Captain Charles SturtPrint Page

The plaque commemorates explorer Captain Charles Sturt (1795 - 1869) who built and resided in the house "The Grange" until he returned to England in 1853. An additional plaque was unveiled at the property on October 2nd 1987 to commemorate Sturt, the explorer and a founder of South Australia. The property is now the home of the Charles Sturt Museum. 

Built in 1840/41, the ‘Grange’ took central stage in a property of 390 acres in the Reed Beds of the Port River creek and the Torrens River.  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 location was ideal for Sturt, the wide beach reminiscent of his home county of Dorset England.  A keen gardener and 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 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 in 1877 and subdivided to create the village of Grange.  Ownership of ‘Grange’ remained in private hands until 1957 when the Henley and Grange Council purchased the property.

This iconic property was declared an 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.

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