Rob Rowlands

The Edinburgh Hotel & Cellars

The Edinburgh Hotel is situated in the heart of Mitcham Village on one of South Australia's original outlying settlements. It was first subdivided by the South Australian Company back in 1840. Opening in 1869, the Hotel is typical of ornate Victorian Architecture and was constructed of stone quarried from the nearby Brownhill Creek Valley. It was licensed in to Robert Nesbit Esq., in 1869 and became the first of a chain of hotels owned by Charles Edward Mallen. Mallen was a brewer who at one time owned the brewery whose office still remains today at the corner of Princes and Unley Roads. Ownership of this hotel was retained by the Mallen Family until as recently as 1978 when the current owners purchased it. The Edinburgh Hotel was by no means the first hotel in the Mitcham Village Area, in fact, by 1869 there were six licensed houses in the vicinity, the first being the Black Swan built in 1847 adjacent to the Brown Hill Creek reserve. Although regrettably many of the early buildings have been demolished, the shape of the original Village is still discernable. The first house built in 1840 still stands today in Brown Hill Creek Road as do many of the shops and cottages in adjoining Albert Street. All are classical reminders of the early history of the Village of Mitcham.