Bracknell, Tasmania

For the town of Bracknell in England, see Bracknell.
Bracknell
Tasmania

Mountain Views community church
Bracknell
Coordinates 41°39′S 146°56′E / 41.650°S 146.933°E / -41.650; 146.933Coordinates: 41°39′S 146°56′E / 41.650°S 146.933°E / -41.650; 146.933
Population 375 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s) 7302
Location
LGA(s) Meander Valley Council
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

Bracknell is a small rural town in northern Tasmania, Australia that 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]

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.[15] The school became an area school in 1950[16] and in the 1960s educated pupils through to grade 9.[17] A football club was first formed in 1899.[18] 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,[19] and play in the association's first division.[20] Cricket has been played in the town since at least 1883[21] and a team, as of 2015, plays in the amateur Northern Midlands Cricket Association.[22]

At the 2011 census, Bracknell had a population of 375.[1] It is in the Meander Valley Council local government area, the state Division of Lyons, the federal Division of Lyons[23] and the state Legislative Council division of Western Tiers.[24]

At the 2016 federal election the Bracknell booth recorded the following number of 1st preferences for each party: Liberal 276 (64.49%), Labor 85 (19.86%), Recreational Fishers 27 (6.31%), The Greens 24 (5.61%), Renewable Energy 8 (1.87%)& Christian Democrats 8 (1.87%)

References

  1. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Bracknell (State Suburb)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  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. 1 2 3 4 "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. 1 2 Greenhill, p.12
  9. ↑ Meander Valley Prospectus (PDF). Meander Valley Council. 2014. p. 12. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "Bracknell Hotel History". Bracknell Hotel. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. ↑ Premier Postal History. "Post Office List". Premier Postal Auctions. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  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. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  15. ↑ "Welcome to Bracknell Primary School". Department of Education. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  16. ↑ "New class rooms at Bracknell". The Examiner. Launceston. 21 December 1949. p. 4.
  17. ↑ "Bracknell : Fight to stay on the map". The Examiner. 11 December 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  18. ↑ Rait, p.9
  19. ↑ "Bracknell". australianfootball.com. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  20. ↑ "Northern Tasmanian Football Association". Northern Tasmanian Football Association. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  21. ↑ "Blackwood Creek". The Daily Telegraph. Launceston. 24 November 1883. p. 3.
  22. ↑ "Community Cricket". Cricket Tasmania. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  23. ↑ "Tasmanian House of Assembly Divisions" (PDF). Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  24. ↑ "Division of Western Tiers". Tasmanian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2 April 2015.

Bibliography

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