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The Heritage of Tasmania: South-Eastern Region - Glamorgan
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This post is derived from "The Heritage of Tasmania; The Illustrated Register of the National Estate" (Macmillan, Melbourne 1983)
Table of Contents
The Tasmanian National Trust Heritage list has been 'rescinded' by the State Government, so on these pages I have started to reconstruct it.
- Southern Region (previous pages 9 - 14)
- South-Eastern Region (this and following pages)
- Western Region
- North West Region
- North East Region
|Tasmania's South Eastern Coast with spectacular views
2. South-Eastern Region of Tasmania
- Glamorgan & Spring Bay
Freycinet Peninsula, Maria Island, Bicheno, Buckland, Coles Bay, Cranbrook, (on this page)
(next pages:) Earlham, Kelvedon, Little Swanport, Swansea; Triabunna,
- Glenorchy
- Green Ponds
- Hamilton
- Hobart
- Kingborough
- New Norfolk
- Richmond
- Sorell
- Tasman
Glamorgan Spring Bay
Population: 4,300
The Municipality of Glamorgan Spring Bay covers the southern east coast of Tasmania, Australia.
- The Glamorgan-Spring Bay municipality encompasses the iconic Freycinet National Park, The Hazards and Maria Island National Park.
- It includes the towns of Swansea, Orford, Triabunna and Coles Bay, as well as the national parks at Maria Island and the Freycinet Peninsula.
- The council gets its name from the region of Glamorgan in Wales.
Glamorgan Spring Bay is a predominantly coastal rural area, characterised by a small population spread over a large area.
- The area recieves high visitation due to its iconic natural and heritage assets.
- The municipality extends from north of Bicheno to south of Buckland and forms a large part of Tasmania's east coast.
- The municipality includes the Freycinet, Maria Island and Douglas-Apsley National Parks.
- The municipal area has a population of approximately 4,200 people. The median age is higher than the State average, in part due to the attractiveness of the area to retirees. The population is seasonal, significantly expanding during the warmer months.
- The major economic activities are tourism, agriculture, fishing and aquaculture.
|Glamorgan Spring Bay Council
|East Coast Heritage Museum, 22 Franklin St, Swansea
|Map of Eastern Tasmania
Towns and population:
- Bicheno (853), Coles Bay (305), Dolphin Sands (278), Swansea (771), Little Swanport (188), Triabunna (895), Double Creek (195), Orford (518), Spring Beach (358)
- The oldest rural municipality in Australia
Geography of Eastern CoastOn navigating the east coast of Tasmania in 1642, Abel Tasman named Schouten Island after a member of the Council of the Dutch East India Company. The adjacent peninsula was initially thought to consist of a chain of islands, but this myth was dispelled during the visit of Nicholas Baudin, the French explorer, in 1802-03:
Settlement of the Eastern Coast
|Map of early Tasmania 1837
European settlement expanded along Tasmania's east coast in the 1820s.
Sealing parties had visited the offshore rocks and islands of Great Oyster Bay since the early 1800s. The American, Captain Richard Hazard of the Thalia, was reported as whaling in the area in 1824. Several features of the peninsula were named after him.
- Whaling shore parties were established in sheltered bays during the winter months. At this time the right whale (Balaena australis)) was passing Tasmania's coastline on its annual migratory trek north from Antarctica.
- Fatal clashes between the whalers and local Aborigines were occasionally reported in the newspapers.
- Sheep and cattle grazing was being carried out on parts of the Freycinet Peninsula as early as the 1850s.
- In 1859 Francis Cotton reported that a comfortable stone hut and several cultivated paddocks were being occupied by Mr Leggs. The farm at Cooks Beach was later occupied by the Bryan, Gill and Cook families.The old hut, stone fish traps and a boat slip can still be seen there today.[1]
- Triabunna and Swansea are typical villages of early Tasmanian settlement.
Bicheno and Triabunna both border on rich fishing grounds and have a long association with fishing, and remains of fishing installations of earlier days can still be seen. The Triabunna school was founded as early as 1863.[2]
- Triabunna has traditionally been a centre for small industries with stock-keepers first settling in the 1820s.
- Other industries which have blossomed and then died out were whaling stations, sandstone quarries and tramways, the military garrison and the largest apple orchard in the southern hemisphere.
- In 1825, a party of soldiers and convicts establishes Maria Island penal settlement.
Heritage of Glamorgan Spring Bay
Below the properties listed, are itemised by town, according to these four heritage lists:
Source 1. The Register of Listed Buildings (1976) (pages 48-51)[3] lists heritage in these 65 locations:
- Bicheno - 5 locations including in Apslawn
- Buckland - 5 locations
- Cranbrook - 13 locations
- Swansea - 18 locations
- South of Swansea - 8 locations
- Spring Bay - 14 locations
- Maria Island - 2 locations
Source 2. The Heritage of Tasmania (1983) (pages 26-30) lists Grade A National Trust heritage registered in these 34 locations:
- Apslawn - 2 locations
- Bicheno - 1 location - Old Court House
- Cranbrook - 8 locations
- Little Swanport - 1 location
- Swansea - 20 locations
- Diamond Island Nature Reserve
- Freycinet National Park
- Moulting Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary
Source 3. The Register of the National Estate, or Australian Heritage Database lists 91 National Heritage sites in Glamorgan-Spring Bay Municipality, divided into two groups, 59 sites are Registered by the Register of the National Estate, 27 are classed as an Indicative Place.
- Australian Convict Sites are declared World Heritage, and
- the rest are on an Interim List, not fully Registered at the time the list was closed in 2007.
Source 4. The Australian Heritage Places Inventory lists 141 heritage locations in the Glamorgan-Spring Bay municipality, which combines the National Register with an earlier version of the Tasmanian Heritage Register to make a comprehensive database of Tasmanian Heritage covering National, State and Local heritage locations.
- Since there are 91 locations of National Heritage, that leaves (141 - 91) = 50 sites listed as being of local heritage interest, which are only listed on the Tasmanian Heritage Register.
Darlington, Maria Island, Tasmania
Source 5. Glamorgan Spring Bay Heritage Places Table E13.1:[4] 106 heritage sites.
The 141 heritage locations are listed below by town area; the Glamorgan-Spring Bay Municipality list of 106 heritage properties are appended.[5] (Annotated as GSB ID#).
- Apslawn - 2 locations, Council lists 2
- Bicheno - 11 locations; Council lists 6 +1
- Buckland - 10 locations: Council lists 8+3
- Coles Bay - 3 locations; Council lists 2
- Cranbrook - 9 locations; Council lists 9
- Freycinet National Park,
- Little Swanport - 15 Locations; Council lists 8+2
- Darlington, Maria Island National Park,
- Meetus Falls Forest Reserve, Royal George
- Orford - 6 locations; Council lists 3+4
- Rheban - Council lists 3
- Rocky Hills Probation Station - 3 locations; Council: 1
- Spring Beach - 1 location, Council: 1
- Swansea - 56 locations; Council lists 34+6
- Triabunna - 12 locations, Council lists 9+3
- Watson family cemetary - Council listed
|East Coast heritage places
Most famous heritage sites of Glamorgan Spring Bay
1. Freycinet National Park
The majestic beauty of Freycinet's granite mountains and white, sandy beaches have also long been admired by naturalists, artists and writers. the area was reserved as a national park in 1916, making it (along with Mt Field) the oldest national park in Tasmania.
|Saffire Resort, on the spectacular Wineglass Bay
- The Freycinet Peninsula has formed over the last 400 million years, and contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline, including the secluded Wineglass Bay, voted by several travel authorities as one of the world's ten best beaches.
Famous features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".
- Tectonic (mountain building) activity below the Earth's surface resulted in the separation of a large granite mass from Victoria to Tasmania.
- The extent of this granite can be seen from Wilsons Promontory in Victoria, then down to the Kent Group, Flinders Island, the East Coast of Tasmania, with the most southerly signs being two rocks at Deep Glen Bluff and Hippolyte Rocks off the Tasman Peninsula.
- These two blocks are the Hazards and the Mt Graham/Mt Freycinet sections of the peninsula.
- The low lying isthmus joining these areas was built from accumulated gravels that eroded from the mountains and washed into their current place by higher sea levels. When the sea receded the isthmus was exposed.
There is rich archaeological evidence along the Freycinet Peninsular of Aboriginal occupation. Middens are found along the dunes of both Richardson's and Hazards Beach. These middens predominantly contain oyster shells and mussels along with also some stone artifacts and non-shell fish fauna remains.
Wineglass Bay, Freycinet Peninsula Tasmania
European History
- Freycinet was first discovered by Abel Tasman in 1642, when navigating the east coast of Tasmania, named Schouten Island and the peninsula Vanderlyn's Eylandt (believing it to be a chain of islands). This myth was dispelled during the visit of Nicholas Baudin, the French explorer, in 1802-03.
- The Freycinet brothers were senior officers on Baudin's expedition, although it is unclear which one the peninsula was named after.
- Old mine shafts, abandoned farmers' huts and the remains of whalers' camps today form part of the rich cultural heritage of Freycinet.
- Mammals found include the brushtail possum, ringtail possum, sugar glider, eastern pygmy possum, little pygmy possum, echidna, wombats, New Holland mouse, swamp rat, water rat, Tasmanian bettong and the long-nosed potoroo.[5]
- Cetaceans such as southern right whale, humpback whale, and bottlenose dolphins are known to use the bay to feed, calve or to take rests.
|Maria Island and Freycinet seascapes
Previously believed to be extinct, the New Holland mouse was discovered in Tasmania in 1970s.[49] Owing to its restricted habitat in the state it is considered rare, but there are several key population sites within Freycinet, including Friendly Beaches.[49]
- These protected locations provide the species with preferred environmental conditions, such as a sandy substrate for burrows, combined with a mixed understorey of flora as a food source.[49]
- The species is known to move along the east coast of Tasmania with Eucalyptus ovata being one of its main food sources.[49] Swift parrots are found breeding up to 10 km from the coastline on ridges and slopes of Eucalyptus woodlands and forests, such as those of Freycinet.[50]
The protection of the vegetation within Freycinet National Park is a vital component in the survival of the endangered species, providing breeding sites, food resources and assisting in the movement of the species during migration.[50]
- Both eagle species have specific requirements for nesting which notably includes the absence of disturbance and presence of water nearby.[51] The protection provided by Freycinet National Park assists in providing suitable habitat for both species by denying the development of plantations and urbanisation of the environment.[51]
2. Lisdillon Salt Works, Saltworks Rd, Little Swanport
The Lisdillon salt works is one of only two early salt manufacture works in eastern Australia where substantial remains can still be found.
- The Lisdillon Salt Works lies on the east coast of Tasmania, near the town of Little Swanport. They are situated on Saltworks Road which joins the Tasman Highway (A3) between Boomer Creek (to the south) and Lisdillon Rivulet (to the north), approximately 24 km south of Swansea. About 1.5km along Saltworks Road there is an access road on the left hand side which runs to the salt works site car park.
