Though it has a population of around 500, Elizabeth Town is one of those places that if you blink you might miss it. But if you do miss it, you will miss out on some of the best gourmet produce of Tasmania's north-west, because Elizabeth Town at the heart of a productive agricultural region producing dairy products and small fruits.

Where Is it?: Bass Highway between Devonport and Launceston.



Elizabeth Town is at the heart of a thriving agricultural region known for its dairy products and small fruits, which makes it a great place to stop for morning or afternoon tea, or lunch. The choice of places to eat and what to eat is remarkably wide, and the quality is of the highest standard.

Ashgrove Cheese

On a farm that has been in the Bennett family since the late 19th century, a few kilometres from Elizabeth Town on Bass Highway, you'll find Ashgrove Tasmanian Farm - a true cheese lover's delight! With fresh-bottled milk, decadent farm ice-cream, creamy butter and of course, an array of fine cheeses, Ashgrove s busy farm shop has a constant stream of tourists popping in to not only sample the local produce, but also to watch it all being made.



Located around 4km outside of Elizabeth Town, the factory behind the shop is where milk and cream are bottled, while 200 metres up the hill, you'll find a dairy where part of the herd of predominantly Friesian and Jersey cows are milked. Ashgrove actually has three farms, each with its own dairy, but all within sight of the farm shop. The furthest the milk has to travel for bottling or transforming into cream, butter, creme fraiche or cheese is about five kilometres.

The land around Ashgrove is some of Australia's most fertile and, with a temperate climate and plenty of water, it is perfect for dairying. The cows graze outside year round and from late spring until autumn, the paddocks supply all their food, apart from the small amount of grain they eat twice a day to keep them amused while they are on the rotary milking machine.

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Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm

When you've just come off the Spirit of Tasmania ferry and you've eager to sample the delights that Tasmania has to offer, a great place to start is Christmas Hills Rasperrty Farm and Cafe at Elizabeth Town. The house speciality - Morning Craving - is my absolute favourite.



The cafe is open all day, and serves everything from light snacks to full meals. At the counter you can purchase from a range raspberry-based products, all made from raspberries grown right there in Elizabeth Town.

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Van Diemens Land Creamery

Van Diemen ice cream is loved all over Tasmania, and is now availble from their Elizabeth Hills cafe-come-ice creamery attached to the factory. If you're lucky, you might even catch a glimpse of the ice cream being made through the production room window. Like meals and snacks are available at the cafe but the big attraction, of course, is the ice cream. There are over 40 different flavours and combinations to try, some most unusual but all deliciously tasty. All are available in a variety of sizes to take home. Van Diemens Land Creamery is on Bass Highway opposite the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm.

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Elizabeth Town Bakery Cafe

When John Spicer was granted an inn licence in 1862, it was the start of a business that continues to this day, as the Elizabeth Town Bakery Cafe. At the age of 22, John was transported from England to Van Diemens Land for 15 years for highway robbery. In the early 1860s he established a drapery business at Whitefoord Hills, now Moltema, and built the Saddlers Arms Hotel at Elizabeth Town. It became a populay coaching stop on the highway from Launceston to the Coast.

After John's death, the Saddlers Arms was sold to his son-in-law Charles Slater, who built the present building which was known as Slaters Hotel in 1904. Later it became known as the Elizabeth Town Hotel and in 2004 the hotel was completely renovated and transformed into what is known today as the Elizabeth Town Bakery Cafe, an iconic licensed gourmet bakery. Location: 5783 Bass Highway, Elizabeth Town.

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Elizabeth Henrietta Macquarie (nee Campbell)

Elizabeth Town: A Brief History

The name 'Elizabeth Town' was originally intended for the southern Tasmanian town of New Norfolk. In 1820, Governor Lachlan Macquarie passed through the area where the town now stands, instructing that a town be laid out there, and that it be named Elizabeth Town, after his wife, born Elizabeth Campbell (1778 – 1835). The area had recently been settled by former residents of Norfolk Island, who had been transfered to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) when the colonial outpost on Norfolk Island was closed by the British Government. In 1825, the former Norfolk Islanders successfully lobbied to have Elizabeth Town's name changed to New Norfolk in honour of their former home.

Around that time, a settlement on the newly created road between Latrobe and Launceston began to form, following the granting of land there. A town was laid out based on 10 acre (4.0 ha) allotments; a subdivision of town lots was planned, but never eventuated. The locality was named 'Elizabeth Town', for no other reason than that the name had become available, having just being made redundant by the re-naming of New Norfolk.

