Jubilee Retreat B & B - at Wistow in the Adelaide Hills

If the old gum could talk, what stories it might tell. Of Cornish families who ventured into the beautiful valley in search of a new life in a new colony called South Australia. They worked hard, cleared their land and eventually built their Church. It was called the Jubilee Chapel because it was constructed in the jubilee year of Methodism in Australia.

"The history of the Church really reflects the history of the Wesleyan Methodists from Cornwall who settled this area and nearby Wistow. In 1864 an outbreak of diphtheria struck with a vengeance and funerals and prayer meets were a daily occurrence, and so these deeply religious folk decided to build this Church in the remote and rugged bush"

But despite its idyllic setting, the Jubilee Chapel had a relatively short life as a working church. In just over twenty years, many of the congregation had moved in search of golden fields of wheat. As South Australia became increasingly well known as the granary of the south, many of the locals left to start farms in the Murray Plains and the mid-north. By 1886 services were suspended due to poor attendances, and over the ensuing one hundred years this classic piece of South Australian history fell into a sad state of disrepair.

Thankfully in the early 1980's a nearby couple saw three church walls midway up a rocky hillside and fell in love with this remnant of our Cornish past. After years of hard work they returned it to its former glory. Now Tracey Butler and her husband Peter, own Jubilee Retreat and it's something we can all share as a delightful and different Adelaide Hills bed and breakfast.

"One of the unique things about Jubilee Retreat is that there's no electricity and there's no water connected. So it relies on a rainwater tank that's gravity fed and everything is gas o there's gas lanterns and gas fridge, gas hot water service, and everything that you need but you don't have electricity so you don't have a television or that sort of intrusion".

"And most people seem to enjoy that?"

"They enjoy the fact that they can get away without the twentieth century. It's just something that's different and unique and they enjoy that escape, yer - it's very peaceful".

This local thinks so, peaceful enough to establish a nest in this one hundred and thirty five year old stone work. Jubilee Retreat offers two night packages on weekdays for $250.00 per couple and $270.00 on weekends.

It's located on Klenke Road, outside Wistow. For bookings, contact 0403 314 431 or visit http://users.chariot.net.au/~retreat