Westbury

Often described by tourists as a “hidden treasure”, somewhere that they have stumbled across, Westbury delivers an exceptional experience. Plan to allocate several days of your stay to explore all that Northern Tasmania has to offer. By choosing Elm Wood you will be in the centre of things, in beautiful accommodation on the Village Green in historic Westbury, just 30 minutes from Launceston airport and 40 minutes from the Devonport ferry.

In terms of its history, Westbury probably should be sitting alongside other well known historic towns like Ross and Richmond. The town was laid out in 1823 as a major centre for Northern Tasmania. The initial phase was to mark out a reserve for settling convicts who would support the settlement with their labour. That Reserve can still be enjoyed today as the Village Green. An additional 100 miles of road reserve was surveyed in 1828 to cater for a growing population of English and Irish settlers who migrated out to this flourishing centre of agriculture and town services. Since peaking in the mid-nineteenth century at over 6000 residents, the population of Westbury is now growing again from a base of around 1250.

As Australia advanced into nationhood, the land around Westbury grew the crops and animals that fed the developing Melbourne town. Memorials to those times can be found in the cottages, churches, parks and gardens still in use here today.

Since the early development of this area, residents have had the passion and foresight to gather and house significant collections, collections that are considered world-class for their depth and breadth. Here you will find collections of early agricultural steam machinery, early tractors, European trees and hawthorn hedges, early churches, colonial cottages, historical records, toys, bicycles, motor cars, wilderness photos, a convicts’ jail and the many treasures held in private collections make this a very special place to visit and to explore our roots as Australians.

The Pearns’ Steam World collection of over 200 major items is the best in the Southern hemisphere, each piece collected since the 1950’s.

For 50 years the Pearn family ran an agricultural and civil engineering contracting firm in the Westbury district. The museum is now run by a group of dedicated volunteers, all devoted steam enthusiasts.

The Vintage Tractor Museum represents the world-class collection of Hedley Shaw who sold and serviced Ferguson tractors, and who acquired the old farm tractors each time he made a sale. There are over 100 vintage tractors in his collection, all in working order.

At the southern end of the Village Green stands the White House that served the area as General Store and Bakery back in the mid 1800s. It was built in 1841 by Thomas White, sent to Van Diemen’s Land as a convict for committing petty larceny. Today it is owned by the Clemons family and houses their memorable collections of early English oak furniture, 100 years of bicycles and vintage vehicles (including a 1918 Packard the brothers raced from Peking to Paris last year in the centenary of the famous road race). My favourite is Pendle Hall, the 20-room doll’s house their mother Mrs Felicity Clemons made during 40 years of delicate handwork – it is truly an amazing piece.

John Temple has his photographic gallery in Westbury where his panoramic landscapes are printed and framed. The photographs are available in a range of sizes, framed or unframed, produced on archival quality paper and individually signed by John for authenticity.