This is fine group of Colonial Georgian buildings comprising a granary, store and residence built about 1832 by James Kestall Buscombe. The buildings are attached yet each function is expressed by a distinctive building.
The granary was originally constructed by Buscombe to store grain waiting milling or shipping by ship or wagon through to Hobart. The three storey stone granary has an iron gable roof. It features twelve pane windows and has a horse operated hoist still in place.
J.K Buscombe was appointed postmaster for Richmond in 1832 and originally operated the post office from his hotel, the Lennox Arms. Later in 1832, Buscombe purchased a corner allotment from John Rose and subsequently constructed a post office/ general store on the site with a residence as part of the complex. The store featured an elaborate shopfront with twenty pane windows (some altered) with diagonal glazing bars to highlights and double entry doors with large radial fanlights. Twelve pane windows were used elsewhere and carved stone panels were placed below the shopfront windows.
Buscombe continued to serve as the Richmond Post Master until 1850. The buildings have been wonderfully preserved and continue to operate as business premises to this day. They form a major important feature of the streetscape of Richmond.
Main Text & Information Sources –
Australian Heritage Database
Interpretive Signs at the site