Views of the remains of the Salt Works (Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts)
Salt was used in the early years of the colony for preserving food and hides. It was also used in the manufacture of articles such as soap and earthenware. Most supplies were imported from England at relatively high cost.
- The Lisdillon salt works were one of a number of small scale, speculative works established in Van Diemens Land to meet colonial needs.
- The Site is one of only two early salt manufacture works in eastern Australia where substantial remains can still be found (the other being at Norfolk Island). The ruins here form an intriguing and highly significant part of the industrial heritage of Tasmania and Australia. A close examination of the structures and the surrounding landscape reveal much about the early process of salt making.
|Lisdillon Salt Works
- The salt works are important as extant remains of the process of salt extraction by boiling seawater, a technology initially imported from England and no longer practised in England or Australia.
It is one of only two salt manufacture sites in eastern Australia where there are substantial physical remains. The other is at Norfolk Island. (Criterion B.2).
- apparent use of a heated drying floor,
- a split level building,
- the use of a windmill to deliver sea water,
- stone and mortar structural techniques and the substantial scale and substance of the walls (Criterion D.2).
1. Salt Works
|Lisdillon Salt Works
2. Windmill and channel
A windmill built on the rocks at this point was used to raise sea water which was then conveyed to the salt works via a channel cut into the slope. Remains of the channel can still be seen today. Radcliff's works were possibly the first salt works in Australia to use windmill technology.
3. Stone dwelling and store
This was a rectangular building which was divided into two, possibly three rooms. It was most likely used as living quarters for the workmen, with a store at the eastern end. If the salt works were operated all day and night, two men (salt boilers) would have been required to tend the fires, remove the salt and re-fill the pans.
4. Cottage
It is most likely that, during the life of the salt works, this cottage was used by the manager attending to works in the area. It was then leased out from the 1840s to the early 1900s before being abandoned and left to deteriorate. The Dodge family occupied the cottage for some thirty years from 1873. Recently, it has been extensively renovated by the current owner. The cottage is now located on private land and is not open to the general public.
5. Tank
This excavated area of 22 metres by 11 metres was most likely used as a reservoir to store fresh water for the occupants of the site and farm stock.
Later History
|Picnickers at the Salt Works (1930)
- John Hood acquired the property in the 1950s, before selling it to the Cotton family from nearby 'Kelvedon'.
- The land surrounding the old salt works was subsequently subdivided and sold. The main part of the salt works ruins was returned to the Crown in 1983 and is now managed as part of the Coastal Reserve.
- Recently, conservation works have been undertaken by the Parks and Wildlife Service to prevent their further deterioration.
- Read more: On the Convict Trail: Lisdillon Salt Works
3. Maria Island
The island has had a mixed history, including two convict eras, two industrial eras, a farming era and, finally, becoming the national park that it is today. Maria Island is a mecca for visitors, providing an array of interests for the daytripper or overnight visitor to the island.
Maria Island has undergone many phases of settlement, leaving a complex, but intriguing legacy of historic heritage.
Maria Island, is a large island of scenic beauty with beaches and mountains in close proximity to historic (including convict) sites.
|Maria Island Beach
Maria Island is an important landmark reflecting key aspects of Tasmania's early history, and has continuing attachments and meanings throughout the Tasmanian community.
For the communities of Swansea, Triabunna and Orford, Maria Island has played an important role in the settlement and socio-economic development of the area.
For Tasmanians generally, Maria Island is well-known for its role in colonial penal history, a period in Tasmania's history that has had an important role in the development of the Tasmanian identity.
- Maria Island is one of several places that brings this past into the present, and it is widely visited by Tasmanians and tourists from elsewhere for this reason.
First convict era 1825–32
Lieutenant Governor Arthur established a penal settlement at Darlington in 1825 for convicts whose crimes were not of 'so flagrant a nature' that they should be sent to the notorious Macquarie Harbour settlement on Tasmania's west coast.
- A small party of soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Peter Murdoch, and fifty male prisoners, arrived at the island aboard the ship Prince Leopold in March 1825. Initially housing was log and bark huts or tents. After the arrival of a new Commandant, Major Thomas Lord, in August, more permanent buildings were erected using bricks made on the island and sandstone excavated from the sea cliffs.
- The commissariat store (1825) and the penitentiary (1830) can still be seen today and are the only surviving buildings from this era. Industries such as cloth, blanket and shoe-making, tanning, timber cutting, and pottery were fostered. Frequent escape attempts, complaints about relaxed discipline and the opening of Port Arthur in 1830 led to the decision to abandon the settlement in 1832.
Second convict era 1842–50
The second convict era commenced in 1842. Under the probation system of the 1840s, convicts were withdrawn from private service and grouped together in government stations.
- Probation stations were established at Darlington and Point Lesueur (10 kilometres south-southwest of Darlington and also known as Long Point).
- Agricultural work was a key activity for convicts, particularly as there were in excess of 400 acres (1.6 km2) of crops to maintain.
- Officials and 600 male convicts in Darlington were housed in old and altered structures re-used from the first convict era, and new buildings were also erected. Overcrowding and ill-adapted buildings were constant problems.
First industrial era 1888–96
Maria Island's potential for wine and silk production, fruit-growing and tourist developments attracted an Italian entrepreneur, Diego Bernacchi. In 1884 Bernacchi secured a long term lease of the island from the Tasmanian Government and the 'Maria Island Company' was formed.
- Bernacchi renamed Darlington "San Diego", and the little town soon had in excess of 250 residents of a variety of different nationalities. Bernacchi established a small cement works which made use of the island's limestone deposits.
- The opening of the Grand Hotel in 1888, complete with dining, billiard and accommodation rooms, saw the promotion of the island as a pleasure resort and sanatorium.
Freycinet Peninsula and Maria Island attractions
History and scenery
The historical and natural assets of Maria Island attract many tourists. As well as the industrial and convict buildings and ruins, there are natural features and many walks.
- Mount Maria is the island's highest peak at 711 metres and is approximately a six-hour return walk.
- Bishop and Clerk, a peak at the island's northern end, is about a four-hour return walk.
- The sandstone cliffs known as the Painted Cliffs are just south of Darlington.
- About 30 minutes' walk north of Darlington are the Fossil Cliffs, located in Fossil Bay and packed with fossils.
Maria island has been identified by BirdLife International as an Important Bird Area (IBA) because it
- supports significant numbers of endangered swift parrotsand forty-spotted pardalotes,
- over 1% of the world population of Pacific gulls, as well as populations of most of Tasmania's endemic bird species.[1]
- Cape Barren geese are common on the island, as are
- eastern grey kangaroos, eastern bettongs and other marsupials.
- Common wombats can be seen almost anywhere.
- Tasmania's three species of snake are all found on the island: the tiger snake, lowland copperhead and white-lipped snake.
Heritage Settlements in Glamorgan and Spring Bay
For reference purposes, and since the four heritage lists overlap, each location has its own code number. Council Codes are also quoted.
Bicheno /ˈbɪʃɛnoʊ/ is a town on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 185 km north-east of Hobart on the Tasman Highway, with a population of 853. It is part of the municipality of Glamorgan/Spring Bay. Wikipedia
- From 1803 Bicheno (then known as Waubs Harbour) was used as a whaling port.
- Bicheno was proclaimed a township in 1866. Bicheno Post Office opened as a receiving house on 1 January 1855.[2]
Bicheno (population 700) is a seaside resort town noted for its fishing facilities, safe beaches and interesting coastal walks.
- There is a nine-hole golf course and easy access to the Douglas Apsley National Park.
- At the northern end of Redbill beach is a fairy penguin rookery. The local fishing catch includes abalone, crayfish, scallops and trevally.
- Bicheno is the northern gateway to Freycinet National Park.
Heritage of Bicheno - Listed in 1976
Source: Register of Listed Buildings, The Country Towns and Villages of Tasmania - National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) edited and prepared for publication by J.N.D. Harrison; Hobart : National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), 1976
- Five locations: Apslawn House, Apsley House, Coombend House, Old Court House, Swanwick House
B1. (Former) Apslawn House and Barn, 16182 Tasman Highway, Apslawn, TAS
- Classified by the National Trust of Tasmania, in 1976
- Listed by the Register of the National Estate Record ID: 11732
- GSB heritage #41, Council Title CT212607/1
Abandoned sandstone Georgian house built in the 1840's on land granted to John Lyne who was MHA for Glamorgan in the period 1843-1865.
The house and its adjacent brick barn are in a deteriorated condition but are of considerable visual and archaeological value.
Single storey sandstone house. Fine tooled stone. Hipped iron roof. Ashlar quoins at corners and openings. Rubble central arched doorway. Abandoned and derelict condition. Adjacent brick barn with English bond brickwork and gable iron roof and loft.
Restoration possibly impracticable. Condition should be stabilised. Three storey section of building demolished some years ago.
Built for John Lyne on his grant of 640 acres - he was MHA for Glamorgan 1843 to 1865.
B2. Apsley House, Outbuildings & Log Cabin, 16182 Tasman Highway, Apslawn, TAS
- Classified by the National Trust of Tasmania, in 1976
- Listed by the Register of the National Estate Record ID: 11734
- GSB heritage #40, Council Title CT53186/1
- The Swan and Apsley rivers, and several creeks water the property.
- Heavy wool - A 4-tooth ram, purchased, at last Melbourne sales for 25 guineas had just been shorn of a little over 12 months' fleece, which weighed 19lb: bright fine wool, having a good long staple, elastic, and silky"[6]
Statement of Significance:
An early Georgian house (now obscured by later additions) with an interesting collection of brick and stone outbuildings including a cider house, stables and remains of original log cabin dating from 1826.
- The property was granted to William Lyne by Governor Arthur on order from Lord Apsley, eldest son of Lord Bathurst.
Painted brick two storey house now altered - two pane windows. Plain Georgian - three bays to front facade - stone footings. Brick and stone stables and cider house with hipped gable roofs.
- Ciderhouse has three levels. Slit windows with quoins and bars. Remnants of old log cottage carries a plaque commemorating William Lyne, who built the cabin .
- Wooden workers cottage with twelve pane windows and verandah.
- Later additions could be removed from house, and reinstatement of glazing bars.
More Apsley Heritage
The Australian Heritage Database lists these three more Apsley locations:
|Apsley Conservation Area Rosedale Road
Apsley Conservation Area is important as key fauna habitat which is necessary to sustain fauna populations and processes.
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|(Indicative Place) Register of the National Estate
|Apsley Geological Monuments
|Apsley, TAS,
|Apsley Marshes
|Cranbrook, TAS,
Register of the National Estate
B3. Coombend House and Buildings 15919 Tasman Highway, Swansea, Tasmania
|Coombend house (1840)
- Classified in 1976
- NO LONGER LISTED on any known heritage register
|Coombend buildings at 16017 Tasman Highway Cranbrook
Mr. J. Lyne, M.H.A.[7] and ran 3000-3500 sheep.[8]
- Coombend's story starts with William Lyne and his family who migrated from their native Gloucestershire in 1826 to settle a 1500 acre land grant near Swansea which they named Apsley.
