The main street of the town of Mount Torrens is a State Heritage Area. Such Heritage Areas are rare, there being only 17 in South Australia to date. Mount Torrens is the only State Heritage Area within the Adelaide Hills Council District. It was declared in 2002.
The heritage designation was lobbied for by the Mount Torrens & District Community Association, a group of volunteers. They continue to promote the town’s history and heritage. They are based in the ‘Coach House’ (built in 1864) which includes a photographic display.
There is a Heritage Trail Loop for visitors to follow.
It’s an irony that a significant survival from earlier times may derive from a failure to ‘progress’, for reasons of local economics, or for no longer being on a major transport route, or whatever. There was little motive for knocking old buildings down and replacing them with something new.
This has been the story of Mount Torrens. Most of its heritage buildings date from the 1860s, when the town was an important stopover between Adelaide and the Murray River port of Mannum.
Sources: https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/topics/heritage/state-heritage-areas/mount-torrens Mount Torrens state heritage area; Courier, 1 February 2012: Walking SA
If you have recollections, knowledge or further information that you would like to share about the people, places or events described here, then please contact us at mldhs@mtloftyhistoricalsociety.org.au
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