Take the Heritage Highway for a magical history tour of some of Tasmania’s oldest towns.
You can drive the 198km between Hobart and Launceston in about two and a half hours, and most people do. But tourists who bisect Tasmania so quickly skim the surface at the very spot that most deeply represents the island state’s historical essence. Here, stone Georgian villages such as Ross, Oatlands and Campbell Town – all classified Historic Towns – drive their region’s future by presenting a well-preserved past along the highway that links them.
The Midland or Heritage Highway traverses some of Tasmania’s oldest interior settlements. Hobart was founded in 1804, Launceston a year or so later. In 1807 the first overland route was blazed between them. Drawn by prime pasture, settlers ventured inwards from both directions. By the 1830s coaches were rattling up and down the island, the fastest making it in 15 hours, changing horses at roadside inns.
The first tourist was Sydney-based governor Lachlan Macquarie, who did the trip in 1811 and again in 1821, naming town sites as he went. By then, convicts were hard at work on the first real road, a rugged north-south artery the Heritage Highway follows closely, if not precisely.
The saying “here there be tigers” once summed up the Midlands perfectly. The extinct Tasmanian tiger is now associated with the thickly forested west (where else could the hopeful hope to find them?), but its preferred habitat was Midlands-style grassy valleys and lightly wooded hills.
Other long-gone local predators were the bushrangers who added to the travails of early travel. Michael Howe, self-appointed Governor of the Ranges, hid out at a marsh near Oatlands that still bears his name. And just south of town the road skirts Lemon Hill, favoured ambush spot for the ferocious Richard Lemon.
Somercotes, a homestead near Ross, shows the extremes some settlers went to in protecting themselves. When Martin Cash and gang bailed up the property in 1843, they faced high spiked walls, barred doorways and heavy cedar window shutters. Somercotes now does four-star accommodation, but the “fortress” Cash recalled in his memoirs remains for guests to admire, complete with bullet holes.
The bushranger Matthew Brady, outraged at the price on his head, stuck a note on a Kempton inn door offering 20 gallons of rum for the Governor’s arrest. A few kilometres south of scenic Spring Hill – the highway’s highest point – pint-sized Kempton pulls no heritage punches; grand Dysart House is just one standout. As for shopping, the Midlands flogs antiques instead of convicts these days and Kempton has at least three stores along Main Street. Resembling a bunker by a sheep pen, eccentric Kempton Old Books (33 Louisa Street, 03 6259 1169) is also browse-worthy.
A night or two in historic accommodation is a Midlands must. Old coaching inns make a simple and very direct connection with Tasmania’s colonial past, guests enjoying essentially the same service (albeit modernised) sought by coach travellers 160 years ago. Built with convict labour from local sandstone, these gorgeous Georgians burst with stories and echoes of the past, from convict thumbprints on the handmade bricks to rumours of ghostly visitations. Less imposing but just as cosy are the region’s sandstone cottages, increasingly available for stays.
It is the Georgian buildings – together with roadside deciduous trees – that have people comparing the Midlands to rural England. At first glance, the north end of Oatlands (pop 600) with its dry stone walls could be a wayward Yorkshire village. In the 1830s a surveyor drew up 50 miles of streets, sure this central locale would suit a future Tasmanian capital. While never fulfilling such lofty potential, Oatlands is dis-tinguished by 138 Georgian sandstone buildings – the most of any Australian town – and Australia’s oldest rural supreme courthouse. Although the gaol, where 18 people were hanged, became a swimming pool in the 1950s, the old wall partially remains. Elsewhere, history has been restored: imposing Callington Mill (1837), cap and fantail refitted, overlooks nearby Lake Dulverton, and an ongoing civic project replaces telegraph poles with old-style streetlamps.
North of Oatlands the highway descends into expansive plains. It’s bleatin’ obvious why pioneers flocked here: their rationale nibbles grass from roadside to horizon. Such tranquil scenes were the backdrop to the 1820s Black War, when Aborigines fought the encroachment of sheep (and armed shepherds) on their traditional land.
Ross (pop 300) was a garrison in those frontier days, a tough outpost of soldiers and convicts. Could such gentle air ever have been filled with clanking chain gangs in leg irons? Today’s ambience is utterly bucolic and restful. Elm-lined Church Street invites a stroll into a picture-book past. Old-world attractions include a Victorian-era sandstone post office, but the showpiece is undoubtedly Ross Bridge (1836), Australia’s third oldest.
Perennial Tasmanian second banana to its elder cousin at Richmond, Ross Bridge is the more astonishing work of art. Convict stonemason Daniel Herbert carved highly decorative keystones, depicting swirling Celtic symbology, himself and his wife, colonial officials, plants and animals and even a lone Tasmanian Aborigine. Some analysts detect a sly rebellion in Herbert’s choice of imagery. How could the imperious (British?) lion devouring a lamb be anything other than a heartfelt protest at penal brutality? Yet Herbert’s overlords saw nothing alarming and rewarded him with a pardon upon the bridge’s completion. Settling at Ross, Herbert lived out his life within sight of his greatest creative achievement and eventually carved his own tombstone, in the town’s old hilltop cemetery.