- William's youngest son, Henry, subsequently established the property to the south of Apsley, and named it Coomb End after the family's English home.
- The homestead includes the original shearing shed which is still in use, along with several cottages (Rob Coffey and his family live in one), the eldest of which was built in 1840 and later used as a staging post for the east coast mail run. This building features on the Coombend label.
- Coombend was a working sheep station (and still is) when the first vines were planted in 1985 by John Fenn Smith, and large scale planting
- Established in 1985 on a working sheep station, Coombend Vineyard of 182 hectares overlooks the spectacular scenery of Moulting Lagoon and the Freycinet Peninsula. There are tastings and sales of wine and estate-grown wines, olive oil and eating olives. The Coombend label depicted the original 19th century mail staging post which lies on the property.
- commenced in 2005 when Tamar Ridge purchased the property.[9]
- Coombend vineyard is now owned by Brown Brothers and renamed The Hazards Vineyard. It is located between Swansea and Bicheno on the East Coast of Tasmania. Flyover movie
|View of Brown Brothers' Coombend Vineyard on Tasmania's east coast
- The forestry giant Gunns put three vineyards – producing mostly pinot noir, riesling and sparkling wines – on the market.
- "They didn't have any experience in wine," says a bemused Brown, "so they employed every Ph.D. in the Southern Hemisphere to advise them." The result? Three beautifully laid-out vineyards – much better than his company was used to, jokes Brown – were added to Brown Brothers' holdings.
Devil's Corner at the Hazards Vineyard overlooks spectacular scenery
- The pleasure that Brown Brothers got from buying the sites didn't stop it from putting in the boot to the vendor via a press release: "And Gunns exits the wine industry, to the relief of many observers, including Tasmanian wine producers, who felt Gunns' logging and forestry activities sat uncomfortably with winemaking."
- On the eastern side of the island, where ... the Brown Brothers' (Hazards) vineyard is sited, there isn't always a lot of rain. A problem? "Well, it would be," admits Brown, "except Gunns built a 700-million-liter [185-million-gallon] dam on the property, which is something you could just about water ski on." (see flyover movie)
- Devil's Corner at the Hazards Vineyard overlooks the spectacular scenery of Moulting Lagoon and the Freycinet Peninsula. Enjoy the amazing views with a glass of award winning, estate-grown wine.
B4. Old Court House (1845) and Watch House, 83 Burgess Street, Bicheno, Tasmania
- Classified in 1976
- Listed on the Register of the National Estate Record ID: 11736; Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1490
- GSB heritage #2; Council title CT154982/1
|The Gaol House, a National Trust property, dates from 1845.
Small Georgian cottage built in 1845 and one of the few early buildings remaining in Bicheno.
- The cottage is constructed from stone and stucco with a hipped roof, twelve paned windows with shutters, and a wooden addition on its southern end. It has two separate, four panelled front doors and is located on a prominent corner site.
- Standing close to the street frontage and overlooking the beach, the building is of townscape significance.
Condition and Integrity: Needs removal of later carport. Windows altered c1930's.
B5. Swanwick House (1830) RA 68 Swanwick Road, Coles Bay
- Classified in 1976
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record Identifier: 1511
- GSB Heritage #15; CT250929/1
|Captain Robert Hepburn
House constructed in c1829 for Captain Robert Hepburn (1782-1866). The house is a single storey sandstone building built in a T Plan. The original entrance front has a c1920 weatherboard extension.
- The stone section of the house has 12 paned double hung windows to some areas and 12 paned sliding sashes to others.
- Chimneys are brick.
- The roof is hipped with close eaves and roof cladding is corrugated iron.
- The weatherboard extension is in Rustic Gothic style and has a corrugated iron roof, small paned windows and a stone paves patio.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
- William Hepburn was born on 24 Apr 1806 in South Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, died on 11 Jan 1880 in Glamorgan, Tasmania at age 73, and was buried in Gala Kirk, Tasmania. William married Sarah Eliza Makepeace. Sarah was born on 2 Sep 1826 in Hobart, Tasmania and died on 5 Mar 1908 at age 81. They had five children.
Heritage of Bicheno - Listed in 1983
Source: The Heritage of Tasmania, The Illustrated Register of the National Estate
South Melbourne : Macmillan in association with the Australian Heritage Commission, 1983
- only two locations listed: Waubadebar's Grave, and the Old Bicheno Court House (see B4 above)
B6. Wauba Debar's Grave, Burgess Street Camping Ground, Bicheno
- National Estate listed in 1983
- Tasmanian Heritage Register. Record Identifier: 1488
- GSB Heritage #1; CT7159/1 & CT38927/3
This site is of heritage significance for its associations with Waubadeba, whom is of importance to Tasmanian History.
- "A simple grave surrounded by an iron picket fence, bearing a plain tablet headstone commemorating Wauba Debar, an Aboriginal stolen as a young girl from her tribe by sealers at Oyster Bay.
- She is remembered for her courage and her generosity to the pioneer east coast community. The tombstone was erected by some of her friends in 1855."
|Wauba Debar was a female Aboriginal Tasmanian.
Her grave is a historic site located in the east coast Tasmanian town of Bicheno, which memorialises her rescue of two sealers
|Wauba Debar (1792–1832) was a female Aboriginal Tasmanian.
Her grave is a historic site located in the east coast Tasmanian town of Bicheno, which memorialises her rescue of two sealers, one of them her husband, when their ship was wrecked about 1 km from shore during a storm. She assisting first her husband, then the other sealer safely to shore.
The grave site overlooks Waubs Bay and Warbs Harbour both of which were named after her, and is listed on the Tasmanian Heritage list.[1]
Wauba Debar, as a teenager, was one of many Aboriginal women kidnapped and enslaved by sealers and whalers for sexual partners during the European colonisation of Tasmania. She was a strong swimmer.
She died in a boat off the coast whilst travelling towards the Furneaux Group and her body was brought ashore and buried. Local settlers raised funds in 1855 to erect the headstone on her grave, immortalising her act of heroism.[2][3] - Wikipedia
|StoryTeller Spinks:
"In those days, it was common for the sealers and whalers to kidnap a few 'gins' to take with them – the black women weren't only kidnapped to be used as paramours, but they were hunters and fishers and divers too."
But late at night, they could escape from beneath the blankets they shared with the seafaring drunks who had taken them, and they could steal the kangaroo-dogs too.
It was said that the Aborigines had a singular power to win the loyalty of the dogs: no small advantage in those days.'
Wauba had been taken, I suppose, in the same way – not by her own volition, and not without violence. What possesses a slave to save the life of her master, then? Is it love when a native girl is married against her will, and then goes and rescues him?"
There were three of them on that sealing vessel when the squall appeared on the east coast waters. The boat went under; the two men were poor swimmers, and looked set to drown beneath the mountainous grey waves. "
|"Wauba could have left them to drown, and swam ashore on her own. But she didn't."
"First, she pulled her husband under her arm – the man who had first captured her – and dragged him back to shore, more than a kilometre away. Wauba next swam back out to the other man, and brought him in as well. The two sealers coughed and spluttered on the Bicheno beach, but they did not die. Wauba had saved them."
"Only a couple of years later, in 1832, Wauba died in another storm near Flinders Island.
"In 1855, 'a few of her White friends' erected a gravestone for Wauba Debar at Bicheno (pictured above), in memoriam of her heroic deeds. The surname is of the man she saved: her husband.
"Wauba's bones are not beneath the gravestone, though. Her skeleton was taken for science, like those of many Aborigines, and is now probably lost.
This is all that is known of Wauba Debar's forty years of life."
- In 1920 Waubadeba's skeleton and Cranium were listed as being one of the Tasmanian Aboriginals stored in the Tasmanian Museum.
- Where are Wauba Deba's remains now? From 1984 all identifiable Ancestral remains held in Tasmanian museums were returned to the local community.[10]
- Read more about Tasmanian Aboriginal People:
- BONWICK, JAMES. The Last Of The Tasmanians; Or, The Black War of Van Diemen's Land.
Adelaide, Libraries Board of South Australia, 1969
- CALDER, J. E. Some Account Of The Wars, Extirpation, Habits, &C., Of The Native Tribes Of Tasmania.
A Facsimile of a rare book on The Tasmanian Aborigines. Hobart, Fullers Bookshop Publishing Division, 1972
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Tasmanians
- http://www.aboriginalheritage.tas.gov.au/
- Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies
- BONWICK, JAMES. The Last Of The Tasmanians; Or, The Black War of Van Diemen's Land.
More Bicheno, Tasmania, Heritage sites
Source 3: The Australian Heritage Database lists 13 locations at Bicheno (List closed in 2007 - altogether 19 sites around Bicheno):
19 results found, 9 sites are in Bicheno village, the rest (10) are in the Bicheno area.
- Only 3 sites from the five 1976 listings are still listed.
- 4 New sites are Registered, 3 new sites in Bicheno are Indicative. All these new sites are natural heritage sites.
|Bicheno Blowhole Esplanade Rd
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|(Indicative Place)
|Buster Ridge Geohertiage Site
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|(Indicative Place)
|Diamond Island Nature Reserve
Diamond Island is the site of one of the few large Little Penguin (EUDYPTULA MINOR) rookeries in Tasmania.
Diamond Island, area about 5 hectares, is located approximately 1km offshore Tasmania's east coast, about 2km north of Bicheno. The reserve comprises the whole island to low water mark.
It is a sandy island dotted with granite boulders, most of its vegetation consisting of grassland and Pigface (carprobrotus ROSSII).
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|Greenlawn Hill
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|(Indicative Place)
|Hardings Falls Area
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|Indigenous Place
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
|Lower Apsley River Callitris Site
This place is a strip of uncleared open eucalypt forest on a river flat on the eastern side of Apsley River immediately north of the bridge on the Coles Bay Road. The place is surrounded in general by farmland and a road gravel pit adjoins the eastern boundary.
The area contains the largest known population of the rare endemic plant, CALLITRIS OBLONGA, which is accorded a status of 2VCi by Briggs and Leigh (1988). Briggs and Leigh also record Oxidia ANGUSTA (3RCa), STENANTHEMUM PIMELEOIDES (2VCa) and EPACRIS BARBATA (2vca), which are found at this site, in their list of rare and endangered plants.
|Bicheno, TAS, Australia
Australian Heritage Places listed in Bicheno:
Source 4: 11 records found.
- Five more sites are listed: B14-B18. Four of these are Local Heritage listings sourced from the Municipal Council.
B14. Bicheno Uniting Church 53 Burgess Street, Bicheno, Tasmania
|Community Church, Bicheno est 1882
Non-denominational. Opened 10 December 1882.
