Wellington Park Management Trust THE SPRINGS INITIAL CONSERVATION POLICY Prepared by McConnell, A. (with assistance from L. Scripps) July 2007 Wellington Park Management Trust, GPO Box 503, Hobart, Tasmania, 7001. Cover – Elements of the Springs – main photo view to Pinnacle from the Springs Hotel Site; small photos (L-R) the Fingerpost Track, main lower Springs picnic area, Exhibition Gardens feature, view south from roadside lookout [photos: A. McConnell] George Perrin, Conservator of Forests, on Mount Wellington in 1887 - “the great advantages possessed by this grand recreation-ground, its nearness to the city, and other natural beauties, should make the proper care and supervision of a place so eminently suited to the wants of a large and ever-increasing city the first care of its citizens, and more particularly in a place like Hobart, which is famed all over the world for the natural beauty of its surroundings …” (Parliamentary Papers, House of Assembly, No. 61, 1887) Report history - draft policy completed & sent out for agency & other stakeholder review – November 2006; draft policy completed and put out for public comment – February 2007; policy endorsed by the WPMT & HCC subject to March 2007 comment summary – April/May 2007 final policy completed – August 2007. i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . Context & Approach_______________________________________________________ This document presents an Initial Conservation Policy for the historic heritage of the Springs Precinct, Wellington Park, Tasmania. The Initial Conservation Policy is the first step in assessing the cultural heritage values and providing heritage conservation advice for the Springs as a whole. A more comprehensive Conservation Management Plan is to be developed for the Springs in the longer term. The aim of the Initial Conservation Policy is to provide guidance in relation to the sound conservation and management of the historic heritage values of the Springs area in the short term as the history of use of the Springs has created significant cultural heritage values in the area. The Initial Conservation Policy is based on currently available information with some additional research having been undertaken in areas for which there was unacceptably limited information (ie, the history, physical remains and social values). The need for historic heritage conservation policy for the Springs arises from the need to manage the extensive, but previously poorly known, historic heritage values in an area that is also the primary development and use focus in Wellington Park. This is particularly critical given the reserved land management context of the Springs and Mt Wellington more generally for which the primary management objectives are the protection of the natural and cultural values and the maintenance of water quality, with use needing to be consistent with the protective goals. Historical Background_________________________________________________________ The historic heritage values of the Springs result from its peculiar physical context as a natural bench approximately half way up the Hobart face of Mt Wellington which rises to over 1,200m and forms a dramatic, native forest cloaked backdrop to Hobart. This combination of factors has caused the Springs to have been a focus of European historic activity on the western outskirts of Hobart since settlement as a source of clean water and as a destination and important base for visitors, mainly for recreational and nature appreciation activities. The first documented European activity in the area was the capture of water from the series of small springs in the area in 1831 as part of Hobart's first water supply and probably the first town water supply development in Australia. The Springs still provides clean drinking water to Hobart. Known recreational use of the Springs began in the 1830s, with the access created by the 1831 diversion appearing to be a catalyst. The recreational use grew steadily to the early 1900s1 as new tracks were developed to make access to the major scenic features easier, in particular the Wellington Falls Track and the Icehouse Track in the 1840s and a carriageway from Fern Tree to the Springs in the late 1880s. Over its period of use the Springs has continued to be a focus for visitors to the mountain, as a destination, a meeting place or a halfway place. As part of this there has been ongoing development of low-key recreational infrastructure, mainly shelter sheds, the first of which appear to have been erected at Lady Jane Franklin's request in c.1839. There has also been provision of refreshments and accommodation for visitors for much of the history of recreation at the Springs. In 1859 the Woods family became the first residents of the Springs, providing refreshments and simple accommodation for visitors to the Mountain. In the early 1890s the Gadd family replaced the Woods family at the Springs and continued the tradition of providing refreshments to visitors (but not accommodation). In 1907 the Springs Hotel, designed by 1 Around 9,500 people were recorded as visiting at the Springs over the summer of 1904-05. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ The Springs Initial Conservation Policy A Wellington Park Management Trust Report McConnell, A. (August 2007) ii Alan Cameron Walker, was built as a mountain 'resort', to promote tourism to Tasmania, which was at the time being promoted as the 'pre-eminent health resort' in Australia. The Springs Hotel also took over the role of providing refreshments to walkers and other visitors, and operated until it was burnt in the 1967 bushfires which extensively burnt out the Springs area. With the advent of Henry Woods and Charles Gadd, a tradition of caretaking was created on Mt Wellington, and Gadd's appointment as a Ranger by the Hobart City Council in 1891 was the first such appointment and the start an important management initiative that continued until the mid- 1900s. Charles Gadd and a daughter, Edith, also staffed the Springs weather observatory which was one of a pair of stations (the other was at the Pinnacle) which was set up in 1895 by Clement Wragge, a renowned meteorologist, to make more accurate weather forecasts. The Mt Wellington observatory was the first such weather observatory in the southern hemisphere and the second in the world. Weather readings have continued to be an important function at the Springs until recently. The Springs was also used as the site of a cosmic ray observatory from 1956 until recently. This observatory was an integral element in the string of cosmic ray observatories that extended from Papua New Guinea to Antarctica. The Springs was also important as a focus of Great Depression employment. In c.1925 a government program to cut firewood on the Mountain was established using the Springs as the base, and in c.1928-1929 a substantial amount of track upgrading and construction was undertaken on the Mountain as a government employment scheme, with the Lenah Valley Track being one of the tracks worked on. In 1931 publicly raised funds enabled a stone shelter and the Exhibition Garden, a rare early native garden (also designed by Alan Cameron Walker), to be constructed, while 'susso' workers, many of whom lived at the Springs Depot, built the road from the Springs to Pinnacle between 1934 and 1937. The use of the Springs changed significantly with the construction of the road from the Springs to the Pinnacle as this enabled visitors to continue with relative ease to the summit. Although the Springs was often bypassed by visitors in cars after the Pinnacle Road was completed, the Springs continued to be used by walkers, sightseers and other visitors, and it is still a popular day use area today for a range of visitors who use the area for sight seeing, picnicking, family parties, performances, bushwalking, snow play, and occasional weddings and memorial services. This long term history of use has left a considerable legacy of cultural heritage values that are multilayered across the full Springs area. Cultural Significance_________________________________________________________ The Springs is considered to have high cultural significance, primarily historical and social significance, as a highly visited and valued area of public open space in a natural, sheltered, relatively flat and accessible location part way up Mt Wellington, and with impressive views both up to the mountain and out across southeast Tasmania; and has been valued continuously for these characteristics since the early days of the European establishment of Hobart through to the present day. These qualities have made it an important meeting place and destination which is an aspect of its significance. The symbolic importance of Mt Wellington (from which the Springs is not differentiated at this level) to Hobart residents, and the large scale natural setting of the Springs on the eastern slope of Mt Wellington contribute importantly to the cultural significance of the Springs. The Springs also contains considerable physical remains relating to its European history of use. Although the physical evidence is largely archaeological and there are no surviving pre-1967 buildings at the Springs, the remains cover the full period and range of use, hence are able to demonstrate the history of the area which is a special part of the history of Mt Wellington. Also, because of the history of continued use primarily for low-key recreation, and the spatially evolving _______________________________________________________________________________________________