Redlands, on the banks of the Plenty River alongside the famous Salmon Ponds in the Derwent Valley, is one of Tasmania’s most well-known rural estates. Once a thriving hop and grain farm, the estate contains an astonishing collection of heritage buildings and magnificent gardens featuring some of Australia’s oldest European trees.
The property has a remarkable history, with many overlays of stories from its convict past to modern times. There are intriguing links to the royal family and the emergence of colonial Tasmania’s new-landed elite, our first banks, the development of trout fisheries and irrigation, and the property also holds a primary place in Tasmania’s hop farming history.
At its peak the farm employed as many as 200 hop pickers with their families living on the estate, and many Tasmanians still hold fond memories of working at picking hops. In those days there were pickers’ huts, a bakehouse, general store and even a butcher’s shop. Only one of the pickers’ huts has survived but most of the other buildings are intact, though in disrepair.
Now, after years of decline and neglect, the property is undergoing a modern transformation as a family residence, working farm, whisky distillery and tourism development.
*No need to enter property*