It is located 30 km (19 mi) east of the city of Pretoria along the diamond route and is heavily reliant on tourism and the mine that dominates the skyline.

In 1898 Sir Thomas Cullinan was handed a three carat diamond found along a farm fence.

Sir Cullinan made an attempt to buy the land from the owner, Joachim Prinsloo, but did not succeed.

The town of Cullinan owes its existence to the diamond mining in this area, much like Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

The church was designed by British architect Herbert Baker, who was a dominant figure in South African architecture between 1892 and 1912.

A feature of the Lodge's history has been the number of times it has been forced into recess, whether because of war, as in 1914 to 1916, disturbances leading to martial law, 1921 to 1922, and the closing down of the diamond mine (the main source of members) during the depression, 1932 to 1941.

However the Second World War saw military forces stationed on the mine and an adjoining farm and this helped the lodge to get restarted.