Boasting the eerie allure of history-rich former convict buildings set amidst stunning scenery, Tasmania’s UNESCO World Heritage Listed Darlington Probation Station on Maria Island is a popular pick for tourists curious about Australia’s convict history.
However, University of New England archaeologists say the standing structures of Darlington tell only a small aspect of the place’s convict history.
The island’s forested hinterland, as well as the ground underfoot, hides many remains of Darlington’s penal history over two phases of use by convicts. Originally (1825-32), it was a site primarily for punishment. Later (1842-50), it was repurposed and repopulated as a probation station.
A $130,949 grant under the Australian Heritage Grants Program will enable UNE archaeologists Professor Martin Gibbs and Dr Richard Tuffin to use non-invasive methods to discover and map the extended landscapes in which convicts laboured day-to-day, in partnership with Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service. This includes looking for the places of industry across the station’s hinterland, as well as the extent and form of the first penal settlement – which has never been fully explored.
“People are fixated on stories of convicts in cells and convicts being punished, but sites like Maria Island were actually industrial places: there were sawpits, brickworks, tramways and trackways,” UNE archaeologist Professor Gibbs says.
“Mapping the less obvious remains will give a better sense of what the whole settlement looked like, how it operated and how it fitted in with the greater convict system.
“Understanding which convicts were engaged in what work gives a whole new interpretation to these heritage sites and their surroundings.”
The archaeologists will use remote sensing technology (LiDAR – Light Detection and Ranging) to survey the station’s labour hinterland. Ground penetrating radar and resistance meters will also be used to map the location and extent of the first settlement.
“The LiDAR should show up places where the convicts worked timber-getting, digging out clay, quarrying limestone, charcoal burning, as well as map the roads and paths which linked them all together and to the main settlement. In this way we will show how a convict station is very much more than the buildings you see today,” Dr Tuffin says.
While the remains will not be disturbed with excavation, visitors to the site – and other members of the public – will be able to see what the site looked like on interactive webmaps that will be created as part of the project.
The maps will help bring the island’s story to life, as they will include the records of individuals who lived and worked at the site.
It follows the innovative webmapping projects led by the UNE archaeologists for the convict landscapes of Port Arthur and Van Diemen's Land.
“It’s such a privilege to be able to work on this site, as it’s one of the best-preserved convict landscapes in Australia,” Professor Gibbs says. “So the chances of finding the site’s features and interpreting them is very high.”
The shape and extent of the site’s features revealed through this UNE project will also assist Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service in planning the future uses and management of the National Heritage and UNESCO World Heritage listed site.
The site work is due to commence in September.
