It was to be a big day. Not content with a good dose of Tassie history after spending quite some time wandering around Evandale, we decided to visit the nearby Woolmers Estate before returning to our digs at Rosevears......and this, dear readers, is Tasmanian history on a stick!
Our short road trip took us through the small town of Perth where I could not help but pause to photograph the extraordinary looking building we came across as we drove into Clarence Street,
from a couple of angles no less. The cement lettering over the front door proclaimed this to be the Perth Tabernacle. The more modern hoarding near the gate informed us that this was now the Perth Baptist Church. This octagonal building, constructed in 1889, was a place of worship unlike any we had ever come across before and served as another reminder to us of the prominent role of religion in the lives of those who settled here so many years ago.
Beyond Perth and nearby Longford, we made our way out through the fertile grazing and cropping lands of the Macquarie river valley,
along quaint English style hedgerow lanes
and finally over a bridge which was thankfully sturdier than it looked
before arriving at the leafy entrance gates
As I mentioned at the outset, this is Tasmanian history encapsulated, well, that relating the early development of primary industry at least, and it presents a prime example of what could be achieved by those who had what was virtually unlimited free labour available to them (free, that is apart from having to feed, clothe and house them, an impost which paid marvellous returns for those with farming and management skills).
Woolmers is not the only estate of its kind in this northern part of Tasmania. We actually passed Brickendon Historic Farm en route from Evandale, and much later in our travels visited the beautifully preserved Highfield House on the outskirts of Stanley. All of these have at least one thing in common....they were all developed using convict labour.
So just how did one thrive in the new colonies and eventually receive a grant of good, free land and convicts to develop it?
Well, it did pay to have influence (what's new?). The founder of Woolmers Estate, Thomas Archer, who initially landed in New South Wales in 1812, was certainly no slouch. He achieved almost instant considerable success as a public servant in the new colony before being whipped off to Van Diemen's Land a year after his arrival.
I cannot help wondering what sort of a leg up he received by virtue of the fact that he had arrived in the Antipodes bearing a letter of introduction arranged by his uncle, the proprietor of the London Courier.
I mean to say, it was a pretty useful letter given it was under the hand of none other than Lord Liverpool. Lord who? Well, the Prime Minister of Britain actually! Another case of who you know not what you know?
But as I mentioned before, as well as being the recipient of significant patronage, Thomas could stand on his own two feet. Whether or not he viewed his transfer to Van Diemen's Land as a reward for his earlier efforts is a moot point, but he certainly made the most of his lot. After several years spent climbing the public service promotional ladder in Van Diemen's Land (including appointments as magistrate and coroner), he retired in 1821 to concentrate his not inconsiderable talents on his newly acquired farm....the 800 acres of prime land he had been granted in 1817.
Not one to rest on his laurels, the enterprising Mr Archer quickly established himself as the most prominent settler in the area. Within seven years of his arrival his original land grant had been increased to over 5,500 acres and he had dipped into his own pocket to buy a further 2,000.
As time went by Thomas added to the original estate so that by 1855 it covered over 12,000 acres. Not content with that he later went on to acquire the neighbouring properties of Fairfield and Cheshunt and, not surprisingly, became the owner of one of the largest privately owned properties in the colony.
Thomas was not the only sharp Archer. Let me quote directly from the Self-guided tour script we were given on our visit:
"News of Thomas' success in obtaining land grants and establishing a vast estate in Van Diemen's Land soon reached his family in Hertford. Of his four brothers, three came to the colony and established their own properties on the Norfolk Plains, close to Woolmers. In 1821 Joseph Archer arrived and settled Panshanger to be followed by William in 1824, who established Brickendon, and Edward, who settled Northbury. In a remarkably short time the family acquired tens of thousands of acres on the Norfolk Plains".
The landscape was similar to the one they had grown up with,....[and] already having close ties to the land, the Archers introduced technology and equipment that made farming easier and more profitable. They also brought out fine merino sheep to improve their flocks. They cleared the native vegetation, introduced new grasses and created a landscape similar to that in England.
The Archer name became identified throughout the colony for both innovative farming methods and a tradition of public service. The played a prominent role in the history of Van Diemens's Land and in shaping the future lifestyle and prosperity of Tasmania."
So there you have it, the Archer dynasty of northern Tasmania. And the descendants of Thomas clearly recognised a good thing when they saw it.....Woolmers Estate was continuously occupied by the family from 1817 right through to 1994, albeit that the land itself was often leased out.
As a result of Government acquisition amongst other things, the original holding has now been reduced to less than 50 acres, but fortunately for us most of the original buildings remain intact and as all the blurb now trumpets (with some good reason) Woolmers Estate is promoted as Australia's finest example of a pioneer farm from the early 1800's. It remains a listed World Heritage Convict site and is among the world's best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts.
As if all this were not enough, the Woolmers Estate now features the National Rose Garden, which was begun in 1999 and fundraised by public donation. It has 460 varieties of roses and over 5000 individual plants.
So, after all that, what did we find here? The entrance roadway to the car park
took us initially past the original baker's cottage, which like many of the outbuildings here is now used for guest accommodation.
Again, at this point, a note of explanation. This estate offers an insight into the social structure of a colonial pastoral estate. The collection of original buildings on Woolmers includes family accommodation, workers' cottages, a former chapel, blacksmith's shop, stables, bakehouse (which we had just passed), pump house and gardener's cottage.