Currently used by a cooperative Anglican & Uniting congregation and a Catholic congregation.
Small Victorian Carpenter Gothic church with gabled roof, decorative timber barge boards and finials.
There is also a bellcote attached to the outside of the building.
The chancel is under a smaller gable with the same decorative treatment.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Victorian Carpenter Gothic
- Read more about this church at Monissa.com
|Place Name
|Local Government
GSB Heritage #4
|Morrison Street, Bicheno
|Glamorgan/Spring Bay
|Tasmanian Heritage Register
|Coal Bin
GSB Heritage #6
|The Gulch Waubs Harbour, Bicheno
|Glamorgan/Spring Bay
|Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1498
|Llandaff Cemetery
GSB Heritage #5
|RA 16403 Tasman Highway, Bicheno
|Glamorgan/Spring Bay
|Tasmanian Heritage Register
A quiet rural village noted for beauty and historic importance
- Buckland is a tiny village of Buckland on the Tasman Highway between Hobart and Orford which is known for
- its charming St John the Baptist Church and its mysterious East Window;
- the unique colonial accommodation offered in the historic Brockley Estate; and
- the excellent Tasmanian Bushland Garden with its rich displays of indigenous East Coast flora.
|Buckland, A quiet rural village in South-Eastern Tasmania
- Located 63 km north east of Hobart on the Tasman Highway, Buckland is a quiet rural village noted for the beauty and historic importance of its St John the Baptist Anglican Church.
The district around Buckland was originally known as Prosser Plains.
- It was settled in the 1820s and the oldest house in the district 'Woodsden', which lies north east of the town, was built in 1826.
- In 1846 Governor Franklin renamed the tiny settlement Buckland, after William Buckland, Dean of Westminster (1845-56) who as a noted geologist (he had been appointed Professor of Mineralogy at Oxford University in 1813) had tried to reconcile geology with the Bible.
Today Buckland's historic features include the Buckland Hotel, which was licensed in 1845 (although extensively modified the original bar still exists) and St John the Baptist Church (turn at Sally Peak Road). Read more at The Age February 8, 2004
The Heritage of Buckland, Tasmania
Source 1: Register of Listed Buildings, The Country Towns and Villages of Tasmania - National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) edited and prepared for publication by J.N.D. Harrison; Hobart : National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), 1976
BU1. Court Farm, 196 Court Farm Road, Buckland, 7190, TAS
- Registered 1976
- GSB Heritage #85; PID 3175850; CT100173/1, CT162203/1, & 4-6, CT233658/1
|Court Farm
This figure is indexed to the annual CPI increase and is set to continue for another 8.5 years.
The balance of the property has run good numbers of cows and calves among the sheltered portions of pasture in and around the plantation.
There is a right to take irrigation water from Tea Tree Rivulet and an area of elevated bush looks over the property from the east.
BU2. Twamley - House and Buildings (1858), 431 Twamley Road. Buckland, Tasmania
- (Mrs. Meredith); Registered 1976
Louisa Anne Meredith
- GSB Heritage #11; CT116602/1 & 2, CT116603/1, CT210003/1, CT248141/1 & 2
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1503
- Twamley Farm is also home to Sheila the Sheep. Sheila was lost on one of our bush runs and was recently found with about six years worth of fleece.
- Accommodation: Stable at Twamley Farm; AirB&B
|Twamley House and Buildings
|Twamley Stables
Twamley Farm is a 7,000 acre working farm on the Tea Tree Rivulet just outside Buckland on the East Coast of Tasmania. The farmland includes a mix of fertile grazing paddocks in the river flat and diverse bushland on the surrounding hills.
Twamley Farm was granted to the free settler George Meredith, in 1829 and is one of several historic grazing properties around Buckland and the Prosser Plains area.
- The farm mainly runs sheep and cattle and also has a small cool climate vineyard. The original sandstone homestead, built in 1842, sits at the top of the valley and is a former home to famous 19th century Tasmanian artist and writer Louisa Anne Meredith.
- The Turvey family has been running Twamley since 1874, and would be delighted to have you visit and explore.
Twamley is of historic heritage significance because of its direct association with Louisa Meredith, a well known and respected 19th century artist and writer and her husband Charles Meredith, politician.
- Twamley has strong meaning for the community because it demonstrates aspects of Victorian society and contributes an historic element to the rural landscape.
- Twamley is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey Old Colonial Georgian domestic sandstone building, with associated barn.
- These characteristics are found in the external form, construction methods and the detailing, both externally and internally.
Stables Accomodation:
A unique 1840s converted stable located in the grounds of Twamley Farm homestead.
- The Stable is a beautifully renovated two storey sandstone building overlooking the hills of Twamley Farm and nestled under English oaks, perfect as a romantic country getaway.
- There is a stunning queen size bedroom located on the upper level with ensuite bathroom, while downstairs offers a contemporary open plan living/dining area and fully equipped kitchen.
Description: Twamley is a single storey stone building with a hipped roof and a verandah under a separate roof with timber posts and simple detailing. The verandah was added approximately 73 years ago and shutters either side of the French windows were removed.
- The fine sandstone on two sides of the house is said to have been quarried at Bellerive, while the two remaining back walls are of local rough stone. Three pieces of stonework have been used to form the doorway.
- The house also has an attic room with dormer, and half a basement with lower window.
- Rough local stone, blue gum timber for beams and multi-paned windows features in the stable that is built close to the house. It once contained four stalls. Two large oak trees also feature on the property - a Canadian and English Oak.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
BU3. The Church of England and Rectory, Buckland (1848)
- Registered 1976; Listed on the Register of the National Estate
- Included in the Top 106 Heritage Sites in Tasmania;
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Place ID #1501
- GSB Heritage #9; CT241553/1
Read all about Buckland Church on our page; Read more at: Monissa's page;
Historic Tasmanian church saved by local community as others struggle to fight off closure
By Airlie Ward
As one historic church in Tasmania's east is being sustained by local community effort, the Anglican Church warns the closure of others appears certain.
Like many old churches in Australia, St John the Baptist Church in Buckland was threatened with closure.
Congregations dwindled, the 1930s asbestos roof posed health risks and maintenance costs mounted.
However, members of the Buckland community were determined to save the heritage-listed church, which was consecrated in 1850, from closure.
Lona Turvey is one of the driving forces behind "Friends of St John the Baptist", the group which came to the defence of the church that stands at the entrance to their township.
"We thought we just can't let this happen," she said.
"It's an important building for Buckland."
The building is kept open 24 hours a day, encouraging tourists en route to the east coast to stop and view the church's gothic features.
Based on a mid-14th Century design, the church is the first ecclesiologically correct building in Tasmania according to architectural historian Warwick Oakman.
Mr Oakman said the church's key attraction was its stained-glass window which depicts John the Baptist's head being served on a platter.
"It's the goriest window in 19th Century churches," he said.
**PHOTO:** The window depicts John the Baptist's head being delivered to Salome. (Flickr: Dan Gordon)
* Read More at the ABC
- There has been much speculation about the age of the East Window with some people claiming that it was originally designed for Battle Abbey in England, a church which dates from 1094.
- There have probably been no other historical Australian stained glass windows more talked of, argued about, or written of in the last 160 years, than those in the Chancel of St John the Baptist Church at Buckland, Tasmania.
The church of St John the Baptist at Buckland is a seminal example of the English parish church and walled churchyard translated into a Colonial situation. (D.2).
- It is an excellent and early example of the Victorian Academic Gothic style, closely modelled on English antecedents. (D.2).
- It epitomises the design principles of that style developed in an aesthetic manner which has been held in high esteem by the Tasmanian community for many generations (E.1).
- The church of St John the Baptist represents one of the earliest attempts in Australia to create an architecturally correct church, according to the principles of the ecclesiological society (A.4) and has strong associations with the English architect, R.C. Carpenter, the Ecclesiological Society and with the Rev'd F.H. Cox, who later became a prominent and influential member of the Anglican church in Tasmania. (H1).
- The church is surrounded by a churchyard, in a style reminiscent of a parish church within an English village. The churchyard, which contains many early graves, is surrounded by a stone wall.
- Read More: On the Convict Trail: St John the Baptist Church, Buckland; Stained Glass Australia: St John the Baptist Church, Buckland
BU4. Ye Olde Buckland Inn, 39 Kent St, Buckland, TAS 7190
- Registered 1976
- GSB Heritage #14; CT38314/4 and 5
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1510
- Built from local handcut sandstone, the inn has been faithfully serving travellers on the East Coast since this time.
- This is a typical local Tasmanian pub where it is all about the beer. Step inside and you are stepping back in time to 1970s country Tasmania where you will encounter some of the local characters who are more than happy to share stories of Buckland and its past around a roaring wood fire.
- The cellar at the pub still houses the makeshift cell used to accommodate the convicts overnight being transported to the many convict probation stations along the coast.
- Today the pub offers free camping for fully self-contained campervans in the paddock out the back but does not serve meals. The Buckland Inn is the perfect spot to take a break, enjoy a cold ale and get a sense of rural life in Tasmania as it has been for decades.
BU5. Woodsden - House and Buildings 170 Woodsden Road Buckland TAS
- Registered 1976
- GSB Heritage #86; CT129530/3
- NOT LISTED on the Tasmanian Heritage Register
|Woodsden, Prossers, Tasmania
- "Mr Cruttenden gave his annual cherry feast, a practice he has kept, I am told, for these last thirty-three years, except on one or two occasions, when there was a failure in the cherries. Then instead he would have a display of fireworks.
- It is astonishing to see the number of men, women, and children that assemble on the lawn at Woodsden, on cherry feast day, and the squire of Woodsden never seems so pleased." Description of "Woodsden" Buckland. Source: Hobart: Mercury 26 July 1884
Source 2: The Heritage of Tasmania (1983)
- No A Grade Heritage listed
Source 3. The Australian Heritage Database lists 4 locations at Buckland
- 3 new results found.
BU6. Convict Road Tasman Highway Orford, TAS
|Convict road on Brockley Estate
The convict road provides access to the Paradise Probation Station and much of the road is supported by 1-3m high dolerite stone walls on the southern (river) side.
This stage 1 section of a genuine convict built road provides a delightful and authentic historical 35 minute return walk from Orford along the northern riverbank of the Prosser river. Built around the 1840s to service the penal settlement of Maria Island this section of the road is in a remarkably preserved state.
- The convict built stage coach road, now disused and part of the Brockley Estate property, runs from the front door of the Brockley Estate house to Orford, eight kilometres away.
- Keep an eye out for convict-built culverts, retaining walls and other evidence of the original works.
- Indicative Place on the Register of the National Estate
BU7. Indigenous Place, Buckland, TAS
- Registered on the Register of the National Estate
BU8. Mount Douglas Area Buckland, TAS
Mount Douglas Area is important for old-growth forest communities that are rare or uncommon nationally or within Tasmania or for common forest communities where the levels of disturbance are such that all remaining old-growth areas also have National Estate significance.
