25/10/2026
Perth
Like Cleveland, Conara and Epping Forest Perth’s creation and initial growth were mandated by the colonial government’s need for a viable route connecting the island’s two main settlements, Launceston and Hobart Town- communications, public infrastructure, commerce, policing, governance.
On his first visit to Van Diemans Land in 1811 Governor Macquarie gave orders to establish a military post on the east bank of the South Esk River overlooking the ford.
As early as 1814 soldiers from the military station inspected the passes of travellers between Launceston and Hobart Town.
There were few settlers living in the area.
The area became known as The Punt-because it was where a flat bottomed boat was used to ferry cattle, wagons, carriages, general cargo and people across the river when the ford crossing was too dangerous.
In his last visit to the colony in 1821 Governor Macquarie stayed with David Gibson, local landowner and former convict, selecting the site for the township of Perth on the opposite side of the river, naming it after his host’s native town in Scotland.
Perth was officially laid out in 1833 and by 1834 there were two coaching inns, the Jolly Farmer Inn 1826 and the Leather Bottle Inn 1830s, eight houses, two flour mills and the first school under construction.
The coaching inns served as essential stopping places for the mail coaches, the government officials, and the wealthy settlers (like the Archers and Coxes) travelling to and from Hobart, all of whom employed or managed convicts.
As a key public post, Perth housed a Police Station and its own Gaol.
This infrastructure was necessary to maintain the strict discipline of the Assignment System, dealing with runaway convicts (bushrangers), insubordination on the farms, and disputes between assigned men and their employers.
Perth very quickly became a central hub catering to the movement of people—both free settlers and convicts—and functioned as an essential service town supporting the surrounding assignment-based farming estates.
The construction of the Perth Probation Station commenced in 1836.
200 convicts were confined here during construction of the first Perth Bridge and construction of the main highway between Launceston and Hobart Town.
The convicts primary task was rock-breaking, clearing, and levelling the road and rock breaking and constructing the magnificent bridge spanning the South Esk replacing the punt service in 1839.
The bridge took 3 years of convict labour to complete consisting of 9 arches between piers of local bluestone hand chiselled blocks.
Periodic flooding damaged the bridge until it was totally destroyed by the 1929 flood.
There were buildings housing convicts, military officers and their Superintendent, overseer housing, a blacksmiths shop, a meat store, a bakehouse, hospital and magistrates accommodation.
There was a chapel built of mud walls (pise).
There were three main yards a chain gang yard, a lower yard and a hospital yard.
An area of 6 acres enclosed with post and rail fencing.
Many convicts died while labouring in Perth on the bridge and main road and they were buried in unmarked graves a short distance south of the bridge in the sandy bank across the river from “Scone Ave”.
In the 1850s the Probation station was abandoned and in 1880 William East - Brewer and Malster of ale and stout established the Esk Brewery on the site.
When the Brewery closed in the 1900s 20 buildings stood intact.
Now sadly the bulk of the large complex of buildings is gone with stone and brickwork used in the reconstruction of the Midlands Highway in the 1930s.
Only 3 bluestone buildings remain; the Superintendent’s Quarters, thought to be one of the oldest military buildings in the state, and the outside privy building.
Foundation remains of prisoner barracks and brick arch cells as well as the remains of the bluestone buttress and parapet wall of the original bridge can be viewed on the Hobart side of the current bridge.
Older buildings visible on the other side of the river date back to 1835 and were part of Ritchie’s Flour Mill.
Eskleigh House Perth built as a private residence in 1870 for William Gibson in the style of an Italian Villa. First named “Scone”.
Now repurposed as a large residential facility providing care to people with disability since 1947.
The land on which Eskleigh is built was first granted to Captain John R Ritchie and on his death it passed to his brother, Captain Thomas Ritchie. Thomas built a new house on the riverbank, just down river from the present dwelling, and by 1833 had a flour mill operating by water power.
It was washed away in the Great Floods of 1852, and then rebuilt, only to be destroyed again by fire just a few days after Mr Gibson purchased the property in 1867.
In 1870, Mr Gibson began to build his new home, for which he harnessed the water power provided by the old mill race to run a generator.
