When we read about Hamilton, and its heritage buildings, we expected to find something like Richmond. However, this is not the case and Hamilton is an extremely quiet country town with few facilities. We certainly appreciated the heritage homes and hotels in the town, and we did stay in a circa 1846 house. But the pièce de résistance of Hamilton has to be the Prospect House gardens. These are truly amazing.
We visited Hamilton on 27 & 28 October 2019
Kerry’s snippets in fuchsia
Getting There
National Park > Hamilton ~ total of 38kms.
History
Prior to colonial settlement the area around Hamilton was inhabited by the Lairmairrener First Nations people for thousands of years. A short history of Tasmania, from pre-colonial times, to the arrival and growth of British colonial development, to the decimation of the First Nation Tasmanians, can be read here.
The first European explorers to reach the Hamilton area were led by the botanist Robert Brown who attempted to trace the Derwent River to its source in 1804. They reached the Hamilton Plains and followed the Fat Doe River (now known as the Clyde) up to the Clyde Falls near the present site of Bothwell.
By 1807 settlers had moved into the area and by 1828 there were a small number of houses in the district. A visitor in the early 1830s reported that there were 30 sly grog shops in the settlement.
In 1832 there were sixty people living in and around the town. At this time the town successfully petitioned for a policeman as the area was suffering from robberies by bushrangers and escaped convicts. By 1835 the town’s population had risen to 779 with 309 convicts working on buildings and the surrounding agricultural land. In that year the town became known as Hamilton.
The police force rose to eleven petty constables and a flagellator – for whipping convicts – by 1837. By 1844 Hamilton had two breweries, six inns, a blacksmith, a large convict probation station and was marked out to become a major centre. It is said that by 1859 a traveller could describe the town as: “Here is a neat Church, a handsome bridge, large inns, breweries and some good shops. And round the village are some of the largest landed proprietors in the country possessing 20,000 and even as many as 40,000 sheep.” Hamilton was declared a municipality in 1863.
Day 1 – Sun 27 October – To Hamilton
We drove from Mount Field National Park to Hamilton, on a bright but partly cloudy day. Close to Westerway we were able to get a good access to Ginger Creek, quite a fast moving river. There are also some strong riffles and rapids. Was very big for a “creek”.
We loved the little old railway station at Westerway – so cute. Across the railway line is what was once a fine-looking large family home, which now needs a fair amount of TLC. A pity it’s been let go – I bet there are some treasures inside.
The countryside around Ellendale is very pretty, with lush green farmlands in all directions. From about 1850 to 1870 this area hosted a thriving timber industry. There were several sawmills and some of the timber was used in Parliament House in Canberra.
We passed a little timber church surrounded by many headstones. And then we very quickly came to another church, Saint Andrews Anglican church dating back to 1889. This is a small but very solid stone church with what looks like a castle at one end.
And there were quite a few yellow coloured bushes along the edges of the road, and more lush looking farmland. Nice country.
We descended a very steep hill – we had not realised we were so high up. And then we crossed Meadowbank Lake, which is a reservoir behind a dam.
Driving west towards Hamilton, we were amazed to see that all the rolling hills have been denuded of trees. Certainly does look very bare and unnatural.
In Hamilton we were staying in McCauley‘s Cottage, circa 1846. This cottage was built by the Church of England for the local clergymen. It was one of three built by the Anglican church in the 1840s. In 1906 the church sold the cottage, and it became a self-contained historic accommodation in 1989.
Right next door to the cottage, and owned by the same person, is Jacksons Emporium, built in 1856. The Emporium is now a cafe and a delicatessen of Derwent Valley produce. We called in there to pick up the keys of the cottage and the owner came out and showed us through the cottage and outlining its history. He also set up the log fire for later. Which we sure needed – it turned icy cold.
The tourist brochures tell us that Hamilton is a small Georgian and Victorian village which has remained largely unspoiled. The lack of commercialisation of the town is said to offer the visitor an opportunity to experience what the village would have been like in the 1830s and 1840s. I could not see any shop at all in the town, although Kerry assures me there was one there. Yep – a “newsagent” just down the street a bit.
As we were staying 2 nights in the town, we saw this as a good opportunity to slow down and have a rest day, as we had been going pretty well non-stop. So we lazed away the rest of the afternoon, got the log fire going and ordered dinner from the Emporium, which was delivered to our door. Des had a lamb-burger and I had a fried rice – which was lovely.