Woolmers Estate grew into what amounted to a small, self-contained village with up to a hundred folk, mostly convicts, living and working here at any one time.
As Geoff Richie has noted, "[these] estates were places where a premium was placed on particular skills, especially those possessed by convict mechanics (blacksmiths, carpenters, tanners, bricklayers etc) and skilled agricultural hands (ploughman, shepherds, dairymaids etc), and many of these skills are exemplified in the surviving architecture and layout of the estate.'
Before we had reached the the bakehouse we stopped briefly to take in the view over the Macquarie River and the roof of the old pump house. Here, as we had previously seen in Beaconsfield, a group of poor old Dobbins would plod endlessly in circles driving the pump which took water from the river to a gravity feed storage shed on higher ground.
The wooden windmill (on the right of shot) which was installed to relieve the horses of their drugery, is believed to be the last of its type in Australia.
It was from this point that we also gained an insight into the thinking of Thomas Archer when he selected this property. Apart from the fact that the land was well watered and lightly timbered, Archer recognised the security this elevated area offered in providing advanced sightings of any who may be approaching with malevolent intent (such as the bushrangers and aboriginals we had heard about in Evandale). And on a more personal note, he apparently just 'liked the view'!
As we drove further towards the car park, beyond the bakehouse the buildings of the store and servants' quarters came into view.
Once a store, always a store? This building is now the estate ticket office.....oh, did I forget to mention that even the self-guided walk around the property did not come free of charge?
As could be expected, this is now a store of a very different stripe.....souvenirs and assorted trinkets have now replaced the supplies which were critical to the efficient management of the original property.
The walls were decorated with some wonderful photos of the interior of the main house, a home which now contains the retained bits and pieces collected by the Archer family over the years, a collection which provides an unusual and rare insight into the tastes and the changes which occurred within six generations of the one family.
For an additional fee we could have taken one of the guided tours through the homestead, but time was now pressing, and I was concerned that I was reaching my 'mental historical limit' after our morning in Evandale.
As it happens I now rather wish we had done this, but I did read that photography is banned (which would have peeved me no end) and we have now added this to our 'to do list' for our return visit to Tassie (looming increasingly large in the mind and conversations of my nearest and dearest!)
So for now we duly paid the relatively modest fee for entry (which included the very good self-guided walk brochure to which I have already referred) and set off, initially past the large building which had housed the cooking kitchens, larder, pantry, baking room and store room and the house servants' quarters.
As we walked along the roadway from the 'ticket office' towards the entrance to the estate's walled garden, we could look back past the baker's cottage and store to the plains beyond, a view which offered some sense of the scale of this enterprise.
At this point let me expand on that with an aerial shot of the estate buildings and the rose garden. Even this panorama does not capture all the buildings. Here we can see the Macquarie River and several of the more prominent buildings. The main house to the left of the shot is obvious as is the walled garden between it and the large building towards the centre of the photo. This is the old stables which actually formed part of the garden wall. Beyond that is the coachman's cottage and the rose garden.
The large wooden buildings at the bottom left of the picture are the old cider house and shearing shed whilst the smaller structures near the stables building include the old chapel, a packing shed, and a trans-located cottage of some significance.
And that's not all. As you can see, the old store and baker's cottage we had already come across (well off to the left) are not shown, and the same applies to a number of other convict and settler cottages, also off to the left.
Estates such as Woolmers were actually the equivalent of small villages and were entirely self sufficient. In its heyday, over 100 folk, mostly convicts, were housed here (ironically in dwellings they themselves had built).
The walled garden which we were about to visit, was a key feature of the main house.
A sign near the entrance provided us with details of what we were about to see. A 'dual dunny'? Surely not.
That alone was enough to make me a man on an immediate mission. We were off.
As we wandered about, the haphazard nature of the layout was apparent, and whilst the garden itself was pleasant enough we were more interested in its quaint, and in one case, unique features,
the first of which we came across was this tiny rotunda type building
where the roof structure was supported by what appeared to be the now dead trunk of a tree. That was different for a start! At first I mistakenly took this odd little structure to be the 'Smoking House, but not so.
This was a far more well found building, equally quaint and, as you can see here, not too far distant from the rear of the main house.
And that was just as well. I draw you attention to the flag pole atop this odd little turreted structure. Innocuous enough at first glance, something up which to run a patriotic flag or two perchance......not a bit of it!
It had a far more functional purpose. You see, apart from providing an enclosed space in which the Archer men could retire in comfort (which really meant away from the ladies) to smoke their pipes and cigars, this male retreat was also the venue for the odd tipple or two, undoubtedly port, or perhaps a fine French cognac one would suspect.
And here is the part I just loved.....when supplies were running short, a flag was hoisted up the pole as a means by which to summons more grog, duly delivered by one of the convict servants (who must have been on watch throughout the entire time the smoking house was occupied to provide an instant response). Now that is privilege if ever I have heard of it!
Despite tales like this which would seem to suggest that Archer and his ilk were a self-indulgent lot who used their convict labourers as virtual slaves, nothing could be further from the truth when it came to Thomas. He had the reputation of treating all who were 'assigned' to his estate with kindness, and fulfilled to the utmost the obligation which was then placed on 'convict masters' that they ensure that all who came to them were not only clothed and housed adequately, but were provided with opportunities to improve their moral standards. Needless to say, that whiles male an female convicts did work together during the day, their living areas were strictly segregated (that, I suspect, was merely another challenge to be overcome by some!)
