Caveside is a rural locality in the local government area of
Meander Valley
Meander Valley Council is a local government body in northern Tasmania. It covers the western outskirts of Launceston, and further westward along the Meander River. Meander Valley Council is classified as a rural local government area and h ...
in the
Launceston region of
Tasmania
)
, nickname =
, image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdi ...
. The locality is about south-west of the town of
Westbury. It lies between the
Great Western Tiers
The Great Western Tiers are a collection of mountain bluffs that form the northern edge of the Central Highlands plateau in Tasmania, Australia. The bluffs are contained within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.
The bluffs stretch ...
to the south and
Mole Creek
Mole Creek is a town in the upper Mersey Valley, in the central north of Tasmania, Australia. Mole Creek is well known for its honey and accounts for about 35 percent of Tasmania's honey production.
The locality is in the Meander Valley Coun ...
to the north. The
2016 census has a population of 133 for the state suburb of Caveside.
[
Caveside is a small community within an agricultural area, rather than a town. The town lies in an area of ]limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
; erosion of this has led to the surrounding land being riddled with caves. To the west are two undeveloped cave complexes, Wet Caves and Honeycomb Caves,[Greenhill, p.76] which are an attraction to caver
Caving – also known as spelunking in the United States and Canada and potholing in the United Kingdom and Ireland – is the recreational pastime of exploring wild cave systems (as distinguished from show caves). In contrast, speleology i ...
s. The ground is pitted with sinkhole
A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...
s, a danger to the cattle that graze the fields. The district is probably named after the caves, though until 1897 it was known as Brookside.[Reunion Committee, p.15] Prior to settlement what is now developed agricultural land was dense forest. The timber and dairy industries are prominent parts of Caveside's rural history
In historiography, rural history is a field of study focusing on the history of societies in rural areas. At its inception, the field was based on the economic history of agriculture. Since the 1980s it has become increasingly influenced by social ...
and it was known in the early 20th century for the quality of its cattle and sheep studs.
History
Henry Reed became a significant figure in the early history of Caveside, after he took up a large land allotment in 1835. Reed conducted some early Wesleyan
Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...
services in his home on the property known as Wesley Dale. He donated the land for the Wesleyan church with the intention that, when it was built, it was to initially be used as a school.Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
church.[Reunion committee, pp.50-51] that is no longer open or used for church services.[There is no church noted as operating in Caveside as of 2015, except for the Church of Christ.]
Caveside had a post office from 1887 operating from a private home. It opened on 1 November and finally closed in 1980.[Reunion committee, pp.48-50] A public swimming pool, built with local volunteer labour, opened in 1957. It was extended in 1980 with the addition of a tennis court and in 2001 when gas barbeque
Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...
s were added.[Opening and expansion dates for the Caveside Swimming Pool are recorded on a commemorative sign erected in 2007 by the Caveside Recreation Committee] The pool is a outdoor pool and is managed by the Caveside Recreation Committee. The shop has long closed but the Caveside memorial hall remains open and is operated by the Meander Valley Council. The Church of Christ formed an organisation in the area in 1909. Prior to this services had been held in Caveside. They built a hand-split timber church building and opened it in 1911. The original building was moved in 1956 and a replacement built.
Geography
Lobster Rivulet, a tributary of the Mersey River, flows through the locality from south to north.
Road infrastructure
The C169 route (Caveside Road) enters from the north-west and runs through to the north, where it exits. Route C168 (Western Creek Road) starts at an intersection with C169 and runs south-east until it exits.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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Localities of Meander Valley Council
Towns in Tasmania