Georgian streetscape aside, Ross is renowned for superb bakeries, one still using its colonial-era wood-fired oven. The Tasmanian Wool Centre combines tourist information with a detailed museum of the wool industry and other local yarns, such as the Ross Female Factory, an important convict archaeological site. Mere metres away, the historic buildings at Church and Bridge Streets are nicknamed the Four Corners, specifically Temptation (Man O’Ross Hotel), Salvation (church), Recreation (town hall) and Damnation (gaol, now a private home).
The past is never more than a footstep away in Campbell Town (pop 800), where High Street’s brick trail pays clay-fired tribute to thousands of convict pioneers. The Grange, a colonial manor, epitomises how past glories can enhance – even enable – the future. Gothic charm circa 1847 now adds invaluable aesthetics to a 21st century rebirth as high-tech conference centre. The town’s Red Bridge makes no concessions to the present, its 170-year-old arches easily handling modern traffic. Convicts dragged 1.5 million bricks in handcarts from Ross to build it in 1838, little thinking their labour would pass into the local lore that keeps the region alive.
Stay
Amelia Cottage
104 High Street, Oatlands.
Original home (1838) of local pioneers the Burbury family, with all mod cons amid preserved period detail.
Captain Samuel’s Cottage
Church Street, Ross.
Originally a convict barracks, Horton’s former town house is one of Ross’ oldest buildings (1830).
The Foxhunters Return
132 High Street, Campbell Town.
Overlooking the Red Bridge, Campbell Town’s best situated and most historic digs (1833).
Lythgo’s Row
253 Midland Highway, Pontville.
Three-cottage sandstone terraces built between 1845 and 1852 by convict/settler William Lythgo. Self-catered accommodation includes breakfast provisions.
Man O’Ross Hotel
35 Church Street, Ross.
1835 coach house with restaurant, function rooms and a self-contained unit complementing historic guestrooms.
Oatlands Lodge
92 High Street, Oatlands.
Sandstone, two-storey former girls’ school (1837) now does four-star B&B. Candlelit evening ghost tours can be arranged.
Ross Bakery Inn
15 Church Street, Ross.
Two-storey guesthouse (1832), with a seminar facility in the old stables. B&B involves a hearty bakery breakfast from the wood-fired oven next door.
Somercotes
Mona Vale Road (4km south of Ross).
Settled in 1823 by Captain Samuel Horton and still in family hands. The homestead (c1842) was built to withstand attacks by bushrangers and Aborigines. Two self-catered colonial cottages and a meeting room where convict workers once lived.
Shop
Campbell Town Antiques & Arts Centre
100 High Street, Campbell Town.
+61 3 6381 2051.
The former Beehive Inn (1840) is now a major antiques centre, with a cafe around the corner.
Website
Casaveen
44 High Street, Oatlands.
+61 3 6254 0044.
All-Australian quality knitwear company has stockists nationally, but visitors to base camp enjoy factory tours, showroom and a new cafe with a lunch menu and selection of Tasmanian wines.
Website
Provincial Interiors
87 High Street, Oatlands.
+61 3 6254 1514.
Antiques store specialising in imported French pieces. It’s housed in Winton Cottage (1832), which is itself a glorious antique. Also sells fresh flowers, candles and soy melts.
Website
Ross Crafts & Antiques
28 Church Street, Ross.
+61 3 6381 5219.
Antiques shops abound along the highway from Perth to Bagdad (yes, they’re both en route). This one has a large selection, from hefty cedar furniture to delicate porcelain.
Thistle Gallery
36 Church Street, Ross.
+61 3 6381 5155.
Sandstone 1830s stable showcases local and mainland artists in various media.
Website
Three Windows
84 High Street, Oatlands.
+61 3 6254 1510.
Many of the cool second-hand retro clothes upstairs are sourced from the US. Other temptations include glassware, which is made onsite, and assorted quirky local arts and crafts.
Village Fine Arts
6 Church Street, Ross.
+61 3 6381 5251.
Specialises in Pro Hart (also his son and daughter) and other Australian artists, as well as an enormous variety of prints.
Eat and Drink
Melton Mowbray Hotel
21 Blackwell Road, Melton Mowbray.
+61 3 6259 1122.
An 1858 landmark by the highway’s highland lakes road (A5) exit. Country dinners are available from $15 and accommodation from $55.
Website
Old Ross General Store, Bakery & Tea Rooms
31 Church Street, Ross.
+61 3 6381 5422.
Not as hip-heritage as its rival, but a popular lunch spot.
Ross Village Bakery
15 Church Street, Ross.
+61 3 6381 5246.
The massive wood-fired brick oven is no loafer, having hardly had a day off in 150 years. Specialises in traditional sourdough breads. It’s also a licensed cafe and sells homemade ice-cream.
Website
St Andrews Inn
Midland Highway, Cleveland.
+61 3 6391 5525.
North of Campbell Town, near Epping Forest, this 1845 inn makes an atmospheric coffee or Devonshire tea break. B&B from $90 single, $120 double, conference facilities (for up to 20 people) and a restaurant featuring Tasmanian seafood.
The Stables Cafe Restaurant
85 High Street, Oatlands.
+61 3 6254 0013.
Standard cafe fare boosted by serious heritage ambience in the adjacent Visitor Centre, with restored original coaching stables in-house.
Source: Qantas The Australian Way December 2007
Updated: July 2008