David Hildyard's House, Sorell

This is a very important and significant building in the town of Sorell and is a rare surviving very early building in the main street that indicates the scale of development in the early township of Sorell.

The building is known as “David Hildyard’s House” or the “Plough & Harrow Inn”. It is said to have been an 1827 public house for which Daniel Long had gained a license in the mid 1820’s. However, an 1832 town plan shows that Long had premises on the corner of Gordon & Coles streets and that there was no building on the site at 8 Gordon Street at that particular time.

A 1839 plan notes that the allotment was being used as a brickyard while an 1842 plan shows a building on the site which had been granted to David Hildyard. In the same year, Hildyard is recorded as living in a brick house in Gordon Street. So it can be assumed that the building was probably erected between 1839 & 1842. It has been indicated that the building was later used as a hotel and this may be the source of the “Plough & Harrow Inn” name with David Hildyard being recorded as having held a publican’s license at some stage.

The building is a largely intact Colonial Georgian 2 storey house which retains it setting. The exterior is painted over the face brick with a symmetrical layout featuring a central door and pairs of 6 pane windows on either side. The building has typical Georgian detailing with shaped brick lentils to openings and brick chimneys.

The building was once in poor condition but has been lovingly repainted. It is a well detailed and finely scaled building of modest proportion and it provides a good contrast to the more substantial buildings that have tended to survive from the early town settlement years. It was last sold in 1987 and appears to remain a private residence to this day.

Main Text & Information Source –

“Sorell Heritage Study – Site Inventory Vol 5” – Sorell Municipal Council 1996

St Andrews Anglican Church, Evandale

The present building is the third to be built on the site. The first was a small chapel measuring 40 ft by 20ft with low walls and shingle roof and stood in paddocks close to the gates at the end of Church Lane. The chapel officially opened on February 18th, 1837 by the Lieutenant Governor Sir John Franklin. On week days the building served as a schoolroom. In October 1838, the residents of Evandale became anxious for a larger Church of England. With James Cox of Clarendon acting as their spokesman, 88 members of the congregation signed a petition requesting Government aid in the erection of a more suitable building.

Work began on the new church in 1841. It was a red brick building with a square tower at the western end, in the style of the present church at Campbell Town. The building was completed around 1844. By 1869, large cracks were observed, due to faulty foundations, and the church was ultimately pulled down in 1871. In 1868, the old chapel/schoolroom was the venue for the first Evandale Show. When the church was finally completed, the chapel was used as a Sunday school until it was demolished around 1910.

The foundation stone for the present building was laid on 30th November 1871 on the site of the 1844 church building and used many of the old bricks. Measuring 70ft by 25ft, the building was completed in 5 months by J & T Gunn of Launceston. It was their first major project. The bishop’s chair is made from timbers from Australia’s first warship, HMAS Nelson. 

When the new St Andrew’s Church was consecrated, dedicated and opened on May 17th, 1872, the most admired part of the new building was the beautiful spire. The 108ft high spire had been added, mainly through the generosity of John Whitehead of Nile. It was considered by some at the time to be an extravagant waste of money and unnecessary and it became known as “Whitehead’s Folly” We can now appreciate John Whitehead’s forethought and good taste in helping to build the beautiful “Wedding Cake Church” as we see it today.

The adjacent cemetery is surrounded by ornamental cast iron railings. The cemetery contains the graves of people associated with the local community and the colonies. This includes the vault of James Cox, historically interesting to this district and NSW (Cox of Blue Mountains), the tomb of David Collins - first settler at Evandale and also Capt Barclay's smaller vault and tombs of local people.

Main Text & Information Source –

Evandale Heritage Walk brochure – The Evandale Community Centre 

Australian Heritage Database

Historic Photos – 

LincTas

LincTas

The Grove, George Town

“The Grove” was built by Matthew Curling Friend circa 1835. Friend had been transferred from Launceston to George Town in 1835, to take up duties as magistrate as well as continuing as Port Officer of the Tamar.

Matthew and his wife, Mary-Anne did not live in “The Grove” for too long and when Mary-Anne died in 1838 while dressing to go to a ball, they appear to have been living in Government Cottage further up Cimitiere Street.

