View from the top of The Nut over the town cemetery towards Highfield

The town of Stanley from The Nut chairlift

Captain's Cottage

Hanlon House, now a guest house, was built as the Catholic Presbytery in 1904.

Sawyers Bay and Stanley Boat Harbour from the top of The Nut

North Point from the top of The Nut

Across Bass Strait towards Rocky Cape from the top of The Nut

The top of The Nut takes on an Uluru-like appearance on the road to Highfield

Highfield convict ruins

Sheltering on the leeward side of Circular Head, the village of Stanley is a picturesque cray and shark fishing settlement that seems to belong in a previous era, but has somehow managed to defy the march of time and progress and make it into the 21st century relatively intact.

A visit to Stanley is like taking a step back in time. It's an opportunity to stop and escape the frantic pace of modern life, if only for a few hours. The friendly locals go about their business as if tomorrow is a long way away, and the fresh sea air gives you an appetite for the simple, wholesome food on offer by the town's numerous eating establishments. It's all made with the freshest local ingredients - everything from wood-fired pizzas, scallops and char-grilled octopus to lobster pies.

Where is it?: Tasmania: North West. Stanley is 80 km west of Burnie and 127 km west of Devonport via Bass Highway.

Things to see and do:

Stanley has many heritage buildings (see below)

The Nut, the large hill which overshadows the town, is actually the core or volcanic plug of what was once a volcano over 13 million years ago.  Almost surrounded by ocean, the Nut rises 152 metres above sea level.  It is now a state reserve and has a range of bird life including Short Tailed Shearwater (muttonbird), Nankeen Kestrel, Peregrine Falcons, Silver Gulls, Little Penguins and Orange Bellied Parrots. Visitors to the Nut can either walk via a path or take the Nut Chairlift ride to the summit for a unique view of Stanley and surrounding areas. There is a 30 minute walk around the summit with lookouts and interpretation signs along the way.

Highfield was built in 1832-1835 for the chief agent of the Van Diemen's Company, which opened up Tasmania's north-west. Today, the house has been restored after the state government bought it the early 1980's. Visitors may look through the old building and grounds, read the interpretation signs. Guides tours are available.

Lookouts: the views across the town and up and down the coast from the top of The Nut are spectacular.

Events: Circular Head Agricultural Show (every December)

Surrounding area:

Days drive from Stanley up the north west coast are highly recommended. The drive to the east along Bass Highway can include Wynyard, Table Cape, picturesque village of Boat Harbour, Stanley and Circular Head, Rocky Cape National Park. Drive west on Bass Highway to see Smithton, and Marrawah on the west coast. Roads into the hinterland lead to Trowutta caves and arch; Hellyer Gorge State Reserve; Allendale Gardens at Edith Creek. There are many waterfalls to, including Dip Falls and the giant eucalyptus tree and Guide Falls. Waterfalls of NW Tasmania >>

About Stanley

It comes as no surprise to learn that the site of this quaint village was chosen as the headquarters of the Van Diemen's Land Company, which opened up the whole of the North West region of Tasmania, first for agriculture, followed by the exploitation of the area's district's magnificent beach and hardwood forests and the mining of copper at nearby Balfour.
Most of Stanley's original buildings have survived - the earliest are simple weatherboard cottages, others are Georgian era stone structures, all standing side by side to form a gloriously picturesque streetscape, enhanced by the dramatic backdrop of The Nut. Among the more notable buildings is St James' Presbyterian Church, one of Australia's first prefabricated buildings that was shipped out from England in weatherboard sections in 1853 and re-erected. Poet's Cottage bears a plaque declaring it was once Stanley's first school. A street away is the modest cottage where Joe Lyons, Prime Minister of Australia from 1939 to 1939, grew up.