From the smoking house we could see across the lawns to the front of the main house, but we were actually heading in the opposite direction,
off towards the wall at the other end of the garden,
where the bulk of the estate stables actually formed part of it.
Apart from a general look about, I was now on a quest, one to find the other real oddity of this botanical refuge, the twin toilet. I was still struggling to believe that this actually existed, but then, rather discreetly shielded behind the bushes there was an opening in the wall.
And inside, yep, there they were, two further openings of a quite different nature, where 'calls of nature' could be satisfied. But why in company? I've heard of the expression 'the family which prays together stays together', but it seemed to me that this was taking 'togetherness' a step (or at least one seat) too far!
With our imaginations whirling in overdrive we pressed on, out onto the roadway behind the walled garden
to the front of the stables building,
opposite which stood another substantial structure which was the Coachman's cottage (now used for guest accommodation), a building which is significant for a reason which was not immediately apparent.
Convict transportation was coming to an end. Interestingly, Thomas Archer was one who had been a strong advocate for its abolition. I could not help but wonder if his position was driven by grander humanitarian instincts or was somewhat self-serving given that he had already benefited extraordinarily from the system and wanted to prevent too much competition. None of the literature ascribes the less generous motive to his position, so I'll just leave my natural cynicism out there for what it's worth.......!
In any event, Archer did strongly encourage the emigration of free settlers, and as this grand cottage so clearly demonstrates, he was prepared to ensure that all who did come and work for him were very well accommodated indeed.
But back to the stables, where apart from the expected farming bibs and bobs
there were also a couple of completely different vehicles of interest on display including this 1913 Wolseley in its original condition.
This old car could tell a real story. It was bought by Thomas Archer V to drive his new bride around the island, and after that idyll, it remained in periodic family use until the outbreak of the First World War when a shortage of equipment presented some difficulties on the estate. Unconcerned by a minor setback such as this, good old Thomas (the fifth!) pressed his former mobile love shack into service, and the reliable old Wolseley was used as a tractor to drag trailer around the farm.
When life returned to normal at the end of hostilities, the proposed fate of this old workhorse was inglorious to say the least.......it was to be pushed down the hill into the Macquarie River, but Thomas intervened, retained the vehicle as it was and subsequently trotted out to vintage car rallies by Thomas Vl who won prize after prize by virtue of the fact that it was utterly unrestored.......even the tyres were the originals, as they still are. Yet another enterprising pair of Archers!
Next to the Wolseley was another old car, clearly a child's toy, but one with a difference. This vehicle was equipped with a one cylinder engine, and came complete with gears, clutch and (usefully) a set of brakes. Built by one WR Lade of nearby Thirlstane (he had actually visited America to study the burgeoning car industry) this quaint little car was bought by Thomas V for his son.
By now we had come to the back entrance to the estate's much touted rose garden, which for us was a joy and a significant disappointment in equal measure.
But before we embark on that story, I must bring you an overview, because this really is a garden of significance and style. The first point to be made is that it has nothing to do with the establishment of the estate.
This nationally significant garden did not come into existence until 1999 and was the result of the work of a group of not-for-profit volunteers who were keen to see the establishment of a nationally important rose garden in Tasmania. The central section, which is nearly 120 metres by 35 metres, bears the title the George Adams Memorial Garden. Now that may well be a familiar name to you.....indeed, the founder of the famous Tattersall's.
Good old George was a major sponsor of the estate, and his philanthropy is recognised with this bust
which can be found in amongst what now remain of the apple trees which once covered the area on which the garden has been developed.
Hopefully this shot, courtesy of 'longfordaccommodation', will give you some idea of the layout of this incredible place, a design which faithfully copies the symmetrical patterns popular in the grand gardens of the 19th Century.
Here the rose beds feature over 5,00 individual plants, a collection which takes visitors from varieties representing the earliest European and China roses through to those of the modern era. All of the recognised rose types can be found here in what is rightly promoted as one of the finest collection of these beautiful blooms in the Southern Hemisphere.
So, with a passing acknowledgement to Geo. Adams, we set off to wander the byways of this very different garden, with its trimmed hedges and trellises,
its pergolas
and its fountains.
We marvelled at the outdoor art
in its different forms
and were duly impressed by the structured watercourse which ran almost the full length of the garden
and the tranquil ponds which were a feature of one end of the layout.
The garden rotunda stood in splendid isolation amongst the bushes
and the potential stunning beauty of this spot was clear for us to see.
By now I am sure you are beginning to smell a rat, and a critical one at that. You are right. Liz and I were both avid rose growers (when we had a house!) and we had come here with high expectations.
And indeed, in some sections, we were greeted with abundant blooms
of various shades (although even here the rot had set in)
but to our dismay and utter disappointment the vast majority of the rose beds displayed bushes which were tatty looking,
desperately in need of deadheading,
surrounded by 'lawn' which was more of an ankle deep pasture than trimmed grass.
And as this shot from 'discovertasmania' so beautifully demonstrates, when the sun is out and the roses are in full flush, with the backdrop of the Coachman's cottage and the stable building, this garden can be something special.
