It’s a warm day and
time for some household chores before we set off to Woolmers Estate not far
from our caravan park in Longford.
Woolmers Estate is on the World Heritage List because of its
significance within the Australian convict system. The home and farm have been owned by six
generations of one family (the Archers) and in 1994 when the last of the Archer
family died (Thomas Archer VI) he left the property to the Archer Historical
Foundation – now the Woolmers Foundation.
With Woolmers (named after an estate in Hertfordshire England) having
been lived in and maintained continuously by one family for over 170 years the
property is in wonderful condition.
There is a long circular drive leading up to the main entrance.
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| Circular Drive at Woolmers Estate |
From the northern
side of the house it is easy to see where the addition of the 1840’s stone
Italianate front was attached to the older timber cottage built in 1821. All of the building work was carried out by
convict labour.
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| Woolmers |
By 1836 the estate
was running 25,000 sheep with the help of more than 50 convict workers and
covered 5,000 hectares. Thomas Archer I
was also very active in public life service on the first Legislative Council in
Van Diemen’s Land for almost 20 years.
He was apparently a very large man with Lady Franklin once calling him ‘the
bulk of the Legislative Council’. Thomas
Archer I was bed ridden for almost a year before he died in 1850. He had the foresight to have his two bedroom
windows enlarged so that his coffin could be easily removed and we also suspect
that he could then much better see the view over the Macquarie River and across
the fields to the mountains from his bed.
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| Original home at Woolmers - note the two larger windows |
We take a tour
through the house and are amazed at the large collection of furniture and
domestic items which are little changed since 1859 and were used by the family
through the generations.
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| Dining Room - table setting made for the Archer family |
Outside we wander around
the grounds taking in the coach house and stables
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| Coach House and Stables |
the cider house and
wool shed
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| Cider House and Wool Shed |
where we look across
the sheep pens to the blacksmith’s shop, farm stables and workers’ cottages.
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| View over the sheep pens at Woolmers |
Near the main house
was the Store where a good stock of supplies were kept. The barred windows protected the bounty inside
from bushrangers and the convict workforce who although well fed and clothed
were always on the lookout for something useful to trade for a drink in the pub
or to hoard for an escape.
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| The Store |
The kitchen was
originally a small timber building but it too was upgraded in the same
Italianate style as the main house. A
kitchen, larder, pantry and bakehouse occupied the ground floor and bedrooms
upstairs accommodated the domestic servants.
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| Wayne and Wok head for the Kitchen |
Prior to the bakery
being built in the 1840’s kitchen addition the bakehouse was situated a short
distance away from the store. Two larger
cottages housed the bakers while the third cottage was the bakehouse where the
bakers supplied bread to the family and the workforce of up to 60 people. The cottages are today being used as accommodation
for the caretakers of the estate.
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| Bakers Cottages |
Other buildings on
the estate housed free workers and their families. Near the main house croquet was played on the
lawn next to the fashionable garden area.
Woolmers gave us a slight insight into how the affluent lived and is a marvelous
example of colonial heritage.
Back at camp Wayne
tried to redeem himself by cooking another Lamb Shanks Roast Dinner – this time
without the lavender colour. This was
accomplished by adding only a glass of wine to the cooking process – and not a
whole bottle. The end result was a
lovely dinner with appropriately coloured vegetables. |
| Wayne and Wok - ready to 'tuck in' |
It’s Sunday – so we
drive to Evandale to browse through the markets. It’s quite an eclectic mix of stalls – fresh fruit
and veggies, food stalls, wines, clothing, handicrafts, car boot stuff, plants
and bric-a-brac.
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| Wayne and Wok at Evandale Markets |
We have lunch under
the trees at the markets before finally making our way back to camp. The following morning it is time to pack up
and be on our way once more but before we leave Wayne finds time to give the
friendly camp ducks a handout.
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| Here duckie ... duckie ... duckie |
And all he gets for
his trouble is a lot of ‘quacking’ – probably duck speak for ‘thank you’.
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