The Clarendon Vineyard, near Adelaide.

One of the few colonial views of Clarendon, situated just outside of Adelaide and showing the famous winery; Peake/Gillard Clarendon Vineyard Estate site.

The Winery buildings have been prominent structures from the early days of Clarendon. With Mount Zion. The land was originally purchased by William Leigh on 14 December 1846. These initial 38 acres were developed as a vineyard between 1847 and 1849.  Leigh’s vineyard estate was managed at first by John (and sometimes George) Morphett, who is supposed to have planted the first vines and then by E. J. Peake, who held Leigh’s power of attorney from 1853.  A plaque in the gable of a section of the residence of the Winery complex states that the buildings were erected and the vineyard planted by E. J. Peake, S.M. in 1858. This section of the buildings was an addition to the original structure, however, which was incidentally only two-storeyed. The vineyards flourished under Peake, for in the ten years from 1855-1865, the vineyard was extended from 8 acres to 60 acres. The Winery reached its zenith under the occupation of a subsequent owner, Joseph Gillard, when in the 1890s much of the produce from the estate went to Penfold’s Winery. In the 1930s the vines were removed and orchards planted.