Museum at Ancanthe

This is an odd little place.

Its an art gallery, out in Lenah Valley which is right on the edge of Hobart, in under the mountain. Its a history is a little more interesting than that though.



From the Australian Dictionary of Biography, "in 1839 Lady Franklin bought 130 acres (53 ha) of land near Hobart Town for a botanical garden, to which she gave the name Ancanthe. Here a museum of natural history was built for her, on the model of a Greek temple, and to it the collections she had been forming in Government House were removed. They and the accompanying library were dispersed in 1853" and the little temple was left to become a packing shed for apples. It wasn't until a century later that it finally became an art gallery.

She's an interesting women to read about, if you follow the link. Also interesting is the PDF article about the museum from the Mercury's INK page.

Finally, before I get to my photos, two very different images of the building.
Painting by Curzona Allport
Lenah Valley postcard

I don't know what this front part is supposed to be.



I think its (the remains of) a memorial gateway. The two centre posts have stones under them (see below). 1937 was the time when the restoration of the building started too.