The house has had many owners, as people came to the town to do a job and then left again. Matthew Curling Friend owned the house until about 1852 when he retired to England though it was owned briefly by the Rev Fereday and his family from 1846 – 49. William Lushington Goodwin (a former ships captain whose ship sank in the Tamar, after which he started the “Cornwall Chronicle”, a Launceston newspaper that he used to lambast all and sundry) lived at “The Grove” until his death in 1862 and his wife for about 7 years longer. Dr James Richardson, former surgeon for the Van Diemens Land Company owned the house for 20 years until 1889.

In mid 1889, “The Grove” was purchased by Joseph Davies, who had come to the area to manage a gold mine at Lefroy and then the newly opened Beaconsfield gold mine. The house by this time was apparently in a run-down state. He carried out some restoration works including replacing the wooden shingles with iron. It is said that Joseph was rowed across the river and was met on the other side by a horse tram to get to work each day.

Joseph died in 1922, Elizabeth in 1926 and “The Grove” was left to their son, Thomas. Returning as a much decorated Major from World War 1, Thomas continued with his mining interests, moving to “The Grove” with his wife, Lesley and their 3 children. Becoming a member of the Tasmanian Parliament representing the people of Bass, major Davies subsequently became Minister of Land & Works. He died in 1942 while still in office and his widow sold “The Grove”

Once more it passed through several hands until by 1968, “The Grove” was in terrible condition. The local council considered restoring it then considered putting a demolition order on it. After a lot of local concern and agitation the property was condemned as unrestorable. Many avenues of saving the house were explored and in 1969 after nothing had been achieved, Chlo Martin & her late husband, Peter decided to look into what would be involved in restoring the house. 

After extensive investigation they adventurously purchased “The Grove” at the end of 1969. Two solid years of hard restoration work followed and gradually “The Grove” was brought back to life as a museum from 1971 until 2007 complete with a restaurant and accommodation facilities. The house has reverted back to a family home but still operates the B&B accommodation facilities.

Main Text & Information Sources –

The Grove Website

"Treasures of George Town" - George Town & District Historical Society 2003

Low Head Pilot Station

The Low Head Pilot Station is the oldest pilot station in Australia, and contains the oldest buildings of a pilot station in Australia. The Low Head Pilot Station comprises of a number of buildings including the Pilots' Row building, master warden's cottage, school house, workshop and boatshed, four boat crew cottages and the coxswain's cottage. The buildings of the station are laid out in a rough semicircle around a central grassed area. The southern orientated buildings are aligned along the shores of Pilot Bay and form the pilot station's earliest structures.

The Low Head pilot service was established in 1805 in response to the hazardous nature of navigating through the Tamar River. Pilots are experienced seamen who take command of visiting ships and sail them safely in and out of a port. Pilots operate from an on-shore headquarters known as a pilot station from where they travel to the waiting ships. William House was the first person officially charged with organising pilotage services on the Tamar The first long term pilot at Low Head was John Thomas who served in the position for 13 years and was assisted by a convict named Emmanuel Griffin

Increasing traffic in the Tamar led to the evolution of the pilot station from a series of temporary and semi-permanent structures into a fully fledges pilot complex. By 1835 there were eight pilots, eight leadsmen and more than 20 boatmen employed at the pilot station. Four of the pilots were housed in the newly constructed Pilots' Row building that was designed by the colonial architect and engineer, John Lee Archer.

The building was originally a set of four, four roomed residences separated by party walls. The structure was built using locally sourced course rubble with a coat of render. The original roof was shingle clad hipped parallel gables with a  central box gutter that diverted rain water into a water tank believed to have been located on the eastern side of the building. The windows are either double hung six paned or four paned sashes with sandstone lintels and thresholds. Pilots' Row has been altered significantly over time, primarily due to the adaptive re-use of the building as a maritime museum. The installation of exhibits and consideration of visitor circulation has led to new doors being cut into party walls to enable access through the four dwellings.

