heritage-listed.[71] It also provides tourist accommodation for visitors to the Clare Valley. Mintaro's main commercial centre and the majority of its significant 19th century buildings are located along Burra Street.[19] The town is relatively isolated with little surrounding development.[20]

The historic centre of Mintaro contains a predominance of early Victorian buildings and other sites that contribute to its character and designation as a state heritage area.[72] At one time, the town contained all the basic facilities needed to cater for its own population and for the surrounding area but today many of these buildings have been converted to guest accommodation. It has a number of bed and breakfast establishments and a hotel. There are two winery cellar doors in the town, galleries, eateries, a gift shop and a hedge maze.[73][74] Surrounded by vineyards and farms, Mintaro is still an agricultural community.[75]

A 100 megawatt solar farm, to be known as the Chaff Mill Solar Farm, was proposed in 2017 to be located on farmland about 3.5 km to the north-east of the town.[76]

• 
  Magpie & Stump Hotel, Mintaro
• 
  Mintaro Institute hall
• 
  Mintaro Catholic Church
• 
  Mintaro Anglican church, now a Healing Space
• 
  An 1800s cottage in Burra Street
• 
  A renovated Mintaro heritage cottage

• List of wineries in the Clare Valley
• List of historic houses in South Australia
• List of mines in Australia
• List of power stations in South Australia
• List of museums in South Australia
• A landmark of faith : Church of the Immaculate Conception Mintaro and its parishioners, 1856-2006 / Gerald Lally

• Mintaro History and Touring Information
• Clare Valley Tourism
• Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council