This provided electric light for the house and the outbuildings, and it is believed that the home was the first private dwelling in the Southern Hemisphere to be electrically lit.
The property remained in the Gibson family and became famous for its merino sheep.
The Gibsons were generous people with a strong social conscience and contributed much towards the development of Perth, including the Baptist Church.
Today Perth, known as the ‘Gateway to the Heritage Highway’, falls under the governance of the Northern Midlands local government.
Perth offers an affordable rural locality lifestyle, while also being relatively close to Launceston Airport at Western Junction and the major regional centre of Launceston.
This regional town is conveniently located close to employment clusters in Launceston, Longford and Evandale and the Launceston Airport Gateway Precinct.
The town is predominantly residential in nature with basic community services, and is characterised by a low density urban form.
At present, Perth has an estimated resident population
of 3233 2021 Census and has been gaining an increasing share of the population in the Northern Midlands local government area set to exceed Longford.
In response to expected growth within the local area, the
Northern Midlands Council has prepared a Structure Plan for Perth.
The Midland Highway is the major transport corridor linking Tasmania’s two major urban centres of Hobart and Launceston, in the
north and south of the state. Illawarra Road serves as an
extension of the corridor to the North-West by providing
an important transport and freight connection to the Bass Highway.
Recent major infrastructure projects taking place in the region are the $61.8 million bypass around Perth.
The change has define some 50 hectares of greenfield land
south of Drummond Street (Illawarra Road) and an additional 20 hectares of land on
the western edge of town.
Beautification of the main road has recently completed.
Work along river under bridge
The northern and western sections of Perth still retain a
strong agricultural function, which is highly evident when
approaching the town from Launceston via the Midland
Highway.
The William St River Reserve on the western bank of the South Esk River is an ideal spot for a picnic, and on warm days a swim or paddle. The South Esk is known for being a great place to fish for trout.
Discover much about early colonial history at the Punt interpretation at Berryman Reserve.
You can also enjoy a picnic or BBQ at Lions Park, which is themed as a train station, with wooden chainsaw carved sculptures and public facilities.
Perth represents one of the original settlements in Tasmania, with many historic buildings
remaining today from the Georgian and Victorian period. Explore the town with a self-guided walk available from the Post Office.
Perth has around 41 historic buildings, including churches, shops, houses and other features. Some of the oldest buildings in the town are the Leather Bottle Inn 1839, the Jolly Farmer Inn 1826, and the original bridge former convict station buildings across the river unfortunately not open to the public.
There are a number of buildings of architectural interest including Eskleigh, the Baptist Tabernacle, and St Andrews Church.
The vibrant main street includes a service station, honey factory, café, cheese factory, IGA, hairdressers and Opportunity shop as well as other local shops and services.
Adam’s Distillery
Gibbet Hill is a small elevation located just 2 kilometers northeast of Perth.
Infamous as the site of the last recorded case of gibbeting (the practice of executing a criminal and hanging their body in chains in public as a deterrent) in a British colony.
In 1837, the body of the executed bushranger Mackay (or Matthew Brady depending on the source) was brought to Perth encased in iron and displayed on a 20-foot gibbet about 40 yards from the main road as a warning to passing chain-gangs, road-parties and convicts working in the fields.
This occurred five years after the practice had officially ceased in Britain.
Today, the area is part of local regional history, with nearby residential development like Gibbet Hill Rise carrying the name.
Devon Hills
Devon Hills, Tasmania is a quiet rural-residential locality in the Northern Midlands Council local government area
Spans 4.5 square kilometres bounded by the Midlands Highway and neighbouring communities of Breadalbane, Western Junction and Perth.
Known for larger acreage properties, quiet rural-residential blocks, and rolling agricultural views.
Day-to-day shopping, schools, and essential services are accessed a short drive away in nearby townships such as Perth or Longford.
2021 Census recorded a population of around 434 residents for Devon Hills.
Breadalbane
The locality was named by Governor Macquarie after the Earl of Breadalbane, his wife’s cousin, and was gazetted in 1959.