So what had gone wrong? I was determined to find out. In short, according to the 'head gardener' I eventually found seated at a desk in a small shed, the problem stemmed (?) from the fact that all the necessary work required to keep this place trimmed and terrific (and any who have nurtured roses will appreciate the fact that this can be very labour intensive) was provided by volunteers.
Fair call, I commented, but where were they? "Oh, we've had a rostering problem", was the response. "For how long, these roses should have been pruned at least two weeks ago", was my rejoinder.
To cut a subsequently quite long and apologetic story short, it seems that the organisation of the volunteer staff here was in chaos..... the roster was in disarray and there had been no-one on the end of a pair of secateurs for the very period I had mentioned.
Frankly that did not cut it for me (another one for the observant!) and I continued this conversation back at the ticket office where the lass behind the counter (like the head gardener, a paid employee) became rather snappily defensive when I enquired as to what end our not inconsequential entrance fee was put.
After being on the receiving end of a good three minute lecture about the expense of the upkeep of the buildings, I decided that I was getting no where. I was, by now, in no mood to stand listening to a rather tartly delivered professional excuse (and I did wonder at the time if mine had been the first such query) and we moved on (but the story doesn't end quite here).
For now however, it was back to our roam around the estate, where, after we had left the garden, we came across a group of nearby buildings which included this little wooden cottage, none other than the original home of Dr Jacob Mountgarrett, the colony's first surgeon.
This structure, far less impressive than the name of its original occupant, was relocated here to the estate in about 1830, and after the good doctor had moved on, became a timber saw shed. As a quick aside, I recommend you might like to Google 'Dr Mountgarrett'.....it would seem that 'mountebank' may have been a surname more fitting of some of his later exploits!
The nearby chapel was a building I suspect the good Doctor rarely visited, but it was certainly a mandatory gathering place for the estate's convicts each Sunday.
Within its whitewashed walls Thomas Archer's obligation to provide religious instruction to all those who laboured for him was fulfilled. As we gazed around the room we spotted a familiar piece of equipment.
Sure enough it was an apple grading table, similar to that we had seen at Beaconsfield. Odd to find it in a chapel I though, until I later discovered that in the 1940's this building, which had well outlived its original purpose, was converted to the estate apple packing shed. Riddle solved!
From outside the chapel we could see across the grounds to these two wooden structures one of which has far more historical significance than is apparent.
The single storey building was the old cider house, added in 1843 as an extension to the the larger wool shed, which was erected in 1819. You may recall that the rose garden now occupies what was an extensive apple orchard. Interestingly, the cider produced here (and there was a lot of it) was sold mainly in and around the gold diggings near Ballarat.
Now, the wool shed. This is believed to be the oldest shed in the country still in use (another one for Tassie!), and was the main focus of activity here on the estate as it grew eventually to approximately 24,000 acres and ran 20,000 sheep.
I think I may have commented in one of my first blogs that we were both amazed to see so many sheep on the drive from Devonport to Hobart, but this was nothing new. In 1817, when Thomas Archer took up his land, there were more sheep being grazed in Van Diemen's Land than there were in the colony of New South Wales, and from about the mid 1820's the midlands of the Apple Isle became a major merino sheep breeding centre.
The acumen of Thomas Archer was again on display when he became one of the first in the colony to grasp the opportunities presented by the export of fine wool to Britain and elsewhere. he improved his flocks with imported stud merinos acquired both from John McArthur in NSW and imported form England.
The brothers Archer were also quick to get into the game. As well as that at Woolmers Estate, the woolsheds at nearby Panshanger and Brickendon were the earliest documented in the fledgling country.
There were some other distinct advantages in the fact that Woolmers and Brickendon were so close to each other. During harvest and the wool clip, the Archer brothers actually pooled and shared their convict labourers between the two estates. In fact, it was only the giant Van Diemen's Land Company (about which we were to learn much during our visit to Stanley) which had a larger contingent of convict labourers in the colony at the time.
The sheep were shorn on the ground floor of this huge shed and the fleeces were then hoisted to the upper storey for baling before being lowered onto drays for transport to shipping in Launceston for export to England.
The Archer group made a motza out of the demand for their fine wool, but it was not all plain sailing. The inscription on this wool shed beam (thanks to the 'abc' for the photo) reads in full 'England expects that every man this day will do his duty, Admiral Nelson, Trafalgar 1805'.
What an odd thing to find in a location such as this, but (obviously) there is an explanation. In the 1840's a severe depression in the colony meant that it was not worth sending the estate's wool to England (I'm not quite sure how that all worked, but did not take my research any further) It was burnt on site. The free settler shearers and others had to work for little or no money, and these words were inscribed in the shed to provide hope for a brighter future. I have no idea how it was received....it wouldn't have done much for me, but then these were vastly different times.
Further across the remaining land of the estate we could now also see this little clutch of cottages which were occupied by free settlers brought here to work the property alongside the convicts. As I mentioned earlier, Thomas Archer was well known for his encouragement of free settlers and he did provide more than adequately for those who chose to work for him.
It was now time to wander back along the outer side of the garden wall to finally take a closer look at the main house, which I have to say was not nearly as impressive externally as the estate at large.
But in making that observations, I have to confess we did not go inside on one of the guided tours (for reasons I've already explained).
