The Bell Gate Multi-Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Ellen Barham Black emigrated to South Australia in 1877, bought a 10-acre (4.05 ha) property bounded on two sides by Hallett and Stonyfell Roads. In 187(A) her architect son Alfred Barham Black built a ten-roomed single-story house here and named it Bell Yett after the field near their home in Scotland.
Alfred was a prominent Adelaide architect responsible for many works in and around Adelaide. His brother, John McConnell (J. M.) Black, was a Scottish botanist whose work 'Flora of South Australia' described over 2000 species and was the definitive work for many years. Dorrit Black, a daughter of Alfred, was an important Australian artist working in the first half of the 20th century.
The house was sold in 1912 to Dr. Richard Jay who added another story and renamed it Barton Croft after an area in the Lake District with family connections.
In 1948 the property was bought by the Sisters of the Convent of Mercy. It was intended for a boarding school but the idea was dropped and the property used for other purposes connected with the Order. To reduce overheads the Sisters sold some allotments on along Hallett and Stonyfell Roads in 1971 and at the same time the Council acquired ‘the old cow paddock’ to form the present reserve. In 1993 changing social conditions brought the need for funds to help in the Sisters’ work and they sold the 113-year-old house and adjoining land. The house was demolished and the resulting subdivision forms a pleasant cul-de-sac at the end of Cooper Angus Grove. A large Bunya Pine at the western end of the Reserve (and visible from the end of Cooper Angus Grove) is probably the last tangible remnant of the Bell Yett garden.
Over the years the nearby watercourse, Stonyfell Creek, became overrun with ash, olive and pine trees and the streambed badly eroded. It was rehabilitated in 200(B) by the Council, planted with sedges and rushes, and the surrounds revegetated with indigenous species.
The site is best avoided during weekday at school pickup and drop-off times, and the cache, a black-painted 200ml cylindrical container, is located a short walk (no bikes please) over the bridge and along the path at S 34 55.74(B) E 138 40.25(A-4)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ybt raq.
Treasures
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