Just Tasmania .com
Deloraine accommodation, restaurants, history, things to do

This picturesque rural community is situated exactly half way between Launceston and Devonport on the Bass Highway and nestles in a fertile valley dominated by Quamby Bluff and the Western Tiers.

The region was explored in 1821 by Captain Roland, who was searching for farm land. The land was granted to new settlers, and the town is now a major agricultural centre, with a large number of farms of all types in the area.

In 1823 Governor Sorell sent Captain Rolland to explore the far west of Norfolk Plains (now Longford) and a district west (now Deloraine) to find suitable agricultural land. This expedition led to the opening up of the area and the naming of Mount Roland in honour of their leader and the renaming of the Western River to the Meander.

It lies 50 km west of Launceston and 52 km south of Devonport along the Bass Highway, and has a population of 2,032 (2001 census).

The Deloraine township was named by the Surveyor Scott, after Sir William Deloraine in “Lay of the Last Minstrel”, a poem by his kinsman Sir Walter Scott. To encourage development the laws were changed in the 1850s allowing land to be purchased for as little as one pound per acre. Settlement then grew rapidly despite the problems with bushrangers and transport, the latter being overcome when the State’s first rail link between Launceston and Deloraine was opened in 1872.

Deloraine’s features apart from the attractive landscape and the striking Western Tiers backdrop, include its colonial buildings originating from the 1830s and 1840s. Many of these charming, historical buildings are now used as galleries, craft centres, museums, restaurants and guest houses and prove to be very popular with tourists.

The Deloraine Craft Fair started in 1981 and is now the largest craft fair in the southern hemisphere. There were 30 stall holders in 1981 and this has now grown to hundreds of craftspeople with hundreds of venues attracting tens of thousands of patrons over the four days of the November long weekend to Deloraine.

Deloraine's average maximum temperature in January is 21.5 degrees Celsius, while in June it's 11 degrees Celsius. Just north of Deloraine, past Elizabeth Town, is the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm and Ashgrove Cheeses - famous for quality cheese.

Deloraine is 30 minutes from either Devonport or Launceston.