There is a quarry and a winery, the present-day remnants of industries dating back to the early days of the colonisation of South Australia.

[2][3] James Edlin opened the first quarry in the hundred of Adelaide on Section 1050 in 1837, to supply building stone and slate to local builders.

His fiancée, Annie Montgomery Martin, dubbed the land "Stonyfell"[7][8][9] (a "fell" being a term used for barren or uncultivated high ground in Northern England).

Ronald Martin died in a car accident in 1950; in 1958 Michael Auld was managing director and John Kilgour the winemaker.

[6] In 1972, the winery was owned by Dalgety Australia, but by 1978 had been taken over by Seagram's, at which time the winemaking part of the business at Stonyfell was wound up.

Promotions manager Kevin Parker said that activities in the functions cellar (which had been open since 1975 and seated about 200 people) had continued strongly, although wine-making had declined.

[17] The Clifton Manor estate was established by a flour miller named George Sismey, who built the grand Gothic Revival-style mansion in 1852.

The home was first leased (in 1872) and later purchased by Nathaniel Knox, who extended and developed the gardens, planting many European trees and shrubs.

[18] The Stonyfell Olive Company was founded by Joseph Crompton[6] with William Mair and Sidney Clark[11] in 1873, with planting continuing until 1882.

[23] Another grand manor, Chiverton, was built in the Italianate style in 1880 for merchant John Nankivell, but he soon afterwards leased the house to Harry Bickford, the manufacturer of drinks, cordials and syrups.

[26] St Peter's Girls' School was founded in 1894 in North Adelaide and moved to its current site on Hallett Road in Stonyfell in 1957.

[34] The Michael Perry Botanic Reserve, comprising a long strip of land along Second Creek, originally part of the Clifton Manor estate, was created in the 1970s.