Brief History

In 1798, George Bass and Matthew Flinders were the first Europeans to come upon 'Circular Head' or what is known today as 'The Nut', a volcanic plug which forms a massive 120 metre high basalt headland rising abruptly from the waters of north western Tasmania. Flinders described it in his log book: "Circular Head is a cliffy, round lump, in form much resembling a Christmas Cake, and is joined to the main by a low sandy isthmus. The land at the back is somewhat lower than the head, and is formed into very gentle slopes…" The first European settlement west of the Meander River would not be until 1826.
The Van Diemen's Land Company was formed in London in 1824 to establish a fine - wool sheep enterprise on Van Diemen's Land. This was to ease England's woollen mills' dependence on wool imports from Germany and Spain, and make a large profit for themselves. This eventually proved to be a disaster and failure after they were forced to select land grants in the unknown and mostly impenetrable North West. Under Royal Charter, the company was granted 350,000 acres. In October 1826 the first colonists landed on the site of present day Stanley from the brig Tranmerer.
Edward Curr was the first chief agent for the VDL Co. arriving with him in 1826 was Henry Hellyer the chief surveyor and architect for the VDL Co. Hellyer surveyed the land and found some of it suitable for sheep grazing in the Surrey and Hampshire Hills. Curr's wife Elizabeth and their children moved to the settlement a year later. In the years of 1832 - 1835 Edward Curr had a large house built, it was designed by Henry Hellyer and named Highfield. It was to be the headquarters for Curr and also his family to live in. Highfield is still standing today 172 years later, after the state government bought it in 1982 and began restorations.
The sheep grazing proved to be a failure. The sheep were under torrential rain, snow and predation of Tasmanian tigers. The VDL Co. lost out on an investment of today's equivalent of millions of dollars, and 14 years after his arrival, Curr was given his notice of dismissal in 1841.
The township of Stanley was named after Lord Stanley, the Secretary of State for the Colonies at the suggestion of Curr's successor, James Gibson. Stanley was officially created in 1842, and John Lee Archer, an architect, civil engineer and Police Magistrate, laid out the town and is responsible for much of the local architecture; some of his buildings are still standing today. Most were single storey weatherboard cottages with some masonry buildings.
A company town, Stanley became a bustling community and 127 men, 41 women and 65 children were recorded as living there in 1848. There were 20 shops, 60 houses and cottages, a church and parsonage, a school, house of correction, police office and magistrate's house, customs house and post office. During the 1850's the sheltered deep-sea port was thriving and was essential for the farming districts as a service centre. The town has not grown significantly since those times and has become a time capsule of rural Tasmania of a century or more ago.
Stanley is the birthplace of Joseph A. Lyons, the only Prime Minister of Australia born in Tasmania. Lyons was born in 1879 in a tiny cottage at the foot of the Nut. He moved to Ulverstone for a time before coming back to Stanley and living much of his childhood around the corner from where he was born with his two aunts, in what is now known as the Aunts Cottage. He also became a junior teacher at the Stanley School until 1900 when he took up his interest in politics. Lyons died while in office in 1939 after seven years as Prime Minister.
Today fishing is the main industry in Stanley, with crayfish, scallops, abalone, octopus and shark being caught. It makes up approximately 75% of employment in the town either on the boats, packing and processing, or selling. The other 25% being tourism which is relatively new to the area and becoming increasingly important to the community.

Bay View Hotel & Stables
Situated in Alexander Terrace, this two-storey brick and timber hotel was built around 1849 as the Shamrock Inn and licensed to Michael Lyons, the grandfather of Joseph Lyons. Its dry laid bluestone retaining walls were built c.1900 with stone quarried from The Nut.

Union Hotel
A two-storey Georgian style building, built in 1849 when it was first licensed to John Whittbread as the Emily Hotel.

Joseph Lyons Cottage
This cottage (right) birthplace of Joseph A. Lyons who was born here in 1879. He was Premier of Tasmania (1923-28) and the only Tasmanian born Prime Minister of Australia (1932-39). The small timber Georgian cottage is one of J. Lee Archer's original weatherboard cottages. It is furnished in the style of the 1930's era and also displays memorabilia and photographs of the life and times of Joe Lyons.

Captain's Cottage
Reputably the earliest built private residence in Stanley, believed to have been built around 1832 before the town was laid out. It is a Georgian bluestone bagged cottage featuring the original Baltic pine lined upstairs sitting room, graced with a skylight and two dormer windows. The cottage was originally built for Captain Burgess and passed into the hands of another seafarer and families until purchased in the late 1980's by Captain Max Holyman who was affectionately known as 'Captain Max of Ansett', Mr Reg Ansett's personal pilot.

Spices Buildings (The Plough Inn)
A single storeyed brick and stuccoed Georgian terrace with an iron roof and three 12-pane dormers with finials. Built around 1840, it was used as an inn after 1854, and later as a dispensary.

The Old Commercial Hotel
A part timber, part brick and stuccoed single storey building, it was built around 1842. It appears to have been part of a much larger building.

Stanley Discovery Museum and Genealogy Centre
Located in what used to be the Parish Hall for St Paul's Church, the Discovery Museum was established in 1973 as a an exhibition that will take you on a journey into Stanley's past, with relics, antiques, memorabilia, photographs, documents and a genealogy centre from 1804 to the 1900's.

Stanley Burial Ground
The first burial here was 1827, and is now a closed cemetery apart from reserved plots. It is located on Brown's Road at the base of The Nut and looks out over the sea. Many significant names associated with the beginnings of Stanley can be found here, including chief architect and surveyor Henry Hellyer who died by his own hand in 1832; this is regarded as one of the most significant graves. Also there are ticket of leave convicts, servants of the VDL Co. and seafarers. About 45 families have up to five family members interred, a significant one is the plot of the Kay family, four family members (including both parents) drowned while attempting the two mile crossing to Tasmania from Trefoil Island, leaving six of their children stranded on the island until they were rescued almost two months later. The earliest burial is John Linton, a servant for the VDL Co. He was buried in October 1827 as a result of drowning.

Old Customs Bond Store
Later called Horne Brothers Store, this two-storey Georgian-style bluestone bond store situated near the wharf was built in 1835 from ship's ballast. This building, and the nearby Southern Marine Products Building (1843), was designed by J. Lee Archer.

Source: Stanley Information Centre

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