Woolmers is not the only estate of its kind in this northern part of Tasmania. We actually passed Brickendon Historic Farm en route from Evandale, and much later in our travels visited the beautifully preserved Highfield House on the outskirts of Stanley. All of these have at least one thing in common....they were all developed using convict labour.
So just how did one thrive in the new colonies and eventually receive a grant of good, free land and convicts to develop it?
Well, it did pay to have influence (what's new?). The founder of Woolmers Estate, Thomas Archer, who initially landed in New South Wales in 1812, was certainly no slouch. He achieved almost instant considerable success as a public servant in the new colony before being whipped off to Van Diemen's Land a year after his arrival.
I cannot help wondering what sort of a leg up he received by virtue of the fact that he had arrived in the Antipodes bearing a letter of introduction arranged by his uncle, the proprietor of the London Courier.
I mean to say, it was a pretty useful letter given it was under the hand of none other than Lord Liverpool. Lord who? Well, the Prime Minister of Britain actually! Another case of who you know not what you know?
But as I mentioned before, as well as being the recipient of significant patronage, Thomas could stand on his own two feet. Whether or not he viewed his transfer to Van Diemen's Land as a reward for his earlier efforts is a moot point, but he certainly made the most of his lot. After several years spent climbing the public service promotional ladder in Van Diemen's Land (including appointments as magistrate and coroner), he retired in 1821 to concentrate his not inconsiderable talents on his newly acquired farm....the 800 acres of prime land he had been granted in 1817.
Not one to rest on his laurels, the enterprising Mr Archer quickly established himself as the most prominent settler in the area. Within seven years of his arrival his original land grant had been increased to over 5,500 acres and he had dipped into his own pocket to buy a further 2,000.
As time went by Thomas added to the original estate so that by 1855 it covered over 12,000 acres. Not content with that he later went on to acquire the neighbouring properties of Fairfield and Cheshunt and, not surprisingly, became the owner of one of the largest privately owned properties in the colony.
Thomas was not the only sharp Archer. Let me quote directly from the Self-guided tour script we were given on our visit:
"News of Thomas' success in obtaining land grants and establishing a vast estate in Van Diemen's Land soon reached his family in Hertford. Of his four brothers, three came to the colony and established their own properties on the Norfolk Plains, close to Woolmers. In 1821 Joseph Archer arrived and settled Panshanger to be followed by William in 1824, who established Brickendon, and Edward, who settled Northbury. In a remarkably short time the family acquired tens of thousands of acres on the Norfolk Plains".
The landscape was similar to the one they had grown up with,....[and] already having close ties to the land, the Archers introduced technology and equipment that made farming easier and more profitable. They also brought out fine merino sheep to improve their flocks. They cleared the native vegetation, introduced new grasses and created a landscape similar to that in England.
The Archer name became identified throughout the colony for both innovative farming methods and a tradition of public service. The played a prominent role in the history of Van Diemens's Land and in shaping the future lifestyle and prosperity of Tasmania."
So there you have it, the Archer dynasty of northern Tasmania. And the descendants of Thomas clearly recognised a good thing when they saw it.....Woolmers Estate was continuously occupied by the family from 1817 right through to 1994, albeit that the land itself was often leased out.
As a result of Government acquisition amongst other things, the original holding has now been reduced to less than 50 acres, but fortunately for us most of the original buildings remain intact and as all the blurb now trumpets (with some good reason) Woolmers Estate is promoted as Australia's finest example of a pioneer farm from the early 1800's. It remains a listed World Heritage Convict site and is among the world's best surviving examples of large-scale convict transportation and colonial expansion of European powers through the presence and labour of convicts.
As if all this were not enough, the Woolmers Estate now features the National Rose Garden, which was begun in 1999 and fundraised by public donation. It has 460 varieties of roses and over 5000 individual plants.
So, after all that, what did we find here? The entrance roadway to the car park
took us initially past the original baker's cottage, which like many of the outbuildings here is now used for guest accommodation.
Again, at this point, a note of explanation. This estate offers an insight into the social structure of a colonial pastoral estate. The collection of original buildings on Woolmers includes family accommodation, workers' cottages, a former chapel, blacksmith's shop, stables, bakehouse (which we had just passed), pump house and gardener's cottage.
As Geoff Richie has noted, "[these] estates were places where a premium was placed on particular skills, especially those possessed by convict mechanics (blacksmiths, carpenters, tanners, bricklayers etc) and skilled agricultural hands (ploughman, shepherds, dairymaids etc), and many of these skills are exemplified in the surviving architecture and layout of the estate.'
Before we had reached the the bakehouse we stopped briefly to take in the view over the Macquarie River and the roof of the old pump house. Here, as we had previously seen in Beaconsfield, a group of poor old Dobbins would plod endlessly in circles driving the pump which took water from the river to a gravity feed storage shed on higher ground.
The wooden windmill (on the right of shot) which was installed to relieve the horses of their drugery, is believed to be the last of its type in Australia.
It was from this point that we also gained an insight into the thinking of Thomas Archer when he selected this property. Apart from the fact that the land was well watered and lightly timbered, Archer recognised the security this elevated area offered in providing advanced sightings of any who may be approaching with malevolent intent (such as the bushrangers and aboriginals we had heard about in Evandale). And on a more personal note, he apparently just 'liked the view'!
As we drove further towards the car park, beyond the bakehouse the buildings of the store and servants' quarters came into view.
