Excited to have taken part of the inaugural Broken Hill Heritage festival ‘if only walls could talk’ during the month of April & May 2018. We hosted a morning tea to interested people and took them through our heritage building to show the historical details.
The history of the Lodge – what is it’s social story?
This property was built in 1904 for Dr MacGillivray and his family and was used as a residence for various Doctors’ up until 1965 when it was re-furbished to establish the Lodge motel.
Architecturally the Lodge was built in a very large L-shape surrounded by verandah’s on two sides, an enclosed turret (tower) and maid’s quarters. Surrounded by a garden with aviaries that held birds of various kinds for the study of Dr MacGillivray.
The design of the building is similar to that of ‘South Australian cottages‘ built with thick masonry walls to retain the heat in winter and stay cool during the summer. It is said that the property was one of the first in Broken Hill to be fitted with hipped roof made of corrugated iron and galvanised iron hip capping.
‘If only walls could talk’
Dr MacGillivray was a very respected physician, well travelled and published a number of articles about his wildlife studies. He was born at Kallara Station on the river Darling in 1867and trained to become a Doctor at the University of Melbourne. He was a devoted student and passionate birdwatcher, convinced of the necessity of preserving the wild birds of Australia in the interest of farmers and pastoralists (Barrier Miner 26thJune 1933).
It has long been our vision to share stories that comes with this property, so it was a pleasure to be part of this inaugural Broken Hill Heritage week of events. We look forward to a big and better event next year.
