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| Callington
Mill |
Oatlands (including Parattah)
Finest collection of Georgian houses in
Australia
The historic and beautiful township of Oatlands
is located 79 km north of Hobart and 115 km
south of Launceston on the Midlands Highway.
The area was first formally explored by
Europeans when Governor Lachlan Macquarie and
his party passed through in 1811. It was another
decade before Macquarie returned to the
district. On the second visit he recognised the
present site as "a very eligible station for a
town" and, according to a local plaque, he named
the town "Oatlands" on 3 June 1821. The name
reputedly referred to a rich grain-growing area
of Macquarie's native Scotland.
Oatlands importance was guaranteed in 1821
when Macquarie decided to establish a road from
George Town (at the time it was known as Port
Dalrymple) to Hobart. A number of military posts
were established along the road and Oatlands was
chosen as one such site.
In the following five years a few settlers
moved into the area but it wasn't until the
arrival of a military detachment in 1825 that it
began to develop.
The early history of the town is a reminder
that the local Aborigines did not give up their
land without a fight. Lieutenant-Governor George
Arthur's decision to lay out a town meant that
some 35 workers were sent to the town to
construct buildings, clear the ground and create
new roads. This small group were at such risk
from Aboriginal attack that the troops were sent
to guard them. It should also be remembered that
Arthur had a rather fanciful notion of rounding
up all the Aborigines on Van Diemen's Land and
that Oatlands was the centre of these
operations. They were famously unsuccessful
spending vast numbers of hours and resources.
The Aborigines simply slipped through the
infamous "Black Line" each night and the troops
returned after weeks of hunting down the
indigenes with only a small boy and an old woman
to show for their labours.
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| An elegant
old house in the main street
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In 1832 the town was surveyed by Surveyor
Sharland who, believing that Oatlands would
eventually become one of Tasmania's major
centres, marked out more than 80 km of streets.
In the next decade the town grew rapidly so that
it now has arguably the finest concentration of
Georgian buildings of any town in Australia.
Modern Oatlands is a service centre for the
surrounding farming community. It has the usual
array of modern facilities which blend
successfully with the town's historic past.
Things to see:
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Callington Mill
The town's major attraction is Callington Mill
on Old Mill Lane which was built in 1836 by John
Vincent. Vincent, with his wife and seven
children, had arrived in Hobart Town in 1823
with £869. He was an entrepreneur who
established the Norwood Inn in Bothwell and the
Bothwell Castle Inn at York Plains. Vincent's
enthusiasm for the mill was short-lived. In 1839
he tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the mill and
in 1840 he handed it over to his son John
Jubilee Vincent. At the time the mill was
producing 20-30 bushells of flour an hour. By
1850 the mill had been sold to Thomas Jillett
who established a steam mill and production rose
to 5-7 tons of flour a day. By 1862 the property
comprised a two storey flour mill driven by
steam and wind, a two roomed cottage for the
miller with a large store, a three stall stable,
a house, a baker's shop "and two cottages
fronting the main street with stable and coach
house adjoining, a large and well arranged
dwelling house of twelve well proportioned
rooms, four stall stable with hay loft, cow
shed, piggeries and yard". The mill continued to
operate until 1892. In 1909 a storm blew the
sails away and in 1912 it was gutted by fire. It
was restored by the National Trust with funds
made available by Amatil as part of a
Bicentennial Gift to the Nation.
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| Oatlands
Court House - the oldest building in
Oatlands it was constructed by convicts
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Court House
The Oatlands Court House, located on the corner
of Campbell Street and The Esplanade, is the
oldest building in Oatlands. It was built by
convict labour in 1829 and is a fine example of
a Georgian public building with usual 12 pane
windows. It was originally constructed as a
combined Chapel and Police Office. In 1829 the
local Police Magistrate, Thomas Anstey, wrote "I
think the size of the building is 32 ft by 20
ft, it is constructed of solid masonry and
shingled - and I believe it will be the cheapest
work of this kind ever performed by Government:
it having been erected and covered in by two men
wearing their irons the whole time; and who
would otherwise have been employed during those
three or four months in breaking stones on the
road." It was purchased by the National Trust in
1977.
The Old Gaol
Located in Campbell Street it was built by
convict labour around 1830, has a three bay
facade and a high stone wall which originally
surrounded the exercise yard. All that is now
left are the entrance gates.
White Horse Inn, Main Street
Built by George Atkinson in 1834 and
originally known as Lake Frederick Inn it
changed to Dulverton Inn in 1836. It eventually
became known as the White Horse Inn in 1853. It
is a large and gracious building.
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| Holyrood
House |
Holyrood House
Holyrood House was built in 1840 by the Oatlands
police magistrate. In 1860 it was purchased by
Dr Wells who later sold it to Dr Morehead. It
became known as "the doctor's house". Set in two
acres of gardens, full of deciduous trees and
shrubs, it is one of the town's most impressive
buildings.
Parattah
Located 6 km east of Oatlands Parattah is of
interest because the local Austral Park
farmhouse was once the home of Hudson Fysh who
was one of the founders of Qantas. It also has
the gracious Fernhurst which is located opposite
the local railway station.
Other Historic Buildings
There is no substitute for just walking down the
main street of Oatlands. The town is recognised
to have the largest collection of pre-1837
buildings in Australia with a total of 87 stone
buildings in the Main Street and a total of 138
within the town boundaries. The visitor wanting
to inspect the buildings in some detail should
get a copy of Let's Talk About Oatlands which
lists a total of 36 places of interest and
provides very detailed information. There is
also a local history, A History of Oatlands by
J.S. Weeding, available which provides very
detailed information on all the historic
buildings in the town.