- Indicative Place on the Register of the National Estate
Source 4. Australian Heritage Places listed in Buckland
- 5 new records found
BU9. Former Post Office RA 47 Kent Street, Buckland TAS
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID: 1508
- GSB Heritage #13; CT211336/1
|Former Post Office Buckland
Old Colonial Georgian single storey sandstone building.
The old post office is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the growth and development of postal communication in Colonial Tasmania.
- The old Post Office is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey sandstone Old Colonial Georgian post office building.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
BU10. Oakley 2 Kent Street, Buckland TAS
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID 1500
- GSB Heritage #8; CT32293/3
|Oakley, Buckland
Single storey Victorian Georgian sandstone building with a hipped roof and veranda.
Oakley is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey sandstone Victorian Georgian domestic building.
Description: It is a single storey sandstone building with a hipped roof and verandah. The verandah has timber posts, cast iron brackets and segmental glass panels at the ends.There are double hung windows flanking a central door and dormer windows in the roof.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Victorian Georgian
BU11. Rectory 9 Sally Peak Road, Buckland TAS
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID: 1499
- GSB Heritage #8; CT45635/1 and 2
Victorian Rustic Gothic single storey sandstone building with steeply pitched gabled roof forms, dormer windows and prominent quoin stones.
The Rectory is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey sandstone Victorian Rustic Gothic rectory building.
Description: It is a single storey sandstone building with steeply pitched gabled roof forms, dormer windows and prominent quoin stones. There is a lower storey bay window with casement sashes, stone mullions and spandrel. There are multi-pane windows and a fanlight above the front door.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Victorian Rustic Gothic
BU12. Stonehurst 520 Stonehurst Road, Buckland TAS
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1502
- GSB Heritage #10; CT249037/1
Stonehurst is a Victorian Georgian house built in 1869 for Henry Cruttenden Mace who was born in Sydney, Australia on 22 Dec 1836. Henry Cruttenden married Lucy Dobson on 29 Feb 1876 at: Spring Bay, Tasmania, and had three daughters: Caroline Cruttenden, Anne Catherine and Lucy Elizabeth. Henry passed away on 12 Dec 1882 in Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia.[12]
Thomas Cruttenden was one of the earliest settlers in the district known as Prosser's Plains, where, prior to 1840, a survey for the proposed township of Buckland had been carried out.
- As a landed proprietor in the district, Thomas Cruttenden was one of the major benefactors that enabled the establishment of the St John the Baptist Church.
- Thomas Cruttenden's sister, Sarah Cruttenden married the Reverend F. H. Cox, the first rector of the Prosser's Plains district and was succeeded by Lucy's father Reverend Charles Dobson.
- After the deaths of the parents of Henry Mace Jnr. in Sydney the Mace children came to Buckland and into the care of their Cruttenden relatives. In this way Henry Cruttenden Mace would have met Lucy Dobson at Buckland.
- Lucy and Henry lived at Stonehurst, a 2,881 acre property at Buckland where they raised three children: Caroline Cruttenden, Ann Catherine, and Lucy Elizabeth.
- Henry's marriage in 1876 to Lucy was brief, as a little over six years later, he died at Sandy Bay. It was on his 47th birthday on 22 December, 1882. Lucy was then a widow at the age of 28 with three young daughters.
- The house is single storey (plus attic) with a gabled roof and lean-to at the rear.
The cottage at Stonehurst is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of an early split paling dwelling. These characteristics are found in the external form, construction methods and the detailing, both externally and internally.
- Stonehurst is a single storey (plus attic) stone building with a gabled roof and lean-to at the rear. The house has a verandah to the entrance front, a central four panelled door and flanking small paned double hung windows with unusual key-stone lintels.
- The site includes an early cottage (c1860) which is a two-roomed split paling hut, a timber outbuilding which now serves as a garage and a weatherboard shearing shed which was formerly a barn.
- Hobart is just 1 hours travel, the airport 40 minutes and Orford and the pristine sandy beaches of Tasmania's famous East Coast are a mere 15 minutes away.
- A highly regarded fine wool clip is produced from the merino flock that grazes the paddocks and native pastures.
- Back River meanders through the flats; lovely pools and a large dam lend the promise of a trout or two.
BU13. Wincanton RA 6297 Tasman Hwy, Buckland TAS
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1504
- GSB Heritage #12; CT100547/1
|Wincanton Buckland TAS
Wincanton is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey sandstone Old Colonial Georgian domestic building.
Description: It is a single storey sandstone building with a hipped roof and multi-paned windows. There is a gabled roofed portico with timber posts and bargeboards (Federation era), as well as dormer windows.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
- House sold on 01 Jul 2010 for $250,000 - more photographs
BU14. Brockley Estate
|Route of Old Convict Road through Brockley Estate up to Paradise Gorge Probation Station
- Council Heritage Listed: GSB Heritage #84; CT103330/1-5, CT144578/8, CT197557/1, CT216502/1
- NOT LISTED on the Tasmanian Heritage Register
- Website - Authentic Heritage Accomodation
Built in 1841, Brockley Estate is a spacious stone Colonial homestead situated on 10,000 private acres. The 170-year-old sandstone and convict brick homestead boasts generous verandahs, ancient English trees and hawthorn hedges.
- The homestead blends seamlessly into its traditional Tasmanian landscape surroundings, with generous verandahs, with hedges stretching down to the wide Prosser River.
- An authentic restoration of the elegant convict brick homestead, now filled with Tasmanian and English antiques, exquisite artwork and precious rugs strewn across polished floorboards.
- This is stunningly beautiful countryside, with rolling hills and native bushland behind and merino lambs baa-ing on the pastures out front.
- Explore the property's riverside convict road and bush walks.
Read more: Tassie Rambler
- Kangaroos are regularly seen and platypuses often play in the wide river that runs through the estate.
Brockley Estate homestead accommodation
Coles Bay
- It has a population of about 470 people including the surrounding area, but a large number of tourists visit the area for its scenery and outdoor activities, which include hiking, biking, fishing, boating and Sea kayaking.
- The town is on the northern end of Great Oyster Bay with stunning views of the red and pink granite peaks known as The Hazards, on the Freycinet Peninsula. It is in the area of the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council.
CB1. Freycinet National Park, Freycinet Drive, Coles Bay TAS
- Listed on the Register of the National Estate; see entry above
CB2. Indigenous Place, Coles Bay TAS
- Listed on the Register of the National Estate
CB3. Swanwick RA 68 Swanwick Road, Coles Bay TAS
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1511; See entry above
Cranbrook's Major Historic Vinyards:
C5. Gala Estate
A seventh generation 4000 ha sheep station, Gala Estate is recognised as the second oldest business in Tasmania, EST 1821, and is also home to a boutique vineyard with a quirky cellar door.
- Located on steep and rocky ironstone hills with a northerly aspect, the vineyards ideal terroir produces a premium range of cool climate wines.
C12. Spring Vale
Spring Vale Vineyard is located on a historic property just north of Swansea.
- The property features an original convict built stable (c.1842) and the wines produced are Pinot Noir, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Sparkling.
Heritage of Cranbrook
- 21 Cranbrook heritage places identified on these four lists:
Source 1: Register of Listed Buildings, The Country Towns and Villages of Tasmania - National Trust of Australia (Tasmania) edited and prepared for publication by J.N.D. Harrison; Hobart : National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), 1976
- 13 Properties listed in 1976
C1. Belmont House RA 14106 Tasman Highway, Swansea, Tasmania
- Classified 1976; Register of the National Estate Place ID 11690;
- GSB Heritage #59; Council ID: 59/CT1000961/1;
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID: 1558
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
Dating back to 1892 Belmont Homestead provides a comfortable environment with sitting room, formal drawing room, dining room, kitchen, pantry, bathroom, bedroom, office and laundry all of which are downstairs, then 3 large bedrooms and another bathroom upstairs.
Set amongst charming country gardens and including a sheltered in-ground pool, this well known and admired home of 340m2 is less than 10km from the thriving coastal township of Swansea on the Freycinet Coast.
A simple Victorian house in an intact and original condition built in 1891-2, Belmont Homestead has been tastefully maintained during its lifetime.
- Single storey brick and stucco late Victorian house with attics. Two pane windows. Eight panel door. Iron gable roof with dormers at rear. Return verandah with timber columns and iron friere and brackets. Bay window to main elevation. Decorative barges to gable ends.
- Built by Mr. Leckie for Arthur Cotton.
- Sold $540,000 in Jul 2007; Rented $210pw in Nov 2010; asking $720,000: sale photographs
C2. Cambria House and outbuildings, 13566 Tasman Highway Swansea TAS
- GSB Heritage #60; CT111628/1
Louisa Meredith on 'Cambria' (Glam. Spring Bay Historical Soc.)
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1559
- He built 'Cambria' to last, and it became the much-loved family home for generations of Meredith's, including the multi-talented Louisa Anne Meredith, who had married George's son Charles. Her evocative writings and paintings captured the flavour of Tasmanian country life during the late 19th century."
- Cambria is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a stone Old Colonial Georgian rural homestead with its associated outbuildings.
Description: This is a substantial sansdstone house with basement and attic floors, hipped roof with corrugated iron sheeting, verandah to the garden front, panelled door, double hung small paned windows, sandstone chimneys, a sympathetic modern extension to one end, and protruding wings to the rear service area.
There is a brick, partly re-constructed stable to the rear with loft and hipped roof, a timber barn with gabled roof, and several stone or brick garden walls.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
George Meredith (1777–1856)
In 1820 George Meredith decided to emigrate. He chartered a ship with other emigrants (including Joseph Archer, T.G. Gregson, Francis Desailly, John Kerr, the Amos family and his young cousin John Meredith).
- Unfortunately his wife, Sarah, died suddenly in 1820, but their governess, Mary Ann Evans, agreed to travel with them to look after the young family and George and Mary Ann were quietly married shortly before they embarked on the "Emerald" on 8 November 1820.
They arrived in March 1821 and, having heard there was good land at Oyster Bay, a small party set out in a boat to explore the district of Oyster Bay.
- They found the land not as good as reported but made selections which were granted.
- George was granted 2000 acres on a rivulet of the Swan River and another 1000 acres at Jericho and his cousin, John, was also granted 1000 acres at Swanport and 1000 acres at Jericho and the eldest son, George received a grant next to his father's at Swanport.
- When the settlers arrived in September 1821, however, they found part of the land occupied by William Talbot and the dispute over the land was not formally settled in Meredith's favour, until 1826.
Louisa Anne Meredith(1812-1895)
Born Louisa Anne Twamley - 20 July 1812, Birmingham, England, UK
Died 21 October 1895 (aged 83)
Collingwood, Victoria
Occupation Writer, illustrator
Nationality British
Spouse Charles Meredith
|Louisa and Charles Meredith sailed for New South Wales in June 1839, and arrived at Sydney on 27 September 1839. After travelling into the interior as far as Bathurst, Mrs Meredith returned to the coast and lived at Homebush for around a year.[3]
By the time of his return to New South Wales, severe economic depression caused by excessive land speculation had destroyed the value of Charles' property, and towards the end of 1840 they relocated to Tasmania.
