Swansea - East Coast, Tasmania.
Swansea over looks Great Oyster Bay on the east coast of Tasmania, equi-distant from Launceston and Hobart. A pretty little town at the gate-way to the magnificent Freycinet National Park and surrounded by beautiful beaches, Swansea has a distinctive character all of its own generated by its large number of colonial era homes and buildings.
The first know European to explore the area was Captain Cox of the Brigantine Mercury. En-route from England to Sydney Cox passed up the east coast of Tasmania and in July 1789 sailed up the western shore of Maria Island and into a waterway he subsequently named Oyster Bay.
Visited frequently by transient sealers it would be another twenty-one years before three families settled in the district but it wasn’t until 1827, when Captain George Hibbert of the 40th Regiment of Foot set up a garrison on Waterloo Point, that any sort of real settlement was established.
By 1830 one hundred and fifty free settlers had arrived, though they remained outnumbered by convicts and assigned servants, and the town slowly started to prosper and grow.
A tour of present day Swansea is in part like stepping back into the colonial era.
The Swansea Bark Mill and East Coast Museum is an historic machinery plant built aournd 1885 which originally processed black wattle bark, the basic ingredient used in tanning leather. Some of the machinery is still in working order today.
The local Council Chambers on Noyes Street were constructed by James Hurst in 1860 and it’s thought that some of the material used came from the original military outpost on Waterloo Point.
Modern day attractions include wine tastings at the Wine and Wool Centre together with a host of local produce including walnuts, olives and of course an abundance of seafood.
This Tassie Local snapshot was produced by Footloose Photographic & Media Solutions
Things to see around - Swansea
Swansea - East Coast, Tasmania
