BOOKINGS

As numbers on tours are strictly limited booking is essential.

Click here to Book and Pay Online

GROUP BOOKINGS ring Runnymede direct on (03) 62781269 or contact Trust State Headquarters here

Please Note:
For information about normal house inspections & visits click here

Uncovering The Truth at Runnymede

Throughout 2010, a major conservation and restoration project was embarked on at Runnymede.

Layers of paint, plaster & paper

This tour provides visitors with the rare opportunity to enjoy a 'behind the scenes' tour of 'Runnymede' where you will discover the traditional and contemporary building archaeology techniques used to uncover the truth about this remarkable building's past.

The massive project involved acclaimed experts specializing in a range of activities including building and object conservation, paint finishes, plastering, stonemasons, horticulturalists, archaeologists and aborists.

Wood-graining

The placement of interiors, collections and furniture was coordinated by renowned historian, conservationist and author Dr James Broadbent who specialises in Australian colonial houses.

Restoring windows

The garden

Paddock To Plate

Runnymede – a little bit of country in the town.

Runnymede was built when Hobart Town was growing, and becoming smelly, noisy and crowded. Some successful people could now afford to move outside the town. They were looking for a quieter, cleaner place to live. Villas like Runnymede became very fashionable

From within the rural seclusion of the Runnymede estate distant views of water, mountains and hills and the laid out colonial vegetable plots and formal gardens above provided a graduated landscape for those who lived here. It was a productive landscape where they grew vegetables and planted fruit trees such as medlars, pears and apples and nuts such as almonds and walnuts to provide sustenance for the families and workers on the estate.

View from Runnymede c1880

Milking (well mostly) with Bruce & Lulu

The Paddock to Plate tour will explore the productive landscape of Runnymede, the produce grown and follow the foods from the domestic areas and kitchen to the dining room. Learn how domestic inventions were used by the cook and servants to improve the production and storage of food and explore the cellar and work areas.

Spend time in the Dining Room where the families entertained and gain an understanding of the etiquette that young ladies and gentlemen would learn to allow a smooth transition from the nursery to public life. Discover the domestic and decorative arts produce produced by the women of the house to cover food, decorate tables and provide comfort for the household

Young ladies of accomplishment c1910