Legerwood is a rural locality and town in the local government area of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

in the

North-east The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

region of

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. It is located about south-east of the town of Scottsdale. The 2021 census determined a population of 204 for the state suburb of Legerwood.

History

The greater Legerwood area was inhabited by the indigenous North East nation for over 10,000 years prior to the

British colonisation of Tasmania The British colonisation of Tasmania took place between 1803 and 1830. Tasmania was a British colony from 1856 until 1901, at which time it joined five other colonies to form the Commonwealth of Australia. By the end of the colonisation in 1 ...

. Legerwood was the name given to a property selected in the area in 1855 by settler James Scott and his nephew

James Reid Scott James Reid Scott (1 April 1839 – 25 August 1877) was an explorer and colonial Tasmanian politician, member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly and later the Tasmanian Legislative Council, he was also Colonial Secretary of Tasmania. Scott was t ...

. It was named for

Legerwood Legerwood is a village by the Eden Water, in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, near Lauder, near the Southern Upland Way. Legerwood Kirk is outside the village and has been there since at least 1127. Places nearby include Boon Farm, Gor ...

, in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders ( sco, the Mairches, 'the Marches'; gd, Crìochan na h-Alba) is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lothian, Midlothian, South Lanarkshire, West Lothi ...

council area of Scotland, after James Scott's ancestral homeland. The established village was originally called Ringarooma Road but changed to Legerwood in about 1890. In 1903 the "Legerwood" estate was subdivided in Launceston by Messrs. W. T. Bell and Co. Thirty-eight allotments went to auction, containing between each. The Legerwood area grew in timber, sawmills, dairy and pastoral industries and was gazetted as a locality in 1939. Scott's descendants continued to live in the township until at least the mid-1950s.

Pronunciation

The township name is pronounced ''Le-JER-wood'', containing phonically produced as .

Legerwood Carved Memorial Trees

On 15 October 1918, twenty-five trees were planted along the Railway Reserve at Ringarooma Road in memoriam of the village's fallen soldiers following the end of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A ceremony was held where a relative of the deceased would come forward to hold a

Turkish pine ''Pinus brutia'', commonly known as the Turkish pine, is a species of pine native to the eastern Mediterranean region. The bulk of its range is in Turkey. Turkish pine is also known by several other common names: Calabrian pine (from a naturali ...

(''Pinus brutia'') sapling before it was planted. In 1999 the trees were deemed unsafe from

blight Blight refers to a specific symptom affecting plants in response to infection by a pathogenic organism. Description Blight is a rapid and complete chlorosis, browning, then death of plant tissues such as leaves, branches, twigs, or floral organ ...

and Dorset Council recommended they be cut down. Determined to retain the memorial, in 2004 the Legerwood Hall and Reserves Committee commissioned chainsaw sculptor Eddie Freeman to carve a series of sculptures on the dying trunks based on the lives of the people they represented in remembrance. Extensive historical research into the lives of the fallen soldiers and their families ensured the carvings depicted stories of the men they represented as accurately as possible. Surrounding trees affected from blight were sculpted to depict scenes of the Great War. Weymouth Pines (''Pinus strobus'') survive at either end of Railway Reserve and represent

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

, the

Landing at Anzac Cove The landing at Anzac Cove on Sunday, 25 April 1915, also known as the landing at Gaba Tepe and, to the Turks, as the Arıburnu Battle, was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by the forces of the British Empire, which ...

and ANZAC soldiers who fought during this time. The carvings have become a popular picnicking destination for tourists venturing between the townships of Scottsdale,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and

Ringarooma Ringarooma is a small town in north-eastern Tasmania. It is located just east of the Ringarooma River and is about south-west from Derby and east-northeast from Launceston. The area around Ringarooma is known for Dairy farming and timber harve ...

. On 10 April 2018, deteriorating carvings of several characters (Mr and Mrs Thomas Edwards, the nurse, and Trippy Forsyth) were replaced with new carvings by Jason Chard of Tasmanian Burl and Steve Morris of Mobile Milling Tasmania.

North East Rail Trail

A 100 km mountain biking path along the former North East Rail corridor was announced in 2016. The former rail corridor commenced at Launceston and travelled through the townships of Lilydale, Wyena, Tonganah and Legerwood before ending at Derby. In 2022, a decision on the fate of the former rail corridor remained undecided by the Infrastructure Minister.

Blockchain Mining

In 2022, the former 1950s butter factory at Legerwood was purchased for $1.6 million by Sydney-based Alibaba Agriculture and the data processing start-up Grasschain, who re-configured the site for blockchain mining. The location was chosen as a means to generate "green" cryptocurrency following Tasmania's achievement in becoming 100 per cent self-sufficient in renewable energy in 2020.

Geography

The

Ringarooma River The Ringarooma River is a perennial river located in the north-east region of Tasmania, Australia. Location and features The Ringarooma River rises below Mount Maurice and flows generally east by north, joined by ten tributaries including the ...

forms the north-eastern boundary.

Road infrastructure

The

Tasman Highway The Tasman Highway (or A3) is a highway in Tasmania, Australia. Like the Midland Highway, it connects the major cities of Hobart and Launceston – however it takes a different route, via the north-eastern and eastern coasts of the state. The ...

(A3) enters from the west and passes through to the north-east. Route C423 (Carisbrook Lane / Main Street / Ringarooma Road) starts at an intersection with A3 and runs south to the town and then south-east before exiting. Route C424 (Legerwood Lane) starts at an intersection with A3 on the north-east boundary and runs south, intersecting with C423 on the south-east boundary.

References

{{Reflist Localities of Dorset Council (Australia) Towns in Tasmania