MILLBROOK - A Submerged Story That Still Stirs

Beneath the still waters of Millbrook Reservoir lies a forgotten chapter of South Australia’s history — a small township submerged in the early 20th century.

Millbrook, the township that gave the reservoir its name, was about 30 kilometres northeast of Adelaide. Before its valley was flooded in 1918 to create the reservoir, the township was home to around 139 people. It was a modest yet thriving rural community, complete with a school, church, flour mill, hotel and district hall, with farms, orchards and residential dwellings in the surrounding countryside.

As Adelaide’s population grew, the government recognised the need for additional water supply. The Millbrook Waterworks Act of 1912 authorised the construction of a reservoir, which when completed in 1918, submerged the village of Millbrook.

This mobile tour invites you to re-discover some of Millbrook's people, places, and stories, offering a deeper understanding of the township’s history and the creation of the reservoir above it.

This is the story of Millbrook - A Submerged Story that Still Stirs.

DISCLAIMER
This mobile tour based on authentic historical evidence uses informative multimedia and simple gamification to present concise, enlightening narratives of the history of the Millbrook township and the Millbrook reservoir. It is a collection of stories that connects places with people and events and is best experienced virtually on your phone or from the apps companion website https://mobileadventuresau.stqry.app as places on the tour (with a few exceptions) either lie beneath the water of the reservoir, are on private property or on government land where unauthorised access is strictly prohibited.

Neither the tour nor its content is intended to offend any person either living or dead and is meant to be a guide only. Content has largely been sourced from articles in government reports, the History Trust of South Australia, State Library of South Australia, National Archives of Australia, other websites and academic theses. This content delivered in the tour is either Creative Commons, in the public domain with no copyright restrictions or has been provided with permission and attributed to the copyright owner. While every reasonable effort has been made to substantiate the historical accuracy from primary sources, neither Mobile Adventures Australia nor its staff offer any assurance the content displayed is complete or accurate. Despite considerable research, the exact location of places in the Millbrook township shown in the tour are only approximate.

The research and the design and development of the tour have been a ‘labour of love’ for the author, who spent his childhood in nearby Chain of Ponds. I would like to thank Shirley Tucker, Peter Newman, Michael McGlinchey and Meredyth Rozenbergs for their contributions and feedback prior to release.

Roger Edmonds 2025