A square putting green on Ratho Links

St Luke's Presbyterian church

Bothwell Post Office

Thorpe's Mill

A flock of sheep are herded past the Australasian Golf Museum

Nant Distillery

Arthurs Lake, Miena

Highland Spin-in

A classified historic town and popular fishing resort on Lake Highway, Bothwell is the southern gateway to the central Highlands, where roads from the Lake Country, Midlands and Derwent Valley meet. In season Bothwell is known as the gateway to some of the best trout fishing in Australia.

Where is it?: Tasmania: South. Bothwell is 76 km north north west of Hobart; 350 metres above sea level.

Things to see and do:

As a classified historic town, Bothwell has 18 buildings classified by the National Trust and a further 34 listed. These include St Luke's Presbyterian church (1831); Wentworth House (1833); Nant Mill, a massive rough-masonry building erected in 1857; Clifton Priory, on Barrack Hill overlooking the township. The Anglican Chapel of St James, at Montacute, a nearby hamlet, was built by Capt. William Langdon in 1857. It is one of the few surviving 'estate' chapels. A hitching rail and ring are still outside the post office.

It is claimed that the first game of golf in Australia was played on Alexander Reid's property 'Ratho' in the 1820s. The course where this famous event took place, with its square putting greens and fairways maintained by grazing sheep, is still in use and can be played by keen golf lovers. The story of how golf evolved from a crude game played by a handful of Scottish villagers to a truly international game, and why the early settlers in Bothwell became Australia's first golfing community, is told at the Australasian Golf Museum.
The Australian Golf Heritage Festival, held each May, and the Australasian Golf Museum was created to preserve the traditions of the game of golf in Australia. The festival provides players with traditional hickory clubs, gutta percha balls and period costumes for The National Hickory Championships.

True to its Scottish heritage, Bothwell has one of Australia's top whiskey distilleries, Nant Distillery, housed in the historic Nant Mill. Sample the fine single malt whiskeys made using pure local Highland waters. Bothwell is also home to the International Highland Spin-in, a wool spinning competition marking the town's agricultural heritage and linking spinners throughout the world in friendship. It is held in March.

Trivia: St Luke's Uniting Church has what appears to be carvings of a Celtic god and godess beside the front doors (below). They have been attributed to the convict sculptor, Daniel Herbert, who was also responsible for the excellent work on the bridge at Ross. No attempt hs been made to remove them even though their identity is now known. In an ironic twist, Governor Arthur is said to have ordered the architect, John Lee Archer, to change the rounded windows because they were 'unchristian'. The church was used by both Presbyterian and Anglican worshippers for over 60 years.

About Bothwell

Bothwell is the home of Australia's first Aberdeen Angus stud. The town, laid out in 1824, was populated by mainly settlers of Scottish descent and today still has a distinct Scottish flavour. It has 18 buildings classified by the National Trust. Bothwell has two particular distinctions - the town council claims the Australian rate collection. Between 1862 and 1963, there was only one defaulting ratepayer who, in 1968, still owed the council 10 shillings ($1.00); and it was here that the Irish political exiles John Mitchell and John Martin lived during their stay in Tasmania in the 1850s. Both had been arrested for treasonable writings.

Brief history:

Bothwell was originally called Fat Doe River (subsequently renamed the Clyde River) and the area was explored in some detail settled in 1817. By 1822 the district had been surveyed and the first settlers, many of them Scots, had taken up their grants. Because of the large number of Scots, Fat Doe River was re-named after Bothwell on the Clyde River in Lanarkshire, Scotland, near Glasgow by Governor George Arthur in 1824. Fat Doe River was renamed after the Clyde River, because Bothwell in Scotland is on the Clyde River.
It is widely accepted that the first European settler into the area was Edward Nicholas who arrived in 1821 and built Nant's Cottage, about 1.5 km from the town centre on Denistoun Road. This simple Georgian cottage with an iron hipped roof and 12 pane windows was used by the Irish political exiles, John Mitchell and John Martin, during their stay in Tasmania in the 1850s. The town was laid out in 1824 with the two broad main streets being named Alexander (after Alexander Reid of 'Ratho') and Patrick (after Patrick Wood of Denistoun).
The strong Scottish element in the early population is still evident. The town's St Luke's Presbyterian (now Uniting) Church is the second oldest Presbyterian church in Australia. One of the pioneers, Captain Patrick Wood, a retired officer of the East India Army, introduced a herd of Aberdeen Angus cattle, founding what is believed to be the oldest pedigree herd in Australia.

View Larger Map