Day 2 – Mon 28 October – Hamilton
After a slow start to the morning, we headed off on foot to look at the heritage homes in the immediate vicinity. The first photo we took was of McCauleys Cottage.
Right opposite McCauleys Cottage are three historic cottages. These are named Emma’s, Victoria’s and George’s cottages and now offer historic accommodation. They were all constructed from local sandstone by convict labour. And they are very pretty indeed.
Emmas Cottage, with its bright red door, is the oldest of the three. It has internal timber split-slab walls fastened with wooden pegs, making it rather special.
Villeneuve Cottage, with the black door, was sold to the assistant colonial treasurer of Tasmania in 1858.
There are also a number of other historic homes along this stretch of the road.
Further down the street, is Glenn Clyde House, with its name oh so subtly displayed. This was originally built by convicts as a private home and was located prominently at the end of the Main Street. It was licensed in 1844 and was originally known as the Tasmanian Lash. It is such a shame that the name of the house is so prominently and vulgarly displayed on the front of an important historic building.The one redeeming feature is that it is a signed screwed in place – at least they didn’t paint the sandstone.
There are also some very pretty trees to be seen in this part of the town.
We walked back and got the car so as to explore the town fully. Further back down the street we saw the lovely Uralla Cottage, which appears to be the centre for rental of the other cottages. They all have signs directing people to Uralla Cottage to collect the keys.
Close to Uralla Cottage, is the old schoolhouse. This is a large two story structure built by convict stonemasons in 1858. The literature tells us that it was originally constructed so that the headmaster lived in the room above the central staircase, and the children, according to their sex, entered the school via different doors.
We then drove up the hill past Prospect House to get great views over the town and the valley in which it sits.
Prospect House was built originally in 1824 and was enlarged in 1829. The owner was the district surgeon, who later became Hamilton’s first warden in 1863. A three story surgery once stood opposite the house.
There was a sign at the front of the house inviting people to come in and have a look at the gardens. For a donation of $5 each, this proved to be the highlight of our visit to Hamilton.
One of the first things we saw was a beautiful white wisteria, hanging down over a staircase onto the side terrace. Beautiful. With lots of bees – great to see.
This side of the garden contains some quite formal hedging with European style statues and urns.
The area immediately behind the house is a grassed area, and there we met the two men who were responsible for the gardens, and who had been living in the house for three or four years. There is also the secret garden there – a peaceful walled off area. What a place to retire to – they both downed-tools for a chat with us. I think they love living here and it shows in the way they maintain the gardens. I asked about one tree I saw “It looks like white lilac” – that’s exactly what it is the gentleman exclaimed. They are very keen on the rose garden too, but not many are in flower just yet.
The uphill side of the garden is a mixture of hedging and and cottage gardens, through which a pair of guinea fowl wandered. The hedging along the uphill boundary of the property is massive in height and width and must take a lot of work to keep it in such perfect condition. The area at the front of this part of the garden also has formal hedges and statues.
Behind this is the cottage garden area, which looks quite stunning with such a variety of plants. Note to self: Get some bluebells and columbines for our garden as well as lupins and extra irises. Stunning combination here.
After that gardening delight, we drove down to the impressive looking Hamilton Inn. William Roadnight, who built the Inn, was a mill owner, pound keeper, policeman and postmaster. It was a private home until 1838 when it became the New Inn. It is still a licensed hotel, and it has a grand front door.
Near the Inn, is the old wardens cottage, circa 1835. The cottage is the only remaining building of the district goal, originally containing two large lock ups, eight cells, staff quarters and a coachhouse.
The old Post Office, circa 1835, is now used by the council.
From there we drove along the River Clyde that runs through the town and came to a small reservoir formed by a weir across the river. We had hoped to see some platypus there but that was not the case.
The final place we visited was Saint Peters Church. The foundation stone for this was laid in 1834 and it was completed in 1837. The church only has one door. This was almost certainly needed to prevent the congregation, which was about 50% convict, from attempting to escape.
The headstones around the church go back to the 1830s. Wondering through those, it was sad to see that so many were for infants or very young children. Life must have been so difficult back in the 1800s.
To see photos from this post, click here