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Towns of Tasmania - Richmond
Photographs
of Richmond, Tasmania
Step back in time and visit Australia's most delightful Georgian village
24kms from Hobart. First explored in 1803 by Lieutenant Bowen, a few
years later when the settlers came, the area was called
"Sweetwater". The discovery of coal along its banks caused the
river to be named the coal River, and the town itself (officially named
by Lt Gov. William Sorell on February 23, 1824), was so called as the 90
acres on which it was established had once been part of a property
called "Richmond Park". In early years Richmond was an
important police district and the first part of the Gaol was built in
1825, five years before Port Arthur. The bridge, built in 1823, enable
easier movement of military, police and convicts between Hobart and Port
Arthur, as well as the transport of goods. When Sorell Causeway opened
in 1872, this traffic no longer passed through Richmond and that is why
the town remains much as it was one hundred years ago. The town has a
well preserved convict gaol and many firsts - including the nation's
oldest Roman Catholic church and bridge.
Richmond is a genuine village of slate and cobbles, handmade brick and
mellow stone, cottages and manors. Wander streets lined with sandstone
buildings that now serve as showplaces for antiques and Tasmanian
arts and crafts.
Richmond also includes a model village that
has been largely reconstructed from original plans that depicts Hobart
as it was in the 1820's.
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accommodation availability here
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