Picnic at the historic Hanging Rock mansion is still scary

Martindale Hall in Montaro, in the Clare Valley, South Australia, played the school in the 1975 Australian classic, Picnic at Hanging Rock. Photo: Isaac Forman/SATC

It was 2011 and a visitor to historic Martindale Hall in Montaro, in the Clare Valley, South Australia, was having trouble keeping an eye on his young son who kept disappearing into a room on the first floor.

Finally he coaxed her out but he was annoyed at having to leave his friend.

“What friend?” And this is where the story – easily printed and placed over the fireplace in the room in question – gives visitors goosebumps.

Helen Morse in the 1975 film.

The boy insisted that he had been playing with a girl with long curly hair who “looked like an angel”. No such child was found. But a boy with long hair – just like fashion – spent a lot of time in the room more than 116 years ago. Valentine Mortlock, one of the six children of shepherd and politician William Tennant Mortlock and his wife, Rosye Tennant, are said to have suffered from some kind of illness or disability. While he was deeply loved, his life seemed miserable. He seemed to venture out of his room so little that even some of the maids living in the Hall didn’t know he was there. As evidence, visitors are shown an indentation in the floor in his bedroom doorway – the remains of the gate that used to keep poor Valentine, who died at the age of eight, inside.

The story of Valentine’s ghost sightings, so called because he was born on Valentine’s Day, is just one of many that lure visitors from the area’s vineyards, about two hours north of Adelaide, into this charming 1879 Georgian style. the mansion, recognized by many as the location of the school that housed the ill-fated girls in the 1975 Australian classic Picnic at Hanging Rock.

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First, there is the scale of the 32 bedroom mansion set in the South Australian landscape like a lost and confused member of the British aristocracy. In its heyday, Martindale Hall had a polo field, stables, cricket ground (where the England XI is said to have played), a racetrack, a butler’s quarters for 14 staff, and another aristocratic must-have boating lake.

Valentine’s father purchased the Hall and its grounds in 1891 from the man who built it, wealthy herdsman Edmund Bowman Jnr, heir to Martindale Station. He was forced to sell his prized creation partly because of the drought and falling wool prices, but mainly because he had pushed himself too hard in his frenzied pursuits to emulate the lifestyle he saw around him when he was a student at Cambridge. Armed with a grand heritage and greater ambition, Bowman hired 60 merchants, many of whom were brought from England, to spend nearly a year building his home from local sandstone, complete with a seven-room basement, and adorning it with carved marble. fireplace (scrubbed with cow dung to keep it sparkling), a special boudoir for visiting mistresses, and fine furnishings, including a large pool table she imported from England that can still be seen in the library. It was so big that it was put there before the walls were added.

Valentine’s brother Jack, born in 1894, inherited Martindale Hall when his parents died, having been the only one left after the deaths of his five brothers and sisters. He traveled extensively and visitors to Martindale Hall can enjoy the fruits of his odyssey: rare ceramics, tribal masks, photographs, stuffed animals, wallpaper, paintings and even suits or armor, or be immersed in the maze of hedgerows outside.

Stone pendants fans can also visit the “Miranda” room with its collection of creepy dolls, featured in the film, or the instantly recognizable staircase where the stunning Rachel Roberts terrorizes her accusations without saying a word.

Jack Mortlock died in 1948 at the age of 55, just 15 months after marrying his housemaid. He left the property for the University of Adelaide and in 1986 the university bequeathed the 18 hectare hall to the South Australian Government and is now open to visitors.

But Martindale Hall isn’t the only historical and landscaped feature of the Clare Valley, best known for its much-lauded Riesling Trail, the more than 50 cellar doors between the towns of Auburn and Clare along a 40-kilometer corridor.

Drive half an hour west to Lochiel and you’ll be rubbing your eyes when Blossom Lake comes into view. Salt lakes, a favorite of Instagrammers, go from bubblegum pink, to white, to icy blue, depending on the time of year. Whatever the conditions, this whimsical body of water plays with light, perspective – and with your thoughts, especially when “Lochie” appears. This statue of the Loch Ness monster was installed in the lake in March 2021, as part of a tourism project by a local council, replacing a smaller one in the north that was made a joke by local mechanics years ago.

Dan returns to Clare township, stopping at Pioneer Park to view the memorial tree where the ill-fated Burke and Wills rest before continuing their perilous journey inland. It wasn’t their only visit. On December 8-9, 1862, the townspeople lined the streets to greet his fervent herd of camels, horses and riders on their way to Melbourne via Adelaide with some valuables,

They brought the bones of the cursed explorers who were eventually retrieved from Coopers Creek, after their deaths the year before.

DETAILS

DRIVE

The Clare Valley is a two-hour drive north of Adelaide.

VISIT

Martindale Hall is open 10am-4pm from Wednesday to Monday. 1 Min Man Road, Mintaro, Clare Valley, SA. Call 0417 838 897. Adults $15, children: $8 See www.martindahall-mintaro.com.au/

The Clare Valley Riesling Trail is suitable for hikers, mountain and touring bikes, and wheelchairs. Bike rental is available. Winery included
Knappstein, Mitchell, Claymore, Stone Bridge. See rieslingtrail.com.au

WINE & EAT

For great food and a rooftop bar, Seed Bistro Clare, 268 Main North Road. See seedclarevalley.com

For Italy, the excellent Ragu & Co, 308b Main North Road. See raguandco.com.au

Wineries in Clare include Jim Barry jimbarry.com, Shut the Gate shutthegate.withwine.com, and the well-known Mad Bastard Wines madbastard.com.au

Jane Richards traveled at her own expense.

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