Earlier the district was known as 'Cocked Hat', 'The Springs' and 'Brumby's Plain'.
Breadalbane Post Office opened on 1 October 1847 and closed in 1968.
The Breadalbane area was notorious in the early 19th century for sheep stealing.
In the colonial days there were three inns at Breadalbane, The Albion, The Temperance Hotel, and The Woolpack Inn.
Only the Woolpack Inn still stands.
Today Breadalbane , with a population of 103 2021 Census, is a quiet rural locality in the Northern Midlands situated approximately 11 kilometres north-east of Longford and about 15 kilometres south of Launceston close to the southern suburbs of Launceston.
Breadalbane offers a tranquil rural lifestyle within easy reach of Launceston's amenities and Launceston airport at Western Junction.
Breadalbane is served by Metro Tasmania bus services connecting to Hobart. Tasmania having no passenger rail network, buses and private vehicles are the main transport options.
Residents enjoy the green rolling countryside typical of northern Tasmania.
Kerry Lodge Bridge
The historic old landmark bridge commonly referred to as "Spikey Bridge" or “Strathroy Bridge”in Breadalbane is officially called Kerry Lodge Bridge.
The bridge was completed in 1835 by convicts using locally quarried bluestone (known in other states as dolerite and basalt).
Spikey Bridge is one of Australia’s oldest surviving convict bridges built in 1835 and still in use today. It was added to the Tasmanian Heritage Register in April 2012.
It is one of Australia's oldest surviving convict-built stone bridges. It is located along the old Midlands Highway route/Old Hobart Road.
It crosses Jinglers Creek and was named after the nearby Kerry Lodge Farm.
The Kerry Lodge homestead has been demolished and the property incorporated into the Strathroy holding.
The bridge was built using stone quarried by hand by male convicts stationed at the adjacent Kerry Lodge Probation Station, which operated for 14 years.
Adjacent to the bridge was the Kerry Lodge Probation Station, a convict site that operated for fourteen years where around forty male convicts endured hard labour of stone quarrying, stone cutting and construction of Spikey Bridge and the associated route of the main highway.
The bridge has a single central vault or archway. The copings are of rough stones set on edge.
This year has seen completion of the first stage of the Shared Pathways project at the Youngtown end of Old Hobart Road.
Western Junction
A semi-rural light industrial locality in the Northern Midlands Council area of Tasmania, situated approximately 12 kilometres north-east of Longford and around 20 kilometres south of Launceston. The South Esk River forms the locality's southern boundary, contributing to its pastoral character.
Western Junction was originally developed as a railway settlement, 3km north of Evandale. It first operated as a railway station, as Evandale Junction. It is situated where the railway junction for the North West Line branches off the main railway line.
Now it is the site of Launceston Airport, which started development in 1931.
The light industrial area which embraces Western Junction is known as the Launceston Airport Translink Centre.
It is surrounded by rich and historic farm land and has vistas of the rollin
Today With a population of 128 at the 2021 Census, Western Junction is a small, quietly settled community sites zoned for industrial separated from residential areas.
excellent transport connections, with the airport providing direct air links to mainland Australia.
Residents benefit from proximity to Longford's shops and services, Evandale and Perth and easy access to Launceston via the Midland Highway.
The TRANSLink Industrial Precinct at Western Junction is rapidly developing as a high quality industrial, business and transport location.
The precinct is adjacent and surrounding Launceston Airport – the largest freight operation in Tasmania.
A proposed freight hub where goods are stored and transferred between different types of transport for Western Junction (the logical site) has been in the concept stage for the last 10 years, in or near the Industrial Precinct, called TRANSLink Intermodal Facility, now is at the community consultation and business case stage.
The project is being delivered by the Northern Tasmania Development Corporation (NTDC) in partnership with Northern Midlands Council, the Australian Government and hopefully the Tasmanian State Government.
At this stage there are two preferred sites and mine would be for the TRANSLink Industrial Precinct and not the airport site which I fear will detract from the significant visual amenity northern Tasmania as viewed from the airport at Western Junction which takes in this vista well known to us all- the pastoral landscape of green rolling countryside with the backdrop of the Eastern Tiers.
