The Coal Mines Historic Site is part of the epic story of the European settlement of this country. They formed part of the system of convict discipline and punishment on the Tasman Peninsula. During its busiest years almost 600 prisoners with their jailers and their families lived and worked at the mines.
We were able to walk through the picturesque ruins of houses, barracks, offices and punishment cells.
As we got to each site, we had an information sheet which told us all the history of that particular area. The girls definitely thought their history lesson was covered for the day!!
The Coal Mines opened 3 years after Port Arthur. By the late 1830's they produced most of the coal used in Van Diemen's Land. They served as a punishment station for men who had committed a serious offence in the colony.
It has been a long time, indeed. It's fascinating how those meticulously laid out things would be mere imprints upon erosion and abandonment and all that other stuff. It does make things seem fleeting, but it also stresses how efficiency and practicality trump accomodation of a landscape, especially when you start thinking of mining equipment. Mining, after all, is like that, you take what you can get, then build something somewhere else with it. Thanks for sharing that!
ReplyDeleteRosemary Bailey @ Wabi Iron & Steel Corp