Nugent, Tasmania




The small village of Nugent is notable for its local hall, in which many small gatherings occur for the locals only, maybe extending to nearby towns such as Sorell, Buckland and Dodges Ferry. It is a stereotypical "small country town", an ever shrinking group of small establishments. Nugent is 46 km north-west of Hobart and 35 km west of Richmond.

Nugent is home to the fishery and game hunting property, Redbanks Fish and Field. Redbanks is a renowned wild fishery (the fish grow naturally in the lakes) and pheasant shooting location. People come from Britain, New Zealand, Europe and America for pheasant shooting and trout-fishing. Visitors can navigate their way through numerous outdoor activities including clay target shooting, archery, javelin and rifle shooting under the guidance of accredited coaching staff. Redbanks was bought in 1980 by current owner Lindsay White, a fifth generation farmer of the district. After farming cattle and pigs, Lindsay decided to shift direction and evolve Redbanks into a tourism-based business.



Brief history


Nugent was first inhabited in the early 1800 s using convict labour to clear some of the land in the early days of the settlement. The community thrived and there were 17 dairy farms and a butter factory up until late in the 20th century. On the closure of the Nugent butter factory, Nugent cream was sent to Bream Creek for processing and to the Cadburys chocolate factory throughout the 1900 s.

Timber was the other main enterprise in the district with 40 mills providing timber for the local, interstate and overseas markets. Nugent was a thriving community with a school, footy and cricket teams (of course!), a church, community hall and post office. Despite changing times from the 1960's through to the 1980's which saw the closing of dairies and sawmills and a resultant declining population, Nugent retains a real sense of community. In 2000, local residents successfully lobbied for ownership of the church and hall which are used for community events and regular social get-togethers. There has been an influx of families taking up residence at Nugent in recent years, with many people commuting to Hobart to work.