Ouse, 15km north west of Hamilton, is a small rather quaint rural Central Highlands village on the Lyell Highway, situated on the junction with the Victoria Valley Road and on the banks of the Ouse River. Ouse is the settlement where convicts James Goodwin and Thomas Connolly broke out of the South West Wilderness four weeks after their escape from Sarah Island.

Like so many of the towns on the Derwent River it was explored and settled soon after the establishment of the settlement at Hobart Town. However settlers did not move into the area until the 1820s. In its early years the settlement was known as Ouse Bridge but by the 1860s it had been reduced to The Ouse or Ouse.


Former Bridge Hotel

One of the first buildings in the town was the Anglican Church of St. John the Baptist. In the 1830s when St Peter's Church was being built at Hamilton people began to settle around the present site of Ouse. Although there was only 16 km between the two settlements the Anglican church decided that the journey every Sunday over rough roads was too difficult for committed parishioners and so by 1842-43 the Ouse Bridge Chapel of St John the Baptist had been erected.

There seems to have been some confusion over the town's name in the mid nineteenth century. In the 1840s it was known as Ousebridge which by the 1850s had become Ouse Bridge. By the 1860s it had been reduced to Ouse.

The town's brief brush with literary fame occurred in the 1820s and 1830s when David Burn, Australia's first playwright, lived in a country house named Rotherwood near Ouse. His play The Bushrangers was performed in Edinburgh in 1829 and in 1842 a collection of his writings, Plays and Fugitive Pieces, was published in Hobart. It was the first collection of plays published in Australia.



Church of St John the Baptist: a simple and modest sandstone Anglican church, situated on the summit of a knoll and surrounded by a churchyard which contains many early graves and monuments. It presents an interesting and dominant silhouette. Together with the nearby Bridge Hotel and the gardens by the River Ouse, it presents a nineteenth century precinct of rare quality. The use of the cruciform plan is unusual in a small country church (B2). The building was constructed with a combination of local contributions and voluntary labour.



The church was consecrated in 1867 and, today, it is notable for its impressive stained glass windows and its interesting memorials to the early settlers in the district. The window was created by the Ferguson & Urie stained glass company of North Melbourne and was erected to the memory of Thomas Lloyd Gellibrand circa 1875. Each of the three lancets in the window contains the unique Ferguson & Urie scrolling ribbon design with a piece of scripture from the the King James Bible.



The Church of the Immaculate Conception: Ouse’s Catholic church is one of only two churches in the town. The establishment of a Catholic church at Ouse was proposed in 1875 following the donation of land by Walter Gellibrand, the Member for Derwent and later President of the Legislative Council (1884-1889). The foundation stone was laid by Bishop Murphy on 13 February 1878. The building was opened and dedicated as the Church of The Immaculate Conception on Wednesday 15 October 1879. The church is described as 'Victorian Academic Gothi'. It is now the only Catholic church in the region since the closure of the church at nearby Hamilton.

The Church and its cemetery are listed on the Tasmanian Heritage register because of its association with Henry Hunter: "Hunter was one of the few notable Roman Catholic professional men in Hobart. He dominated the architectural scene in Tasmania where his admiration for Augustus Pugin, leader of the English Gothic revival movement, influenced his work especially in the churches he designed. His treatment of this style gave a pleasing effect to even the smallest church while his use of local materials enabled him to blend a wide range of building stone in a delicate manner".



Cawood: a fine two storey Georgian stone house built by T.F. Marzetti before 1828 with side wings added by Henric Nicholas after 1844. The house is complemented by fine stone outbuildings comprising a light horse stables to the south of the house and a heavy horse complex to the north. Locaion: off Tor Hill Road, 2km north-north-east of Ouse.


Dunrobin

Dunrobin: (1825) a single storey brick and stucco house with attached porches between gable ends. One gable end houses a radial fanlight into a small loft space once housing servants. Windows are 10 or 12 pane, the front door 6 panelled with sidelights and highlight in greek and Egyptian influenced details. Out buildings include a stone cottage, stone barn, stone stables and slaughter house - all built by convict labour. The buildings are all very much intact. Location: 11 km south of Ouse on the Ellendale Road.

Millbrook Water Mill: a small stone mill to a Georgian design built in 1836-1843 by W. Roadnight for James Smith of the East India Co. The building is still intact and most of the machinery is available, although dismantled. Mill wheels, dripstones etc still are in existence. Location: rear of Millbrook House, Victoria Valley Road, Ouse.

