Bike Week – Bicycle Rivulet Ride – Historical Notes Based on notes complied by Ken White from data supplied from Consultant Tony Rayner’s Historical Study 1988 to The Hobart City Council, and also on Hobart City Council information boards located along the Linear Park. To understand the it is easier to split it into three sections; being: • The Wapping section up to the present Royal Hobart Hospital in Argyle Street. • The town section south to Barrack Street. • The industrial section above Molle St. All three sections are very much part of the whole as they lap over and intertwine to create a story bigger in many ways than or Battery Point. The Hobart Rivulet industrial area predates Battery Point by many years We will be riding on the section of The Rivulet above Barrack Street and especially what we know now-days as the Hobart Rivulet Linear Park. The more one knows about the Hobart Rivulet above Barrack Street the more it is to wonder at the sheer energy of the early settlers to survive and prosper in a foreign land albeit a land that had an abundance of natural resources. The top section of the Hobart Rivulet in the early 1800s has been described as the Silicon Valley of Tasmania and therefore as a whole. One such resource was the water of the Rivulet to drive corn mills and facilitate the working of woollen mills, saw mills, tanneries, breweries, distilleries and a host of other manufacturing enterprises such as those centred around the Female Factory. Corn Mills An explanation of the term, “Corn mills”, ‘Corn’ was a generic term given to all grain but especially to wheat. The term ‘Corn’ is still used in this context in rural England. The first known mill (before 1817) to operate, referred to as The Old Mill, was situated some 150 metres above Molle Street. This was followed in 1818 by a mill called The Waterloo Mill situated near Criterion Street and later in the same year a mill known as The Government Mill commenced operations by the corner of Barrack and Collins Street at the now site of Motors P/L. This mill was to supply the needs of the military, the convict department and to create competition to lower prices.

In the case of The Government Mill if you have ever wondered about the old sandstone wall fronting onto Barrack St in front of Motors Service and Used Cars then it comes from the Government Mill of 1818. To get some feeling for the times one has to have some understanding of how these mills worked. The building needed to be stoutly constructed to withstand the vibrations of the machinery and the occasional flood. Most mills had three or four floors so that grain, once hoisted mechanically to the floor above the grinding, could then gravitate down through the whole process. A mill thus constructed could be run by virtually one man operating the water and grain flow. Page 1 of 8 That was the good side. The not so good side was the crippling maintenance costs associated with keeping a mill running. Grinding corn, as it was referred to, created much dust which not only was a health hazard but, could explode if it was ignited from a machinery spark. To minimise this a system had been devised in the 18 century that the two elements involved in the mill workings; stone and iron, did not come in direct contact with each other. Therefore iron worked on wood which worked on stone, but never iron on stone. Then there was the maintenance of the water wheel including the crude bearings of the day, while a major flood manifesting itself about every seven years would wash away weirs, millponds, waterwheels and even at times threaten the very framework of the mill. A waterwheel was a huge structure some eight to ten metres in height. Over its circumference were ‘buckets’ to hold water which was supplied by a weir, millpond and mill race to run over the head of the wheel. As the first bucket filled it fell to be replaced with the next bucket and so on until the wheel revolved at a steady pace which would seem quite slow however by a series of wooden gears, pulleys and ropes the mill grinding stones were able to attain a satisfactory speed. The mill stones being round and flat had internal groves cut into them while the grain was fed into the grinding process by a hole cut into the top grinding wheel. To obtain a constant supply of water required a weir to be built upstream which created a mill pond and lifted the water out of the stream sufficiently to allow it to run in the millrace to the waterwheel. At the bottom of the waterwheel the water was discharged into the tailrace and back into the stream. It depended on the fall of the river and the size of the waterwheel how far upstream the weir was constructed and the suitability of a weir or mill site. The weir and races were mostly built of wood so almost nothing remains of them now. The water source for The Government Mill on Barrack Street was from a weir slightly downstream from Denison Lane, while the millrace ran along the bank between Macquarie Street and the Rivulet. John Walker Thirteen years after The Government Corn Mill was opened in 1818 the authorities offered it for lease and one John Walker contracted to buy it over ten years for three thousand pounds, which Governor Arthur accepted. Walker became a very wealthy man by the time he died in 1874 having mills, breweries and other business interests in several locations such as Richmond together with his prize, a steam powered mill, on the lower reaches of the Rivulet near the now . Having purchased The Government Corn Mill, Walker in time moved his steam mill from near Victoria Dock to The Government Corn Mill site and later opened a brewery on the site as well. In 1850 he acquired the Dudgeon & Bell Derwent Brewery across the stream and in 1852 pulled the original Dudgeon buildings down and built the attractive stone replacements that still stand between the Rivulet and Collins Street. After Walkers death Cascade took over the former Dudgeon building with the malt house on the south end, and much later it was used as a cordial factory by Cascade up to the middle 1960s. Now restored the building has a new life as a media centre. Take note of the inscription high up on the building; JW 1852.

