The town of murals
Sheffield is a small town in northern Tasmania that has become well known for its murals. In the 1980s the local tourist board, inspired by a small town in Canada that had painted murals, came up with the idea of painting murals on the town buildings as a tourist attraction. Most buildings in the town have a mural painted on them and there's a Mural Festival held every April. I had decided to spend a night in the town after leaving Cradle Mountain. Sheffield is about an hour's drive from the National Park and I had read about the murals so it seemed the perfect place to stay. The town certainly didn't disappoint and I loved the murals.
This was the first mural to be completed in December 1986, it shows Gustav Weindorfer, the man responsible for having Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair declared a National Park. The scene depicted is his chalet in the park area with snow on the ground.
The murals illustrate notable people from the local area. This is Senior Constable Harry Clark, who in 1971, directed the first mountain rescue using a helicopter. When he retired in 1985, he was Tasmania's longest serving police officer.
The murals reflect the history of the area, so this one shows farming, ploughing the land, sowing and then harvesting.
Old grocery shop.
The old post office tree, painted on the side of the Sheffield Post Office. The tree has been replicated in fibreglass and you can still post letters in it! The original post office tree was a gathering place for cattlemen and miners to meet.
I really loved this one that honours the town's former doctor Dr. Leslie Sender. He was very much the old style country doctor, he came to the town in 1946 and worked as the only doctor until he retired in 1976, he came out of retirement 7 years later and worked for another 3 years! There's information about him under the mural, as well as images relating to his life.
The mural on the Slaters Country store, still in operation. The larger mural shows the store and the smaller one with the child looking through the window has them looking at this new found thing called a wireless.
Loved this mural on the side of the RSL (Returned Services League) Hall, the Honour Board is a mural, and the history mural is done in shades of black, white and grey like old photos.
I just liked this mural but have since read the story behind it, and it's quite poignant. The two old people are brother and sister Dulcie and Laurie Mace. They are the children by the horse and cart, they were orphaned and were brought up by step parents who didn't make their life easy. At ages 10 and 12 they had to grow vegetables and then sell them in the town, Dulcie is selling to a woman from the town.
Logging
Mural showing the religious life of the town.
Another favourite of mine, loved the old town scene shown here. The town still holds a daffodil festival in September, in the past there was a ball as part of the festival.
An annual mural festival is held every April, new entries and past winners are displayed next to the Tourist Office.
Sheffield is a small town in northern Tasmania that has become well known for its murals. In the 1980s the local tourist board, inspired by a small town in Canada that had painted murals, came up with the idea of painting murals on the town buildings as a tourist attraction. Most buildings in the town have a mural painted on them and there's a Mural Festival held every April. I had decided to spend a night in the town after leaving Cradle Mountain. Sheffield is about an hour's drive from the National Park and I had read about the murals so it seemed the perfect place to stay. The town certainly didn't disappoint and I loved the murals.
This was the first mural to be completed in December 1986, it shows Gustav Weindorfer, the man responsible for having Cradle Mountain/Lake St Clair declared a National Park. The scene depicted is his chalet in the park area with snow on the ground.
The murals illustrate notable people from the local area. This is Senior Constable Harry Clark, who in 1971, directed the first mountain rescue using a helicopter. When he retired in 1985, he was Tasmania's longest serving police officer.
The murals reflect the history of the area, so this one shows farming, ploughing the land, sowing and then harvesting.
The old post office tree, painted on the side of the Sheffield Post Office. The tree has been replicated in fibreglass and you can still post letters in it! The original post office tree was a gathering place for cattlemen and miners to meet.
I really loved this one that honours the town's former doctor Dr. Leslie Sender. He was very much the old style country doctor, he came to the town in 1946 and worked as the only doctor until he retired in 1976, he came out of retirement 7 years later and worked for another 3 years! There's information about him under the mural, as well as images relating to his life.
The mural on the Slaters Country store, still in operation. The larger mural shows the store and the smaller one with the child looking through the window has them looking at this new found thing called a wireless.
Loved this mural on the side of the RSL (Returned Services League) Hall, the Honour Board is a mural, and the history mural is done in shades of black, white and grey like old photos.
I just liked this mural but have since read the story behind it, and it's quite poignant. The two old people are brother and sister Dulcie and Laurie Mace. They are the children by the horse and cart, they were orphaned and were brought up by step parents who didn't make their life easy. At ages 10 and 12 they had to grow vegetables and then sell them in the town, Dulcie is selling to a woman from the town.
Mural showing the religious life of the town.
Another favourite of mine, loved the old town scene shown here. The town still holds a daffodil festival in September, in the past there was a ball as part of the festival.
An annual mural festival is held every April, new entries and past winners are displayed next to the Tourist Office.
Sheffield is a wonderful town to visit, loved all the murals and it was lovely walking around and discovering all the different murals. Some have the history behind the mural and others are there just to enjoy.
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