Tranmere and
Clarence Plains
Land and Coast Care

Many of the 1808 grants were either side of what was then called the Chain of Ponds. The remnants of native bushland, historic orchard, the hawthorn boundary of an early farm, the 1979 tree planting of Housing division, are to be found in a short walk here, and mirror the history of the area.

Clarence House Pass Rd. - Superintendent of Carpenters, William Nicholls, builder of the first Government House, in 1832 supervised the building of this two storey Georgian home, on his 1813 land grant. Later purchased by Joseph Chipman II, it continued being a working farm right through to the 1950s, when it was sold out of the family.

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In the 1970s disaster struck with a fire that damaged the roof and upper storey. The dormer windows, missing in the old photograph below, were added during the restoration.

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Whilst early in its history the property boasted a small but ineffectual windmill, the profitable part of the estate came from its excellent soil, which produced much of the hay, fodder, fruit and vegetables transported across the Derwent twice a week.

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Glebe Farm - In 1808 a Glebe (church land) of 400 acres was chosen by Robert Knopwood. It was described in Melville's Almanac of 1833, as a fine, picturesque farm, very eligibly situated, with very rich alluvial soil. It produced large crops of grains and other products for the series of tenant farmers who looked after the land. A survivor of the 1967 fires, the small privately owned homestead lot called Glebe Farm is a reminder of a great farming era.