Variety Bay Project

The Variety Bay Historic Site consists of a complex of three separate but linked areas    located on the "Murrayfield" private property on North Bruny
Island. The sites and access have been surveyed, and a leasehold title has been granted to the Bruny Island Community
Association Inc. The Bruny Island Historical Society is affiliated with the
Association, and manages these sites on their behalf.
Documentation has been approved and   registered by the Recorder of Titles.

Brief site analysis:

Lot 1. Pilot Station:  One of the earliest
Pilot Stations in Australia, being established in 1831 using convict labour. The site includes foundations of three discernable buildings; a bakers oven, a rock and brick lined cellar and a rock walled watch tower; and evidence of a
garden in front of the homestead.

Lot 2. Kiln Site: This is where the bricks used for the pilot station were made by convicts and fired on site.
Remnants of three kiln
foundations and clay pit remain.
The last set of bricks fired in the
1850's were dismantled in the
1950's and transferred to
Adventure Bay to build the Bligh
Museum of Pacific Exploration.
The museum was constructed to
the same design as St Peters
Church, Variety Bay.

Lot 3. St Peters Church ruin: The first  Anglican Church to be built south of Hobart Town, funded by Pilot
William Lawrence, the church was designed and later consecrated by Bishop Russell Nixon, the first Anglican
Bishop of Tasmania. From 1847 to the 1890's the church served as the base for the Anglican communities of
Bruny Island and D'Entrecasteaux Channel with an itinerant Reverend who travelled with the Parish Register
recording marriages, births and deaths as he officiated along the Channel and on Bruny Island.
Substantial remains exhibit a rare colonial bond design brickwork in the walls.     
A large brick kiln site with associated clay pits and a water hole is located beside the church, 
and the adjacent burial ground contains at least  3 to 5 graves.

The Variety Bay Historic Sites have received Heritage listing, and have been the subject of several
conservation surveys and reports providing detailed guidance with recommendations for site management
planning. Initial clearing for preservation work commenced at the Pilot Station in April 1999 by many
enthusiastic local community volunteers on monthly working bees. Stock and wallaby proof fencing of the
Pilot Station leased area was completed in December, 1999.

Conservation of Variety Bay Historic Sites was carried out with the assistance of funds made available by the Commonwealth of Australia  under the 2001/2 Cultural Heritage Projects Programme; also Kingborough
Council's $6000 contribution for the $6000 raised by the Bruny Island Community. The invaluable countless hours of volunteer work effort ensured the project was completed on time and within budget, also ensuring
preservation of these sites is invaluable for historical / archaeological evaluation by University students in the near future.

Access by the public is limited to supervised and authorised entry only, as set out in the lease agreement.
The sites are surrounded by a working farm property, which along with the sites require responsible
management.