A building in Adelaide now known as the Radford Auditorium was originally an ‘Ordnance Store’ (or old military store) built in 1867. It was refurbished in 1972 and became a ‘Historical Museum’. John McCarthy from Flinders University says that the building, behind the Art Gallery, housed the (State) Library’s archives from 1920.
According to https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/about/our-history/timeline/ , “1972 – The old Ordnance Store building (now the Radford Auditorium), built in 1867, is refurbished and reopens as a Historical Museum for the display of the (Art) Gallery’s early South Australian paintings and objects.”
According to https://www.archives.sa.gov.au/about-us/centenary-celebrations , “The Archives Department was first housed in an old military store, which is now the Radford Auditorium at the Art Gallery of South Australia.”
It seems that the building and/or the area was refurbished in both 1970s & 80s.
It appears from https://www.agsa.sa.gov.au/about/our-history/timeline/ that the Auditorium is named after Ron Radford because he was appointed Director of the SA Art Gallery in 1990 and the old library building became the Auditorium in 1996.
The Radford Auditorium
(Source:Tarnanthi)
Adrian Brown took a large collection of photos during the redevelopment around the Armoury behind the SA Museum in around 1985 or so. Some of these are shown here: –
(Photos taken by Adrian Brown)
A couple of the photos show the (now Radford Auditorium) building (behind the gates).
That building was used to display the large anchor from Matthew Flinders’ Investigator, as discussed in Photos that seem to show the Investigator’s anchor being transferred to a warehouse.
Here are those photos again showing the transfer of the anchor into the Historical Museum/Archives Department: –
(Photos courtesy of Doug & Mara Seton and John Mate)
John McCarthy from Flinders University suggested, “I think that building is the Radford Auditorium, behind the Art Gallery, which housed the Library’s Archives from 1920.”
Bing AI agrees with Peter Christopher, saying “The anchor from Matthew Flinders’ ship, HMS Investigator …. was indeed stored in the Radford Auditorium before moving to the Armoury at the South Australian Museum, and finally to the South Australian Maritime Museum.”
Here is a Google map showing the Armoury site in recent times: –
I had sent off an enquiry to the Art Gallery of SA to check out my assumptions in this matter. This was their response: –
“Hi Steve
Thanks for your inquiry about the photograph of the anchor outside the Art Gallery’s auditorium.
Your hunch is spot on. You’re almost certainly right in believing it shows the best bower anchor from Matthew Flinders’ ship Investigator.
The Radford Auditorium served as a historical museum from 1972 to 1981 (it was built in 1867 as a military storehouse, then became the state archives from 1919). Flinders’ anchor was on display there from around March 1974 until 1981. Following the formation in the 1980s of the History Trust of SA (which oversees the Maritime Museum), all historical items not considered to be art were transferred from the Art Gallery to the History Trust in June 1986. The anchor was among them.
I can’t categorically say that the image is of Flinders’ anchor. I have a vague memory of reading that a second, possibly smaller anchor was also on display there at the same time, but haven’t yet found notes to verify this.
Flinders’ anchor came into the Gallery’s custodianship about March 1974, in time for a display at the museum (now auditorium) coinciding with the 200th anniversary of Flinders’ birth. It weighed more than 1.2 tonnes, so a crane would have been necessary. It had undergone preservation treatment after being retrieved from waters near Esperance, WA, in 1973. A 1974 newspaper article tells the story: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/270080007
Your photo most likely shows the anchor’s delivery in 1974, as this was an issue that was well publicised. In contrast, the Gallery was accused in the press of ‘quietly placing in storage’ the anchor and other historical items when the museum closed in 1981 for the building to undergo restoration (‘Historic display hidden’, Letters to the Editor, The Advertiser, 9/2/1982), so a photograph of its removal is less likely. The photograph is certainly no later than 1981, as it shows the building portico as it was before restoration work began that year.
I hope this helps to fill in some gaps. If you have any further questions, please feel free to send them to me (although I go on leave from Friday, so I may have limited time to answer immediately and fully).
With kind regards, Barry Patton, Researcher and Writer, Tarnanthi, Art Gallery of South Australia.”
(My thanks go to Barry Patton, plus Adrian Brown, Doug & Mara Seton and John Mate for their photos.)