Marion Historic Village
The Marion Historic Village is the historic heart of Marion. Local people are proud of its friendly community and unique history. For many years, locals affectionately knew the area as ‘The Marion’.
The Marion Historic Village Walk takes you on an historical journey around the original Marion ‘Village’. The walk includes historic sites such as Light Square, Annie Doolan’s Cottage, Laurel Cottage, the Old Marion Inn and Threadgold’s Birthing House.
Discover community and street art along the route, including our gateway to Marion Village and the other ‘Little Marion’ sculptures. The sculptures were created by Gerry McMahon and are based on local resident Margaret Western’s recollections and stories of growing up in the village. The Little Marion’s have been adopted by a local family in the village who regularly place ribbons in her hair.
Did you know?
On the Marion Historic Village Heritage Walk, each historic site includes a tiled marker with a two-tone concrete ‘survey line’ crossing the footpath. The survey lines refer to the laying out of the ‘Village’ of Marion by Light Finniss & Co.
Find out more about the Marion Historic Village Heritage Walk.
Annie Doolan’s Cottage
At Annie Doolan’s you will learn about the early history of the cottage and the people who lived there. The building is currently managed by the Friends of Annie Doolan’s Cottage and displays a schoolroom of the 1870s, a kitchen of the 1940s and a model of Marion Village in 1949.
Opening Hours: 4th Sunday of the month (during school terms) from 2.00pm - 4.00pm.
Contact: Raelene Telfer on (08) 7127 5346.
Marion Historic Village Display Centre
Visit the newly opened Marion Historic Village Display Centre. Located in Township Road, behind the Wesleyan Chapel. Managed and operated by members of the village community, the 1927 Sunday school building is now operating as a display centre and museum. See changing exhibits and learn about the history of the village, the people and their stories.
Opening Hours: Open every Sunday 2.00pm - 4.00pm and by appointment. Free entry.
Contact: Peter Stretton on (08) 8296 5736 or Max Bowden on (08) 8298 4763.
The Marion Historic Village Project Group
The project is based in a 'Community Capacity Building' approach. This means working with the positive things that we already have, and helping these things grow.
A Partnership with the local community and the City of Marion
The Marion Historic Village Project was developed as a partnership with the local community working with the City of Marion.
Using a Community Capacity Building approach, the projects aims were to bring people together to create a stronger sense of neighbourhood and a greater recognition of the unique cultural heritage of the Marion ‘Village’.
The project has been ongoing since 2006. An active community project group has been working on several projects and some of their acheivments have been:
- A 'gateway' or 'entrance statement' at the top of Finniss Street.
- A marked walking trail around the Marion Historic Village with signage/ mosaics interpreting the history.
- A streetscaping plan indicating the heritage character of the area eg. street furniture, lighting, paving style, public and community art.
- Heritage walking tours.
- A community lantern parade.
Artworks
Working with project artists Irene Dougan and Cheryl Dean, from Beachroad Artworks Inc, the community has created a ceramic tile 'Hopscotch' artwork for George Street Reserve and four tiled benches for Light Square.
Sculptor Gerry McMahon has created four figures of "Little Marion" based on stories from "Yesterday's Child" by Margaret Western, reflecting on early days as a child in The Marion.
Launch of Light Square
The Marion Historic Village Project Group volunteered their time to fund, plan and organise the Launch of Light Square, a series of lantern making workshops and a lantern parade held on 9 April 2011.
Group members worked with schools, professional artists, SA Police and City of Marion staff for a period of several months to develop and implement a series of workshops eventuating in a community lantern parade.
Lantern Making Project
The lantern making and parade was a great way to interpret the history of the village and used arts and culture in innovative ways to tell the stories of Marion’s past and bring it spectacularly to life. This project and event has educated people about the local heritage of Marion. Many people were unaware it had a Light Square.
City of Marion Australia Day Award
The Marion Historic Village Project Group won the City of Marion Australia Day Award - Community Event of the Year 2012 for their outstanding contribution to the organisation and successful running of the official launch of the refurbished Light Square in Marion. The parade incorporated the commemoration of the 175th anniversary of settlement in SA.
For more information
Arts & Cultural Development team
Phone: (08) 8375 6692
Email: council@marion.sa.gov.au
