Adelaide Oval Tours and Museum

Listing Details

Home of the History Trust of South Australia, Edmund Wright House is a magnificent historic building that was originally opened in 1878. Designed by well known architects Edmund Wright and Lloyd Taylor for the Bank of South Australia it is a rare survivor from Adelaide's boom time last century. Expert craftsmen were imported to South Australia to create elaborate marble columns, handsome woodwork and ceiling decorations that could not be reproduced today. In 1970 the bank sold the building to the development group Mainline Corporation whose intention was to demolish it and replace it with a 19-storey office block. However, negative public reaction and publicity were extensive at the time and the proposed development proved to be a test case of Adelaide's attitude to preserving its beautiful and historic buildings. After an exhaustive seven month campaign by the Save the Bank committee lead by Adelaide optician Charles Wright the building was saved from destruction when the then government purchased it for AUD750,000 on 18 November 1971. In 1972 the building was renamed Edmund Wright House and after extensive renovations and restorations it opened again in 1973 as the new office of Births Deaths and Marriages. In 1995 Edmund Wright House again under went extensive refurbishment and become the permanent home of the History Trust of South Australia.

Phone Numbers click here