Groom's Cottage
Three bedrooms. Open fire. 100m² of convict-built heritage within a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Family and group accommodation in Longford, 20 minutes from Launceston.
ExteriorCottage exterior
LoungeOpen fireplace lounge
BedroomQueen bedroom upstairs
BedroomBedroom with botanical cushion
Twin RoomTwin bedroom
DiningHeritage dining room
KitchenCountry kitchen
DetailsWicker chair & washstand
The Largest Heritage Cottage on the Estate
Groom’s Cottage is the most spacious of the six heritage cottages at Woolmers Estate, sleeping up to six guests across three bedrooms on two levels. It’s the ideal choice for family accommodation in Tasmania, group getaways or multi-generational trips where everyone wants their own bedroom but a shared living space to come together.
Downstairs you’ll find a separate kitchen and dining room, a comfortable lounge with a wood heater that fills the cottage with warmth, and a bathroom with shower over bath, washing machine and dryer. Upstairs, three bedrooms: the first with a queen bed, the second with a double bed, and the third with two singles. Every bed has crisp linen and electric blankets.
The cottage sits within the historic precinct of Woolmers Estate, surrounded by 18 original heritage buildings.
Your stay includes General Admission to the estate, the Unshackled convict experience, after-hours access to the entire 13-hectare grounds, a complimentary continental breakfast each morning and a complimentary Devonshire tea on the afternoon of your arrival.
At a Glance
Good to Know
The cottage is authentic 1840s construction. The stairs to the bedrooms are narrow and original, and may not be suitable for guests with mobility concerns. The Overseer’s Cottage offers ground-level accommodation for those who need it.
The cottage has a private hedge-lined garden. Day visitors do not access the cottage area. During rose season, the National Rose Garden is a short walk away.
Longford is 7km from the estate, with a well-stocked supermarket for self-catering supplies. Your stay includes a complimentary continental breakfast each morning and a complimentary Devonshire tea on the afternoon of your arrival. Chef-prepared meals can be purchased at the Servants Kitchen, which is open until 6:00pm.
What Guests Say
The Groom's Story
Groom’s Cottage was once two dwellings: a groom’s cottage and a coachman’s cottage, built in the 1830s and later combined into one. The cottage follows the picturesque architectural style of the main house and stable complex, simpler in its detailing but carefully placed. It’s a building that says something about status.
he scale of the stables opposite tells you how significant the horse operation was at Woolmers. The Archer family’s carriage horses, the working horses that pumped water from the river and ground the apples for cider, the riding horses: all of them required skilled men to manage them, with many horses later being stabled in the farm stables built in the 1840s.
One of the grooms who prospered from his time at Woolmers was Joseph Lewis, who arrived at Woolmers aged 20 in 1831, having been sentenced to life in London for highway robbery. With only one misdemeanour on the property involving being absent without leave, Lewis remained on the property after receiving his ticket of leave in 1840 and was given his final pay cheque in March 1843.
For almost two decades, from the early 1830s, Isaac Boxall was the Woolmers coachman. Transported for life from Surrey for stealing £20, he was assigned to Thomas Archer on arrival. In 1838 Boxall married Ann Ball, a Somerset woman transported for stealing money from her mistress, first assigned to Brickendon, before coming to Woolmers around 1834.
When Sir John Franklin, Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen’s Land, visited Woolmers between 1836 and 1843, it was Lewis who prepared and looked after the carriage horses and Boxall, dressed in scarlet livery with Sheffield silver buttons bearing the Archer crest, who drove the carriage which also featured the Archer crest.
Lewis was so impacted by his time at Woolmers he went on to name a property he later owned in Geelong, Woolmers. Leaving no descendants but a home he named Woolmers, it is fitting that his legacy is remembered through the name of this cottage.
The stairs are original, they’re narrow and they creak. That’s what 180 years of heritage sounds like.
Image representation of Ann Ball created by Matt Daniels based on the Tasmanian convict records
Groom's Cottage
3 Bedrooms · Sleeps 6
Queen, double & twin rooms across two levels
Self-Contained · 100m²
Full kitchen, wood heater, laundry, free WiFi
Estate Access Included
General Admission, Unshackled & after-hours grounds
Breakfast Included
Complimentary continental breakfast
Devonshire Tea Included
Complimentary Devonshire Tea included on the Afternoon of your arrival
Accommodation
Check-in from 2pm · Checkout by 10am
Cancellation: 48+ hrs 20% fee · Under 24 hrs 50% fee