An interesting account of her first 11 years in Australia is given in her two books, Notes and Sketches of New South Wales (1844), reprinted at least twice, and My Home in Tasmania (1852), which was soon republished in the United States under the title Nine Years in Australia. (read e-book)
For most of her life Louisa Meredith lived on properties around Swansea. (See her houses in the website below)
In 1860 she published Some of My Bush Friends in Tasmania* which contained elaborate full-colour plates printed by the new chromolithography process. The illustrations were drawn by herself, and simple descriptions of characteristic native flowers were given.
In 1861 an account of a visit to Victoria in 1856, Over the Straits, was published, and in 1880 Tasmanian Friends and Foes, Feathered, Furred and Finned. This went into a second edition in 1881.
She died in Collingwood, Victoria (a suburb of Melbourne) on 21 October 1895[1] and was survived by sons Owen and George.[3]
Meredith was the author of two novels, Phoebe's Mother (1869), which had appeared in the Melbourne weekly The Australasian in 1866 under the title of Ebba, and Nellie, or Seeking Goodly Pearls (1882).
When Louisa visited Sydney in 1882, Sir Henry Parkes told her that he had read and appreciated her articles when a youth.
After her husband's death she was granted a pension of £100 a year by the Tasmanian government.
Many of her books were illustrated by herself. Her volumes on New South Wales, Tasmania, and Victoria in the 1840s and 1850s, will always retain their historical significance.[3] - from Wikipedia
Meredith family
George Meredith (13 February 1777 – 1856) was the head of the Meredith family who, with the Amos family, were the first settlers on the east coast of Tasmania.[1]
Meredith arrived in Hobart in 1821 and farmed near Swansea.
- Meredith's daughter Clara married Richard Dry, Tasmanian Premier and the first Australian to receive a knighthood.
- Meredith's son was the politician, Charles Meredith and Charles' wife was the artist and author, Louisa Anne Meredith.
- Meredith's grandson, Duncan Boyes won the Victoria Cross at Shimonoseki, Japan in 1865.
In the early 1820s many isolated settlements were under repeated attack from escaped convicts.
- In October 1825 the homestead at Oyster Bay was raided in Meredith's absence by the bushranger Matthew Brady. None of the family was injured but the house was ransacked and a servant taken hostage was later killed; fortunately the plate and other valuables were found buried near Hobart and returned.
|Cambria, near Swansea TAS
- About 1827 they moved into Belmont, a more spacious home lying about one mile (1.6 km) further inland.
- From that time the management of the property devolved more upon the eldest Meredith sons, and they took the entire care of the estate when George's second wife Mary died unexpectedly in 1842.
- By his second marriage he had three sons and four daughters, of whom the second son of George's second marriage, John remained in charge at Oyster Bay until George Meredith died in 1856.
John Meredith, who took over the management of Cambria in 1853, sold his property, "Oaklands", in South Australia, near Mount Gambier, in 1854 and purchased Cambria from his father.
- He and his wife Maria (Hammond) then remained at Cambria for the rest of their lives. They had ten children.
Family letters reveal that neigbours, such as the Mitchell's of Lisdillon, the Cottons of Kelvedon, the Amos family, the Lynes and other visitors were often mentioned.
- The Governor sometimes visited. In March 1883 Meredith G.4 Governor Strahan was entertained to lunch at Cambria with roast swan, curry, cutlets, vegetables, baked apple pudding, jam tarts, blancmange, cheese, fruit etc.
- The bishops were entertained, including Bishop and Mrs Montgomery and family in 1889.
- Although the family were Anglican, the Catholic priest from Campbell Town, Fr. Kelsh, visited and he invited daughter Jessie to stay with him and his sisters when she was travelling through Campbell Town.
- The Catholic bishop, Daniel Murphy lunched with the Merediths who found him a kindly and affable man who admired Swansea.[15]
C3. Craigie Knowe House, 80 Glen Gala Road, Cranbrook TAS
- Classified in 1976
- GSB Heritage #21; CT106644/1
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1516
East Coast Tasmanian wine-making was born at Cranbrook's picturesque, sun-soaked Craigie Knowe property.
- The 13 acre property also includes a circa 1842 sandstone and bluestone homestead that has been fully restored and converted into a luxury boutique lodge.
- Craigie Knowe was one of several properties farmed by the pioneering Amos family, who accumulated significant holdings in the Cranbrook area. The homestead was built by James Amos (1804-1864), and it sits on the highest point of the Swan valley floor, on a craggy knoll that in Gaelic was termed Craigie Knowe.
- In 1979, dentist John Austwick chose Craigie Knowe for his first vine plantings because of its rich volcanic soils and the area's long hot summer days. He wanted to produce his favourite Bordeaux-style Cabernet Sauvignons.
- Austwick's sheep-farmer neighbours thought he was mad, but over the last three decades, Craigie Knowe's wine has become highly acclaimed - recognized as Tasmania's first great Cabernet Sauvignon but also celebrated for its Pinot Noir and Riesling.
- Many of Austwick's former sheep-farming neighbours have since diversified into viticulture and the region is so admired for its micro-climate and distinctive terroir that Decanter magazine described it as one of the New World's "six most exciting terroirs."
The house was constructed in the 1842 by James Amos. Recognised as one of the oldest vineyards on Tasmania's east coast, this property combines picturesque scenery, luxurious accommodation and five hectares of established, award winning vines.
- The latter day viticulture pioneer was John Austwick, who planted five hectares of vines at Cranbrook in 1979 and produced what wine writer Graeme Phillips describes as "truly memorable, long-living cabernets and pinot noirs" under the Craigie Knowe label.
- Phillips says Austwick chose Cranbrook for his vineyard because it was the sunniest part of Tasmania, and the property because it had an old muscatel grapevine climbing all over an 1830s' convict cottage.[17]
- The main house is single storey sandstone and bluestone house with attic, corrugated iron gabled roof, central cedar panelled door with fanlight, flanking double hung windows and a veranda over the front façade.
- Inside there is extensive use of cedar high quality joinery.
- There is an early timber skillion extension to the rear. Nearby is the former carriage house of stone and timber with a gabled corrugated iron roof.
- There is also a stone barn with a gabled iron roof and timber barge boards.
C4. Cranbrook House and Dairy 82 Glen Gala Road Cranbrook TAS
- Classified 1976
- GSB Heritage #17; CT109059/1, CT203125/1
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
- Registered on the Australian Heritage Register
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID: 1512
|Cranbrook House
ownership since that date. The house is memorable for its picturesque setting on the banks of the Swan River and its fine garden extending to the river edge. It has an important relationship to other houses on the Cranbrook Estate.
- Cranbrook House is of historic heritage significance because of its association with the local Amos family since its original construction.
- Cranbrook House is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a two storey sandstone Old Colonial Georgian rural homestead with its associated outbuildings.
The main house is a two story stone structure with basement and attic. There is a verandah to the front facade which has a central panelled door and flanking double hung windows.
- There are dressed quoins to the house. There is a gabled roof with narrow boxed eaves.
- To three sides of the house there are 20th century extensions in weatherboard.
- Nearby there is a single storey stone wash house with a gabled corrugated iron roof with loft door in the gable end.
- There is also a timber stable and timber shearing shed to the rear of the house.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
C5. Gala Buildings and Mill, 56 Glen Gala Road, Cranbrook TAS
- Classified in 1976
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
- Listed on the Register of the National EstateRecord ID: 11730
- GSB Heritage #18; CT102171/1, CT202099/1, CT204393/1
- Tasmanian Heritage Register. Record ID: 1513
Gala Estate (pronounced "Galla") and the Greenhill family trace their origins to Adam Amos who settled at Cranbrook in 1821, one of the original settlers on the east coast of Van Diemens Land, with the Merediths.[18]
|Adam Amos (1774 - 1845)
- Adam had accumulated capital of £1500 by 1820, when both brothers sailed for Van Diemen's Land with Meredith.
They arrived in March 1821 in the Emerald, and were advised to look for land on the unsettled east coast.
Adam's capital entitled him to a grant of 1000 acres (405 ha) which he located on the Swan River at Cranbrook, and called Gala.
By 1824 his mill was supplying the district with flour, and five years later he had many other substantial improvements.
|Gala Estate
- An early stone cottage built about 1840 is incorporated in the homestead complex of Victorian design built in the 1860's.
- A fine brick mill was built in 1842. The house and mill were built by the Amos family.
- The property is notable for its fine location on the Swan River and its relationship to other buildings in the Cranbrook Estate.
After the death of Adam on 16 January 1845 his holdings were divided among his sons: ownership has since never left Amos hands. John and his wife Hannah, née Hardy, whose birthplace in Kent had given the name to their property and the township, died in 1848. Cranbrook was retained in the family but with difficulty.
Today Gala is an amalgam of four properties that cover 4000 ha from north of Cranbrook, south to the boundary of Belmont at Swansea, separated by Spring Vale. The name Gala (pronounced as in valour) refers to Galashiels on the Scottish Borders, where the Amos and Greenhill ancestors came from.
- The flats on the original property, Glen Gala, produced wheat that was ground at the two mills on the property, the flour being shipped to Victoria's gold rush towns from the port at Swansea. One of the mills is still standing.
"Since then, it has always been a mixed farm," Adam Greenhill says. "In the past several decades we have been growing seed crops – potato, brassicas, caulfiflower, cabbage, carrot and clover.
"It is hard to compete with broadacre crops and vegetables here due to our isolation. We have higher freight costs and fewer services such as agronomy and contractors."[19]
It has cedar internal fittings, and the front entrance is double, half glazed French doors. Also in the complex is a partially complete brick mill with hipped gable roof and wooden side wing, and two cottages, one two storey brick, the other single storey fieldstone.
- The Main House is a single storey brick and coursed render buildingof Old Colonial Georgian style constructed in 1842 with modern wings from 1951. The earlier cottage to the rear was probably constructed in the 1830's.
- The house has a pair of gabled roofs one behind the other which have been in filled in recent times to eliminate an internal gutter. The house has a modern veranda to the front façade which has a panelled door near the centre and flanking double hung windows.
C6. Gala Kirk, RA 14876 Tasman Highway, Cranbrook TAS
- Classified in 1976
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
The Mercury Wed 20 Nov 1935 P. 8
- Register of the National EstateRecord ID: 11684
- GSB Heritage #22; CT247068/1
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1517
A small brick Romanesque Revival Georgian church built in 1845 by John Amos (sen) and son James for the insufficient sum collected for its construction. The erection of Gala Kirk in 1845 was another family effort.
