National Trust Tasmania was the recipient of Heritage Tasmania Built Heritage funding in 2023/24. This enabled major work at the Hobart Convict Penitentiary and Clarendon.
National Trust Tasmania would like to thank Heritage Tasmania for the Built Heritage activation grant awarded in 2023-24. The grant funds were spent on projects at the Hobart Penitentiary and Clarendon.
Work at the Hobart Penitentiary prepared the site for the launch of the Convict Memorial in November 2023 and included repainting Court 1 and the 1850s legal offices as the setting for the Rogues’ Gallery and visitor services. The Hobart Penitentiary is a major source of visitation and income for the Trust, which aims to use the Penitentiary for tourism dispersal to other Tasmanian convict sites. The works program prepared the site for increased open hours, which will increase further into Summer 2024.
At Clarendon, the funding allowed us to address damp and structural issues. Clarendon had a trifecta of rising, falling and penetrating damp which was eroding the fabric of this most charismatic country house. The funding allowed us to address defective roof plumbing including box gutter leaks. We replaced failed rainwater heads which had left the house’s rubblestone walls drenched after rain. We replaced the moat pump and the house’s stormwater disposal. Clarendon’s uneven basement stone paving was taken up and relaid minus underlying plastic sheeting which has been trapping moisture and forcing it into the walls. The rear stairs were stablised. Outbuildings downpipes were upgraded to cope with more frequent storms and engineering advice obtained for the windloading on the extensive rooves of the 1820s-30s barn and stables. The program has put Clarendon into a better state of repair.
The Trust congratulates the Church of the Apostles at Launceston and All Saints Anglican Church, South Hobart. Both have active National Trust Conservation Appeals and both have received grants for essential conservation works under the Heritage Tasmania Built Heritage grants, announced in July. A further Heritage Tasmania Built Heritage grant round opens shortly.
Images: Rob Aldersea and Nick Brady replacing Clarendon’s stormwater disposal lines
