Living HISTORY
Seven generations of the Archer family have lovingly tended the gardens of Tasmania’s Brickendon Estate, a world-heritage property featuring some of the state’s oldest trees.
Located on the outskirts of Longford, near Launceston, the grand 1829 home at Brickendon is beautifully preserved. ‘Sea Foam’ roses spill over the ha-ha wall, originally built to prevent sheep munching the grass in the ‘pleasure’ garden. Wild grass outside creates a soft purple haze. The sculptural branches of a bunya pine can be seen at right.
Driving along the narrow avenue towards Brickendon, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re somewhere in the English countryside. The property, near the historic town of Longford in Tasmania’s north, is bordered by kilometres of hawthorn hedgerows planted by the original owner, William Archer, in the 1830s. Established in 1824, Brickendon is one of Tasmania’s oldest farms. The 465-hectare estate, complete with Georgian manor house, has been continuously owned by William Archer’s descendants for seven generations. It’s one of 11 Australian sites on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The garden at Brickendon extends over 5ha and is studded with exotic trees, mostly planted during the 1830s. William Archersourcedmanyspecimensfromaroundtheworld,including a deodar cedar from India, an Algerian oak from north Africa and a cork oak from Portugal. The sole Australian contribution is a majestic bunya pine ( Araucaria bidwillii) in the front garden, its branches casting dramatic shadows over the manicured lawns.
William Archer’s original timber cottage (dating from 1824) is located about a kilometre from the manor house, in a ‘village’ of convict-built barns, stables and sheds. Prior to his marriage in 1829, the increasingly prosperous William built and moved into the house the Archer family live in today. “He wanted a big house and pleasure gardens to match,” says sixth-generation descendant Richard Archer, who has lived here all his life and now farms the property with his wife Louise and their children: Maddie, 22, Eliza, 27, and Will, 29.
William designed his garden with sweeping lawns, woodlands, meandering paths and sunny glades, a quintessentially English country garden along the lines of those made famous by 18th-century landscape architect Capability Brown.
The Archer family’s ownership over nearly two centuries has provided a remarkable continuity in the development of the garden and the estate as a whole, which have barely changed in appearance since the 1830s.
“All the Archers have been keen gardeners,” says Richard. “It’s believed that William’s son, William Henry Davies Archer, planted the orchard in the 1860s.” The cherry plum, mulberry, apple, chestnut, hazelnut and pear trees William the younger planted still bear fruit today.
Of course, each generation since then has added to the plantings, which now include perennials, flowering shrubs and trees that combine to make what Louise describes as “a giant cottage garden”. The expansive beds created over time feature about 100 varieties of heritage roses as well as camellia, aquilegia, wisteria, clematis, hostas, hydrangeas and various ornamental fruit trees.
Richard’s father Kerry was born at Brickendon and lived on the property for 85 years until he and his wife Angela, also an avid gardener, retired to nearby Launceston in 2016.