Once a store, always a store? This building is now the estate ticket office.....oh, did I forget to mention that even the self-guided walk around the property did not come free of charge?
As could be expected, this is now a store of a very different stripe.....souvenirs and assorted trinkets have now replaced the supplies which were critical to the efficient management of the original property.
The walls were decorated with some wonderful photos of the interior of the main house, a home which now contains the retained bits and pieces collected by the Archer family over the years, a collection which provides an unusual and rare insight into the tastes and the changes which occurred within six generations of the one family.
For an additional fee we could have taken one of the guided tours through the homestead, but time was now pressing, and I was concerned that I was reaching my 'mental historical limit' after our morning in Evandale.
As it happens I now rather wish we had done this, but I did read that photography is banned (which would have peeved me no end) and we have now added this to our 'to do list' for our return visit to Tassie (looming increasingly large in the mind and conversations of my nearest and dearest!)
So for now we duly paid the relatively modest fee for entry (which included the very good self-guided walk brochure to which I have already referred) and set off, initially past the large building which had housed the cooking kitchens, larder, pantry, baking room and store room and the house servants' quarters.
As we walked along the roadway from the 'ticket office' towards the entrance to the estate's walled garden, we could look back past the baker's cottage and store to the plains beyond, a view which offered some sense of the scale of this enterprise.
At this point let me expand on that with an aerial shot of the estate buildings and the rose garden. Even this panorama does not capture all the buildings. Here we can see the Macquarie River and several of the more prominent buildings. The main house to the left of the shot is obvious as is the walled garden between it and the large building towards the centre of the photo. This is the old stables which actually formed part of the garden wall. Beyond that is the coachman's cottage and the rose garden.
The large wooden buildings at the bottom left of the picture are the old cider house and shearing shed whilst the smaller structures near the stables building include the old chapel, a packing shed, and a trans-located cottage of some significance.
And that's not all. As you can see, the old store and baker's cottage we had already come across (well off to the left) are not shown, and the same applies to a number of other convict and settler cottages, also off to the left.
Estates such as Woolmers were actually the equivalent of small villages and were entirely self sufficient. In its heyday, over 100 folk, mostly convicts, were housed here (ironically in dwellings they themselves had built).
The walled garden which we were about to visit, was a key feature of the main house.
That alone was enough to make me a man on an immediate mission. We were off.
As we wandered about, the haphazard nature of the layout was apparent, and whilst the garden itself was pleasant enough we were more interested in its quaint, and in one case, unique features,
the first of which we came across was this tiny rotunda type building
where the roof structure was supported by what appeared to be the now dead trunk of a tree. That was different for a start! At first I mistakenly took this odd little structure to be the 'Smoking House, but not so.
This was a far more well found building, equally quaint and, as you can see here, not too far distant from the rear of the main house.
And that was just as well. I draw you attention to the flag pole atop this odd little turreted structure. Innocuous enough at first glance, something up which to run a patriotic flag or two perchance......not a bit of it!
It had a far more functional purpose. You see, apart from providing an enclosed space in which the Archer men could retire in comfort (which really meant away from the ladies) to smoke their pipes and cigars, this male retreat was also the venue for the odd tipple or two, undoubtedly port, or perhaps a fine French cognac one would suspect.
And here is the part I just loved.....when supplies were running short, a flag was hoisted up the pole as a means by which to summons more grog, duly delivered by one of the convict servants (who must have been on watch throughout the entire time the smoking house was occupied to provide an instant response). Now that is privilege if ever I have heard of it!
Despite tales like this which would seem to suggest that Archer and his ilk were a self-indulgent lot who used their convict labourers as virtual slaves, nothing could be further from the truth when it came to Thomas. He had the reputation of treating all who were 'assigned' to his estate with kindness, and fulfilled to the utmost the obligation which was then placed on 'convict masters' that they ensure that all who came to them were not only clothed and housed adequately, but were provided with opportunities to improve their moral standards. Needless to say, that whiles male an female convicts did work together during the day, their living areas were strictly segregated (that, I suspect, was merely another challenge to be overcome by some!)
From the smoking house we could see across the lawns to the front of the main house, but we were actually heading in the opposite direction,
off towards the wall at the other end of the garden,
where the bulk of the estate stables actually formed part of it.
Apart from a general look about, I was now on a quest, one to find the other real oddity of this botanical refuge, the twin toilet. I was still struggling to believe that this actually existed, but then, rather discreetly shielded behind the bushes there was an opening in the wall.
And inside, yep, there they were, two further openings of a quite different nature, where 'calls of nature' could be satisfied. But why in company? I've heard of the expression 'the family which prays together stays together', but it seemed to me that this was taking 'togetherness' a step (or at least one seat) too far!
With our imaginations whirling in overdrive we pressed on, out onto the roadway behind the walled garden
to the front of the stables building,
opposite which stood another substantial structure which was the Coachman's cottage (now used for guest accommodation), a building which is significant for a reason which was not immediately apparent.
Convict transportation was coming to an end. Interestingly, Thomas Archer was one who had been a strong advocate for its abolition. I could not help but wonder if his position was driven by grander humanitarian instincts or was somewhat self-serving given that he had already benefited extraordinarily from the system and wanted to prevent too much competition. None of the literature ascribes the less generous motive to his position, so I'll just leave my natural cynicism out there for what it's worth.......!