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After John Walkers death in 1874 the original Government Mill was run by Gibsons from about 1880, then becoming The Tasmanian Confectionery Company in 1890. By the mid 1950s the buildings were pulled down to make way for the Nettlefold family company – Motors P/L.

Crossing Molle Street is the beginning of the Linear Park that runs along the Rivulet almost unbroken up to Cascades. Until the1860s the Hobart Rivulet was the main source of the Colony’s drinking and washing water. But it eventually became a waste disposal and sewer for the inhabitants and industries along its banks.

Johnstone Brothers Woollen Mill On the left is an imposing building that was originally built by Johnstone brothers as a woollen mill in 1898 when they moved from an earlier building further up the stream near Gore Street. In 1939 the woollen mill became a factory known as Gadsden’s Can Factory. It was still functioning in the 1960 making what were probably jam cans for IXL. Beyond Johnstone Brother’s Woollen Mill there used to be a collection of tacky makeshift buildings that are marked now by mostly demolished low grade concrete walls. These are possibly the newest industrial ruins along the Rivulet and were mostly car body repair and spray paint shops that effectively cut off the public access to and from the Rivulet walkway. Page 3 of 8 It is only twenty years or less since these buildings were removed. Before that, while travelling north on the Rivulet Track, one had to climb a set of stairs to or from upper Liverpool Street to get around these body and paint shops. The Old Mill A few metres on the left is the site of the Old Mill opposite Denison Lane. It was on ten acres and was granted to a miller named Robert Nash in return for the forced closure of his mill on Norfolk Island when the population was relocated to Van Diemans Land in 1808. In 1818 the Old Mill was in the name of ‘Fisk’ who then built the Waterloo Mill in the centre of town near Criterion Street, and it appears that the Old Mill ceased to operate for a time. Within six months of the Waterloo Mill commencing operations the new Government Corn Mill in Barrack Street was commissioned; followed by many other industrial ventures along The Rivulet. A big motivation was the repealing of the law on the prohibition of distilling and the making of beer. Up to 1820 the currency was rum and to allow other distilling and making of beer was thought to debase the currency. Gore Street Bridge This bridge has a modern concrete road deck, but underneath are two old sandstone pillars. These are the remains of a very early bridge across the Hobart Rivulet. They can be best seen by going a little bit upstream and looking back and under the bridge.

Vaucluse House Vaucluse is the old home of Thomas Hewitt who was an influential member of early Hobart society and involved with the shipping industry. The original house was built in the 1930’s, and can be seen on the other side of the Rivulet, about half way up Gore Street. It was used as a hospital from the early 1900’s, and is now part of the Vaucluse Gardens Residential Care complex.

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Minton House Almost opposite Vaucluse is the early house “Minton”, built in about 1830 and in a Georgian architecture style. It was originally the residence of tobacconist and snuff-maker George Wilson.

Other Points of Interest In the early to mid 1800’s this Gore Street area was an industrial complex including a woollen mill, brewery and distillery. Also on the other side of the Rivulet is Elphinstone Tannery which used to supply leather to local boot maker Blunstone. But now that Blunstone has moved its manufacturing offshore it is unclear if the tannery will survive in this now residential area. Further up is the South Hobart Primary School on the other side of the Rivulet. There were other older tanneries along the Rivulet but their locations are unclear. Ander's’ Dairy Farm was operating along the Rivulet from the early 1900s but its remnants were swept away by the 1967 fires. Where Anglesea Street crossed the Rivulet the track turns uphill to bypass a large block of land owned by Boags Brewery. The Hobart City Council has tried negotiating with Boags for many years to try and get access through this land for the Rivulet Track and the Linear Park, and hopefully it will happen someday. From near the top of this detour another track connects up to Liverpool Crescent, and from there and Forest Road it connects to the tracks in Knocklofty Park. The detour track descends steeply back to the Rivulet near the footbridge across from Macfarlane Street.