- "...it is considered by this meeting that an edifice 45 feet in length by 24 in breadth, and 16 feet in height, and capable of containing about 200 sittings, with a vestry and school room annexed to it, would amply meet the wants of this neighbourhood."[20]
- Their first minister being the Rev. Thomas Dove who had seen service previously on Flinder's Island. He was stationed at Swansea in 1844 and died there in 1888.
- Services had first been held at Cranbrook in the old granary. In 1921 the centenary of the arrival of Adam Amos and his family was celebrated.
- The Cranbrook homestead was destroyed by fire in 1858 but the 'kirk' and other buildings were saved.
- Near the church is the old cemetery where many of the Scottish pioneers of the east Coast are buried.
Description: Georgian Kirk of rough cast brick with double pitched iron roof (main gable). Timber bellcote on north end. Small gabled entrance porch. At south end is a transverse gabled wing with door and matching blind opening with label moulds. Side windows are arch topped with small panes. Each gable end has a blind Florentine panel. Old adjacent historic graveyard.
|"To The Pioneers":
"God grant that some at Cranbrook with a love that's past
Will stand there in the Kirk yard at the falling o' the dew;
When o'er the tiers that you have loved the fiery sun is
And thank their God that they are sprung from kinsmen
such as you.
And giving thanks may pledge them, with a high and bold
endeavour, ·
That as your days were bravely spent, so theirs' may be
the same;
Then down the years your watching eyes. unto the Great
Shall light at sight o' kinsmen, who are worthy o' their name."
by J. H. GOULD.[21]
C7. Glen Gala House and Buildings, RA 45 Glen Gala Road, Cranbrook TAS
- Classified in 1976
- GSB Heritage #25; CT105790/1 & 2, CT51245/1
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1518
Glen Gala House (Nat Trust Tasmania)
- Home of A R & P A Greenhill
- Nearby is an earlier cottage, now in ruins, built in 1830.
Glen Gala is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a two storey Victorian Georgian brick rural homestead. The 1830 ruin is of historic cultural heritage significance because it has the potential to yield important information, of an archaeological nature, that may contribute to a greater understanding of Tasmanias history.
Description: Glen Gala is a two storey brick Victorian Georgian house with hipped corrugated iron roof, wide boxed eaves, central four panelled front door with radial fanlight, flanking 12 paned double hung windows and verandah. Floors are of Oyster Bay Pine and fittings of Cedar and Oregon. Nearby is a single storey ruinous cottage from 1830 of field stone, shingled roof, 9 paned windows and round pole roof framing.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Victorian Georgian
C8. Glenheriot House 15035 Tasman Highway, Cranbrook TAS
- Also spelled as "Glen Heriot" - Classified in 1976
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
- Listed on the Register of the National Estate
- GSB Heritage #24; CT250205/1
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1519
|Glenheriot (Nat. Trust Tasmania)
Description: A single storey brick house with hipped, and gable roofs, and a verandah on two sides. It has flemish bond brickwork and stone lintels and sills, but the windows no longer have glazing bars.
- It is an undistinguished house which has probably been altered quite extensively over the years.
The main house is a Federation Queen Anne design of single storey brick, hipped roof, return verandah, 1920s skillion extensions to the rear, and 3 panelled doors as part of a c.1935 upgrade. The barn and blacksmiths shop are of rubble stone construction with dressed quoins, gabled corrugated iron roof, and skillions to both sides. There is a timber shearing shed framed of Oyster Bay Pine and a Workers Cottage of stone with timber extensions.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Federation Queen Anne, Victorian Georgian
Satellite view Glenheriot homestead & outbuildings
- The house is a single storey brick building with hipped roof, return veranda.
- The barn and blacksmiths shop are of rubble stone construction with dressed quoins, gabled corrugated iron roof, and skillions to both sides. There is a timber shearing shed framed of Oyster Bay Pine and a Workers Cottage of stone with timber extensions.
- The outbuildings date from c1860's onwards.
Re-instatement of original doors, and glazing bars in windows, and removal of later additions is required. Original grant to Adam Amos.
Two fires at Glen Heriot?
Two different properties burned at Glen Heriot?
- A Federation Queen Anne, Victorian Georgian house constructed in 1912 with c1920 extensions, all believed to replace an earlier house lost to fire.
CRANBROOK, September 10. 1926 (The Mercury Sat 11 Sep 1926 Page 10)"
Mr. Cusick was awakened by the sound of fire at a little after 1 o'clock, and roused his family, who had only time to escape in their night attire.
No clothes were saved, and the house was gutted and the contents entirely destroyed."
- "There was only a small amount of insurance on the house, and the furniture was not covered. Mr. Cusick estimates his loss at £1,000.
On being informed. Mr. Poole and his son and Mr. Skeggs hurried to Glen Heriot, and by strenuous efforts succeeded in saving the out-buildings, which sparks had ignited in several places. A very high wind helped to fan the flames."
C9. Red Banks House and Buildings, 13514 Tasman Highway Swansea 7190
- Classified in 1976
- Listed on the Register of the National Estate Record ID: 11676
- GSB Heritage #64; CT35679/1 &2
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1564
George Meredith and family's first home was "Red banks", a turf hut strengthened with timber on the bank of the Meredith River.
- According to the Lands Commissioners this had been "thrown up by Mr Talbot who ... cared little for exterior appearances provided the cellar was well stocked".
- After about five years the family moved to "Belmont", a mile inland leaving the eldest son, George, at Redbanks. [22]
In 1871 the Electoral Roll shows the residents of Red Bank to be:
- Peter Miller, freeholder, Red Banks House and Land
- Robert Miller, freeholder, Red Banks House and Land
- Edward Carr Shaw, freeholder, Estate of Red Banks [23]
- Vernacular house, part one storey, part two storey with attics. Stone and stucco lined in imitation of ashlar.
- One storey field stone kitchen wing at rear. Gable roof. Single storey verandah with concave iron roof and cast iron decoration.
Twelve pane windows. Very fine entrance, hall and staircase - four panel door with half sidelights and radial flat arched fanlight over.
- Old stone settlers cottage.
- Stone and timber and paling and shingle barns.
The house is two storeys and of stuccoed stone. The roof is gabled with corrugated iron cladding and decorative barge boards.
- There is a verandah to the front with concave corrugated iron, timber posts, cast iron lacework and flagstone floor. The front door is central and has sidelights and fanlight.
- The internal joinery dates from the the c1833 construction period in part and from the c1860 post fire reconstruction in other parts.
- Some of the interior walls have been painted by local artist and resident Louise Mitchell in c1930.
- Other buildings on the site include the original residence - a ruinous single storey wattle and daub house with gabled roof, a stone and timber laundry adjacent the rear of the main house, a c1833 weatherboard schoolhouse, a ruinous stone workers hut with no surviving roof, a pair of conjoined stone workers cottages subsequently converted to a shearing shed, and a barn/stable with an attached machinery shed.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
C10. Riversdale House RA 14193 Tasman Highway, Swansea TAS
This building is of historic heritage significance because its townscape associations are regarded as important to the communitys sense of place.
- Riversdale House is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a two storey, stucco Old Colonial Georgian domestic building.
A symmetrical, two storey, stuccoed building with a corrugated iron hipped roof, boxed eaves, and simple chimneys. The door is central to the front elevation, and has half-sidelights and a transom light.
- There is a window to either side of the door, and three windows to the first floor; all the windows are double-hung with 16 panes.
- The side elevation has two similar windows to the first floor; and the ground floor has a projecting 4-part casement window with toplights. There is an extension to the rear elevation.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
Reviving Riversdale
Restoring Riversdale House at Swansea, on Tasmania's East Coast, has been a journey of discovery for owners Ros Hunt and Janna Johnstone.
- Riversdale is a beautiful colonial Georgian farmhouse constructed in 1838 which had fallen into disrepair by the time the current owners bought it. "There was no kitchen floor. It went down to the dirt," Mrs Hunt said. "The verandah was falling off the back and the upstairs floor had dropped on one side so it was on a sloping angle."
- The owners have undertaken a range of works including reconstructing the front verandah; replacing the rear verandah; repairing the fascia and floors; replacing the roof, gutters and flashings; re-pointing; and removing a buttress.
- In undertaking their restoration, the owners have made some great discoveries. "During the work the original shingle roof was exposed," Mrs Hunt said. "It was a magnificent sight to see it there."
|Riversdale home of Louisa Meredith
- "We've provided free advice to the owners about how they can best proceed with the restoration, and the Heritage Council provided some funding through the Conservation Funding Program," Mr Hawson said.
- Mrs Hunt has appreciated the assistance she's received. "We've got nothing but praise for the staff at Heritage Tasmania and the Heritage Council – we couldn't have done it without them," Mrs Hunt said. "We've received lots of great advice.
- Our builder, Andrew Fahey, was fantastic. He's worked on heritage places and that experience was invaluable," she said. The restoration is not yet complete, but enormous steps have been taken toward a sympathetic restoration of this important piece of Tasmania's historic heritage.[24]
House Sold on 14 Feb 2014 for $485,000
C11. Riversdale Mill RA 14193 Tasman Highway, Swansea TAS
- Classified in 1976
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
- GSB Heritage #66; CT48983/1
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1566
- Listed on the Register of the National EstateRecord ID: 11688
- On the property list of Riversdale House, probably on the same land title:
Previously a fine river mill, one of the few remaining in this part of Tasmania. The building is in poor condition, part of it having been demolished for another mill restoration (Gala Mill) in the district.
Description: Two level brick mill. Brick lintels. Stone rubble foundations - arched orenings in front wall. Gable roof.
- Now in damaged condition. Built by John Amos for George Meredith.
- Condition and Integrity: Bricks from this mill used for Gala mill. Needs renovation.
- Sale listing and photographs
C12. Springvale, 130 Spring Vale Road, Cranbrook TAS
- Now spelled as "Spring Vale"
Spring Vale home of Louisa Meredith
- Classified in 1976
- GSB Heritage #20; CT197448/1
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1515
- Vineyard website
Statement of Significance:
Spring Vale is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey stone Old Colonial Georgian cottage with attic and associated outbuildings.
|Spring Vale Winery
This is a single storey stone house with attic, verandahs to front and back, a central modern door to the front with flanking double hung windows, brick chimneys, and an early 20th century addition to the side. There is also a stone stable with gabled roof of corrugated iron.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
The vineyard began in 1986 when a small area of 0.8 hectares were planted to Pinot Noir. Further plantings were made in the following years: firstly, more Pinot Noir, then Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer, followed by Pinot Gris in 1996. In 2000, more Pinot Noir and a splash of Pinot Meunier were planted. A further 7.9 hectares of Pinot Noir were then planted in 2013.
- In June 2007, Spring Vale purchased a neighbouring farm, "Melrose". The purpose was to enable increased production of a lighter style red to be produced, with the first "Melrose" Pinot Noir being the 2008 Vintage.
C13. The Springs House, 149 Springs Road, Swansea TAS
7km north-north-west of Swansea. Includes Allen Tombstone.
