Henry CookPrint Page

Memorial stones commemorate Mayor Henry Cook and the Hobart Town Corporation Waterworks erected in 1861. In 1960 floods wiped out much of the scenery and surviving tourist facilities at the Fern Tree Bower. Cook’s monument was salvaged and reinstated at the Bower entrance and a plaque unveiled in 1961 commemorates its rehabilitation 

In 1861 the first stage of a new Hobart water supply scheme, to take water from Fork Creek and Browns River to the Waterworks below Ridgeway, was completed. The beautiful stonework of the various aqueducts, spillways and towers are still well preserved and can be seen when walking along the Pipeline Track.

As part of the construction of a new waterworks system for Hobart, stonemason John Gillon was given the contract to carry out the masonry work at the Fern Tree Bower in 1862, including the dam, basin and sluice house. Wooden troughing was constructed from materials found on site, and stone taken where possible from small quarries in the area. The basin at Fern Tree Bower received water diverted from the springs above Browns River Creek flowing over Silver Falls, along with water received from Fork Creek dam, which was then carried into the conduit leading to Gentle Annie Falls and the receiving house. The stone tablet at the sluice house was inscribed with the names of the contractor, the engineer, J.N. Gale and the Hobart Mayor, Henry Cook, and became known as ‘Cook’s monument’.
Source Scripps. L. 1993, The Pipeline Track- Mt Wellington.
 

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