What are the best heritage buildings in Adelaide?

There are dozens of heritage buildings in Adelaide, mostly in the CBD. Highlights include New Parliament House, the Trinity Church and the State Library.

Adelaide may be getting an increasingly cool laneway scene, but it’s pretty good at preserving what it has. Of all the Australian cities, the South Australian capital feels like it has the highest concentration of heritage buildings. Walk down museum-packed North Terrace, starting with the railway station, and it’s one grand old edifice after another.

Old Parliament House is next to the station, with New Parliament House, built painstakingly in several dithery stages its neighbour. This imposing grey stone neoclassical building is a vision of Kapunda marble and West Island granite. The Corinthian columns at the front are marvellous. New Parliament House initially opened in 1889 – but wasn’t properly finished until the 1930s.

Next up, the State Library plays host to the Centre of Democracy South Australia. This small, but well put-together, museum explores themes connected to democracy around the world. Amongst regalia from election and referendum campaigns, it delves into South Australia’s pioneering efforts to give power to the people.

These include the South Australian constitution. Drawn up in 1856, the constitution gave birth to a legislative assembly elected by full male suffrage. This meant votes for all men in a time where most countries put wealth bars on voting. In 1894, South Australia became one of the first places to give women the vote. Women could also stand for Parliament.

Adelaide heritage buildings: Trinity Church

Elsewhere, the Trinity Church bills itself as Adelaide’s Pioneer Church. Its first service was held, under the charge of the Reverend Charles Beaumont Howard, in seaside suburb Glenelg.

But the colony’s Surveyor-General Colonel William Light set out a grid plan for Adelaide city centre. In doing so, he earmarked North Terrace for the permanent church building. Its foundation stone was laid by Captain John Hindmarsh, South Australia’s first governor, on 26 January 1838.

The Trinity Church doesn’t look quite as it did then, however. An 1845 reconstruction bestowed the current Victorian Gothic look – with pointed windows and pitched roof – comes from 1888-89.

Heritage buildings in Adelaide don’t just crop up on North Terrace, however. Look up around the city centre grid and you’ll often find lavish Victorian-era decoration on otherwise modern-seeming buildings. Take a walk down main shopping strip Rundle Mall, and there’s plenty to see above the line of the shop canopies. At number 21, there’s the art deco-style former Grand Theatre. At number 2, the Haighs Chocolate shop is inside what’s known as Beehive Corner due to the fancy red and yellow brickwork and arches. That’s the last stop on an Adelaide chocolate tour.

The Old Government Offices Building

A couple of blocks up, the Adina hotel now occupies the Old Government Offices building. Construction took place in eight separate stages between 1839 and 1909, although its proudest moment came in 1862. That’s when John McDouall Stuart, whose survey team was based in the building, was welcomed back. He had become the first man to successfully cross Australia from south to north. Inside the building are lovely stone archways and the site where coins were minted during the 1850s Victorian gold rush. This minting saved the fledgling state of South Australia from collapse.

To go into more detail, the Adelaide City Heritage website run by the National Trust of South Australia offers a series of themed, self-guided walking tour routes. The heritage buildings cluster by topic, including churches, educational establishments and historic pubs.

If this whets your appetite for Australian history, check out the Top Ten Australian Historic Sites.