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Bracknell, Tasmania

Coordinates: 41°39′S 146°56′E / 41.650°S 146.933°E / -41.650; 146.933
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For the town of Bracknell in England, see Bracknell.

Bracknell
Tasmania
Mountain Views community church
Bracknell is located in Tasmania
Bracknell
Bracknell
Coordinates41°39′S 146°56′E / 41.650°S 146.933°E / -41.650; 146.933
Population459 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)7302
Location
LGA(s)Meander Valley, Northern Midlands
RegionLaunceston, Central
State electorate(s)Lyons
Federal division(s)Lyons
Mean max temp[2] Mean min temp[3] Annual rainfall[4]
21.5 °C
71 °F		 7.9 °C
46 °F		 832.5 mm
32.8 in
Localities around Bracknell:
Cluan Whitemore, Oaks Bishopsbourne
Cluan, Liffey Bracknell Bishopsbourne, Cressy
Liffey Liffey, Blackwood Creek Blackwood Creek, Cressy

Bracknell is a rural locality and town in the local government areas of Meander Valley and Northern Midlands in the Launceston and Central regions of Tasmania. The locality is about 22 kilometres (14 mi) south-east of the town of Westbury. The 2016 census has a population of 459 for the state suburb of Bracknell.[1]

It was established to serve the needs of the forestry industry but is now a centre for the local farming community.[5]

History

The township of Bracknell was surveyed prior to 1859, at which time an auction of town blocks was held,[6] but only became established in the early 1870s. By 1874 there was a church, two school buildings, a hotel and several other buildings.[7] The town's land had formerly been owned by the Church of England.[8] All the streets in Bracknell have been given female names, a curiosity that dates from when the town was laid out.[9] The current hotel has been in operation since 1880, originally as the Enfield Hotel.[10] The post office opened on 1 August 1872.[11]

The first Methodist services in the town were held in a barn around November to December 1863. As the congregation grew a church was needed and so the foundation stone for a Primitive Methodist chapel was laid on 14 October 1864. This first church was later removed so the current building could be constructed on its site. A parsonage was added in 1902, the year of the Methodist union that formed the Methodist Church of Australasia. The present church's foundation stone was laid 4 April 1922 and it was opened the same year at a cost of 1250 pounds.[12] The church became part of the Uniting Church in Australia in 1977 and remains in use.[5] The foundation stone of an Anglican church, St James, was laid December 1931 and the church consecrated April 1932. When opened the church was part of the Church of England parish of Cressy.[13] St James' was later closed and the Diocese of Tasmania sold it in 2011.[14] Bracknell was gazetted as a locality in 1968.[15]

Geography

The Liffey River forms part of the southern boundary, flows through from south-west to north-east, and then forms part of the eastern boundary.[16]

Road infrastructure

Route C511 (Oaks Road) enters from the north and runs south to the town, where it ends. Route C513 (Liffey Road / Bracknell Lane / Louisa Street / Maria Street / Bracknell Road) enters from the north-east, runs west through the town, and then west and south to the south-west corner, where it exits. Route C505 (Cluan Road) starts at an intersection with C513 and runs north-west until it exits. Route C514 (a continuation of Liffey Road) starts at an intersection with C513 and runs south-west until it exits.[15][17]

Town and agriculture

Bracknell is a rural area with mixed farming enterprises. There are no major businesses in town so people have to travel for employment. The town itself is bounded on the east by the Liffey River.[8] The town has a store, service station, post office, two halls, and a hotel.[5] Its economy is based on mostly dairy, livestock, and poppy (Papaver somniferum) production for the Tasmanian opium poppy industry.[5]

Bracknell primary school has pupils from, grades 1 through 6.[18] The school became an area school in 1950[19] and in the 1960s educated pupils through to grade 9.[20] A football club was first formed in 1899.[21] The town's Australian rules football club, the Redlegs, began playing sometime after World War I and played in the Esk Football Association and the Esk Deloraine Football Association, winning three grand finals. They joined the Northern Tasmanian Football Association in 1998,[22] and play in the association's first division.[23] Cricket has been played in the town since at least 1883[24] and a team, as of 2015, plays in the amateur Northern Midlands Cricket Association.[25]

Bracknell is in the Meander Valley Council local government area, the state Division of Lyons, the federal Division of Lyons[26] and the state Legislative Council division of McIntyre.[27]

References

  1. ^ a b "2016 Census Quick Stats Bracknell (Tas.)". quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  2. ^ Average temperatures are from the nearest recording station, 15 km away in Cressy. From: "Daily maximum temperature, Cressy Research Station". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  3. ^ Average temperatures are from the nearest recording station, 15 km away in Cressy. From: "Daily minimum temperature, Cressy Research Station". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  4. ^ Average rainfall is from 1963 to 2009. Data is incomplete for 7 of these years. From: "Monthly Rainfall, Bracknell (Elizabeth Street)". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d "Bracknell". Meander Valley Council. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Township of Bracknell". The Hobart Town Daily Mercury. Hobart. 29 August 1859. p. 4.
  7. ^ "A tour through the northern agricultural districts". The Mercury. Hobart. 16 November 1874. p. 3.
  8. ^ a b Greenhill, p.12
  9. ^ Meander Valley Prospectus (PDF). Meander Valley Council. 2014. p. 12. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Bracknell Hotel History". Bracknell Hotel. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. ^ Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List". Phoenix Auctions. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  12. ^ Bracknell Methodist Church
  13. ^ Henslowe, p.15
  14. ^ "DIOCESE OF TASMANIA MINUTES OF MEETING OF THE PROPERTY BOARD". Diocese of Tasmania. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  15. ^ a b "Placenames Tasmania – Bracknell". Placenames Tasmania. Select “Search”, enter "919C", click “Search”, select row, map is displayed, click “Details”. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  16. ^ "Bracknell, Tasmania" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  17. ^ "Tasmanian Road Route Codes" (PDF). Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water & Environment. May 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  18. ^ "Welcome to Bracknell Primary School". Department of Education. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  19. ^ "New class rooms at Bracknell". The Examiner. Launceston. 21 December 1949. p. 4.
  20. ^ "Bracknell : Fight to stay on the map". The Examiner. 11 December 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  21. ^ Rait, p.9
  22. ^ "Bracknell". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  23. ^ "Northern Tasmanian Football Association". Northern Tasmanian Football Association. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  24. ^ "Blackwood Creek". The Daily Telegraph. Launceston. 24 November 1883. p. 3.
  25. ^ "Community Cricket". Cricket Tasmania. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  26. ^ "Tasmanian House of Assembly Divisions" (PDF). Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  27. ^ "Division of Western Tiers". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 2 April 2015.

Bibliography

  • Greenhill, Virginia (2002). In the blink of an eye. Westbury: Westbury historical society.
  • The centenary of the Bracknell Methodist Church, Tasmania, 1863-1963. Bracknell: Bracknell Methodist Church. 1963.
  • Henslowe, Dorothea (1978). Our heritage of Anglican churches in Tasmania. Moonah, Tasmania: Mercury-Walch. ISBN 090962514X.
  • Rait, Basil (1974). The sporting history of Westbury, 1823-1973. Westbury: Westbury Council.
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