Hobart Town Rivulet - Artists' Impressions
A journey down the Rivulet through the eyes of the artist
Mills and Bridges
…that truly disgusting and filthy ditch usually termed the Town Rivulet (John Burnett, Colonial Secretary, 12 April 1830) |
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As Hobart Town expanded, the Rivulet became the recipient of discharges of effluent from houses and mills that turned it into a drainage easement and sewer.
In December 1823 the Hobart Town Gazette identified eight breweries and distilleries in the greater Hobart Town area, three of which were along the rivulet. Three woollen mills were built along the rivulet in the 19th century and at least two, possibly three, tanneries. Melville, in his Van Diemens Land Almanack for 1833, lists a distillery, breweries, tanneries, timber mills and flour mills - most of which, because of their dependence on water, were located along the rivulet.
Initially, from the original site and along Governor Macquarie’s street plan, wooden foot-bridges were constructed across the rivulet. The first permanent bridge, the Wellington Bridge, was across Elizabeth Street. This was followed by bridges over Argyle (1819), Campbell (1825) and Murray (1826) Streets.
‘Break Neck Bridge’, was over the rivulet at Gore Street and there was another early crossing over Barrack Street. A stone bridge across Harrington Street was built in 1844, replacing a foot-bridge which had been washed away. The bridge across Collins Street, above Barrack Street, is thought to have been built in the 1860s and the stone bridge in Molle Street sometime later.
Some of these bridges remain, or their foundations still exist. One mill has been preserved as commercial premises - most have burnt down or been closed and demolished and the last tannery which was owned by Blundstones until recently still exists.
back Water Supply Diversions and Floods From Mountain to Shore |
![Degraves Mill, Hobart Town [c1845]](http://www.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/image/0003/238485/12-Degraves-Mill-Hobart-Townsmall.jpg)