In any event, Archer did strongly encourage the emigration of free settlers, and as this grand cottage so clearly demonstrates, he was prepared to ensure that all who did come and work for him were very well accommodated indeed.
But back to the stables, where apart from the expected farming bibs and bobs
there were also a couple of completely different vehicles of interest on display including this 1913 Wolseley in its original condition.
This old car could tell a real story. It was bought by Thomas Archer V to drive his new bride around the island, and after that idyll, it remained in periodic family use until the outbreak of the First World War when a shortage of equipment presented some difficulties on the estate. Unconcerned by a minor setback such as this, good old Thomas (the fifth!) pressed his former mobile love shack into service, and the reliable old Wolseley was used as a tractor to drag trailer around the farm.
When life returned to normal at the end of hostilities, the proposed fate of this old workhorse was inglorious to say the least.......it was to be pushed down the hill into the Macquarie River, but Thomas intervened, retained the vehicle as it was and subsequently trotted out to vintage car rallies by Thomas Vl who won prize after prize by virtue of the fact that it was utterly unrestored.......even the tyres were the originals, as they still are. Yet another enterprising pair of Archers!
Next to the Wolseley was another old car, clearly a child's toy, but one with a difference. This vehicle was equipped with a one cylinder engine, and came complete with gears, clutch and (usefully) a set of brakes. Built by one WR Lade of nearby Thirlstane (he had actually visited America to study the burgeoning car industry) this quaint little car was bought by Thomas V for his son.
By now we had come to the back entrance to the estate's much touted rose garden, which for us was a joy and a significant disappointment in equal measure.
But before we embark on that story, I must bring you an overview, because this really is a garden of significance and style. The first point to be made is that it has nothing to do with the establishment of the estate.
This nationally significant garden did not come into existence until 1999 and was the result of the work of a group of not-for-profit volunteers who were keen to see the establishment of a nationally important rose garden in Tasmania. The central section, which is nearly 120 metres by 35 metres, bears the title the George Adams Memorial Garden. Now that may well be a familiar name to you.....indeed, the founder of the famous Tattersall's.
Good old George was a major sponsor of the estate, and his philanthropy is recognised with this bust
which can be found in amongst what now remain of the apple trees which once covered the area on which the garden has been developed.
Hopefully this shot, courtesy of 'longfordaccommodation', will give you some idea of the layout of this incredible place, a design which faithfully copies the symmetrical patterns popular in the grand gardens of the 19th Century.
Here the rose beds feature over 5,00 individual plants, a collection which takes visitors from varieties representing the earliest European and China roses through to those of the modern era. All of the recognised rose types can be found here in what is rightly promoted as one of the finest collection of these beautiful blooms in the Southern Hemisphere.
So, with a passing acknowledgement to Geo. Adams, we set off to wander the byways of this very different garden, with its trimmed hedges and trellises,
its pergolas
and its fountains.
We marvelled at the outdoor art
in its different forms
and were duly impressed by the structured watercourse which ran almost the full length of the garden
and the tranquil ponds which were a feature of one end of the layout.
The garden rotunda stood in splendid isolation amongst the bushes
and the potential stunning beauty of this spot was clear for us to see.
By now I am sure you are beginning to smell a rat, and a critical one at that. You are right. Liz and I were both avid rose growers (when we had a house!) and we had come here with high expectations.
And indeed, in some sections, we were greeted with abundant blooms
of various shades (although even here the rot had set in)
but to our dismay and utter disappointment the vast majority of the rose beds displayed bushes which were tatty looking,
desperately in need of deadheading,
surrounded by 'lawn' which was more of an ankle deep pasture than trimmed grass.
And as this shot from 'discovertasmania' so beautifully demonstrates, when the sun is out and the roses are in full flush, with the backdrop of the Coachman's cottage and the stable building, this garden can be something special.
So what had gone wrong? I was determined to find out. In short, according to the 'head gardener' I eventually found seated at a desk in a small shed, the problem stemmed (?) from the fact that all the necessary work required to keep this place trimmed and terrific (and any who have nurtured roses will appreciate the fact that this can be very labour intensive) was provided by volunteers.
Fair call, I commented, but where were they? "Oh, we've had a rostering problem", was the response. "For how long, these roses should have been pruned at least two weeks ago", was my rejoinder.
To cut a subsequently quite long and apologetic story short, it seems that the organisation of the volunteer staff here was in chaos..... the roster was in disarray and there had been no-one on the end of a pair of secateurs for the very period I had mentioned.
Frankly that did not cut it for me (another one for the observant!) and I continued this conversation back at the ticket office where the lass behind the counter (like the head gardener, a paid employee) became rather snappily defensive when I enquired as to what end our not inconsequential entrance fee was put.
After being on the receiving end of a good three minute lecture about the expense of the upkeep of the buildings, I decided that I was getting no where. I was, by now, in no mood to stand listening to a rather tartly delivered professional excuse (and I did wonder at the time if mine had been the first such query) and we moved on (but the story doesn't end quite here).
For now however, it was back to our roam around the estate, where, after we had left the garden, we came across a group of nearby buildings which included this little wooden cottage, none other than the original home of Dr Jacob Mountgarrett, the colony's first surgeon.
