Knocklofty Terrace Bounday Marker

Here's an interesting little curio of a bygone age.

West Hobart's beginnings was as a semi - rural region on the outskirts of town on the lower slopes of the foothills of Mt Wellington. It originally consisted of small dairy farms, orchards and market gardens. The first residents were presented with fantastic panoramic views of the ever growing city and the river estuary below them. The hilly terrain made access to the area rather challenging for pre motor car residents and also kept the pace of local development quite slow.

There seems to have been an abundance of sandstone discovered in the area and several sandstone quarries were established around the Knocklofty area. These quarries ultimately provided flagging stones and sandstone blocks for building in the region. A number of fine buildings such as St Marys Cathedral used this local sandstone. The Knocklofty area went on to become a centre of brickmaking with a brickworks established in 1882 by well known local builder, Rippon Shields. The brickworks continued operations until the mid 1960's when it was closed and ultimately demolished. Throughout this time, the council bounderies were being established and becoming what we know as the suburbs of today.

This little curio can be found on the intersection of Knocklofty Terrace and Poets Road and is one of the old sandstone Hobart City Council boundary markers. The council boundary originally ran along Knocklofty Terrace. It is only a small piece of history but it's wonderful that it has survived to this day. It's easily accessible and can be easily viewed.

Main Text & Information Source - "The Story Of West Hobart Street By Street" - Donald Howatson 2014