Pilgrims Rest Itinerary

Alec “Wheelbarrow” Patterson a prospector who left the Mac Mac gold fields arrived in a deep valley in 1873. He started prospecting and panning the stream and soon after found gold. Shortly there after he was joined in the valley by William Trafford and they named the place Pilgrim’s Rest for to them they had found their Eldorado.

News of this find spread swiftly and soon a frantic rush of fortune seekers from all over the world converged into this previously unknown valley. The area proved popular amongst prospectors for not only was there large traces of gold to be found but the climate has healthy, cool and pleasant. Prospectors claims were 50 square meters and the miners had to clear away about 6 meters of topsoil in order to get to the bed rock and the gold. Water was essential in order to extract the gold so the diggers built water courses (races) to divert the flow of the water from the stream to their claim. Still today you can see the diggings and water courses that the diggers built way back in 1874.

By 1874 the rush was at its peak and by 1876 Pilgrim’s Rest was already an established camp with buildings having replaced many a tent. In 1875 the Reward Nugget weighing 6038 grams was found by Russel and Lilley and during that year alone £ 200 000 worth of gold was recovered from the creek. Productivity declined in 1876 and companies had to be formed as the gold was deeper therefore more difficult to mine and also more expensive to mine. With the result that many of the Diggers left the area in search of new and more productive fields.

The companies that remained mined good gold and eventually amalgamated to form the Transvaal Gold Exploration and Land Company . This company carried on mining for a further 50 years before it switched to aforrestation.

In it’s heyday Pilgrim’s Rest consisted of 21 stores, 18 canteens, 3 bakeries, 2 banks and various other “establishments”.

Today it is a living monument with most of the buildings having been fully restored to their original glory. Restoration is an on going project with the Reduction Works currently undergoing restoration and the next project being the restoration of the electric railway system that used to ferry ore from the diggings to the Reduction Works. This is a multi-million Rand restoration project.

The main places of interest in Pilgrim’s Rest are Diggings Museum which depicts the Diggers way of living in the 1870’s and an exhibition of “gold panning”. Various corrugated iron “prefabricated” miner houses which were imported in a completely knocked down condition from Scotland, the magistrates residency built in 1900, Meredith House erected in 1895, St Mary’s Anglican Church built in 1884, Lodge Blyde which was used as a hospital during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) and which is now a functional Freemason Lodge, Pilgrims Hotel erected in 1884 and is the oldest existing hotel building in town, Mrs. Mac’s Shop, the Royal Hotel erected in 1894 and whose pub was originally the Roman Catholic chapel of the St Cyprian’s School in Cape Town. The chapel was demolished and transported via Delagoa Bay, now Maputo, to Pilgrim’s Rest where is was re-erected as part of the Royal Hotel. The above mentioned are just a few of the places of interest to visit. And let’s not forget the Cemetery, which lies high against the hill behind the Methodist Church and is one of the most interesting sites in town.

Stepping foot into Pilgrim’s Rest is like going back in time and to do it justice you should allow at least 4 hours in which to explore the town properly.

For lodges situated in the southern Sabi Sand Reserve to Pilgrim’s Rest takes about 2 hours. It also takes about 2 hours to get back to the lodge. So effectively 4 hours are spent just travelling to and from Pilgrim’s Rest.

Cost: Pilgrim's Rest full day tour
2-3 people:    R1 000 per person.
4 plus people:  R  850 per person.

Included:
All transfers in an air-conditioned vehicle; services of a qualified guide; chilled mineral water; museum entry fees; toll fees if applicable.
Excluded:
Sabi Sand entrance fees if applicable; lunch, items of a personal nature; gratuities.