Campbell Town, Tasmania

Campbell Town is a town in Tasmania, Australia, located on the Midland Highway. At the 2006 census, the town had a population of 772.^[1]

Campbell Town was originally one of the four garrison towns linking Hobart and Launceston. Today, it acts as the only major rest area on the Midland Highway, with toilets, a park, a large car park and a range of food outlets. Campbell Town is also the retail centre for much of the southern part of the Municipality. Midlands area.

One of Campbell Town's famous attractions is the convict-built Red Bridge, the oldest bridge on the National Highway. It was named by Governor Macquarie after his wife, Elizabeth Campbell, as was the river passing through the town, the Elizabeth River.^[3] The bridge and causeway, were built as a part of the original main road, it was to be a part of Bell's line of Road, but this road never got past Oatlands. Construction was commenced in 1836 and completed in 1838.^[4] It consists of drystone abutments and timber top, although the top has been replaced, the stone abutments are original, making this a rare example of early Australian stone work.

Campbell Town is also home to The Foxhunters Return, a colonial Georgian coaching inn, which retains all its original outbuildings and continues to function as an inn for travellers along the highway. Built by convicts around 1833, with the main building constructed under the direction of stonemason Hugh Keane, Foxhunters Return is described by the National Trust as "the finest and most substantial hotel building of the late colonial period in Australia." During the construction of the Red Bridge, convicts were reputed to be housed overnight in the extensive cellars beneath Foxhunters Return, which is situated on the banks of the Elizabeth River and adjacent to the Red Bridge. These cellars featuring sandstone and convict-made red brick arches and freestone walls are now home to The Book Cellar, and so open to the public daily.

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