Page 5 of 8 The Boags obstacle can also be avoided by crossing the Rivulet at Anglesea Street, up Anglesea Street to Macquarie Street, then along and turn down Excell Lane, then onto Macfarlane Street and along to the foot bridge back across the Rivulet. Although on-road this detour is mostly on back streets and does pass some early and interesting residences. At Tara Street there was once an island in the Rivulet. From Tara Street up to Degraves Street is a relatively new path constructed by the Hobart City Council and suspended or cantilevered out over the Rivulet to provide width beside the buildings.

Along Degraves Street the Hobart City Council has plans for vehicle-calming works which include narrowing the one-way vehicle lane and adding a counter flow bike path heading west. Degraves A controversial figure, Degraves was undoubtedly the most successful, and at times the most powerful man in the Colony. Degraves built the Theatre Royal and owned a ship yard on Battery Point where many ships of the colonial trade were built. Degraves’ site started out as a sawmill in 1825 and operated until the local timber supplies ran out. Logs were sources from the slopes of Mt Wellington and sawn by water powered machinery in the mill. The timber was used for the construction of many early Hobart buildings, many of which are still standing. A flour mill was constructed on the same site, then followed by brewing in the 1830’s and the beginnings of the Cascade Brewery. Degraves traded in water having a contract in 1844 to supply Hobart Town. Water was diverted from his race line, and the area now occupied by the Badminton Courts below Macquarie Street was the site of Degraves’ Hobart Town reservoir and filtering tanks. From there water was piped down Macquarie Street into the town, but the contract did not last as his supply proved unreliable. The Female Factory The Female factory is on the site of former Lowe's distillery. The Female Factory opened in 1828 and operated for fifty years, followed by some further thirty years in a variety of uses and finishing as a home for fallen women titled, ‘Home of Mercy’. It is not a sound basis to judge the errors of the past by the standards of the present however most would agree that the Female Factory must have been a very sad place from 1828 to 1900. Truganini was buried there for one year. In 1843 The Rivulet was proclaimed a sewer and remained so until well into the 1900s. Apart from such polluting industries as tanneries and woollen mills there were at least 500 toilets emptying into the Rivulet. There was a noticeable increase in pollution when The Female Factory

Page 6 of 8 commenced operations in 1828 and at the height of operations some 1000 inhabitants of the Female Factory were contributing to the problem. The Cascade Gardens In the 1880s to 1910 there was a great social change revolving around greater mobility facilitated by the availability of better, cheaper bicycles and the advent of electric trams. One such tram route ran to The Cascade Gardens. This mobility created a need for such gardens with added tea houses for the population to enjoy a pleasant outing. By the 1950s the Cascade Gardens and tea houses were all but gone, and since then floods and fires have destroyed all the original buildings. The Cascade Brewery still operates to this day and is a focal point above Cascade Gardens. The old Brewery building was burnt during the 1967 bush fires, but saved and rebuilt.

Hobart Rivulet Immediately behind the Cascade Brewery the Hobart Rivulet is joined by Guy Fawkes Rivulet which flows down through Myrtle Gully on the side of Mt Wellington, then down beside Old Farm Road. Old Farm Road can be reached from behind the concrete silos on the mountain side of the Brewery. Hobart Rivulet itself continues up alongside Strickland Avenue till the first switchback bend and the bridge across it. The Rivulet continues up through land owned by the Cascade Brewery, and there is a walking and mountain bike track that follows it up to near where it crosses Strickland Avenue for the first time. This is at another switchback bend and there is a picnic area called “Betts Vale”, and a short distance into the bush above is Strickland Falls. Above Strickland Avenue the Hobart Rivulet crossed O’Gradys Falls and has its source on the slopes near the Pinnacle Road and below The Springs old hotel site. In fact there are early sandstone works along the walking track above and to the west of The Springs that collect water draining off the southern side of Mt Wellington and used to channel it into the headwaters of the Hobart Rivulet. This increased the water flow available in the Hobart Rivulet, and attempted to make its flow more reliable.

Ambrose Canning Membership Secretary Bicycle Tasmania GPO Box 1814 Hobart 7001 Page 7 of 8 [email protected] http://www.BikeTas.org.au

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