The coxswain's cottage was built in 1847 at the most westerly part of the pilot station and is aligned with the central grassed area. The cottage is made from rendered random rubble and has four small rooms. The building has been subjected to a number of alterations including the addition of a sunroom to the south, an amenities wing and a porch to the north and a store room to the west. The cottage is now used as a café

Four boat crew cottages were built at the pilot station; three between 1859 and 1861 and one in 1962. The first cottage was built in 1859 and is located on the western end of the northern alignment of the pilot station. Two more cottages were constructed by 1861 and are located to the east of the 1859 cottage. These three structures along with the 1962 cottage form the northern section of the station and are separated from Pilots' Row by a central grassed area. The three 19th century cottages are all single storey with hipped roof porches at the front. Rendered uncoursed rubble was used to construct the cottages which were topped with corrugated iron clad roofs. The cottages are currently used as holiday houses for visitors.

The chart room is a small eight sided structure originally timber framed and clad with corrugated iron. The chart room has been significantly altered over the years through the addition of a front porch and the use of weatherboards for cladding. The construction date of the chart room is unknown but the use of corrugated iron suggests c.1860s. The chart room is located to the west of the pilot station, near the coxswain's cottage

The school house was constructed in 1866 for the children of the pilots and included residential quarters for the live-in teacher. The school house has a rough alignment with Pilots' Row and is orientated towards the river. It is a timber framed, weatherboard clad building with brick masonry chimney stakes and a hipped roof. The interior of the building includes a school room, residential section, and a sunroom. A central gabled roofed front porch is framed by a pair of double hung six paned windows. The front porch has a scalloped barge board and a central finial. The building has not been subject to any major renovations asides from the sunroom extension and the addition of a kitchen in the late 19th century. The school house is located to the east of Pilots' Row and the master warden's cottage. The building has been used a holiday home for a number of years

The master warden's cottage was built in 1917 and originally used as a residence for one of the pilots. The building's timber frame is clad with narrow profiled weatherboards. The cottage has a central gabled front porch adorned with a decorative finial as well as a number of other arts and crafts decorative features and a lyre motif set between paired columns. The roof is made of corrugated iron and has brick chimney stacks. The interior of the cottage includes three bedrooms, kitchen, dining room, living room and a laundry. A number of alterations have been made to the interior of the building including the removal of the original front door and surrounds which have been replaced with aluminium framed sliding doors, replacement of the original fireplace surrounds and mantle piece and the extension of the rear wing and porch. The master warden's cottage is located to the east of Pilots' Row on the southern section of the pilot station near Pilot Bay.

The original pier was made of random rubble and stretched out into Pilots Bay in front of the current master warden's cottage. The pier was abandoned and a remnant of the structure is partially submerged. A second pier is located at the south-western section of the pilot station and is also made of random rubble. A modern breakwater has been added to the western end of the pilot station and includes a small sheltered harbour and a boat launching ramp

The Marine Board was formed in 1857 and the board was responsible for much of the 19th century growth at the station. Prior to the establishment of the Marine Board, the pilots were paid an equal share of pilotage fees which was approximately £65 per month in 1856. The Marine Board instigated a number of changes at the pilot station including placing the pilots on salaries and providing equipment for them to use.

Navigation beacons inside the port entrance were progressively replaced with stone towers and in 1852 the existing semaphore signalling system for the Tamar River was extended from George Town out to Low Head. In 1857 the newly established Launceston Marine Board took control of the piloting operations and two years later the Pilot Station was used to house the first submarine telegraphic cable across Bass Strait.

No pilots currently reside at the Low Head Historic Precinct which has been converted into a tourist attraction. A small maritime museum was established at the Low Head Historic Precinct in 1975 and was initially housed in a small two-roomed weatherboard cottage. A line throwing rocket launcher and some old signal flags discovered in a boat shed loft were the museum's first two items. By 1980 the collection had grown so large that it had to be relocated to Pilots' Row. A number of the pilot cottages have been converted into holiday homes and the site is a major tourist attraction.

The Low Head Pilot Station was transferred to the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service in 1998. The Tasmanian Ports Corporation still operates a pilot service out of Low Head but no staff reside at the Pilot Station.

Main Text & Information Sources –

Australian Heritage Database

Parks Tasmania Website

Low Head Pilot Station Website