The Grange
Explore the home of Captain Charles Sturt
The Grange
Sturt's home in South Australia
Built in 1840/41 for the Sturt family, the ‘Grange’ took central stage in a property of 390 acres in the Reed Beds of the Port River creek and the Torrens River. The property covered Sections 900, 901 and 1006.
The Grange circa 1928
State Library of South Australia B-4558
Sturt's Family Home
Sturt's family home was described by his biographer, his daughter in law, Beatrix Sturt as follows:
​
“The little paradise was peopled by a variety of friendly beasts and birds. Here the kangaroo lay down with the dog and the cockateel with the household. Cattle, poultry and bees were carefully tended; to Mrs Sturt the dairy was a source of pride,
if not of profit. Among the horses were veterans of the Central Expedition”.
The Sturt family remained in their home until 1853 when the education of their sons required that they return to England. The property was then leased to various tenants until 1877, when it was sold by Lady Sturt, to Spence, Murray and Harvey who subdivided it to create the village of Grange. Ownership of ‘The Grange’ remained in private hands until 1957 when the Corporation of Henley and Grange purchased the property and gifted the property under Deed to the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum Trust Inc.
This iconic property was declared a Historic Relic on March 6, 1969 and placed on the Register of the National Estate on March 27, 1978. On July 24, 1980, it was registered as an item on the State Heritage of South Australia.
Painting of The Grange
by Charles Sturt 1842
Construction of the Homestead
The two distinct sections of the Grange were constructed a year apart. The red-bricked section (originally stuccoed) housed the main living areas whilst the white rendered section known as the Nursery Wing afforded the children accommodation with bathroom and toilet plus a kitchen, laundry and eating areas for the servants.​
One of the earliest homes built in the district, it also had the distinction of being constructed of brick and was deemed by Sturt as the most English looking residence in the colony.
The design was based on Brownlow Hill, Camden, New South Wales, the home of his good friend George McLeay, who had accompanied him on the River Murray expedition. McLeay generously sent couch grass to Sturt for his swathe of lawn.​
​
The location was ideal for Sturt, the wide beach reminiscent of his
home county of Dorset England. A keen gardener and Vice President of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia, he exchanged a variety of native and imported plant species for planting.
The property had an extensive orchard of grapes, pear, plum and apples trees while the house garden was the typical ‘survival garden’ of the 1840s.
The Restoration of the Grange
In February 1956, the Corporation of Henley and Grange purchased the property fearing it would be demolished. The major issue for Council was the manner of the restoration and how it was to be funded. ​In 1960 a public appeal in South Australia was launched to fund the restoration of the historic residence of Captain Charles Sturt. This project was led by the highly regarded South Australian architect Frank Kenneth Milne (1885-1980). Milne was appointed to oversee the fundraising and the planned restoration of The Grange.
​David Sturt-Bray, a descendant of the Sturt Family and member of the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum Trust played a major role in garnering support for the philanthropic cause from influential civic and business figures, politicians and the Sturt family in England. September 1961 saw construction begin on the dilapidated former Nursery Wing in order to house caretakers.
M.L.W. Green of Flinders Park was tasked to build the cottage at a cost of £3,080, with construction starting in April 1962. Frederick Charles Seewitz was employed to supply and install the slate roof and then Mr and Mrs Doig and their four children, recently arrived from England, became the first caretakers to reside in The Grange.​
During the restoration process, the Corporation of Henley and Grange generously gifted the title to the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum Trust Incorporated in 1966. The agreement was subject to the condition that the Trust was required to preserve in perpetuity the property and to operate it as a memorial museum and tourist attraction.​
The Grange was officially opened on 2 October 1967 by the Governor of South Australia Lieutenant General Sir Eric Bastyan KCMG, KCVO, KBE, CB.​
