|
| View from
Woolmers across towards the Western
Tiers |
Longford
Fascinating small historic town south west of
Launceston
Located 24 km south west of Launceston and 175 m
above sea level, Longford (a classified historic
town) was named after a county in Ireland by the
colonial surveyor, Roderic O'Connor.
Essentially a small service town for the
surrounding agriculture area (the district is
noted for its wool, dairy produce and stock
breeding) Longford was first explored by
Europeans when Jacob Mountgarrett and Ensign
Hugh Piper passed through in 1806. The following
year Lieutenant Laycock, journeying from north
to south, camped near the present townsite.
The first settlers arrived in 1807 when a
large number of free land holding farmers were
moved to Van Diemen's Land from Norfolk Island.
At this time the district became known as
Norfolk Plains and the early settlement was
known as Latour until it was changed to Longford
in 1833.
|
| The fountain
in front of the Woolmers Historic Home
near Longford |
The development of the town and surrounding
area coincided with land grants in the
mid-1820s. Prominent among the first settlers
was Thomas Archer who, with his three brothers,
built such notable local houses as 'Woolmers', 'Panshanger',
'Brickendon' and 'Northbury'.
The town itself grew up around the Longford
Hotel built in 1827. Through the 1830s-1850s the
town acquired a large number of notable and
historically significant buildings.
Things to see:
![[Top of page]](smlArrow.gif)
|
| Christ Church
|
Christ Church
The major historic attraction in Longford in
Christ Church, a sandstone building which dates
from 1839. The church clock and bell were both
gifts from George IV, its stained glass window
is impressive, and the church's graveyard
includes such prominent Tasmanian families as
the Archers and the Reibeys (see Hadspen).
|
| Old
Racecourse Hotel |
Historic Buildings
Other buildings of note include the Queen's Arms
(a stuccoed Georgian hotel dating from 1835) at
69 Wellington Street, the Blenheim Hotel (1846)
in Marlborough Street and the former
Tattersall's Hotel (1860) now the Longford
Library. This apparent excess of hotels and inns
(many of which have been turned into private
dwellings) reveals the importance of Longford in
the mid-nineteenth century.
Of particular interest is the Racecourse
Hotel in Wellington Street which was originally
built to become Longford's railway station. At
various times it has been a private hospital and
a pub. The pub achieved considerable notoriety
when a woman, having stolen and swallowed two
gold sovereigns from some local farmhands, was
murdered
Historic Homes
As well the town has other important buildings
such as Longford House (1839) in Catherine
Street, 'Old Norley' (1838) built by Charles
Arthur at 4 Lyttleton Street, 'Brickendon'
(1831) built by William Archer in Wellington
Street (it is a large and gracious Georgian
dwelling) and 'Northbury' (1862) built by Edward
Archer.
This is a small sample of over forty
buildings in the district which have been
included on the National Estate. A detailed
history, and description, of many of the
buildings is provided in Let's Talk About
Longford.
|
| An attractive
historic residential home in Longford
|
Woodstock Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary
9 km from Longford is the Woodstock Lagoon
Wildlife Sanctuary, a 150 ha area reserved as a
nesting and breeding sanctuary for large numbers
of waterfowl.
