St Marys, Tasmania

Last updated

St Marys
Tasmania
STMARYSHOTEL.JPG
St Marys Hotel
Australia Tasmania location map.svg
Red pog.svg
St Marys
Coordinates 41°34′S148°11′E / 41.567°S 148.183°E / -41.567; 148.183 Coordinates: 41°34′S148°11′E / 41.567°S 148.183°E / -41.567; 148.183
Population738 (2021 census) [1]
Postcode(s) 7215
Elevation258 m (846 ft) [2]
Location
LGA(s) Break O'Day Council
State electorate(s) Lyons
Federal division(s) Lyons

St Marys is a small township nestled at the junction of the Tasman Highway and the Esk Highway on the East Coast of Tasmania, Australia approximately 10 kilometres (six miles) from the coast.

Contents

It had a population of 738 as of the 2021 census, although in the early 2000s it was one of the fastest growing areas of Tasmania. The town is part of the Break O'Day Council. Its amenities include a craft gallery, bakery, accommodation, shops and supermarkets, and the St Marys Hotel, built in 1916, which dominates the town centre.

Located beneath a rocky outcrop, St Patricks Head (694 metres/2,277 feet), St Marys is a 240 kilometre/149 mile drive north east of Hobart, via Swansea and Bicheno or 130 kilometres/80 miles east of Launceston. It is possible to reach the town from the coast by crossing the mountains via St Marys Pass or Elephant Pass.

History

The first European contact with the district occurred when Captain Tobias Furneaux sighted and named the 694 metre St Patrick's Head in 1773. The early settlement of Van Diemen's Land, which mostly occurred between Hobart and George Town, took little interest in the St Marys area.

It wasn't until the 1840s that a probation station, housing 300 convicts, was built at Grassy Bottom between the town and St Marys Pass. They were assigned to build the road across the mountains to the east coast. This was done between 1843 and 1846.

The arrival of the railway in 1886 led to the town's increasing importance as a service centre. The Elephant Pass route was completed in 1888, which resulted in goods moving across the mountains to the east coast settlements of Bicheno and Chain of Lagoons. In turn this resulted in a small increase in population as the town became a service centre for the surrounding dairy farms.

St. Patrick's Head Post Office opened on 1 June 1835. It was renamed Cullenswood in 1849 and St Marys in 1869. [3]

The railway line which was once so vital to the health of the town is now closed although the railway station still stands.

Geology

there were two volcanic eruptions of alkali-olivine basalt at 233  ± 5 million years ago. Tuff from calc-alkaline volcanoes to the east of Tasmania produced some layers in the upper sediments. An ashfall tuff in the Denison Rivulet area of eastern Tasmania is dated at 214  ± 1 million years ago (Late Triassic). [4]

Tourism

St Marys is close to several local attractions, including a trail to the top of St Patricks Head, or the more accessible South Sister Peak, which have forest and coastal views. There are also views from Elephant Pass.[ citation needed ]

The Coalminers' Heritage Wall and Heritage Walk at the tiny settlement of Cornwall is a monument to the miners who hand-tunnelled a coal mine beneath the Mount Nicholas Range.

Tourists also visit the nearby waterfalls, fish at Lake Leake or go bushwalking in Douglas Apsley National Park.[ citation needed ]

Aerial view from west St Marys aerial.jpg
Aerial view from west

Christ Church is an unusual little church standing in the middle of fields a few kilometres to the west of St Marys. The church was built in 1847 and was connected with the large property, 'Cullenswood', which was established in the late 1820s by Robert Vincent Legge who arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1827. The main residence, 'Cullenswood', was built in 1845 and is located on Cornwall Road off the Esk Main Road. It is a two-storey rubblestone Georgian building with a columned verandah and iron-hipped roof. It is not open for inspection.

In December 2006, bushfires ravaged the nearby area.

Related Research Articles

Councils of Tasmania are the 29 administrative districts of the Australian state of Tasmania. Local government areas (LGAs), more generally known as councils, are the tier of government responsible for the management of local duties such as road maintenance, town planning and waste management.

Launceston, Tasmania City in Tasmania, Australia

Launceston is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River (kanamaluka). Launceston has a population of 87,645 (2021). Launceston is the second most populous city in Tasmania after the state capital, Hobart, As of 2020, Launceston is the 18th largest city in Australia. Launceston is fourth-largest inland city and the ninth-largest non-capital city in Australia. Launceston is the most liveable regional city, and was one of the most popular regional cities to move to in Australia from 2020 to 2021. Launceston won the Australian town of the year in 2022.

The history of Tasmania begins at the end of the most recent ice age when it is believed that the island was joined to the Australian mainland. Little is known of the human history of the island until the British colonisation in the 19th century.

Sorell, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Sorell is a town in Tasmania, Australia, north-east of Hobart. It is located on the Tasman Highway at the junction with the Arthur Highway. Sorell is one of Tasmania's oldest towns, being first settled in 1808 as a small farming community and becoming an official township in 1821. At the 2006 census, Sorell had a population of 1,546, and at the 2011 census, a population of 2,476. and at the 2016 census, a population of 2,907.

Bicheno, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Bicheno is a locality and town on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 185 km north-east of Hobart on the Tasman Highway, with a population of around 950. It is part of the municipality of Glamorgan-Spring Bay. The town is primarily a fishing port and a beach resort.