This structure, far less impressive than the name of its original occupant, was relocated here to the estate in about 1830, and after the good doctor had moved on, became a timber saw shed. As a quick aside, I recommend you might like to Google 'Dr Mountgarrett'.....it would seem that 'mountebank' may have been a surname more fitting of some of his later exploits!
The nearby chapel was a building I suspect the good Doctor rarely visited, but it was certainly a mandatory gathering place for the estate's convicts each Sunday.
Within its whitewashed walls Thomas Archer's obligation to provide religious instruction to all those who laboured for him was fulfilled. As we gazed around the room we spotted a familiar piece of equipment.
Sure enough it was an apple grading table, similar to that we had seen at Beaconsfield. Odd to find it in a chapel I though, until I later discovered that in the 1940's this building, which had well outlived its original purpose, was converted to the estate apple packing shed. Riddle solved!
From outside the chapel we could see across the grounds to these two wooden structures one of which has far more historical significance than is apparent.
Now, the wool shed. This is believed to be the oldest shed in the country still in use (another one for Tassie!), and was the main focus of activity here on the estate as it grew eventually to approximately 24,000 acres and ran 20,000 sheep.
I think I may have commented in one of my first blogs that we were both amazed to see so many sheep on the drive from Devonport to Hobart, but this was nothing new. In 1817, when Thomas Archer took up his land, there were more sheep being grazed in Van Diemen's Land than there were in the colony of New South Wales, and from about the mid 1820's the midlands of the Apple Isle became a major merino sheep breeding centre.
The acumen of Thomas Archer was again on display when he became one of the first in the colony to grasp the opportunities presented by the export of fine wool to Britain and elsewhere. he improved his flocks with imported stud merinos acquired both from John McArthur in NSW and imported form England.
The brothers Archer were also quick to get into the game. As well as that at Woolmers Estate, the woolsheds at nearby Panshanger and Brickendon were the earliest documented in the fledgling country.
The sheep were shorn on the ground floor of this huge shed and the fleeces were then hoisted to the upper storey for baling before being lowered onto drays for transport to shipping in Launceston for export to England.
The Archer group made a motza out of the demand for their fine wool, but it was not all plain sailing. The inscription on this wool shed beam (thanks to the 'abc' for the photo) reads in full 'England expects that every man this day will do his duty, Admiral Nelson, Trafalgar 1805'.
What an odd thing to find in a location such as this, but (obviously) there is an explanation. In the 1840's a severe depression in the colony meant that it was not worth sending the estate's wool to England (I'm not quite sure how that all worked, but did not take my research any further) It was burnt on site. The free settler shearers and others had to work for little or no money, and these words were inscribed in the shed to provide hope for a brighter future. I have no idea how it was received....it wouldn't have done much for me, but then these were vastly different times.
Further across the remaining land of the estate we could now also see this little clutch of cottages which were occupied by free settlers brought here to work the property alongside the convicts. As I mentioned earlier, Thomas Archer was well known for his encouragement of free settlers and he did provide more than adequately for those who chose to work for him.
It was now time to wander back along the outer side of the garden wall to finally take a closer look at the main house, which I have to say was not nearly as impressive externally as the estate at large.
But in making that observations, I have to confess we did not go inside on one of the guided tours (for reasons I've already explained).
There things were much grander, as this photo (courtesy twitter) and that which I took in the ticket office clearly demonstrate.
The fact that this estate remained in the hands of the one family throughout has resulted in an extraordinary retained collection of artifacts, household goods, antiques, art works and even odds and ends such as snake bite remedies and kiddies toys. I am sure we'll make the effort on any return visit.
You must forgive me for really banging on about Woolmers Estate, but the more I thought and read about it subsequent to our visit, I came to realise that this property does indeed deserve its rating as one of only eleven 'Convict Sites' to hold a UNESCO's World Heritage listing.
Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. There was a postscript to our visit. We were so miffed by the parlous state of the rose garden that I contacted the Tasmanian Tourist authority to express our collective disappointment.
Well, didn't that start something. The tourism CEO responded in person and put me onto the head honcho of the authority which now manages Woolmers who proved to be equally affable and apologetic. Mind you, I had noted that the response which came from the staff at the ticket office when I made my point to them (which was "well you should have been here in November for the festival") was less than helpful and I rather suspect that words may have been had.
In any event, we hoped that the roses were soon at least dead-headed, and the tourist chief was delighted to hear that we intended to extend our stay. I'm still awaiting the invitation to dinner!
You must forgive me for really banging on about Woolmers Estate, but the more I thought and read about it subsequent to our visit, I came to realise that this property does indeed deserve its rating as one of only eleven 'Convict Sites' to hold a UNESCO's World Heritage listing.
Ah, yes, I nearly forgot. There was a postscript to our visit. We were so miffed by the parlous state of the rose garden that I contacted the Tasmanian Tourist authority to express our collective disappointment.
Well, didn't that start something. The tourism CEO responded in person and put me onto the head honcho of the authority which now manages Woolmers who proved to be equally affable and apologetic. Mind you, I had noted that the response which came from the staff at the ticket office when I made my point to them (which was "well you should have been here in November for the festival") was less than helpful and I rather suspect that words may have been had.
In any event, we hoped that the roses were soon at least dead-headed, and the tourist chief was delighted to hear that we intended to extend our stay. I'm still awaiting the invitation to dinner!
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