This all happened after Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie had left the colony, never to return. It is not known if they ever found out that the New Norfolk settlers has rejected the name the former Governor had chosen for their village, or that the name had not been abandoned totally, but used for a new settlement in Van Diemen's Land's north. Macquarie would have been pleased that the name had not been abandoned totally, but would probably have had mixed feelings about it being given to a town in an region of Tasmania that he had never visited.

Until the 1970s, when some land was further subdivided on the east side of what is now the Bass Highway, the town area had only three houses and had not become a population centre. Consequent to the subdivision more dwellings were built and there were more than forty by 2002.

At the 2006 census, the Elizabeth Town area had a population of 502. John Spicer built and opened a hotel on the road from Deloraine north to Devonport in the 1850s. Just prior to 1900 the then owner, Charles Slater, demolished the building replaced it with the current structure. Slater had used money from a lottery win to build the new hotel. The hotel, which sits by the Bass Highway, is now run as ETC—the Elizabeth Town café.

Elizabeth once had a school, tennis courts, a Catholic church, an Anglican church, post office and a hall. Of these only two church buildings remain converted to houses. A post office opened on in September 1860, with a resident post master, and closed in 1969.

In 1891, a travelling correspondent passing through Elizabeth Town noted: “This delightful picturesque, rural village is just the place for the overworked or invalid to seek change and rest from the turmoil and bustle of busy life. The village Inn, having the old fashioned sign of ‘The Saddlery Arms’ has been kept for nearly 40 years by the veteran landlord, Mr John Spicer”.

Anglican services were first held in the Elizabeth Town state school. The foundation stone for the Anglican Holy Cross church was laid in January 1892 and it opened for services in January 1893. This church was replaced in the 1950s and a five sided apsidal sanctuary was built in 1955 and dedicated in August of the same year. The building was remodelled and had a vestry added in 1966. The church celebrated its 60th anniversary in December 1952, but by was only used for Christmas services. The church closed and a decision to sell it made in 2011 by the Parish of Deloraine to sell this in 2011. The building is now a private dwelling.

Beyond Elizabeth Town

Deloraine

11 km south-east of Elizabeth Town via Bass Highway

Situated near Elizabeth Town and midway between Devonport and Launceston just off Bass Highway, Deloraine is a delightful town in the valley of the Meander River. Deloraine has many heritage buildings, both in its main street and surrounding areas. St Marks Church across the river is particularly picturesque. Up the hill behind the hotel is the birthplace of Admiral Sir John Collins, whose brilliant tactics while captain of HMAS Sydney in 1941 sank the Italian warship Bartolomeo Colleoni in the first cruiser battle of World War II.

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Westbury

26 km south-east of Elizabeth Town via Bass Highway and Meander Valley Road

Often described by visitors as a hidden treasure, somewhere that they have stumbled across, Westbury is a pretty English-style village on the Great Western Tiers tourist route between Devonport and Launceston. A village green, lots of tree-lined streets, old courtyards and stables, elegant old inns and a feast of charming old buildings means a visitor could easily spend a day just wandering around the streets.

A classic Georgian village and classified historic town, Westbury was developed as a military garrison and the troops were barracked around what today is the Village Green, reputedly one of the few traditional village greens in Australia. Prisoners were put in stocks on the green.

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Gt Western Tiers Drive

The Great Western Tiers are the northern face of the Tasmanian Central Plateau, which rises up to 1420m above sea level and is dominated by Cradle Mountain. In the foothills of the Great Western Tiers can be found a wide range of attractions both man made and natural which can be explored on this drive.

Allow a full day for the drive; add additional time if you are contemplating taking any of the bushwalks in the area or spending more time than a quick visit. The Great Western Tiers are the gateway to Tasmania's best known National Parks - Cradle Mountain, Lake St. Clair and Walls Of Jerusalem - as well as an alternative route to the west coast of Tasmania.

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Railton

21.4 km north-east of Elizabeth Town via Bass Highway and Kimberley Road

The main attraction in this rural inland town is topiary, which is the art of shaping bushes and trees by careful pruning to resemble familiar objects such as animals. The town is 12 km from Sheffield.

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Sheffield

28.6 km north-east of Elizabeth Town via Bass Highway, Kimberley Road and Railton

A rural inland town set against the backdrop of Mt Roland, Sheffield is known as the Town of Murals because of the many murals that decorate the walls of buildings around the town. Names like Promised Land, Paradise and No Where Else were used to encapsulate the beauty of the region. Visitors today believe this still rings true! View rich agricultural fields, rolling green hills and natural vistas when journeying to Sheffield, Cradle Mountain, Wilmot and Railton.

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Latrobe

31 km north of Elizabeth Town via Bass Highway

An historic farming centre on the Mersey River that was once an inland port serviced by ferries from Devonport. The town is just off the highway on the way to Launceston after leaving Devonport.

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