Detail from Edmund's Sketch of Mount Lofty [SLSA zmp_i1688599a.pdf]
Towards a 'history' of the Uraidla Hotel:
Village inn, cyclists' hotel, summer resort and destination pub
Although it served as a 'local' pub for the gardeners and orchardists of the Picadilly Valley, the Uraidla Hotel was and remains arguably the quintessential tourist or 'destination' pub in the Adelaide Hills, catering explicitly to visitors to the area from as early as the 1880s. It represents an excellent case study of what constituted a "tourist hotel", "summer resort" or, now, "destination pub" in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century...if not still. The following is a collection of miscellaneous resources related to the story of Uraidla's worst and best hotel.
The Uraidla Hotel, c1910 [SLSA B-357]
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Edmund Wilcox was granted a General Publican's Licence for the the Uraidla Hotel on 12 March 1877 and the pub has been 'licensed' continuously for almost 150 years since.
For those interested in the history of Uraidla, Edmund Wilcox and family, "Wilcox' Old Brewery" and, especially, in the story of the Uraidla Hotel, the best current source is Dr. Geoffrey Bishop's Uraidla: hope you haven't forgotten this township. This book is available from the East Torrens Historical Society or by contacting the Hon. Secretary on 83903390. A list of the first 100 years of licensees of the Uraidla Hotel is linked here (compiled from the South Australian Government Gazette, 1867-c.1980). |
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Above: Advertisement for the Uraidla Hotel, 1884; "...this charming spot to visit" [The Lantern, 19 July 1884, p.2; click image to enlarge, in separate window]. |
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Above: Advertisement for the Uraidla Hotel, 1895; "ample sterling accommodation...for frequenters of the Onkaparinga Races" [Evening Journal, 14 March 1895, p.4; click image to enlarge, in separate window]. |
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Above: Advertisement for the Uraidla Hotel, 1906; a "pleasant summer resort" [Quiz, 7 December 1906, p.5; click image to enlarge, in separate window]. |
Accommodating tourists: enlarging and modernising the pub
Above: Tender for additions (second storey) to the Uraidla Hotel, February 1914[Advertiser, 21 February 1914; click image to enlarge, in separate window]. F(rank) Kenneth Milne (1885-1980) "is one of South Australia's most well-known and prolific...architects"; his works include the Adelaide Oval Scoreboard (1911), the South Australian Brewing Company building in Hindley Street (1940-41) and the Hampshire Hotel (1911) and several other pubs.
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[Critic, 21 October 1914, p.10; Mail, 29 January 1916, p.8; click images to enlarge, in separate window]
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Left: Block plan of the site and licensed premises of the Uraidla Hotel, Uraidla, 1929 [State Records SA: GRG/67/34/00000/504; click to enlarge for whole plan (slightlymodified), opens in new window, large file] Below: Sketch plan of the first floor, 1929 (from the same plan) 
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Left: Fire partially destroys the Uraidla Hotel. On 11 August 1939, a fire of "no attributable cause" damaged all or part of 16 rooms of the Uraidla pub, including most of the top storey, roof of the billiard room, front and saloon bars, lounge, office and several bedrooms. Note the petrol 'bowser' on the left.
[Advertiser, 12 August 1939, p.24; click images to enlarge, in separate window] |
Above: Side elevation from a plan of the Uraidla Hotel, 1940
[State Records SA: GRG GRG/67/34/00000/504; click to enlarge for whole plan (slightly modified), opens in new window, large file]
Below: The Uraidla Hotel in about 1945
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Left: Detailed description of the Uraidla Hotel, adjacent buildings and land: an advertisement for the sale of the property, May 1952 [Advertiser, 17 May 1952, p.16; click image for the complete, readable advertisement, in separate window]. |
...and the Mount Lofty Hotel (Summertown Temperance Hotel)
Summertown's Mount Lofty Hotel opened in early 1885 originally as a boarding house, "Percival's Temperance Hotel". An application in December 1885 for a general publican's license for the "Mount Lofty Hotel" was refused on the grounds that the Uraidla's 12 rooms constituted sufficient accommodation for travellers; the license was eventually granted in March 1887, possibly because the application was supported by the South Australian Brewing Company, possibly because of the increase in tourism to the Adelaide Hills during summers. Interestingly and unlike most nearby hotels, the pub was not included in any known list of hotels for cyclists or motoring tourists. In 1911 the hotel was purchased by the Brewery and in June 1913 the license transferred controversially to open a new hotel in Murray Bridge and the hotel subsequently sold. The Mount Lofty Hotel reverted to a "coffee palace", then Temperance Hotel and more recently a private residence.
Why, despite its many competitive advantages, the Mount Lofty Hotel did not survive is a question worth considering while enjoying a locally brewed beer at the Uraidla.
Below: The Summertown Temperance Hotel (Mount Lofty Hotel), c.1945
Posted 12 January 2026
Original content © Craig Hill 2026