Meadowbank Lake

Meadowbank Lake, 8km north west of Hamilton, is a catchment of the Derwent River hydro electric scheme located between Hamilton and Ouse. Meadowbank Lake, created when Catagunya Dam was constructed in 1954, is an excellent trout fishing and aquatic area. Access via Dunrobin Bridge. The lake is also popular with water skiers with two designated ski zones south of Dunrobin Bridge. A camping and picnic area is located at Bethune Park on the western side of Dunrobin Bridge. A picnic area, public toilets and boat ramp are located on the eastern side of Dunrobin Bridge.

The relatively low elevation and the surrounding topography present a picturesque and sheltered angling experience. Meadowbank Lake is managed by the Inland Fisheries Service as a Family Fishery and is open to angling all year round. Regular stocking with brown trout, rainbow trout and trophy sized Atlantic salmon maintains the quality of the angling. Spinning, trolling, bait fishing and fly-fishing are all popular methods. Upstream from Dunrobin Bridge weed growth is prolific.

This area is designated as a small boat only zone with a 10 knot maximum speed limit. Fly-fishing from the shore or a small boat is recommended. Of particular interest are the prolific caenid and red spinner hatches during spring and summer. Downstream from the bridge the banks are generally steeper with deeper water and less weed growth. This provides opportunities for spinning, trolling and bait fishing.

Bethune Camping Area, beside Meadowbank Lake, is a grassy camping and picnic area witg sites that can accommodate big rigs. Perfect for waterskiers and anglers, there s a launching ramp close by on the eastern side of Dunrobin Bridge. The lake is the final section of the Derwent River Hydro-electricity Scheme and the last of the catchment s 10 power stations is at the foot of the Meadowbank Dam downstream. As the campground is on Hydro land, campers can stay for a maximum of 7 days. Access is through a gate on Ellendale Road, just west of Dunrobin Bridge, 2 km from the Lyell Hwy. Bring water and firewood.


Meadowbank power Station

The Catagunya hydro electric Power Scheme was an important step in the rapid post-war development of Tasmania's hydro-electric resources. Tasmania had the cheapest electricity in Australia, and the demand for electricity was doubling every ten years. Two thirds of the demand arose from a small number of large industries. The State government saw cheap electricity as a means of attracting more industries and the Hydro-Electric Commission as a large employer of labour. At the same time, the construction of hydro schemes was capital-intensive and funds were sometimes restricted. Strenuous efforts were made by the Hydro-Electric Commission staff to embrace new ideas in order to produce the most economical designs, of which Catagunya Dam is an example. It was an exciting and challenging time for the hydro-electric engineers.

The 50 MW Catagunya scheme was also the last of the single power schemes approved by the Tasmanian Parliament. The requirement for more electricity arose from the expanding production of zinc, aluminium, newsprint, paper, carbide and cement, and from the steady growth in domestic and retail consumers. Catagunya's output was expected to meet the increase in demand for only one year and was approved as a stop-gap measure. Thereafter larger blocks of power were required.

The single schemes began with Waddamana in 1914, using the outflow from the Great Lake whose storage was greatly increased in 1922 by the construction of Miena Dam No. 2. Over the next 40 years until Catagunya, nine other schemes were built, some in several stages.

Mt Bethune Conservation Area

Mt Bethune Conservation Area is 362ha. reserve of natural bushland, located 4km east-south-east of Ellendale. The majority of the 43 ha property comprises beautiful dry inland Silver peppermint (Eucalyptus tenuiramis) forest. Adjacent to Mt Field National Park, it is a popular spot for campings and bush walks.

Bethune Camping Area, beside Meadowbank Lake, is a grassy camping and picnic area witg sites that can accommodate big rigs. Perfect for waterskiers and anglers, there s a launching ramp close by on the eastern side of Dunrobin Bridge. The lake is the final section of the Derwent River Hydro-electricity Scheme and the last of the catchment s 10 power stations is at the foot of the Meadowbank Dam downstream. As the campground is on Hydro land, campers can stay for a maximum of 7 days. Access is through a gate on Ellendale Road, just west of Dunrobin Bridge, 2 km from the Lyell Hwy. Bring water and firewood.