- Classified in 1976
The Springs House (Nat. Trust Tasmania)
- Grade A National Trust heritage registered (source 2)
- Listed on the Register of the National EstateRecord ID: 11686
- GSB Heritage #69; CT129882/1 & 3
- Tasmanian Heritage Register ID 1571
The Springs is a single storey stone building with attic in the Old Colonial Georgian style.
A good example of a stone Colonial vernacular house, largely intact and with an adjacent pioneer grave.
- The Springs is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey (with attic) stone Old Colonial Georgian rural homestead.
One storey Colonial vernacular field stone house. Hipped roof. One storey verandah at front. Roof dormers. Corners and openings quoined.
Twelve pane windows. Front and French doors not original. Rear skillion section. Cellar. Old grave near house.
- It has a hipped corrugated iron roof, narrow boxed eaves, dressed stone quoins, a central paneled door with flanking modern French doors, a verandah, 12 paned double hung window to the side, a rear stone skillion, rendered chimneys and dormer windows to the attic.
- The internal joinery is intact from the Old Colonial Georgian period. The ruins on the site include a timber stable, and two stone cottages.
Could remove later additions & dormers. Doors to main facade could Be replaced.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Old Colonial Georgian
- The Examiner, Launceston, 1856, Electoral Roll; and 1870, 1871 Electoral Rolls all show "Edwin Allen, freeholder, Estate of the Springs"
Source 2: The Heritage of Tasmania (1983)
The Heritage of Tasmania (1983) (pages 26-30) lists eight Grade A National Trust heritage registered properties
- 8 Records found: all listed above
Source 3. The Register of the National Estate, or Australian Heritage Database
14 "Grade A" results found for Cranbrook. five new natural heritage sites
Apsley MarshesApsley Marshes are an important feeding and breeding area for waterfowl which prefer a freshwater habitat, especially black swans. The marshes' association with Moulting Lagoon increases their importance as a waterbird habitat.
The marshes are considered to be the best wetland of their type and are one of the most floristically rich wetlands in Tasmania. Apsley Marshes are on the Ramsar list of Wetlands of International Importance.
(see above listing)
|Cranbrook, TAS, Australia
Register of the National Estate
Bluemans Creek-Brushy River AreaThis area is the habitat of large populations of a number of unreserved and poorly reserved endemic plant species.
|Cranbrook, TAS, Australia
Register of the National Estate
Cherry Tree Hill - Blacks Creek AreaThe area supports important populations in relatively undisturbed habitats of the five nationally rare Tasmanian endemic plant species
|Cranbrook, TAS, Australia
Register of the National Estate
Meetus Falls Forest ReserveMeetus Falls has high aesthetic value, being spectacular falls in natural surroundings. (Criterion E.1)
The reserve contains good examples of a range of forest types in the Eastern Tiers, including callidendrous rainforest and EUCALYPTUS DELEGATENSIS wet sclerophyll forest.
|Royal George, TAS, Australia
Register of the National Estate
Moulting Lagoon Game Reserve & Coles Bay Road AreaMoulting Lagoon is an extremely important habitat for waterbirds, providing a habitat for many species including about 80% of the Tasmanian black swan population and 14 species covered by the Japan Australia migratory birds agreement. The lagoon has been designated as a ramsar site because it is a particularly good example of coastal Wetlands. Moulting Lagoon has a diverse flora, from aquatic vegetation, salt marsh and MELALEUCA swamp forest to CALLITRIS- EUCALYPTUS woodland, EUCALYPTUS woodland and open forest.
|Cranbrook, TAS, Australia
Register of the National Estate
Moulting Lagoon Wildlife SanctuaryImportant wetland area. Breeding area for black swan. Drought refuge.
|Cranbrook, TAS, Australia
Register of the National Estate
|Amos Family Cemetery Cranbrook
Source 4. Australian Heritage Places listed in Buckland
- 19 Records Found, 2 new - C19-C20
C19. Amos Family Cemetery, Glen Gala Road, Cranbrook
- Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID: 1521
- GSB Heritage #25; CT105790/1 & 2; CT51245/1
- This site is of historic cultural heritage significance for its associations with the Amos family.
- This graveyard is of historic cultural heritage significance because of its social and historical association with the general community as a religious and townscape landmark.
C20. The Grange, RA 325 Grange Road, Cranbrook
Tasmanian Heritage Register Record ID: 1514
- GSB Heritage #19; CT144488/3 & 4; CT144488/4; CT144769/1 & 2; CT249035/1 & 2
Sold for $2,350,000 on 12 Jul 2013
Statement of Significance:
The water tower is of historic heritage significance as a rare early survivor of this type of construction in concrete.
The Grange is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a single storey Federation Queen Anne rural homestead.
- The Shearing Shed is of historic heritage significance because of its ability to demonstrate the principal characteristics of a weatherboard Victorian rural outbuilding.
The Grange is a Federation Queen Anne single storey brick house with rough-cast finish. It has a gabled roof of corrugated iron, a return verandah with timber frieze and posts, double hung windows -some in sets of three, flying gables over protruding bays, brick chimneys with pots, attic windows and an early weatherboard extension.
- The Shearing Shed is a c.1870 weatherboard structure with progressive modifications. There is also a 1927 concrete water tank nearby.
- ARCHITECTURAL STYLE:- Federation Queen Anne
- Photographs for sale listing
Next Page: National Trust Tasmanian Heritage Register 16 - East Coast
- ^ http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/index.aspx?base=2631
- ^ "The National Trust in Tasmnaia" by J.N.D. Harrison and Frank Bolt, Rigby, Adelaide 1977, pages, 59 & 199
- ^ "Register of Listed Buildings" The Country Towns and Villages of Tasmania -// National Trust of Australia (Tasmania)
edited and prepared for publication by J.N.D. Harrison; Hobart : National Trust of Australia (Tasmania), 1976
- ^ https://stors.tas.gov.au/store/exlibris6/storage/2015/09/09/file_9/1398967.pdf
Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015, Pages 276 -285
- ^ https://stors.tas.gov.au/store/exlibris6/storage/2015/09/09/file_9/1398967.pdf
Glamorgan Spring Bay Interim Planning Scheme 2015, Pages 276 -285
- ^ http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/9095814?searchTerm=coombend%20house%20tasmania&searchLimits=#
- ^ http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/9095814?searchTerm=coombend%20house%20tasmania&searchLimits=#
- ^ http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/148004855?searchTerm=coombend%20tasmania&searchLimits=
- ^ http://www.visitvineyards.com/wine/vineyards-wineries/wine-food-travel-articles/tas-regions-article-coombend-vineyard
- ^ http://www.tmag.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/66766/Voices_of_Aboriginal_Tasmania_ningenneh_tunapry_education_guide.pdf
- ^ http://eprints.utas.edu.au/16661/32/c7-63-32.pdf
- ^ http://www.ancestry.com.au/genealogy/records/henry-cruttenden-mace_90921066
- ^ Type the content of your reference here.
- ^ http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/meredith-george-2449
- ^ http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/1/G4-meredith-papers.pdf
- ^ http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/pr-article/celebrated-vineyard-goes-on-the-market/#sthash.2i0vkfAi.dpuf
- ^ http://www.tfga.com.au/in-the-news/australian-year-of-the-farmer-profiles/adam-greenhill/
- ^ http://www.tfga.com.au/in-the-news/australian-year-of-the-farmer-profiles/adam-greenhill/
- ^ http://www.tfga.com.au/in-the-news/australian-year-of-the-farmer-profiles/adam-greenhill/
- ^ http://monissa.com/ccphotos/gala-kirk-cranbrook/
- ^ http://eprints.utas.edu.au/17248/1/P1-82-Centenary_of_the_Amos_Family.pdf
- ^ http://eprints.utas.edu.au/22693/1/G4-meredith-papers.pdf
- ^
- ^ http://heritage.tas.gov.au/Documents/140700%20Heritage%20Solutions%20booklet_no%20chair_web.pdf
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This feels a little wrong – like picking on the handicapped kid at school. But these people and their crazy ideas just won't go away, and continue to be a major influence in right-wing groupthink. So, I present to you a humorous and fairly accurate summary of what birthers believe…
Until conservatives are willing to get away from this stupid, pointless stuff and start debating actual policy, they deserve to have a continual spotlight shone on this anchor. It's time to act like grownups, people.
Matt N.
Yeah, let us return to more pressing matters… such as Trutherism:
I'm sorry, Matt, but what's your angle here? That Van Jones was a "Truther"? That he's one of those nutjobs who believe the Bush Administration brought down the Towers? Not true. He made a bad judgement call in signing on to a document that ended up being used differently than he (and many other signatories) understood.
Or are you criticizing the liberal organizations who are shutting their pieholes at the behest of the White House, as the FDL article talks about? I think you know (or at least you should) what our position is on "toeing the party line": we aren't fans.
Anyway you slice it, this Van Jones "Truther" business is irrelevant. It was irrelevant to his job (but apparently not to the right-wing and poorly named "Americans for Prosperity" lobby that started the attacks against him due to his policy positions), both in terms of qualifications and capability. And now that he's out, it's even more irrelevant.
Until you guys can actually come up with cogent policy positions and critiques (something more sophisticated than "OMG that's socializm!!!one1!!1!") you deserve to be mocked ruthlessly.
Truthers are idiots, BTW, but there's nothing unreasonable with looking at the facts (PDB titled "Bin Ladin Determined To Strike in US" from about a month before the attacks) and asking "What did we know? What did we do? Could we have done anything differently?" That is not the same as believing that WTC7 was intentionally demolished.
Truthers are a really tiny, fringe group, and have no influence at all in Democratic politics (and, in fact, are rather apolitical; Alex Jones is a Truther, for crissakes). That's not the case for Birthers.
As for the poll numbers about "conspiracy theories"… Truthers are less in number than people who believe JFK was killed by the gov't, and also fewer than the number who believe that the feds are hiding evidence of aliens from us. In short, there are a lot of idiots out there. But Truthers have no political influence in the Democratic Party. None. They do not drive the agenda, they do not hijack town halls, none of that nonsense.
I watched the youtube video and I think you have it all wrong what birthers actually believe. They don't think some crazy voodoo happened in Kenya, they just think Obama was actually just born there, nothing more nothing less. their whole premise and the many lawsuits by military personnel and Democrat attorney Berg and others all are just requesting a "legal" long form COLB be produced. They just want him to put the issue to rest once and for all by proving he is eligible to be POTUS. It doesn't help Obama's case that the first executive order in the Whitehouse was to block all freedom of information requests for his personal documents or that he has spent close to $1 million to fight to keep his birth certificate hidden.
As an American I'm curious why you don't care whether he is eligible or not. If in fact he is finally forced to produce a birth certificate will you back him even if he isn't eligible to be president? Do you advocate just throwing out the Constitution? Just curious…

subset: commoncrawl