Tasman Highway Highway in Tasmania, Australia

The Tasman Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. Like the Midland Highway, it connects the major cities of Hobart and Launceston – however it takes a different route, via the north-eastern and eastern coasts of the state. The Highway also acts as a major commuter road to Hobart residents living on the eastern side of the Derwent River. The designation "Tasman Highway" arises from its location facing the Tasman Sea – named, like the state itself, after Abel Tasman. The highway is one of the longest in Tasmania - 410 km (250 mi), with an average traveling time of 412 hours.

West Coast, Tasmania Region in Tasmania, Australia

The West Coast of Tasmania is mainly isolated rough country, associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the more developed and populous northern and eastern parts of the island state.

Ben Lomond (Tasmania) Mountain in the north of Tasmania

Ben Lomond is a mountain in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia.

Evandale, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Evandale is an historic town in northern Tasmania, Australia. It sits on the banks of the South Esk River, 18 km south of Launceston. Named after early colonial explorer and Surveyor-General George Evans, the town is famous for its late-Georgian and early-Victorian buildings with relatively untouched streetscape, a popular Sunday market and as a host to the annual World Penny Farthing bicycle Championships. At the 2016 census, Evandale had a population of 1,345.

The modern history of the Australian city of Hobart in Tasmania dates to its foundation as a British colony in 1804. Prior to British settlement, the area had been occupied for at least 8,000 years, but possibly for as long as 35,000 years, by the semi-nomadic Mouheneener tribe, a sub-group of the Nuenonne, or South-East tribe. The descendants of the indigenous Tasmanians now refer to themselves as 'Palawa'.

The Esk Highway is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. It connects the Midland Highway, located down the centre of the state, with the Tasman Highway, which is located on the east coast of the state.

Campbell Town, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, on the Midland Highway. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 772.

Lands administrative divisions of Tasmania

The Lands administrative divisions of Tasmania are the divisions of Tasmania into land districts and parishes for cadastral purposes, which are part of the lands administrative divisions of Australia. There are 20 land districts in Tasmania, although in the early nineteenth century there were several other systems, with 18 or 36 counties and 9 other divisions used, as well as hundreds. The land districts include the 18 former counties of the island of Tasmania which were renamed but retain the same boundaries, plus King Island and Flinders Island. The counties are referenced in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, with Hobart described as being in Buckingham County, Launceston in Cornwall County and Beaconsfield in Devon County. The land districts are used for land titles today, while the Local Government Areas of Tasmania with cities and municipalities are used for political and administrative purposes.

Cornwall Land District Cadastral in Tasmania, Australia

Cornwall Land District is one of the twenty land districts of Tasmania which are part of the Cadastral divisions of Tasmania. It contains most of Launceston. It was formerly Cornwall County, one of the 18 counties of Tasmania and one of the first eleven proclaimed in 1836. It was named after the then southwestern county of England.

Dorset Land District Cadastral in Tasmania, Australia

Dorset Land District is one of the twenty land districts of Tasmania which are part of the Cadastral divisions of Tasmania. It was formerly one of the 18 counties of Tasmania. It is located at the north-eastern tip of Tasmania. It is bordered by the Tamar River to the west, the George River to the south-east, and the North Esk River to the south. It includes Bridport, George Town and Scottsdale. It also includes some northern suburbs of Launceston. The local government area of the Dorset Council is in a similar region. It is named after the county of Dorset in England, and towns in the area were named after towns in that county.

Glamorgan Land District Cadastral in Tasmania, Australia

Glamorgan Land District is one of the twenty land districts of Tasmania which are part of the Cadastral divisions of Tasmania. It was formerly one of the 18 counties of Tasmania. It is located along the eastern edge of Tasmania, from Seymour in the north, to Pontypool in the south. It includes Swansea, Bicheno, Cranbrook, and Lisdillon. It also includes the area around Great Oyster Bay, the Freycinet Peninsula and Schouten Island. The LGA of Glamorgan Spring Bay Council is in a similar region.

Hadspen, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Hadspen is a town on the South Esk River in the north of Tasmania, Australia, 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south west of Launceston. Hadspen has few commercial establishments and is primarily a residential suburb of nearby Launceston. Most of the town's buildings are residential, and relatively recent. The town's population of just over 2000 has grown rapidly from only a few hundred in the 1960s, and there are development plans that call for its doubling.

Fingal, Tasmania Town in Tasmania, Australia

Fingal is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Break O'Day in the North-east LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 56 kilometres (35 mi) south-west of the town of St Helens. The 2016 census recorded a population of 405 for the state suburb of Fingal.

Mount Heemskirk is a mountain in Western Tasmania, west of the West Coast Range. It has an elevation of 751 metres (2,464 ft) above sea level. The closest town is Zeehan, about 14 kilometres (9 mi) away.

Conara is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of Northern Midlands in the Central LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south-east of the town of Longford. The 2016 census recorded a population of 130 for the state suburb of Conara.

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "St Marys (Tas.)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 25 July 2022. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  2. "St Marys (Clive Street)". Daily rainfall. Bureau of Meteorology . Retrieved 29 December 2009.
  3. Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  4. Bacon, C.A.; Green, D.C. (1984). "A radiometric age for a Triassic tuff from eastern Tasmania" (PDF). Unpublished Report 1984/29. Department of Mines, Tasmania. Retrieved 28 June 2018.