Deloraine - Cradle Valley, Tasmania.
Located on the Meander River in central-northern Tasmania, Deloraine is 50 Kilometres west of Launceston and 52 Kilometres south of Devonport, sitting at the base of Quamby Bluff and the Great Western Tiers.
First explored in 1821 the area was opened up with land grants to new settlers and rapidly developed into a major agricultural centre.
At first glance Deloraine appears like a living time-warp, its streets lined with significant and carefully restored Victorian and Georgian architecture.
Bonney’s Inn, now a four-star B&B started life as a coaching inn constructed in hand-made convict bricks. With 50 centimetre thick walls, cedar fittings and paneled walls it has at various times been a temperance hotel, a coffee palace and flats.
Not far from Bonney’s is the Baptist Tabernacle, a single-story chapel built in 1880 from the proceeds of the sale of a prize ram which realised 1000 guineas.
Near-by the two-storey blue-stone and brick Harveys Mill is now a private home.
A convict built bridge over the Meander River was constructed in 1831 and washed away in 1844. Its replacement fell into disrepair and was itself replaced in 1877. The present bridge retains some of that 1877 structure. Across the river, and settled before Deloraine, is the original village of Alveston, with almost all its remaining structures having some significant historical value.
Deloraine is also the gateway to the Mole Creek/Kirst National Park, home to spectacular underground caverns, subterranean streams and the renowned King Solomon’s Caves.
This Tassie Local snapshot was produced by Footloose Photographic & Media Solutions
Things to see around - Deloraine
Deloraine - Cradle Valley, Tasmania
